1 Thessalonians 2:13 (NIV) And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. In this verse Paul expresses his unceasing gratitude that the Thessalonians had responded with faith when he and his co-workers (us) preached to them. They accepted the message as God’s Word and not the word of men. Paul understood that the Word of God had taken hold of their lives and was producing good fruit.
Psalm 1 illustrates the power of God’s Word in the life of the person who gives it a warm reception. Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers (Psalm 1:1-3 NIV). God’s word causes that person to be “like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season”.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 (NASB) For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of mere men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which also is at work in you who believe.
1 Thessalonians is a book instructing Christians to live in the light of eternity. Having an eternal view of our lives radically changes how we live in this world. The Christians in Thessalonica were going through great trials for their faith . Paul’s concern was that they would not become unsettled, disturbed, or shaken because of the afflictions they were experiencing (1 Thessalonians 3:3). What you see in 1 Thessalonians is how Paul encourages these Christians so that they will not be shaken by the afflictions they are experiencing.
The first way Paul expresses how Christians throughout time will be able to stand firm amidst sufferings and persecutions is by having confidence in the reliability and accuracy of God’s word. Paul thanked God that the Thessalonians had done this. They did not accept the message Paul proclaimed as human words but as the very words of God, which was at work in them, changing them into God’s image. This approach to God’s word changes everything for us (see Hebrews 4:12). When we read and study the Bible, we hold in our hands the very words of God, these are God’s words, not man’s opinions. This is the revealed will of God to us.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Everything we need to know to be saved, everything we need to know to be equipped for every good work is found in the Bible.
The Bible is God’s revelation to humanity. These are not just words. These are not just stories. They are not myths. Every word that you read is from the mind of God. So, when we read God’s word, we should not argue with it. We should not change it. We should not bend it. We must recognize what it is: the revealed will of God to mankind. What God says about our need to have faith and trust in the Lord is critical. We need to hear what God has to say and hold on to those words to maintain our faith.
But how do we know the Bible is accurate and reliable? Well, ultimately it comes down to faith which is being certain and sure of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1) and without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). It means trusting in the Lord with all your heart and not leaning on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). However, there is plenty of evidence to show the accuracy and reliability of the Scriptures.
The Bible is translated from manuscripts. We don’t (at least we don’t think we have) any original manuscripts. We have copies of the manuscripts. In fact, we have thousands of copies of manuscripts. The manuscripts used for translating the Bible were copied by scribes. Scribes were human and made errors. We know there were errors because we can compare different manuscripts and see what the errors are.
How do we account for the errors of the scribes? How do we know what the original said? We can correct errors by comparing the different manuscripts. That is what scholars do. That is what the translators of the Bible did. Let’s look at a very simple illustration using John 3:16 to give us an idea of this.
- C1 – For God so ?oved the world…
- C2 – For God so l?ved the world…
- C3 – For God so lo?ed the world…
- C4 – For God so lov?d the world…
Remember, we don’t have the original of John’s gospel, we have a bunch of copies (manuscripts). As you can see each of the 4 copies in our example has a variant, an error, in this example a letter is missing. The question is, can you reconstruct the original by comparing these 4 copies? Yes. “For God so loved the world.” This example uses four copies but there are many times this and most manuscripts contain fewer variations than this example.
This leads to another important question: Why didn’t God just give us the original? Three Reasons (I’m sure there are many more): The first is faith (Hebrews 11:1; 6), God wants us to completely trust Him (Proverbs 3:5). But what else might people do if they had the original of, let’s say, John’s Gospel? If we had the original, what would people be inclined to do? A lot of folks would be inclined to venerate (worship) it. What is another reason God may not have left us the original documents? Well, if I had the original, what could I do to it? I could change it. But if there are a bunch of copies then everyone will know if I changed my copy. So, by not preserving the original document we can actually preserve the original better.
So, yes, we know the scribes made some errors in transcribing the manuscripts, but we know what these errors are by comparing the different manuscripts and therefore scholars can reconstruct the original and that is what translators do. For example, we have over 6,000 manuscripts of the New Testament books dating back to the 2nd century. By comparing these manuscripts scholars can recreate the original with over 99% accuracy. But what about the 1%? There is no significant doctrine that is affected by any variant. God’s desire in the Scriptures is to communicate an accurate meaning to us, not just mechanically precise words. So, by comparing all the different manuscripts, scholars can reconstruct the original with over 99% accuracy. Scholars, even atheists, agree with the accuracy of the translations. The question then becomes do you believe it or not.
