Personal Value of the Bible

 Introduction

 the Bible: What Is It Good For?

            Back when I was a freshman in college there was a song on the radio named “War.” It posed the question: “War! What is it good for?”

           A Reasonable Question

             I think it is reasonable to pose the same question about the Bible. While the Bible has great value in many areas, we are going to look at only one area in this section. The Bible is the greatest piece of literature ever written. It is the most valuable history book by far. It is scientifically accurate, and possibly the most intriguing fact is that it is 100% prophetically accurate. If a person should go to a school that does not give the Bible the first place of prominence as a piece of literature and the primary source in historical studies, those who graduate from such a school would have a woefully deficient education. Now, let us see what the most important value of the Bible is.

Why the Bible Is so Valuable

            The Bible! What is it good for? The Bible’s greatest value is the fact that it has great personal value. Some books may revolutionize, but the Bible renews us. Some books reform, but the Bible transforms. Many personal problems are solved in the Bible. Guilt, relational problems, addictions, advice on decision-making, spousal choice and relationships, the basic purpose in life, and many other problems are addressed in the pages of the Bible. In fact it is safe to say that the Bible has changed more people’s lives for the better than any other physical thing in history.

Deliverance from Fear of Death

            One of the main things the Bible does is it delivers us from fear. It helps us with many of our fears, but initially and primarily it delivers us from the fear  of  death.  Fear  of  death  is behind phobias, paranoia, psychosis, and neurosis. If we could do away with fear of death, many emotional problems would be solved as well.

In John 8:36 God says, “If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

Some years back, we had our roof replaced. When the contractors took the old roof off, they threw the old roofing onto the ground around the house. They were supposed to come back and use a big magnet to get up all of the roofing nails out of the yard. They never came back as they agreed to do. After that, many times when I would go outside, I would end up prying a roofing nail out of the bottom of my shoe. Whenever I would go outside I was free to go barefoot, but as soon as the fear of stepping on a roofing nail entered, I suddenly had the restrictions of wearing shoes. That is really the way it is with the spiritual life. As soon as fear enters the spiritual life, suddenly you have to put on restrictions. God says, “I want to free you from that.”

The Worst Fear of Mankind

            God says in II Corinthians 3:17: “Now the Lord is, that spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.” Therefore, where there is bondage, there must not be the spirit of the Lord. It was not the spirit of the Lord that put those nails out in that yard. It was the negligence of man. God gave us the grass and gave us the material to make the nails. That is an awful lot like the way the spiritual life is. In Hebrews 2:15 God says that He came “To deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” The worst fear of mankind is fear of death. We have got all kinds of fears, but usually they boil down to fear of death or fear of what happens after we die. We have phobias. Why is that? It is because we are afraid we will die. We are afraid of heights, because we are afraid of falling and killing ourselves, or we are afraid of open spaces, because we are afraid something is “out there.” We are  afraid  of  spiders,  because  we are afraid they will bite us and kill us. Everything, basically, has to do with fear of death. Then fear of death sometimes leads us to fear things that happen after we die. We wonder whether we will go to hell or not. The fear of death can lead to more abnormalities. We can become paranoid. Paranoia is thinking everything or everybody is against us or out to get us. That can lead to even further problems of psychosis where we, basically, become a basket case. Eventually, there is neurosis where we, actually, begin to have physical problems and sickness because of our spiritual deficiency or our fear. Well, God came to free us from fear of death.

           HOW TO BE FREE FROM FEAR OF DEATH

            There is only one way that I know of to free somebody from fear of death. Give them the absolute certainty of where they are going when they die.

What Causes Fear of Death?

            This fear of death is, actually, played upon and is exacerbated by religion, because religion not only makes us afraid of dying, if we are depending on our own good works either to save us or keep us saved from hell, religion makes us afraid of what happens after we die as well. We are taught, according to most religions, that if we do not work hard enough or do not stop enough sinning, then we are going to go to hell. So we keep looking at ourselves to guess whether or not we have done enough, or to consider whether or not we have stopped sinning enough. That is like putting binders on your feet in order to keep from stepping on the nails, and the nails are inserted by man’s religion.

            This is even true of the Christian religion. I use the term “religion,” because true biblical Christianity is not a religion. It is a faith. However, even the Christian religion brings people into bondage, but it adds something else. Fear of death causes paranoia   and   other   problems,   but  then  you  have additional problems introduced by religion such as what happens after death as well.

