Trust the Whole Bible: Every Word Matters

Trust the Whole Bible: Every Word Matters

Do you treat the Bible like a buffet, picking only what you like? Many of us approach God's word like this. When God talks of love, forgiveness, and peace we're all in, but when the tone changes to judgment, hell, and being different from the world, then not so much.

As Christians, one of the important characteristics we should have is the ability to trust God. But how can we say we really trust Him if we don't trust the Scriptures that He lived by. Jesus taught, in part by using Scripture, to always trust in God's sovereignty, faithfulness, and love for His people. He never treated any Scripture as unimportant. Jesus teaches us to trust the whole Bible because every word matters when we decide what to believe.

How Jesus Viewed Scripture: Authority and Messianic Fulfillment

What was Jesus' attitude towards the Scriptures? Jesus quoted directly from the Old Testament 78 times and alluded to it hundreds of times, as noted by various scholars. He not only knew the Scriptures; from childhood He even taught in the temple. This lifelong familiarity shaped how He read, applied, and challenged Scripture throughout his ministry.

Jesus' view of Scripture was in most ways just like the people around Him. He believed that the events of the Old Testament were a true historical record of His people and their interactions with God. He speaks of Cain and Abel, Moses, Elijah, Jonah and others as historical figures who really existed. He looked to future events related in prophecy as real events that had not yet taken place.

Jesus both affirmed Scripture’s authority and taught a deeper, Christ-centered reading of it. Differences only arose around His interpretation of Scripture concerning Himself. He frequently challenged the Pharisees and Sadducees around Him of basically "missing the point" or not understanding the deeper meaning of certain passages. He explained how He was the prophetic fulfillment of Scriptures that predicted a coming Messiah.

The best example of Jesus' understanding of the importance of Scripture is in Matthew 4:4 where he quotes Deuteronomy 8:3 to Satan who is tempting Him. He says, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." According to this Scripture, the word contained in the Old Testament "proceeds from the mouth of God." Paul continues in Jesus' footsteps by consistently emphasizing that all Scripture is the inspired Word of God.

Paul’s Teaching on All Scripture: Inspired and Profitable (2 Timothy 3:16)

Paul, as a Jewish scholar, was also extremely familiar with Old Testament Scripture. Again the exact numbers are arguable but some sources say that as many as about 183 Old Testament Scriptures are quoted or paraphrased by Paul. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Paul explains,

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

The Scripture Paul is referring to is the Old Testament, because the New Testament at this time did not exist in its present form. While there were some Apostolic writings being circulated, a formal New Testament was not available to him. When he says that Scripture is all given by "inspiration of God" he is literally saying that it is God breathed.

Paul means Scripture is divinely inspired, carrying God’s authority in every word. While Paul referred to the Old Testament, the early church recognized the apostles’ writings as equally inspired, forming the New Testament we trust today. He emphasized the usefulness of God's word for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction so that you and I can have the tools we need to do good work.

Why the Old Testament Is Essential for Christians Today

The New Testament did not replace the need for studying the Bible as a whole. To understand Jesus and His mission it is necessary to look at the circumstances that caused God to send Him to the world. We learn from the mistakes made by the Jews of the Old Testament, we learn about God's faithfulness to them in spite of themselves, and we see prophecy, some fulfilled and some still waiting to be. While the Old Testament is essential, its challenging passages can sometimes test our trust in God’s Word.

How to Understand Difficult Old Testament Passages

The Old Testament covers many topics that are uncomfortable to people, such as Leviticus 20. Some people find passages regarding the treatment of women hard to accept. Some see God's harsh punishment of some groups of people and find it difficult to reconcile with the loving God presented in the New Testament. Subjects like incest, slavery, rape, and infanticide are difficult to understand without intense study, prayer, and reflection on their purpose in God's story.

