Saturday, October 15, 2016

The Bible is the Word of God by Lewis Kiger




I wonder how many of you have ever heard of the Jefferson Bible? It is also known as: “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth.” It was a version of the Bible made by Thomas Jefferson after he left office. Later in life, the retired president took a razor and glue and cut out the parts of the New Testament that he liked and pasted them onto the blank pages of a book, thereby creating his own bible. The Scriptures he believed were authentic and reliable, were compiled and the rest were left out of his version altogether. Some of the more notable absences from his compilation were the miracles of Jesus, the Resurrection, and any text that referred to the deity of Jesus.   

While this may come as a surprise to some of our readers, the sad truth is that there is nothing new about this at all. In fact, in Jeremiah 36:23 we read of a rotten king of Judah by the name of Jehoiakim who took exception to the inspired prophetic rebuke of Jeremiah written on a scroll … so much so that he took a pen knife and cut it up before throwing pieces of it in the fire.

Long have men and women thought they had the same right as these two. Long have the masses sought to take parts of the whole and leave the rest. Sadly, too many people treat the Word of God like a buffet line where you can take what you want and leave the rest.

However, we do not get to pick and choose what we like and what we don’t like. We were given 66 Inspired Books that have been providentially compiled and Divinely preserved that rightly represent who God is.

No one has editorial license over the Inspired page.

What the Bible has to say about certain subjects may not be popular. It may not be well-liked or considered progressive enough, but nonetheless the Bible is the Bible. Moreover, from the first verse to the last, all Scripture is “God-breathed” and is profitable for doctrine, reproof and instruction in righteousness. That applies to “all Scripture,” not just the parts you and I may like.

Should we care more about what society condones or what the Sovereign of the Universe has said? Are we guilty of making excuses for the Bible rather than just believing that an Omniscient God knows better than we? If the Bible is the Bible, should we shy away from preaching on such subjects as: hell, eternity, homosexuality, grace or repentance?

Either the Bible is God’s Word, or we have not heard our Creator speak to us.
Either Genesis 1 is true and God created all things, or else God is a liar and His Word undependable.
Either John 14:6 is correct and Jesus Christ is the Only Way to the Father, or else we have no hope for eternity.
Either the Bible is God’s Word, or there are no moral absolutes and every man may do whatever pleases him.
Either the Bible is God’s Word and we are to read, learn, study and seek to obey its teachings, or we are all free to choose for ourselves what is right.

But I believe the Bible is God’s Word. And, as such, has the Divine prerogative to tell us all how to live. The Word of God has both blessing and cursing, both holy wrath and gracious forgiveness, and each should be taught and preached with equal fervor.

None of us have the divine right to cut out parts and pieces of the Word of God. Kings do not. Presidents do not. Preacher and pastors do not. Those of us who write for this paper don’t have license to cut out or leave off parts and pieces of verses that do not align with our thoughts.

Long after the mortal flesh of King Jehoiakim has rotted away … long after Thomas Jefferson’s own version of the Bible has disintegrated into nothing but dust … the Eternal Word of the Living God will remain. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of God abides forever. (Isaiah 40:8)

The Bible is God’s Word. It is God’s inspired, infallible and inerrant Word and it may be trusted to make us wise unto salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Pastor Lewis Kiger

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