Vance Havner said it well: “The Word of God is either absolute or obsolete.”1 As Christians we believe that the Bible is inerrant, infallible, of divine origin, and a book of absolute truth. As a result, the Bible, down through the centuries, has been the only source of truth on all matters that pertain to how we should live. And since the Bible is divine revelation from our perfect God we can take great comfort in knowing that every doctrine and every word is absolute truth. Since God is the author of Scripture we should expect nothing less than perfection.
Over the last 2,000 years man has tried relentlessly to disprove and destroy the Bible and inflict a mortal wound to its accuracy. Many contend that since fallible men wrote the Bible how can we rely on its accuracy. However, this vastly underestimates our infallible God and His ability to supernaturally guide the pens of its human authors. God is perfect and every word of Scripture is absolute truth. If men could prove that there is even one error in the Bible, I believe this would disqualify the entire Bible and make it an obsolete book. J. C. Ryle said it well: “A partially inspired Bible is little better than no Bible at all.”2
And it is just this quality of absolute truthfulness that makes the Bible the only book that is totally unique, indestructible, and transformational in the lives of those who embrace its words and its author. A. T. Pierson in referring to the Bible said: “While other books inform, and some few reform, this one book transforms.”3 Charles Colson added: “The Bible—banned, burned, beloved. More widely read, more frequently attacked than any other book in history. Generations of intellectuals have attempted to discredit it; dictators of every age have outlawed it and executed those who read it. Yet soldiers carry it into battle believing it more powerful than their weapons. Fragments of it smuggled into solitary prison cells have transformed ruthless killers into gentle saints.”4
My friends the only thing that is obsolete about the Bible are the many arguments, that down through the centuries, have attempted to destroy it!
1 The Word of God – Quotations and Illustrations | Precept Austin
2 Microsoft Word – ryle_john_gospel_preface1.doc
3 Jesus is Greater- Session 11- The Transforming Word – Trinity Baptist Church
4 Quote by Charles Colson: “The Bible- banned, burned, beloved. More widely…”