Israelites, Pharisees & Sadducees In The 21st Century Church

The Bible testifies of its own essential truth. “The sum of Thy Word is truth” (Psa.
119:160). “Thou art God and Thy Words are truth” (2 Sam. 7:28). It is the Word of “God
who cannot lie” (Tit. 1:2). Every Word of God is pure (Psa. 12:6), and “Thy Word is very
pure” (Psa. 119:140). It is “the Word of truth” (Psa. 119:43; 2 Cor. 6:7; 2 Tim. 2:15).
“Thy Word is true from the beginning”, that is, from eternity (Psa. 119:160). It is purer
than refined gold (Psa. 18:30, 19:8, 10; 2 Sam. 22:31). God says of His Bible, “These
words are faithful and true” (Rev. 21:5). It is infallible and inerrant in all areas, earthly
as well as spiritual (John 3:12). To deny the inherent truth and inerrancy of Scripture is
to call God a liar (I John 5:12). Those who do are the liars.
“The Bible contradicts itself.” But: Truth never contradicts truth. There are many
paradoxes and mysteries in Scripture (e.g., Mark 8:35; John 11:25-26), but not a single
contradiction, either in doctrine, history or principle. God is a God of order, not confusion
(I Cor. 14:33). Contradiction is confusion. Liberals are in mental confusion because they
contradict Scripture and imagine contradictions in the Bible.
“The Bible contains myths, sagas, legends and fairy tales. We need to demythologize
the Bible”. But Christianity would be the true religion even if all of its
teachings were non-historical myths.” But: This is the very heart of Liberalism, what
Gordon Clark exposed as “doctrine without facts.” Scripture itself warns against myths (I
Tim. 1:4, 4:7; Tit. 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16). Scripture contains no myths or other such lore. It is
all historically true. If it were not, then we would be hopelessly lost in our sins (I Cor.
15). Liberalism is the real mythology and we need to remove it from us.
“The Bible is a collection of old campfire stories told by old Jewish nomads,-
retold and reshaped for centuries until someone wrote them down in a form
vaguely resembling the original story.” But: The Bible nowhere teaches such
nonsense. It is a total fabrication and romantic skepticism. The idea of “campfire stories”
is that of myths and legends. Scripture also warns against “old wives’ tales” (I Tim. 4:7)
– the gender equivalent of old men’s campfire stories. Instead, God spoke through
dreams, visions and even angels (Heb. 1:1-2), not through the superstitious ramblings
of desert nomads. By contrast, Liberal theories closely resemble those tall tales.
“The use of the Bible as the final authority is bibliolatry (book-worship).” But: All
theories are to be tested by Scripture and Scripture alone (I Thess. 5:21). The Bereans
were commended for this (Acts 17:11). Jesus Himself appealed to the Bible as the final
authority of truth (Matt 4, 22:29; John 10:35). There is no higher authority than God.
Since Scripture is the Word of God, it alone is the highest authority to which we can
appeal. “Thus saith the Lord” and “It is written” settle a matter. The Bible is no “paper
pope”, as Liberals scoff. It is the Word of God.
“The Bible contains the Word of God, but is not the Word of God itself.” But: This
is not taught in the Bible. The Bible says that it is the Word of God, not merely contains
it. A cup can contain coffee without being coffee. The very nature of Scripture is that it
is the very Word of God, not the word of Man (cf. I Thess. 2:13).
Page 94 of 176