I remember hearing a woman say she finally met “Mr. Right”. Unfortunately, she soon after found out his first name was “Always”! I’m not going that direction with this month’s question, so you can breathe a sigh of relief.
We recently completed our first-ever live-stream broadcast, which included taking questions during the show. One of the viewers submitted the question we are using as this month’s “Question of the Month”. You can see the brief answer I gave in the following video clip taken directly from our broadcast.
Next, we’ll build on this video response a bit further.
I remember an interesting interaction while I was in my senior year of college (at the state university, having transferred from a Christian college the year prior). In addition to all my physics and math classes, I also had to take a sociology class. One day I was in the professor’s office and somehow the topic of morality came up. I’ll never forget him saying, with all seriousness, he believed society had degerated as far as it would go morally and that it would never get any worse… it had peeked (or more accurately, “bottomed-out”). He really, serously believed we would not see any more moral decline as a nation. That was 31 years ago! Yes, things were bad back then, morally-speaking, but nowhere near where we are today. It is not my intention to write a commentary on the moral state of mankind but more so to draw attention to the fact that the world we are living in is constantly changing, morally, technologically, economically, and in many, many other ways. They say the only thing that stays the same is… change!
In light of this, how are we to view the Bible? Maybe it was good “for its time”, but has it outlived its usefulness? Is it reasonable to think we can turn to Scripture and use it as a guide in a world that is so different from the world from which it was produced?
The answer to these questions depends on your view of the Bible. Do you truly believe it is the inspired, inerrant Word of God, or do you have a slightly (or significantly) less elevated view of Scripture?
We could never do it proper justice, but let’s take a brief look at what Scirpture says, including statements it makes about itself:
Even though the world around us may be changing, God does not change.
“For I am the Lord, I change not.” (Malachi 3:6)
God knows the beginning from the end, so He is not limited to addressing just a small, ancient portion of history:
“…for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isaiah 46:9-10)
God is the ultimate author of all Scripture. Therefore, it is all trustworthy:
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
God’s Word is powerful & effective:
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)
God’s Word stands forever:
“But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.” (1 Peter 1:25)
“For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” (Psalm 119:89)
“Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever.” (Psalm 119:152)
“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” (Isaiah 40:8)
“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:18)
God’s Word is complete (not needing to be updated or modified):
“Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.” (Deuteronomy 4:2)
As mankind changes, his standards certainly trend towards moving further and further away from God, not closer. That is due to his fallen sinful nature. We should not be judging God by our ever-changing mindset and propensity towards “doing things our way”, but rather, we should be judging ourselves by God’s steadfast character as revealed to us in His Holy Word.
For a Christian, we can pray for the Holy Spirit to help us in our endeavor to honor God in all we do. However, this is not something the unsaved strive for or have any hope of doing on their own. We (mankind in general) cannot “clean ourselves up” enough to please God. We are completely reliant upon Him to give us a complete makeover, once we repent of our sins and place our trust in Jesus Christ.
We could approach this questions from other angles as well and will perhaps do so in future articles.
