Is God’s Word true and can we trust it? Does the Bible have any errors?
Because God is true therefore His Word is true. And because His Word is true it makes good on its claims. It is without error. We can trust the Bible.
The Truthfulness of God
We know we can trust the Bible because it comes from God. As we looked at in our lesson on the inspiration of scripture, God is the ultimate author of Scripture and therefore the Bible is inspired by God. What do we know about the Author of the Bible?
God is true. The Apostle Paul teaches in Titus 1:2 that God cannot lie. The author of Hebrews uses even stronger language when he says it is impossible for God to lie (Heb. 6:18). This is not just a New Testament truth it is also revealed in the Old Testament. “God is not a man, that he should lie.” (Num. 23:19) Moses makes a comparison here. It is consistent with the nature of man that he should lie, but not so with God.
Jesus, during His conversation with His disciples in the upper room the night before His death, told them that He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn. 14:6).
The Bible Claims to be True
Since the Bible is God’s Word and God cannot lie we can conclude that God’s Word is true. “The absolute truthfulness of the Bible follows from its… inspiration by God.” (Beeke and Smalley, Reformed Systematic Theology Vol. 1)
Scripture makes two claims about itself. First, as we’ve been looking at, God is true. Second, the Bible claims that it is true.
The Bible uses different words to teach us that it is true. First is the word true or truth itself. An examination of the Psalms shows this.
- “The rules of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.” (Ps. 19:9)
- “Your law is true.” (Ps. 119:142)
- “All your commandments are true.” (Ps. 119:151)
- “The sum of your word is truth.” (Ps. 119:160)
- “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.” (Prov. 30:5)
A second word the Bible uses to claim its truthfulness is righteous. “The rules of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.” (Ps. 19:9). If something is false then it cannot be righteous. It is not possible to be right and wrong at the same time. It’s either one or the other.
The final word we will look at is the word pure. “The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground seven times” (Ps. 12:6). The argument for the rules of the Lord being righteous follows here. God’s Word cannot be pure and impure at the same time. Notice that the Psalm says the words of God. This speaks to the completeness of God’s Word.
The Bible Makes Good on its Claims
We can summarize the truthfulness of Scripture by saying that the Bible makes good on its claims. It is without error. We can trust it. In his farewell address, to the people of Israel Joshua said, “not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.” (Josh. 23:14)
The claims of Scripture will be proven true because these claims are from a God who cannot lie. It is impossible for God to be inaccurate. He does not possess the ability to lie. Why does this matter?
The Bible makes good on its claims. It is without error. We can trust the Bible.
How do we study the Bible? Well, that’s what we’re going to look at in our series on How to study the Bible. We look forward to you joining us in that series.
May God open our eyes to behold wondrous things in His Word.