            In John 3:16-19 God says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave us only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.”

            The indication in verses 19 through 21 is men are afraid of God and His way of salvation, because of what they think God says. They are afraid God will reprove them, because their works are not good enough, or they are afraid that their sins are too bad. Let me tell you, our works are definitely not good enough, and our sins indeed are too bad. If salvation has anything at all to do with our own behavior, then we are warranted in our phobia of death and religion. Eternal life in heaven has nothing to do with what we do. Salvation is solely accomplished by God’s person and His provision. It is all Godward. We must look to Him.

Verse 19 says, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light.” Why? Why did they love darkness rather than light?  “Because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest…” This is what mankind fears. It says, “Lest his deeds will be reproved!” That is speaking of the fear that we will find out that we are not good enough to get to heaven. Well, our fear would be right, because we are not good enough to get to heaven by what we do, but watch what He says in the next verse.

“But he that doeth truth.” When a person “comes to the light” he can see that his deeds are not good enough to get him to heaven, then he can see that the work of salvation must be “wrought in God.”

“Wrought” means “worked.” Wrought iron is worked iron. So we must understand that salvation is worked by God. As long as you are looking at your own works and your own goodness to obtain your salvation, you are not depending on the work of Christ, but as soon as you realize that you are not good enough to earn salvation, and you look only and completely to Jesus Christ, and you do not consider what you have done or have not done for salvation, then you do not have to worry, because He is perfect and He has finished the job. It is because of what most people think the Christian religion is saying, that they reject what they think the Bible is saying.

Jesus came to deliver us from this bondage of fear of death. What do we have to do to be delivered from the bondage to fear of death?

In John 3:18 God says, “He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

At first, we are in bondage to fear of death. So, we are to believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Then we are delivered from fear of death by knowing we are going to heaven.

I John 5:13 God says, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life.” You do not have to hope. You can know.

“Well, maybe I will make it after all.” No, it is not maybe, because you would still fear death or what happens afterward.

“Well, I guess I’m going.” If you had to guess then you still would fear death. I am not saying we look forward to what it takes to die. I am not really dreading death itself, because I know I am going to heaven. That is what it is telling us right there. We can know that we are going to heaven.

“I wish I could know.” This verse does not say you can wish. It says we can no know.

Notice the word “have.” When is that? Is that in the future? No, That is now. We have it now. If I know I have it, and I have it now, then I do not have to worry about trying to get it later or what happens between now and later. That is because I have got it now, and it is eternal so I cannot lose it.

What if after ten years you turn away from the Lord and you lost it? Then it would be only ten years life, but God did not give us ten years life. He gave us eternal life. We have it now. No matter what happens in the future, I know I have eternal life. If I know I have eternal life, which is life forever with God, then I do not have to worry about being separated from God in eternal death in the lake fire.

So, what does the verse say we have to do? “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God.” The only thing required of us is that we believe it. Believe what? “Believe on the name of the Son of God.” Who is the Son of God? Of course, that is Jesus. What is the meaning of His name? Jesus means: “God who saves and keeps.” His name transliterated from Hebrew to English would be “Jehovah Yasha” or Joshua. Jehovah: We must believe that Jesus is Jehovah. He is God the Father who took on flesh, and He is the Yasha: The one who saves and keeps. So when we believe that,  we are  believingon His name. Nowhere in the definition of His name is there anything about His being a helper or needing a helper. His name means:  He saves and He keeps, defends, protects, gives victory, sustains, etc. He does all of it. In salvation there is no mention of what we did.

The verse tells what we must do to receive what He has done. We must believe on his name. We believe that He is the God who saves and keeps, protects, gives victory and sustains. So, when we believe on his name, then we can know that we are going to heaven.

I believed on His name back in 1963. Ever since then I have not worried about where I am going when I die. Is it because I have never sinned since then? No! It has nothing to do with how good I am, or whether I turn my back on God, or if I follow God, or whether I give anything to God, or whether I keep anything back, or whatever. It has to do solely with what God did for me 2000 years ago.  I do not even have to wait for Him to do anything to save me, because He has already done it. I trust him. Therefore, I am saved. I believe it.

That is the greatest thing God does for us. He gives us the absolute certainty of going to heaven, so we no longer have to fear death. We may fear dying, but we do not have to be afraid of death.

