{"id":12481,"date":"2016-08-30T01:00:46","date_gmt":"2016-08-30T08:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/?p=12481"},"modified":"2016-08-22T14:05:26","modified_gmt":"2016-08-22T21:05:26","slug":"the-bible-do-we-actually-believe-what-it-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/2016\/08\/30\/the-bible-do-we-actually-believe-what-it-says\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bible: Do We Actually Believe What it Says?"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Pastor Mark Chin<\/em><\/p>\n

The response to this question by any self-proclaimed conservative evangelical Christian is typically the following: \u201cYes! Absolutely!\u201d However, before anyone can truly answer this question with any degree of integrity, there is another question that needs to be addressed. Have we seriously considered the claims of the Bible?<\/p>\n

The claims of the Bible, if taken at face value, are outrageous \u2013 quite literally, incredible. The Bible claims that its words are the very words of the Creator of the universe \u2013 words breathed out by God Himself. Exodus 24:4 claims that \u201cMoses wrote down all the words of the LORD.\u201d 2 Timothy 3:16 claims that \u201cAll Scripture is breathed out by God \u2026\u201d Genesis 1 claims that the words that proceed from the mouth of God possess the power and authority to create the entire universe out of nothing in 6 literal chronological 24 hour days. Hebrews 4:12 claims that the Bible is a \u201cliving\u201d entity. Isaiah 55:11 claims that the words of the Bible will not return to God empty but will always successfully accomplish God\u2019s purposes for it. 2 Timothy 3:15 claims that the words of the Bible are able to make a person wise for salvation through faith in Christ. Psalm 19 claims that the words of the Bible are perfect, sure, right, and pure and that they revive the soul, make wise the simple, rejoice the heart, and enlighten the eyes. Jesus claims that His words give eternal life. The Bible claims to possess the power and authority, not merely to change, but to recreate and transform our world and our lives. Do we actually believe what the Bible says?<\/p>\n

As a former physician, I used to regularly witness many people\u2019s willingness to sacrificially spend exorbitant amounts of money to purchase and regularly consume medications that claimed far less than what the Bible does. I used to witness many people\u2019s willingness to rise each morning and take that medication without fail. Compliance to a specific medical regimen was frequently tied to confidence and belief in the necessity and benefit of a given medical regimen. Few people take medication regularly that they believe is doing nothing for their lives. Few people take medication merely because they think it\u2019s the right thing to do or because their physician told them to take it. Compliance typically requires some belief in the efficacy of a given treatment. Compliance with a given treatment says much about one\u2019s belief in it. This of course, begs the question: What does our compliance with the Word of God say about our belief in it?<\/p>\n

As a pastor, one of the great heartbreaks is witnessing how neglected the Word of God is in the lives of people who claim to believe it. One of the questions I frequently ask \u201cbelievers\u201d is \u201cHow is your time in the Word?\u201d One of the frequent replies I receive to this question is \u201cPastor, I\u2019ve really been busy lately.\u201d Time in the Word is frequently an afterthought for many professing \u201cbelievers\u201d \u2013 what comes after everything else in my life has been taken care of, what comes when I have time to spare, when nothing else important is going on. When lives get busy or difficult for whatever reason \u2013 work, relationships, family, vacation, illness, sermon preparation, ministry demands \u2013 one of the first things to get kicked to the curb for many professing Christians is their time in the Word (the other thing is prayer). As a pastor, one of the great heartbreaks is witnessing, as D. Martyn Lloyd Jones pointed out in his seminal work, Spiritual Depression<\/em>, how many people in the church, though professing to be \u201cbelievers\u201d, remain discouraged and joyless. But what is even more heartbreaking, as a pastor, is to see how unwilling many struggling Christians are to go to God\u2019s Word consistently for help in their time of need. These trends suggest that we don\u2019t quite believe what the Bible claims \u2013 at least not to the extent that we think we do. Our priorities and compliance frequently tell a different story from our profession of what we believe.<\/p>\n

If we are honest with ourselves, we would admit that spending consistent time in the Word of God is frequently a struggle. Many believe that this is because we lack discipline. Many tell me that it is hard to do so. Some honestly share with me that their time in the Word is dry and uninspiring or that it simply no longer works for them. But if the Bible is truly what it says it is and does what it truly says it does \u2013 then the fundamental struggle is one of faith. Do we really believe what the Bible says is true? If the Bible\u2019s claims are true, then it demands to be set apart and set above all other words or priorities in our life, even as it guarantees a life transformed into the image of Christ by those who truly receive it by faith as the living Word of God. The real secret to a transformative quiet time is not, first and foremost discipline \u2013 though discipline certainly has its place. The real secret is faith \u2013 faith that is a gift from God (Eph 2:8,9) \u2013 faith that comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ. So let\u2019s repent of unbelief and pray for more faith – for ourselves and those who are struggling \u2013 that we might all see and experience the glory of God\u2019s Word in Christ \u2013 that we might actually believe what the Bible says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Pastor Mark Chin The response to this question by any self-proclaimed conservative evangelical Christian is typically the following: \u201cYes! Absolutely!\u201d However, before anyone can truly answer this question with any degree of integrity, there is another question that needs to be addressed. Have we seriously considered the claims of the Bible? The claims of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":469,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastors-corner"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/469"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12481"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12486,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12481\/revisions\/12486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}