Dear 100th Sheep,
I'm glad my last letter I sent was helpful. I promised that I would give you the cure for deception and disobedience. I hinted at it when I wrote, "It is our confidence in and obedience to what God has revealed about Himself in the Holy Scriptures."
We are living in a time when the Bible is under attack. What is sad is that this attack isn't only from those outside the Church. The onslaught is also from those inside the Church. For example, one popular pastor wrote a book recently claiming that the Bible has "a multitude of errors, contradictions, and historical inaccuracies, as well as morally offensive material." It's difficult to imagine a Christian, let alone a pastor, would write such nonsense.
There is only one test for Truth in all the world, and that is the Bible. In 2 Timothy 3:16+17, God proclaims He inspired all Scripture and that the Bible is,
Profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
The Bible is the only self-attesting Book in the world that claims to be the self-revelation of the self-existing Trinitarian God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Bible does not need any outside authority to verify its authenticity or its authority. If anyone uses another standard to authenticate the Bible, that standard has more authority than the Bible. There is only one Authorative Standard, and that is the Bible itself. It has no errors, contradictions, and historical inaccuracies, nor morally offensive material. Anyone who judges God's Book is claiming to be greater than God.
You can trust the Bible as being the very words of God. It is error-free in the original documents, and God has preserved the Bible's integrity throughout time and transmission. Any mistakes in later copies are so inconsequential that we can be confident that all God wanted to communicate to us is reliable and authentic. Besides, these mistakes are easily detectable, given that the Bible has more reliable copies than any other ancient writing.
As for contradictions, it is far easier to claim there are any than providing any credible evidence to prove it. People who argue such things already assume some, and they see them whether they exist or not. We know beforehand there aren't any, so it is a waste of time to look for them.
People who claim the Bible is historically inaccurate assume they have perfect knowledge of history. How can they possibly know that any proof outside the Bible is more reliable than the Bible itself? They would have to be God to know such things.
I write all these things to you just in case the Original Lie tempts you. What was that lie? It is found in Genesis 3:1 when Satan said to Eve,
Did God really say…?
All deception comes down to this one lie. Satan and his minions continue to use it to this very day. Anyone who propagates the Original Lie is in league with the devil whether they realize it or not.
There is no other standard known to man than the written words of God contained in Scripture. This does not mean we shut off our minds when we read the Bible. Because God chose to communicate through the medium of written words, this means that we must engage all our mental faculties and all tools necessary to get at what God meant when He had His words written. This means, at times, Biblical interpretation takes work. Most of the time, the Bible is clear as a bell as to what God intends to communicate. There are only a few instances in Scripture when it takes a little more work to understand.
Why is the Bible necessary to keep us from deception and disobedience? It is because we live in a fallen world, and we are fallen. This means that sometimes it is difficult to know what is true and what is false. If we look to anything else other than the Bible, we cannot know whether what we think, believe, feel, or experience is true or not.
We see this principle all the time in the world. The north star does not change. If it is cloudy out, we can take out a compass and use the north pole's magnetism to point us in the right direction. Machines continually need to be calibrated for accuracy. The measure that we use is the standard. We have universal means to measure distance, weight, time, energy, and a whole host of other things. We even have standards in abstract subjects such as science and logic. But even these are possible only because the Christian Triune God has communicated about Himself through the Bible.
Not only that, the Bible communicates that the self-existing Triune God makes all measurement possible because He is the Ultimate Standard. The Bible is true because God is the Truth. Logic is only possible because God is the God of reason. Science is possible because God holds the universe together and orders all things. We know what is right and wrong because God revealed His character through His Law. I could go on, but I think I made my point.
We can avoid being deceived and deceiving ourselves by calibrating what we believe, think, feel, and experience according to the Bible. We can know who God is and what He is like by reading His words. We can understand what we can and cannot do by studying His Law. We can know if something we are doing is sinful by comparing it to what He revealed about Himself in the Scriptures. In short, God has given us everything we need to know Him, what He is like, what He requires of us, and how He wants us to live by studying and obeying everything we read in His authoritative word.
Those who believe the Bible is a flawed book deceive themselves. They bought the Original Lie, 'Did God really say…?" If the Bible has "a multitude of errors, contradictions, and historical inaccuracies, as well as morally offensive material," we get to pick and choose what we like and what we don't enjoy, much like a person filling his plate while passing through a salad bar. You don't like something, move on. How can we know whether what we are reading is a lie, an error, a mistake, a contradiction, an inaccuracy, etc.? When this happens, Man becomes the measure of all things and not God.
Why am I taking so much time writing about the Bible? Because I know what it is like to deceive myself. I thought I could defy God's word and not be judged. And I suffered the consequences, not only me but other people who know and love me. I do not intend to make the same mistake twice. I hope you won't as well.
Because of that, I read and study the Bible daily. I read every word as if God is speaking directly to me because He is. From its pages I learn about the Trinity, Father God, Jesus Christ His only Son, the promised Holy Spirit, the nature of the Church, and so much more.
Do I take the Bible literally? I do, especially when the literary context demands that the words be taken literally. God speaks through a myriad of literary techniques such as metaphor, similes, stories, parables, prophecy, and so on. When I come across different types of literature, I let the Bible speak for itself, and I look for clues in the text that signal not only what God is speaking but also how He is speaking. I use the Bible to study the Bible. I always study in context and use Scripture to interpret Scripture. I also use history and original languages to help me understand the Bible. But never are these tools used to judge the Bible. They are always tools to help me know what God is communicating in the Bible.
And most importantly, if I ever come across anything in the Bible that is contrary to what I think, believe, feel, or experience, I know I have to change and not the Bible. Any time anyone changes the Bible to conform to their lifestyle, their sin, or their preconceived beliefs or experiences, they are deceived. They have fallen prey to the Original Lie, "Did God really say…? God's Spirit will never do anything or speak anything subjectively contrary to the authority of Scripture.
We are 100th Sheep because we were disobedient. We know we are 100th Sheep because Jesus Christ spoke this parable in Luke 15. We know that we are saved because the Bible tells us that "all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved." To believe anything less than what God has revealed in the Bible is to accept the Original Lie.
Sincerely,
Your Fellow 100th Sheep,
Norman H Patterson Jr.
