The Role of the Bible​ - 260204

SPEAKER A Hello, I'm Rod Butler. Welcome to Let God Speak. In 2016, the Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year was "post-truth." The definition was: "Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief." In other words, facts are secondary, or even irrelevant, when they conflict with what people want to believe. Welcome to the post-truth world. Truth is no longer absolute. Everyone could have their own truth based upon their own worldview. They can't be called out as being wrong. Stay with us as we discuss why it is vitally important to know objective truth and the role of the Bible in revealing truth. On our panel today we have Corinne Knopper and John Kosmeier. Welcome. SPEAKER B Thank you. SPEAKER A Before we commence our discussion, let's have a word of prayer. Gracious Father, we want to thank you, Lord, for the Bible. We thank you for the truth that it reveals. And as we have this discussion now, we ask for the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us, and may the viewers also understand the importance of the Bible. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, saying we live in a post-truth world is a shorthand way of expressing how fractured, emotion-dominated, and distrustful public discourse has become in the digital age. Winning the narrative matters more than aligning with veritable or verifiable reality and facts. In 2017, Time magazine featured the headline, "Is Truth Dead?" The very idea of truth itself has decayed to such an extent that many younger people do not know what truth is anymore. Popular culture has no measuring stick, no foundation that remains constant, to be dependent upon. But there is a foundation, and that foundation is the Bible. So Corinne, to start our discussion, what makes the Bible different from all the other books? SPEAKER C The Bible says and claims that it's inspired of God, and we can prove that by reading in our Bibles in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16: All scripture is given by inspiration of of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. And I took note, it says all Scripture. It doesn't just say here or there, it says all Scripture. So when Paul was writing to Timothy, the only Scripture they had was like we have at the beginning of our Bible, the Old Testament, and every portion of that Old Testament was inspired by God. Today we're blessed, we also have the New Testament and that is also inspired. SPEAKER A Yeah, the whole, the whole Bible is inspired. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER A So John, what can you say about the makeup of the Bible? SPEAKER B The makeup of the Bible is one book that has two major sections in it. It was, the first half was written before Christ And that has 39 books in it. And the last part is called the New Testament, which are things that have happened after Christ. And that's 27 chapters. So there's 66 books in this one compilation. And it has at least 40 authors, as well as The time period over which it was written, 1,500 years in 3 different languages. And so it's been copied in secret, it's been smuggled, it's been banned. It is the most published book in the world in any language. And so it's an amazing, book. It's unique. SPEAKER A Yes, it's certainly a very special book, Corinne. Just on that point, you know, 1,500 years to produce the Bible, to all the parts that make the Bible up. How is it possible to have a book over that period of time put together that's interconnecting, that doesn't contradict itself, that says the same theme? How's that possible? SPEAKER C The only way that could happen is because it's all inspired by God. So that the truth carries through all the way through. And we can read that. 2 Peter 1:21 tells us just a little bit more about that. And it says, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. And it's clear from those phrases that we often hear, "Thus says the Lord," and "The mouth of the Lord has spoken." And it has to be the Holy Spirit. Like it says here, the Holy Spirit is guiding all the writers' minds so that it's all kept in harmony. There's no difference. SPEAKER A So what you're saying is the Holy Spirit guided their minds, but they put it in their own way, their own sort of contextual setting and so forth. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER A Okay. John, it says the Bible is the Word of God. What does it mean, the Word of God? SPEAKER B Fortunately, the Bible explains itself and it gives us a clue here in Hebrews, the book of Hebrews, that's in the New Testament. And it's chapter 4 and verse 12. And it says, and I'm reading from the New King James Version, Notice I said the New King James Version. There are many different kinds of versions because it's been spread over such a long time. But here in our language of today, verse 12 of Hebrews 4, it says, "For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joint and marrow. It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. This is not just a book. This is information that touches our hearts and our lives, and it's done through the work of the complete author, and that's the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER A So, Corinne, with that, with that in mind, what are the implications of it saying it's a living word and it's sharper than any two-edged sword. What does that mean? What does that speak to us to say? SPEAKER C To me it's saying that the Bible is speaking to all of us, not just to me, and we can read it from way back, as far back as God's creation and the speaking, the power of that speech that brought the world into existence in Genesis. And even many, many decades later, Psalmist David, he wrote about about it too. And we're going to look at Psalm 33:6, just to see this, what he says, "By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." And that's what is said here in the Old Testament. But when we want to go a little bit further, and does it say in the New Testament? Oh yes, it does, because we find the story of God's Word, bringing Lazarus back to life, giving breath. And so we'll go there, and that's in John chapter 11. And when we look at verse 43 and 44 as well. Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth! And he who had died came out, bound hand and foot with the gravecloths, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. And Jesus said to them, 'Loose him and let him go.' And to me, that is God's Word bringing life to somebody. SPEAKER A And those actual words that God used are written in the Bible for us to reread. SPEAKER C Yes, they're written in the Bible for us, yes. SPEAKER A So John, if the Bible describes itself as being alive, as it does in Hebrews 4:12, How then should we, we act upon what it says for us to do? How does it change us? SPEAKER B If we follow what it says and we become obedient to the Holy Spirit, what happens is explained in John 6:63. It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you They are Spirit and they are life. And so by using the Scriptures, we are actually listening to what God has to say to us, and that changes our lives. When you go to Peter, and if any man needed his life changed, it was Peter. And toward the end of his life, he wrote the two books And here in 1 Peter 1:23, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and abides forever. And so here, the, the Bible speaks to our hearts and it teaches us real fundamental truth. SPEAKER A So those words which the Spirit is saying, again, they're words we can read, they apply to us directly, which can change us. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER A That's how the word, the word, the written word can change us. It's more than just ink and paper. This is a living book, which is quite amazing. Now, as we said in the intro to the program, we live in a post-truth world. Does the Bible claim to be truth? SPEAKER C Yes, the Bible does in many, many places. It's the Word of God, because God knows everything. And we're told that in so many places. And I'll take you just to one of them. And it's Titus 1:2, "In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began." So God has promised and He doesn't tell lies. It's always the truth. As the Bible says, and it's absolute truth. If it wasn't in the Bible, it's not true. This is true. SPEAKER A And you know, God knows everything. So if God knows everything, and with that knowledge of everything can never tell a lie, everything God said has to be truth and has to be absolute truth, doesn't it? SPEAKER C Absolutely. SPEAKER A By definition. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER A Now the Bible also claims to be pure, and I just want to read a verse here. I'm going to read Proverbs chapter 30, verses 5 and 6. And chapter 30, verses 5 and 6 says: Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. Now that word 'pure' in the Hebrew refers to the refining process of smelting ores to make them pure. So we're talking the Word of God being pure, with no impurities. It's pure. And it also says that if we try to add to this purity, we're liars, we're lying. So again, it's highlighting that this is the source of absolute truth, which is quite revealing. Now, John, just on that, does the Bible change? Does truth change? SPEAKER B How can it when God never changes? SPEAKER C No. SPEAKER B And so His Word has been written down so that we can understand it and that we can believe it and that we can be certain of it. Jesus, just before He went to the cross, in talking about Himself, because Jesus had to explain Himself to other people all the time, And here in John 14:6, Jesus said to him, to Thomas the doubter, the unbeliever. He was a man that was hard to convince of anything. But He said to Thomas, I am the way. Jesus is the way. He is the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. And so Jesus made it abundantly clear that, that He wasn't just like any other man, but He, that truth was found in Him. And when you go to John chapter 17, the same book, just a few pages on, John chapter 17 and verse 17, "Sanctify them by Your truth." Now He brings in what we're talking about today, Your word is truth because it's your Word that explains to us what the real truth, and that is Jesus, His life is like. SPEAKER A So Corinne, Jesus represents the truth and is the truth. Does Jesus change? Does He change His mind? SPEAKER C No, because the Word of God does not change. The Word of God is here for us. It's written down and This is told to us in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. And I'll go to the Old Testament first. The last book of that is Malachi, and that's chapter 3. We'll have a look at and verse 6. For I am the Lord, I do not change. Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. And God's not changed in the end of the first, the Old Testament. And then we can go further over over and go into New Testament because the New Testament has that as well in Hebrews. And Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 8 says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And however, our understanding of truth can change because we keep learning. We're going to keep learning with the knowledge of God that He's given to us in His Word. And the Bible alone is the foundation of truth. It's absolute. There's not variables in it. SPEAKER A That's interesting because some people will say, well, you know, the Bible, people interpret it different ways, but the Bible has one message. People may have different interpretations because they're wrong, and as we grow more in knowledge of the Bible, we can understand more and get, get that message right. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER A So, so, John, if the Bible is truth, Wouldn't the devil have an attack against the Bible? How does he go about doing this? SPEAKER B One of the ways in which we can deal with the Bible situation is to see just how much that book has been fought against, has been brought down, has been made invalid. By all the methods that this world can improvise. And so when you want to get rid of something, you have a pretty good go at getting rid of it. And here the Bible is a book that, first of all, they hid it in a foreign language. We don't speak the Greek and the Hebrew. And they aren't Aramaic any longer. They're dead languages. But the Bible has survived. And then nobody could read it because there were hardly any copies around. And so we went into the Dark Ages. And then you come out of there because the printing press came and started to produce the Bibles until it becomes the most produced book every year. Through the printing press. And so the devil then has to find ways of keeping people so busy, so occupied with other things that they don't read the Bible. So it's being attacked all the time. And this is where through business, apathy, tiredness, doubt. One author wrote that he invented every device to engross the mind. And we see that today. SPEAKER A We do. People are very— SPEAKER B but it's imperative that we spend time reading God's Word, the Bible, because that's how we find out about God and how our lives can be changed to the positive. And the absolute standard becomes the measure by which we live our life from day to day. SPEAKER A Well, let's talk about that further. Corinne, what do we do to safeguard ourselves against these attacks? SPEAKER C [Speaker:DR. JEANETTE] Well, I look at the story of what Jesus did in the wilderness. He quoted scripture to, when Satan came to him. And that was a terrifying time back then. But we can learn a little bit more. The Bible teaches us more each time. And Ephesians 6, verse 17 says how we can help ourselves with God's big help. "And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." If we don't have that sword, the Word of God, then we have a weak humanness which just cannot do it. God alone can help us with these ways of getting through it because Satan knows what prayer is and he knows that Bible study are the most powerful weapons there are for each of us, for humanity to use. Use against him with God's Word so much in place in our hearts. SPEAKER A Yeah, that's, that's our safeguard, isn't it? Having that Word of God in our mind so when temptations come we can quote Scripture and dismiss it. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER A I want to go back now to 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and we'll read chapter 3 and verse 15. And I have a question for you on that John, and that says, "And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." Now that term, "wise unto salvation," why is it so critical to be wise unto salvation? SPEAKER B Salvation is what we need so that we can live on into the life to come. And what makes us wise unto salvation, it's the roadmap of how to find and then to live on the road to salvation. And that comes through the story of Jesus because that is our roadmap. The way He lived is the way that we can live. SPEAKER A And just on that point, wise unto salvation, it doesn't mean that we have to go to university and do, you know, all these degrees, we can pick up our Bible and just from the Bible it can tell us how to be wise unto salvation. This can be the source of our wisdom for salvation. Okay, I want to go now and just look at 2 Timothy 3:16 again. We looked at that earlier. SPEAKER C Yeah. SPEAKER A Because it says here, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Why is it profitable? SPEAKER C Oh, it's very profitable because it means that the Word of God reveals the precise details for us to follow, how mankind can be wise unto salvation. And knowing all these details should be our highest priority, to be able to absolutely know the Word of God. SPEAKER A Well, when we go on to those four aspects, John, if you could just sort of elaborate on these. We have: is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. What would you say about what it means for doctrine and reproof? SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER A How would you unpack that? SPEAKER B The doctrines are the teachings of the Bible, and then all the teachings that man needs to know for salvation are found in the Bible. We do not need other writings from other sources. Doctrines are vitally important for