Let us see what else His Word does. What else does His Word offer? It offers evidence of what to believe.

In John chapter 20:30 God says, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book.” The Bible records some of the miracles that Jesus did, but many of them are not written down. Of course, some of them are. That is how we know about them.

“Many other signs did Jesus in the presence of his disciples.” Where did He do them? He did them in the presence of his disciples. He did them in the presence of unbelievers, too, but that was not the point. The miracles were not really so much for the unbelievers as they were for His disciples, although, they were also for others. Why? Verse 31 tells us. “But these are written” Why? “That” There is the purpose word. These are written for the purpose (that) ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God.” He wrote about two things. He wrote who Jesus is and what Jesus did. The reason He wrote to begin with is so that we might believe in Jesus. Why did God give us the Bible? He wrote it so we might believe in Jesus. That relates back to fear of death, because the Bible tells us what to believe about Jesus, when we believe in Jesus. When we believe in Jesus, we no longer have to fear death.

Then notice what happens: “And that believing ye might have life through his name.” I want you see that it was not a baseless request of God to command us to believe. He had shown and demonstrated that he had done what he claimed to do by doing miracles. What kind of miracles? He raised the dead[1]! That is pretty good evidence, right? He healed blind people that had never seen before[2]. He also healed blind people that had seen before[3]. He healed deaf people[4]. He cast out demons[5]. He healed lepers[6]. He walked on water[7], and then was came back from the dead after dying and paying for sin[8]. Whatever miracle it would take to convince you, He did it. Now, if you are not convinced, it is because you do not believe the record.

In II Timothy 3:15 God says, “And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures.”

We find that this refers solely to Scripture. Other types of revelations are not included (are separate) in the statement we are about to read. This refers only to Scripture.

How can we know what is Scripture? We need to understand clearly about the canonization of the Scriptures. None of the sixty-six books of the Bible were ever in doubt as to their inspiration, their authenticity, or their genuineness. Authenticity[9] and genuineness[10] means that they were written by whom they claimed to be written, at the time they claimed to be written, and the facts recorded there are accurate. None of the books of the Bible were ever in question as to their genuineness and authenticity. They were always accepted as authentic by all the Jews in general and all Christians in particular. Many years later, however, there began to be some offshoots of heretical beliefs. Their promoters started wanting to include some other erroneous writings in the Scripture. Some examples of these writings that were excluded might be the Cabala[11] and the Apocrypha[12]. The Apocrypha is good to have. I have got a copy of it.  You can find a lot of good history there, but it is not inspired of God. While some of the writings of the Apocrypha are genuine and authentic, they are clearly not inspired of God, so they were not included in the canon. We know this because of the contradictory doctrines. God never contradicts Himself, so we know that these books are not inspired of God. Some of the Apocrypha was written before the time of Christ and some of it after Christ. Because of its timing, it is a good record of history and helps verify the Scriptures, but it is not inspired of God. How do we know that?  Because it contradicts Scripture. The word Apocrypha, actually, means “doubtful writings” So, anything that is doubtful really is considered part of the Apocrypha. When some of these doubtful writings, having been written 200 years before Christ, were considered for canonization, they were rejected.  When participants in Mystic Judaism started trying to include their writings, which were well over a hundred years older than the New Testament writings, into the Word of God, they were rejected. Why? The heretical belief of the Mystics was that you get to know God by dreams, feelings, visions, or experience rather than through knowledge of the Word of God. They believed in personal interaction of humans with angels. So, to combat those heretical beliefs, All those books they knew to be the Word of God were canonized to keep the spurious documents out.

Canonization was not meant to include anything. Canonization included nothing. It added nothing to the Word of God. It only included those things that were already accepted, but they began the process of canonization to keep contradictory and heretical books out of the Bible. That is why it is important we understand that only Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Somebody might come along later and start trying to add writings that are not part of the Holy Scriptures.

“That from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Jesus Christ.” Salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ.

Verse 16 also refers to Scripture. “All Scripture” That word, “all,” refers to the whole Bible. There are some people that say that the only writings from which the church is supposed to get doctrine are from the writings of Paul. What that heresy is teaching is that God is lying here in this verse, because God said, “All Scripture … is profitable for doctrine.”