Some suggestions on how to understand these passages would be: pray, know the genre, in other words, what type of passage is it: the law, the prophets, poetry like Psalms, narrative, the letters, or wisdom. Context is always important. Don't just read one verse and expect to understand a difficult text. Read what proceeds and follows the section your are studying. Also look up hard to understand words in the original language. You can do this online or with the help of study books. These suggestions will help to keep you from jumping to hasty conclusions about meaning.

Trusting God’s Sovereignty: Lessons from Job’s Suffering

Again, it really comes down to trust. This lesson was learned fully by Job. When Job questions God as to the reason for suffering, God's response was that Job had to trust Him. God attempts to show Job the depth of knowledge He possesses that Job can only guess at. God rules a universe which includes our imperfect world, we simply cannot know what God knows. It is impossible. Can we accept that God is wiser than we are? Can we truly believe that "His ways are higher than our ways" (Isaiah 55:9)?

When we recognize that God knows more than we do and that He is not required in anyway to explain Himself to His creation, then we won't pick and choose what we believe is true about Holy Scripture. We will believe it and even though it may be very difficult, we will accept that things in Scripture happen because God is sovereign over all.

Balancing Love and Justice: Understanding Hell in Scripture

One example, is the idea of Hell. So many people find this concept impossible to accept. Hell is a hard reality. They often say, "How can a just God send someone to Hell for eternity simply for not believing in Him?" Yet, they have no problem believing that He could send that same sinful person to a perfect Heaven for all eternity, even if they don't believe in God at all.

Love and justice have become all mixed up and swirled together in our modern world. To many, love means sweetness, kindness, and acceptance of any and all behavior. Motives don't matter. The only thing that matters is appearance. But God sees past appearance. For God, perfect love and perfect justice are intertwined. God's justice is one way He expresses His love.

As 1 John 4:10 explains, “Herein is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us.” His love was such that He sent His Son to die for us "while we were yet sinners." We didn't have to become perfect for Him to love us, because God knew we couldn't by ourselves. God doesn't love like we do. God's justice was satisfied at the Cross. What an incredible gift our holy Father has given us.

All of the Bible is a story of love. Maybe it is played out in ways we can't always fully comprehend, but God has given us His Word, His prophets, and His very Son to show us the way to reconciliation. But there must still be justice. Those who reject what He has offered, who reject Scripture as His very words to us, have forsaken His free gift of love.

Accepting responsibility can be tough. It is we who are responsible for the evil, fallen world we live in because of our sin. The world was never meant to be this way. There was not supposed to be death and suffering or rape and incest or any other manner of evil, but it exists because of us, because of our choices.

So when we want to determine what we believe about the Bible, when we want to say, "Oh no, no God didn't mean that!" or "That couldn't possibly have really happened." Stop and realize what you are really saying. You're saying that you would make a better god than our Father. Your ways are more knowledgeable and more learned than His. Really? Do you really believe that is possible? Your honest response must be, no!

The Power of God’s Word: What Scripture Accomplishes

What can God's word accomplish?

• It can discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

• It will accomplish God's purpose (Isaiah 55:11).

• It is a lamp and light that guides our lives (Psalm 119:105).

• It blesses those who hear and obey it (Luke 11:28).

• It endures forever (Isaiah 40:8).

All of these points apply to us because God's word is ALIVE according to Hebrews 4:12. It is truly alive in Christ who is according to John 1:14 the "word made flesh." Jesus is everything that God wants to communicate to man. Because the prophets had been ignored, God's Word, Jesus, came into the world. This is explained in the Parable of the Vineyard (Luke 20:9-16). In Jesus we see the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.

The story that began in Genesis and ends with Revelation is the profound story of humanity and our relationship with our Creator. We can no more discard parts of it that we disagree with than cast aside a body part we don't like and still expect to function. Our place in the story is always in relationship to our Savior. If He felt it necessary and important to study the Word and believe and trust in it, surely you and I must do the same.

So when God's word is spread before you like a buffet, remember to take it all in, don't pick and choose. Today, try to begin reading even the hard parts prayerfully and trust the whole Bible to teach and shape you with the help of the Holy Spirit. You may be surprised how blessed and strengthened you become when you trust Scripture.