us And the Scripture reveals truth. So we go back to the Bible. The second point, reproof, is that the Bible contains all the information to refute error in our behavior and beliefs. So it points out to us where we go wrong. And so it's very profitable because now we know what is right and what is wrong, and we can act accordingly. It doesn't matter what false teaching is presented, we know that it's false and we can reject it. It makes our living far more simple than what it was. SPEAKER A Yeah, that's very interesting. Corinne, just following on from what John said then, how would you then say the definition for correction and for instruction in righteousness? SPEAKER C When we read our Bible, we're able to compare how we're actually living our lives. And we have an opportunity then to change course, to correct ourselves. It's not enough to just realize we're making mistakes and what they are, but it's also how to understand and correct those ways to get a new course and determine the right direction to take. And then for instruction in righteousness, it means that the Bible trains us. Nurtures us to be able to grow more, be Christlike, follow as you said, John, to be Christlike in our walk. And that's what we call sanctification. SPEAKER A So the role of the Bible is to guide us, it's to teach us, it's to correct us, it's to instruct us to, to be more mature in our understanding, for us to grow in our, in our walk with the Lord. Let's just read verse 17. It says, And the question I've got for you, John, is, you know, this— how would you summarize the goal of the Scriptures? Verse 17 says that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. How would you put that in everyday language? SPEAKER B Yes, it gives us the concept of perfection, the life that God wants and needs us to live. He has no hands but our hands. He has no feet but our feet. But then we say, uh, Lord, what do we do? And so the Bible becomes the method whereby we are taught how to do good works. SPEAKER A Indeed, indeed. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER A So, you know, our discussion today, in the opening we said how important it was to have absolute truth, to know there is an absolute truth. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER A The truth isn't relative, that your truth is your truth and my truth is my truth. There is an absolute truth. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER A Why is it important then, Corinne, for us to have an absolute truth, a knowledge there is an absolute truth? SPEAKER C Well, we have to with all the changes in society today. When you look around the world and the horrors that are going on in it, we have to understand that. And Matthew does tell us all about this in Matthew 24:24. And when we go there, he says, for false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive "if possible, even the elect," those who know that who God is. And today you look at all the different doctrines that are blowing around the world and how it's affecting all the churches. And we need to know that there is absolute truth. We have to be rooted in it. We have to be grounded in it so that we are not deceived. SPEAKER A Indeed, and just in closing, John, if I can just throw to you, we live in a world of ecumenicalism, you know, everyone's sort of getting together. It sounds good, but do we need to be careful in just joining up with others? SPEAKER B Very careful, and this is where once again the Bible becomes our guide. In 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 14, what you were saying is what it says, take heed to yourself And to the doctrine, continue in them. For in doing this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you. In verse 1, it says, Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from faith, giving heed to the deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. Let's not do that. Let's follow God's Word. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER B And what He's outlined. And then we'll be a blessing to ourselves, our families, and the people that for whom we work. SPEAKER C Amen. SPEAKER A Because Paul also says, for every wind of doctrine is blowing, and we need to know there's only one absolute source, and that's through Jesus Christ as the source of our salvation, so we can be wise for salvation. Thank you, John. Thank you, Corinne. That's all we've got time for today. Well, truth is not dead. There is an absolute truth. It's God's Word, the Bible. And our salvation depends on it, knowing this truth and following it. It doesn't change and must be our foundation as we chart our course through these last days. God's Word is living and powerful, and God is calling for you to let it speak to your heart, to encourage you, to challenge and change you, and to give you guidance and hope. We're glad you joined us today on Let God Speak. Remember, all past programs plus teachers' notes are available on our website 3ABNaustralia.org.au. Email us on [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you. Tell your friends about the program and tune in next week and join us again for another program of Let God Speak. And God bless SPEAKER B You have been listening to let God speak, a production of 3ABN Australia television. To catch up on past programmes, please visit 3abnaustralia.org.au. Call us in Australia on 02 4973 3456. Or email [email protected]. we'd love to hear from you.