What is all Scripture good for? “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable.” It is profitable for what? Here Paul was writing to Timothy, who was a pastor of a Gentile church. What does he say? “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable,” For what? It is profitable “For doctrine.” The doctrine of the church comes from all Scripture not just the writings of Paul.  Sometimes we read and study Peter’s writings and find out that they sound like Paul’s writings, because they say the very same thing.

“And is profitable for doctrine, for reproof.” Reproof tells us where we messed up. “For correction,” Correction tells you how to get it straight after you mess up, “and for instruction in righteousness.” Instruction teaches you how to keep from making mistakes to begin with.

This is like making a model airplane. I have heard of some guys who do not follow instructions. They start to put that bicycle together, and they do not follow the instructions.

“Oh! You are supposed to put that cap nut on the end of that axle. Bam!” They put that nut on the axle.  Then they read the instructions. “Wait a minute! How do I get that wheel on the axle? The cap nut is already on, and it is supposed to go on after the wheel is on. “I guess I better take the cap nut back off.”

Of course, when you put a pressure nut cap on, if you take it back off you break it. So, this is Christmas Eve and you have got a broken tricycle for the kids the next day. You have to go to a hardware store and find a cap nut to stick on the axle.

What did I just show you? The reproof was, “You put the nut on at the wrong time.”  Then the correction is, “I am going to have to get another nut. I am going to have to take that nut off and put another nut on.” The instruction is, “If you read and follow the instructions to begin with, you will not have to worry about having to correct it.”

That is what the Word of God does. It is for doctrine. Doctrine is Bible truth. Reproof tells us where we fail. Correction tells us how to correct the problem, and instruction in righteousness teaches us how to keep from failing in the first place.

In Bible study, the word “that” shows purpose. What is the purpose of the four things in the previous verse? “That the man of God may be perfect.” “Perfect” does not mean without sin in the Bible. It means “mature or complete.”

Everything you need to live the Christian life is brought out in the Word of God. You can be “perfect.” You can be complete. You can be a mature Christian by doing what the Bible teaches.

“The man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished.” “Throughly” does not mean simply thoroughly. It means “through and through.”

“Unto all.” For what are we supposed to be equipped? What does the verse say? It says, “Good works.” You do not obey the Bible to get saved, because it tells you many things that are for your Christian life. You must obey it to know how to do good works. It teaches the believer how to have a testimony before the lost.

In I John 1:1 God said that John was recording “That which we have seen and heard.” Paul said that, too[13]. Peter said the same thing[14]. They said “We have seen these things with our eyes, and we have heard these things with our ears.”

Have you ever heard something like this? “The Word of God was passed down by word of mouth for many years before it was finally written down.” That is what you call the doctrine of bologna. The Word of God was passed down from God through an inspired man who witnessed these things himself, then wrote the words down himself, or, more often, dictated them to a scribe. It was revealed directly from God to the inspired prophet to the paper through his secretary. It was never passed down by word of mouth even one time, and there is no evidence to the contrary. However, there are those that have imagined that the Bible could not have come that way. So they imagined a fable that the stories were passed down by word of mouth.

The Bible says that every imagination of man is only evil from his youth up (Genesis 8:21). So people persist in repeating something some professor told them, not realizing they are showing their own ignorance. Some churches have even taught this.

“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that.”

Why is John telling us what he saw and heard? “That ye also may have fellowship.”

We have been talking about salvation. Now what is He talking about? Fellowship. That means getting along. Fellowship with whom? With each other in general and with other believers in particular. If you are having a problem with fellowship, it is because you have a problem with some part of the Word of God. Dr. “Yankee” Arnold has said, “If you have got a problem, it is doctrine.”

“And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” We can have fellowship with God the Father and His son Jesus Christ. That is fantastic! That is great, but why would He say that, since God the Father God and God the Son are both the same person?

In Jude 24 God says, “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with great joy.”

What would happen to us if we came into the presence of God in His glory with even one sin? We would be consumed by the brightness of His glory, because sin cannot  come  into the  presence  of  God.  So, we could never have any fellowship with God, or even come into the presence of God in His glory with any sin.