This leads to another important question: How do we know the books in the Bible are divinely inspired and how was it determined which books got in and which ones didn’t? There are plenty of extra-biblical books that have been discovered, a lot of these are contained in what is known as the Apocrypha. These are ancient texts that were not included in the canon. Are these extra-biblical books inspired? Should they be included in the Bible? How is this determined? What about the Dead Sea Scrolls? Let’s look at these questions.
What books should be in the Bible? This is often referred to as the canon. The term canon simply means standard. Who determines this? What’s the standard for a book to be in the Bible? Dr. Bruce Metzger of Princeton University, the top manuscript expert of the 20th century, put it this way: The canon is not an authoritative list of books, it is a list of authoritative books. In other words, men didn’t determine what should be in the canon, men discovered what should be in the canon by applying a standard.
What’s the standard for a book to be in the Bible? Scholars ask the following questions: (1) Was it written by a prophet of God? (2) Was the writer confirmed by acts of God or someone who was confirmed as an eyewitness? (3) Was it accepted by the people of God? By applying strict standards scholars were able to discover what books should be in the Bible. But again, it all comes down to faith and trust. Do you trust God to give us what we need in terms of His revealed will or do you lean upon your own understanding? Do you really think God would allow something that was important to be left out? Do you really believe God would allow something to be included that was not in line with His will?
I believe firmly that the canon is closed since the book of Revelation. The evidence is overwhelming in this regard. Now, that doesn’t mean that some of these extra-biblical texts aren’t useful. They may bring clarity, context, better understanding, and affirmation to the Scriptures. However, anything that claims to be in addition to the Scriptures (divinely inspired) is false. There is no new revelation that is out there or yet to come. If God wanted us to have it, then it is in the Bible, if it is not in the Bible then it is not essential for salvation or living a godly life.
What about the Dead Sea Scrolls? The Dead Sea Scrolls are a set of ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period. They were discovered between 1946 and 1956 in caves on the northern shore of the Dead Sea. There are some variants found in the copies of the Hebrew Scriptures found among the Dead Sea Scrolls when compared to other manuscripts. But we have already seen how variants are dealt with by scholars and no significant doctrine is affected by any variant. The Dead Sea Scrolls actually affirmed the accuracy of the Old Testament translations we already had.
As for those extra-biblical books (the Apocrypha). It is true that the Roman Catholics added some to their version of the Old Testament at the council of Trent (1545-1560). This was done in response to Martin Luther and the reformation. Protestants did not include any of these extra writings to the Old Testament mainly because the Jews did not have them in their canon. The thought was, “If the Jews did not include them in their canon of Old Testament Scriptures, why would we?” While many of these writings are useful for historical context and many help to affirm the Scriptures none of these extra writings met the standard of divinely inspired writings.
It is also true that there are “extra” gospels that have been discovered: The gospel of Thomas, Judas, and Philip…, are some examples. These have been proven to be fraudulent. They were written sometime in the 2nd century and then the author attached the name of an apostle.
The evidence to support the reliability and accuracy of the Bible is overwhelming. From external evidence such as archaeological findings, to the stuff we looked at in this lesson, to internal evidence such as eyewitness accounts, embarrassing stories, and undesigned coincidences, the Bible, we can safely say, is reliable, accurate, and inspired by God. In my opinion, it takes more faith to doubt the reliability and accuracy of the Bible than it does to accept it as God’s revealed Word to mankind. But as with anything, it ultimately comes down to faith. Many a professing Christian has taught themself right into atheism by leaning too much on their own understanding and not having faith in God (see Hebrews 11:6).
1 Peter 3:15 (NIV) But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect… Christians commanded to defend our faith and to do so with gentleness and respect. ANd this would include being able to understand why we believe the Bible to be an accurate and reliable transcript of God’s revealed will to mankind.
But the best sermons are those seen, not heard. Before a non-believer will listen to what you have to say they need to see how you live because a tree is recognized by its fruit (Matthew 12:33). How we live outside of these walls, how we treat others, is the most powerful testimony for our faith because a tree is recognized by its fruit.