How do We know We can Trust the Bible?

Ever felt like, “if Jesus were in front of me, it would be so much easier to believe in Him?” Or, “if God would just show me a sign or a miracle, then it would be easier to have faith?” Did you know there is even stronger proof that can help us have faith in Jesus, better than seeing a miracle with your very own eyes?
 

If you read the story in Luke 24, Jesus shows us that that there is something that is more trustworthy than miracles!

Two disciples of Jesus were walking to a little town called Emmaus. It was just two days ago that Jesus was crucified and died on the cross.

They were followers and believers in Jesus. They had seen His many miracles – like when He fed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish, or the blind man who now could see, or the lady who no longer had a bent back, or the deaf people that now could hear. They also knew Jesus had raised people from the dead. There were stories that Jesus had raised the Jairus’s little girl. Jesus even resurrected Lazarus! Now that was amazing – Lazarus was already dead for four days and his body had began to rot, but Jesus brought him back to life in perfect condition!

These two disciples listened to His teachings, worked with Him, and they loved Jesus. He was their Lord and friend. With all the miracles that Jesus did, they were positive and sure that He had to be the Messiah. But if Jesus was the Messiah, why didn’t He save Himself from being beaten? When the guards started to whip Him and make fun of Him, why didn’t He fight back? Didn’t He say that God was His Father? Why didn’t God do something and step in to stop Jesus from dying? Maybe Jesus wasn’t who He said He was after all. The two disciples had lost hope, and they had lost faith.

A stranger then joins them. He asks them why they were so sad, and the two disciples tell him how they feel. How they had hoped Jesus would be the one to save Israel, but they were let down and disappointed. They just simply can’t believe that Jesus died, and so shamefully! The stranger then says, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?”

Who was this stranger? Why, it’s none other than Jesus Christ Himself – risen from the dead! But the two disciples are so absorbed in their gloom and disappointment, they don’t recognize Him. Why doesn’t Jesus show them His nail-pierced hands? Why doesn’t Jesus do a miracle to show them He is alive, so that they no longer would be heartbroken, but filled with joy and gladness? He must first give them lesson they would never forget.

“And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Jesus’s first work is to explain the Bible – show how the Bible’s prophecies are the strongest evidence for their faith. Through the teachings of the Bible, Jesus shows the disciples how everything that happened to Jesus on the cross was predicted before. The Bible foretold hundreds of years before that the Messiah had to die to save the world from sin!

Just like those two disciples, Jesus doesn’t want our faith to be based on miracles, but on the promises of Scripture. So how do we know we can trust the Bible?

The Bible is from God. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” This means that the messages and writings of the Bible were all given by God. That is why they are all useful to show us truth, to point out our faults, to correct us, and to train us to live like Christ.

The Bible has messages from God to His people. The Bible is not another book written by regular people. It’s in the Bible, 2 Peter 1:21 “for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

Why was the Bible written? John 20:31 says, “but these are written than you may believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” Jesus also says in John 5:39 that the Scriptures, “testify of Me.” All throughout the Bible the main point of it is to teach us about Jesus.

The Scriptures are truth. It’s in the Bible, John 17:17, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” The Bible is God’s Word, it is truth. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” God’s word is like a flashlight of truth that shines in the darkness and helps us to know what is wrong and what is right.

The Bible has also predicted events in the future in prophecies that have been fulfilled throughout history. In Isaiah 46:9-10, God says, “Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done.” Truly, there is no other book like the Bible that has had prophecies come true, with exact detail. One of the most incredible prophecies is found in Daniel chapters 2, 7 and 8. Hundreds of years before it happened, God told His servant Daniel that the empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome would rise and fall. He even foretold that after the Roman Empire there would not be another empire that would arise and unite all the countries again. Amazing! You can check out any history book in your library and read how God’s prediction came true – in that exact order!

Evidence in Archaeology. Many times people have tried to disprove the Bible, but archaeologists continue to find evidence that the Bible is true. For years skeptics would say that the Bible is unreliable because it mentions cities like Ninevah and Sodom, but there was no proof they existed – until they found the ruins of both cities. They also used to call the book of Daniel false because there was no evidence of Belshazzar as king in Babylon. And then they found documents that proved the Bible right again!

However, the best proof there is that we can trust the Bible is the way people’s lives have changed from reading it. It’s in the Bible, Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God to salvation of everyone who believes…” Millions of men and women all around the world have had the experience of finding a new life and their Savior in the Bible. A rap star gives up smoking and fame to become a preacher for God. A drunkard mom stops drinking alcohol to drink from the fountain of life that comes from Christ. A punk rock skateboarder changes from being an atheist to preach to thousands about Christianity. A woman going from relationship to relationship stops and finds the love of her life in Jesus. A rude boss becomes a soft-hearted servant. Story after story of people whose lives change for the better after finding Jesus in the pages of the Bible provide some of the most incredible proof that we can trust the Bible. There is no other book with truths that speak to the heart and our deepest needs, and can change a person from the inside out. To start your free Bible study course today – go to: KidsZone