So, how can we have fellowship with Him?  We must deal with our sins, and our sin problem is solved by Jesus Christ. He removed our sin from us and took them onto Himself. Then He died and destroyed that sin so that we can come into the presence of God in his glory. If God allowed man to come to heaven with even one sin, then God could never come into heaven in his glory. He would have to remain only in the flesh, because we could never come into the presence of God if we had even one sin on us. However, Jesus made a way, not only that we can go to heaven, and not only that we can have fellowship with Him; but He made a way for us to come into the presence of Godthe Father in His glory and have fellowship with Him. How did Jesus do that? He removed our sin and guilt and took them onto Himself, and then He paid for it. He destroyed it, so that we can stand before God without any sin. We can come into His presence, because we have His sinlessness, and not because we sin less. That is what the Bible calls imputation[15].

Imputation is given to us. So, when we come into the presence of the glory of God, we have Jesus Christ’s sinlessness as our own. Therefore, we are able to enjoy fellowship with God without sin.

Notice, also, that there are three aspects of fellowship here. There is fellowship one with another. We may not have fellowship with the Son or the father here on earth now, but, when we get to heaven, we are going to be sinless, and, therefore, will have fellowship one with another. If we break fellowship now, then we cannot have fellowship with Jesus Christ or with the Father here on earth until we get to heaven.

There is something else that imputation does for us. Verse four says: “And these things write I unto you that your joy may be full.” He has written these things so that we can have full joy. Do all Christians have full joy? No! Why not? They do not apply the Word to their lives.

An example is the Laodicean church in Revelation 3:16-17. God said, “Because you are lukewarm I will spue you out of My mouth.” What does that mean? God is saying, “I am going to vomit you out of the place of blessing.” From where do blessings come? The promises of blessings of God come from His mouth.

Here He is talking to the church. He is talking to a body of believers. He says to  the  lukewarm  believers,  “You  are  not getting the blessings of My promises.” They have salvation, but they do not have the blessing of God on their lives. The Laodiceans thought they were blessed. God said, “Thou sayest, ‘I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.’” They thought they were blessed, because they were rich, but God said He was going to spew them out of the place of blessing. The sad part is, they did not even know that they were no longer being blessed. God said that they: “knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable.” They did not even know their own spiritual condition.

Most Christians do not realize they are living in disobedience. They do not realize that the reason they are unhappy is because they are lukewarm. They tend to blame someone else for their own misery. In fact they very likely do not even realize that they are MISERABLE to begin with. God said that they “Knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable.” These were miserable Christians. They had no joy. Why? Because they did not apply the teachings in the Word of God.

Think about Samson. He thought he had it made. He had his future all planned out. He was so sure of himself that he had gotten into the habit of sleeping in the presence of his enemies. However, God withdrew His spirit by which Samson was empowered to earn rewards and gain spiritual blessings, and he did not even realize it. He was a believer. He was the strongest man alive, and his whole life had been dedicated to the Lord as a Nazarite, but He became careless in his associations, sexual impurity, and lifestyle. He was a judge, a ruler in Israel, but he became arrogant. Then God took away the Spirit that was the source of his blessing and strength.  Judges 16:20 says, “He awoke out of his sleep, and said, ‘I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself.’ And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.”

What does this tell us? Living according to God’s instructions is necessary to have full lasting joy.

In Luke 1:1 God says, “For as much as we have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most assuredly believed among us even as they delivered them unto us.”

Luke, the writer of this book, was not one of the twelve apostles. Where did he get his information? He wrote, “Even as they delivered them unto us,” He got his information from the apostle Paul in particular, and the apostles in general, “which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the Word.”

These ministers, “Set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most assuredly believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us,” dictated the Word of God to capable men who wrote it down for them.

Paul did not do all his own writings. In fact he tells us he had someone else write for him.  Jeremiah did not do all of his own writings. God says in His Word that he had someone else do some of the writing for him.  These men dictated God’s Word for others to write down. Luke traveled with Paul for over half of his ministry, and he was writing down what Paul said and did. Paul needed him, because Luke was a Doctor. So he heard from Paul’s own lips, and he wrote as Paul dictated some of the things[16]. According to Galatians Paul wrote part of Galatians with his own hand. That fact tells us that most of the book of Galatians was not written by his own hand. He dictated it to someone else[17].

“It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus. That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed,” (Luke 1:3-4). Here we find how God revealed Himself through Luke.

In a court of law it is absolutely appropriate, and sometimes preferred that a deposition be taken. Sometimes depositions are considered more reliable than the eyewitnesses themselves.

