Entrusted with the Gospel

Have you ever had a friend who lied to you? A spouse…or a boss…an employee, or a fellow employee? Probably you have. Maybe you have even been that person. As James says, “…we all stumble in many ways…” (James 3:2 ESV)

Anyway, when it happens, and you discover it, one thing is sure to follow – you will have trouble trusting that person going forward. Maybe afterward, she tells you that she read that particular book…and you wonder if she really did. Or he says that he took care of that difficult project…but still you doubt if the project is complete. Your husband says that he is working late, and you need to confirm his location on “Find my iPhone”.

Now thankfully, when someone lies, and truly feels badly about it, it’s possible for that person to rebuild trust with you, but even that takes time. Nevertheless, if you want to trust her, and she wants to be trusted, the two of you can work together to believe again. Thankfully, people can change for the better.

A Scriptural “Lie”?

But what happens if Scripture “lies”? Now, you’ve got a real problem. Because if you can’t trust the Scripture, then your relationship with the God of Scripture suffers…maybe even shrivels up and dies. Because you wonder, if I can’t trust the Scripture on this one point, then can I trust it at another?

Here’s the reality: in our hearts, we know that the Bible is either a very special book…or not. Either a book which tells me the truth…always, or a book like every other book – which is to say, fallible. 

Hard Truths

There are ideas in Scripture that are especially difficult for us in the West to accept, most specifically, the biblical sexual ethic, and the Bible’s teaching on God’s Judgment. In our culture today, believing such teachings is considered “unloving”; and often, not only does cultural sentiment seem logical on this, but we also feel significant pressure to agree.

So, we reason, “I’ll just ignore/reject this particular uncomfortable point of doctrine, but I’ll trust the Lord on all the other points.”

But such thinking is highly problematic. If you reject one teaching of the Bible, then subtly, your view of Scripture changes within your heart. And then, what happens when you want Scripture to comfort you with God’s love, or to assure you of your salvation, or to guide you and those you love in other ethical issues?  

Rejecting one truth, you naturally find yourself wondering if these other hopeful teachings are also just the ideas of man…or, in other words, useful lies. 

More than that, though people can work to build trust again, such rebuilding happens through change, and thus, Scripture is different – it’s fixed and unchanging. If it is truly lying at one point, then, once and forever, it is untrustworthy.

Good Reasons to Trust the Scripture

Some will read this, and think, “Just as I thought – another reason not to be a Christian.” Oh, but please, before you walk that road, hear this appeal: there is too much glory and joy and blessing here to pass by. 

God has purposes for His decrees, which are often hard for us to discern, and more than that, there are good reasons to trust the Scriptures, and the God of the Scriptures. 

So, if you’re doubting the Bible for this reason or that, or tempted to reject something you are reading, work hard to get through your doubts. I’ve been enjoying a podcast/YouTube channel lately by Gavin Ortlund, called Truth Unites. He covers many different questions that Christians have, and while you probably won’t agree with him on everything (I don’t – he’s not the Scriptures), nevertheless, he is a wise and godly guide. And especially important in today’s day and age, Ortlund works hard to be peaceful and non-offensive in his interactions with those who disagree. Check out Truth Unites here.

My prayer is that whatever you do, you will agree with Peter, who, when he saw others walking away from Jesus and His hard teachings, said, 

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life…(John 6:68 ESV)