How To Love God's Word More

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How Do We Love The Bible?

Introduction

1. We _Study_ the Bible. 2 Timothy 2:15

A. We study because There’s a correct and incorrect way to _interpret_ and apply God’s Word.

2 Tim. 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

B. We Study Because it is _profitable_ in making decisions. Psalm 119:99 “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.”

C. We Study because it helps us grow in _holiness_. John 17:17, Jesus, as a likely Midrash on 2 Sam. 7:28, said “Sanctify them in the truth; your Word is truth.”

Question: why is it then that we can’t just memorize a verse on worry, and never worry again? There are a few reasons for this.

Reason #1: We misunderstand our sin.

The problem with sin, fundamentally, is not what we do, don’t do, believe, or not believe. It’s actually worse than that. The problem is who we are. And who we are will not and can not be fixed until we are remade. This is what we call total depravity, which means the corruption extends into our very nature. One Theologian observes “men are as they are here described not merely by the defect of depraved custom, but also by depravity of nature.” Romans 3:9-18.

Reason #2: We Misunderstand God’s Word.

The Bible is not magical. God’s word holds reality together (Col. 1:15-17), God’s word is the code of existence (John 1:1), God’s word is what supplies life and accomplishes God’s will (John 1:3). The thing is, this can be fast and immediate, or it can be gradual and take a long, long time. For the Christian, it is some of both (Ro. 8:22).

Reason #3: We Misunderstand Sanctification.

Sanctification is never experienced fully in this life. Psalm 130:3-5; Eccl. 7:20; 1 John 1:8-10). It’s even worse than this–nobody achieves full sanctification in any one area. James 3:2 “For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.”

2. We _Trust_ The Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is God-breathed.”

• The Scripture comes from God, God is certainly no liar! (Num. 23:19).

Common Objections:

A. Supposed Contradictions:

—Taken from www.atheist.com—

“The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father…” — Ezekiel 18:20

“I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation…” — Exodus 20:5

i. This was such a popular proverb in that day that it is also quoted in Jeremiah 31:29-30, and in a similar form in Lamentations 5:7.

The Answer: Consequences impact our children for generations either good or bad. But God does not hold children to account for the sins of their parents. The sins of parents obviously do, however, impact their children in many ways.

B. Evolution

I. Evolutionary Theory proposes a sudden existence from either nothing, matter is eternal, or there are multiple universes that sort of “spilled over” and created this one, called the “multiverse theory,” or the “spermatic theory,” which is that aliens created us.

Answer: The Universe Keeps Getting Older and Older. “Although previous assessments estimated the moon as over 4.42 billion years old, the new study has discovered it is 4.46 billion years old — 40 million years older than previously thought.”

C. The “Telephone” Argument states it is difficult to trust a document handed down over the years as it is potentially corrupted and changed.

----See Bulletin Insert---

Conclusion: We Love God’s Word by reading it, studying it, trusting it, and obeying it.

Author Date Written Earliest Copy Time between original & copy Number of Copies Accuracy of Copies

Pliny A.D. 61-113 A.D. 850 750 yrs 7 —-

Plato 427-347 B.C. A.D. 900 1200 yrs 7 —-

Herodotus 480-425 B.C. A.D. 900 1300 yrs 8 —-

Suetonius A.D. 75-160 A.D. 950 800 yrs 8 —-

Thucydides 460-400 B.C. A.D. 900 1300 yrs 8 —-

Euripides 480-406 B.C. A.D. 1100 1300 yrs 9 —-

Aristophanes 450-385 B.C. A.D. 900 1200 10 —-

Caesar 100-44 B.C. A.D. 900 1000 10 —-

Livy 59 BC-AD 17 —- ??? 20 —-

Tacitus circa A.D. 100 A.D. 1100 1000 yrs 20 —-

Aristotle 384-322 B.C. A.D. 1100 1400 49 —-

Sophocles 496-406 B.C. A.D. 1000 1400 yrs 193 —-

Homer (Iliad) 900 B.C. 400 B.C. 500 yrs 643 95%

New

Testament 1st Cent. A.D. (A.D. 50-100) 2nd Cent. A.D.

(c. A.D. 130 f.) less than 100 years 5600 99.5%

Source: https://carm.org/about-the-bible/manuscript-evidence-for-superior-new-testament-reliability/

D. Archaeological and historical evidence

i. The Flood

ii. Tower of Babel

iii. Nation of Israel