That is exactly what Luke did. He wrote down the testimony of those eyewitnesses.

Revelation 1:19 says, “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.” “The things which though hast seen,” points out how bad we were. “The things which are,” explains our condition right now, and “The things which shall be hereafter,” refers to the promises and prophecies of the Lord He gave for our benefit.

In I Corinthians 6:9-11 God says, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”

How did we get the washing, sanctification, and justification? Did we get them by cleaning up our life? We are washed, God said, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” God does these things for us. God is not talking about what we do for Him.

“But ye are sanctified.” “Sanctified” means to be made clean, pure, and holy, to be set apart for service[18]. God sanctifies us for a purpose.

“But ye are justified[19].” “Justified” means “Declared righteous.” You are declared legally righteous in a court of law, and the court of law we are talking about is at the bar of God. How does that take place, since we are not righteous, and we are guilty?

“In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of God.”

We did not get washing, sanctification, or justification by stopping anything. We got them all in the name of Jesus Christ and by the spirit of God.  God is talking about our position now, not what we were.

Now that we believe and are now in Christ, what are the promises? What are the things to come? What can we expect at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ? What does God promise at the judgment seat of Christ[20] where  we  receive  our rewards[21]that we will enjoy during the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ[22] and on into the eventual eternity in the presence of God in the new heaven and new earth[23]?

How are we sanctified? How are we cleaned up and set apart for service so that we can earn rewards? Jesus said in John 17:17, “Sanctify them by Thy Word. Thy Word is truth.”

What do we find in the Word of God? We find the truth.

In John 18:37-38 Jesus appeared before Pilate. “Pilate therefore said unto Him, ‘Art thou a king, then?’ and Jesus answered, ‘Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice.’ Pilate, sayeth unto Him, ‘What is truth?'”

In John 17:17 Jesus said, “Thy Word is truth.” Notice what He says the truth of the Word would do: “Sanctify them!”

Sanctification has a twofold meaning. It basically means to be set apart and cleaned up for service to God. We are set apart and are cleaned up the moment we trust Christ as our Savior. Positionally, we are sinless. Then we begin the preparation for the service of God. The things in the tabernacle were all sanctified. They had blood sprinkled on them. After the blood was sprinkled on them they were set apart for service to God from then on. However, to continue to be used, they would have to continue to be cleaned up every now and then. They would have to be moved around from place to place to be used. So the sanctification was one time, but there was a continual or progressive sanctification as well[24].

In our life, our sanctification and our growth in the Lord is also a continual thing.

Titus 2:14 tells us about this sanctification. God says, “Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works.” We have been set apart for the good work of God.

God tells us in the Bible how to get everything we need for God’s service[25].

How to get the basic things we want is also explained in the Bible[26]. The basic things we want are love, joy, and peace. The things we think will give us love, joy, and peace probably will not. The way to get love, joy, and peace can only be found in the Bible. We cannot get those things any other way, and we cannot get the things that God has promised any other way than by applying the Word of God. We cannot  have  fellowship  with God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the brethren without doing what God says in the Scriptures. We learn how to earn eternal rewards in heaven after we are saved by studying the Scriptures. We learn how to be equipped and sanctified to serve from the Scriptures. Most importantly, we learn how to receive the free gift of eternal life from the Scriptures.

If you are not certain that you are going to heaven, listen to what GOD says He has done to get you to heaven.

We have all done things wrong. The wrong things we do are called sin. Sin is what has caused sickness, sorrow, and death on the earth. Since sin causes death, God cannot allow any sin into heaven, because then everyone in heaven would die just like all the people on sinful earth do. Therefore, since sin causes death, God said in Romans 6:23[27]that the payment for sin is death.

Since we have all sinned, and the payment for sin is death, there is nothing we can do to get ourselves to heaven.

However, Jesus came to earth, took our sin off of us onto Himself, then He died and paid for the sin, and came back from the dead after he had destroyed our sin.

All He requires of us is that we trust His death payment to get us to heaven.

If we trust His payment for sin to save us and keep us, then we can know that we are going to heaven. He says in I John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.”

He says you can know it! He says that, if you believe, you have it right now. The only thing you must do is believe it.

