What if the Bible is not true?

There are many people in this world that deny the truth of God's word. There are many that believe none of it is true. There are others that choose that some accounts are true and that other accounts are not true.  So what does one believe? Just because many people believe the Bible is not true does not invalidate its truth. And just because someone believes something is true when it is not will never make it objectively true.

We have many people today making the declaration that, "Truth is relative. There is no absolute truth!" Those that make that bold unwise claim have not taken the time to consider that that is a self-refuting statement - a strawman. Let me prove what I mean. For one to say that there is no absolute truth is to deny their own statement is absolutely true. Let me explain further: To say there is no absolute truth means that one cannot say there is no absolute truth. To do so is to contradict oneself. 

Wait a minute! What? 

Alright, let me hit it again okay? To say there is no such thing as absolute truth is an absolutely true statement in the sense that the statement was uttered even though the statement itself is not true. 

Uhhh....come again?!

Still confused? I'm still not making sense? Let me break it down.

Its absolutely true the statement there is no absolute truth was made, but the statement, in essence, is a lie. Why? Because two plus two equals four right? That is an absolutely true statement without a doubt.  No one will deny that equation. Let me provide another example of the reality of a statement being true and false at the same time. In Matthew 11:19 we read, "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, behold a man glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners...

Now it is absolutely true that these accusations were hurled at Jesus, but the part about Him being a glutton and a drunk is not true at all. So truth can never be relative or subjective. Because if they can, then each person can manufacture and concoct any story they want and it would be accepted as truth. Fake news would not be fake news anymore in a truth-is-relative universe. Why? The truth would subjectively be in the eyes of the beholder.

What would be the ramifications of our world and existence if the Bible, God's Word is not true? Absolutely nothing in this world would matter. Absolutely nothing would make sense. We might as well be living in a dream world, a virtual reality like the Matrix. We would not know the difference between reality and fantasy. It would not matter anyway because nothing we experience would be true except in each individual's mind. Oh...wait a minute - If one does not exist you can never have a mind to even think! You wouldn't know if you really existed or not. Your parents would not be your parents. There wouldn't be any such things as parents. There would be no falling in love, sharing a kiss, no sunshine, no moonlight, no holding of hands, walking along the beach. No sweet music, no laughter. No awareness of right and wrong. 

You get the idea. Life, as we know it now, could never exist. 

Yet all these things do exist and so much more because the Bible is a reality and it is true! God's Word explains the meaning of our existence: Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Verse 26 of the same chapter tells us God made man in His own image. It is astounding to me how haters of God and His Word continue to attack that central truth. They rather us believe that a force called evolution caused this vast universe to come into being. Nonsense! Evil men would rather believe an impersonal force created all things instead of a personal being named God so that they do not have to answer to Him. 

An attack on the Bible is a personal attack on Almighty God Himself. He is synonymous with His written word (Psalm 138:2). So if you who are reading this article, or someone you know makes the foolish statement that the Bible is not true should read the aforementioned argument in this brief diatribe. If one believes the Bible is not absolute truth, you have proven that you are utterly deceived. The fact you are reading this article proves the Bible is true. How do I know? Simple, you exist. 

To subscribe to the "truth is relative" lie is a reasoning of deconstruction. Its a house of cards on sinking sand with the wind blowing through them. The result, it is absolutely true that sorry foundation will fall and will be blown away.

Can we lose the assurance of our salvation?

This is a very important question. It is also important the reader understand the entire question. If one is truly saved, they cannot lose their salvation. God is the one that grants salvation to all those who believe, and He is the one that secures salvation forever. The scripture says, "He that began a good work in you will complete until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). God is and will always be faithful to His word and to us. From the divine side, God assures and insures our salvation.

But, can we lose the assurance of our salvation? Yes. What does that mean? It means what it says. We lose confidence in the reality that we are saved. What causes this lack of assurance? I would say mainly two things: 1) doubt and 2) sin.

Doubt arises as a result of our lack of knowledge on what the Bible teaches about salvation. When a person's ignorance of the truth of salvation is high, then doubt will also be at a high level. This lack of assurance also produces fear in one's mind and heart. Salvation is still there, but for the one going through the aforementioned trauma, there is no real joy for them.

Sin also will produce a lack of assurance. If one is living in habitual sin, then it is an open door for Satan to interfere and create doubt. That is the time to run to God humbly and repent so you can be restored (1 John 1:9). The Bible commands us to make our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10).
That is divine wisdom because we are frail so God provides us with clear instruction on how to have individual assurance. This is what the apostle Peter instructs us to do: "Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue knowledge, and knowledge with self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins (2 Peter 1:5-9).

That is why we are to make our calling and election sure. This is the beauty of the Word of God, it instructs on how we are to obey its commands specifically and then gives us the marching orders to do it - totally and perfectly unambiguous. God's word is totally opposite of the often inept communication we deal with every day. I believe we are in the poorest communication era of all time despite all our fancy overpriced communication technology.

Getting back to the subject at hand, Christians lose the assurance of their salvation every day. So much so that many believe losing their assurance is equal to losing actual salvation and going to hell.
See why it is important to lean on the immutable Word of God and not our own understanding?

Our feelings often betray us. Child of God you cannot allow that to happen. Here is another command of God we must employ: "Do not be conformed to this world (i.e. the world's evil system), but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (emphasis added) that you may prove what is good, acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2).

Practical assurance is something we must do. God will not do that for us for He has already provided eternal positional assurance. If one desires a victorious Christian life then you must throw off the distractions that are holding you down - mainly our sin and lack of the knowledge of God's Word. When we have gotten rid of every encumbrance, we can live bold, confident, assured lives in Christ.  Our light will shine before God and men so that they can be drawn by God's power and we can give glory to Him.

Goal Planning or Presumption?

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit - yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this and that."

                                                                                                                                       -James 4:13-15

I believe it is a fair supposition that most people in the world do not heed the above admonition. Why? Because they presume on their lives - that they are going to be around to fulfill all their dreams and desires. Please do not get me wrong, I realize everyone is not arrogant when it comes to planning their lives for the future and how they desire for it to go, but I am talking about those that believe that just because they "spoke positivity into the universe" that the universe will return that "positivity" back to them. There is no such thing. Others refer to this as good and bad karma; a brainchild of Hindus and Buddhists. 

Anything anybody does whether they realize it or not is 1) a gift from God or 2) an allowance by God. Anything that is good is a gift from above (James 1:17). God provides good gifts to all despite our sinfulness.

So, back to the idea of goals. Goals are good because it allows us to challenge ourselves so we can work hard to meet certain benchmarks we have set for ourselves. It is wise to plan for the future even though we do not know what the future holds. For me personally, the best type of goals are short term goals not long term. The writer James is warning all against arrogance and presumption on our lives because we do not know what the day will bring. That is why he said we should say, "If the Lord wills we will do this or that."  The opposite of that is arrogance which is evil.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

That question irritates me. Why? Because I do not know what is going to happen an hour from now let alone five years! To me, this is boasting even if it is not with malicious intent. God says this type of boasting is evil. So, how would one answer it? I would answer it this way, "Lord willing If I am fortunate to still be around, hopefully, I will be doing..."

For me, that would be the best reply - it submits our wills to the will of the Father. To ignore God in what we do is once again is presumptuous and evil.

For those of you that believe you can of your own corrupt will plan your life are in for a divine reckoning from God. While it is never wrong to plan ahead, it is indeed evil to do so ignoring the Lord in the process. We are not the ones that cause the night and day to come, so who are we to determine how long we are going to be here? If the Lord will we will do this or that.