Bibliography 

1. The American Heritage Dictionary, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1982.
2. Archaeological Study Bible, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2005.
3. Arnold, Clinton E. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, Zondervan, Publishers, Inc., 1958.
4. Beittzel, Barry J. Biblica the Bible Atlas, Global Book Publishing, Lane Cove, Australia, 2006.
5. Boyd, James P., Bible Dictionary, Ottenheimer
6. Brenton, Lancelot C.L., The Septuagent with Apocrypha: Greek and English, Hendrickson Publishers, United States of America, 1986.
7. Bryant, T. Alton, The New Compact Bible Dictionary, Zondervan Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1967.
8. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America, United States Government Printing Office, 1976.
9. Free, Joseph P. Archaeology and Bible History Scripture Press, Grand Rapids, 1950
10. Gehlman, John and Mary Rives Bowman, Adventures in American Literature, Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1958.
11. Guralnik, David B., Webster’s New World Dictionary, The World Publishing Company, Englewood Cliffs, 1970.
12. Hislop, Alexander, the Two Babylons, Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, 1916.
13. Hodges, Zane C., The Epistle of James, Grace Evangelical Society, Irving, 1994.
14. Huber, Robert V. The Bible Through the Ages, Reader’s Digest, Pleasantville, 1996.
15. Illustrated Columbia Encyclopedia, Rockford House Publishers, New York, 1978.
16. Keyes, Nelson Beecher, Story of the Bible World, C.S. Hammond and Company, New York, 1959.
17. Kitchen, K.A., The Bible in Its World, The Bible and Archaeology Today, Intervarsity Press, Downer’s Grove, 1977.
18. Lang, J. Stephen, The Complete Book of Bible Trivia, Tyndale House Publishers, Carmel, 1988.
19. LaSor, Willkiam S. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1972.
20. Metaxas, Eric, Bonhoeffer, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 2010.
21. Miller, H.S. General Biblical Introduction, The Word-Bearer Press, Houghton, 1937.
22. Morris, Henry M. Studies in the Bible and Science, Baker House Books, Grand Rapids, 1966.
23. Nave, Orville J., Nave’s Topical Bible, Moody Press, Chicago,
24. Packer, J. I., M. C. Tenney, Illustrated Manners and Customs of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1980.
25. Pennigton, Chester A., With Good Reason, Abington Press, Nashville & New York, 1967.
26. Pinnock, Clark H., Set Forth Your Case, Nutley, 1968.
27. Quasten, Johannes, Ancient Christian Writers, Newman Press, New York, 1948.
28. Schafer, Peter, The Origins of Jewish Mysticism, Mohr Siebeck, Tubingen, Germany, 2009.
29. Schonfield, Hugh J. the Passover Plot, Bantam Books, New York, 1966.
30. Sellier, Charles E., Ancient Revelations of the Bible, Dell Publishing, 1995.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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31. Spierling, Karen E., Infant Baptism in Reformation Geneva, Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, 2005.
32. Stanford, A. Ray, Handbook of Personal Evangelism, Florida Bible College.
33. Strong, James, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Riverside Book and Bible House, Iowa Falls,
34. Theron, Daniel J., Evidence of Tradition. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1957.
35. Thompson, J.A., The Bible and Archaeology, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1962.
36. Velikovshy, Immanuel, Worlds in Collision, Dell Publishing Company, New York, 1967.
37. Visalli, Gayla, After Jesus the Triumph of Christianity, The Reader’s Digest Association, Pleasantville, 1946.
38. Ward, Kaari, Jesus and His Times, The Reader’s Digest Association, 1987.
39. Wilson, Clifford A. Rocks Relics and Biblical Reliability, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, 1977.
40. Whiston, William, Josephus Complete Works, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, 1960.

 

[1]John 11:43-45 “When he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.”

[2]John 9:1 & 7 “as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.”

[3] Mark 8:23-25 “He took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.

And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.”

[4] Mark 7:32-35 “They bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.”

[5] Luke 4:40-41 “When the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.”

[6] Matthew 11:4-5 “Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.”

[7] John 6:19 “When they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.”

[8] Luke 24:6 “He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee.”

[9] Henry, Carl F. H. Baker’s Dictionary of Christian Ethics, pp. 46-47.

[10] Miller, H. S. General Biblical Introduction,  pp. 177-178.

[11] Columbia New Illustrated Encyclopedia, Volume 4, p. 1065.

[13] Galatians 1:12 “I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

[14] II Peter 1:16 “We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”

[15] Romans 4:24 “But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.”

[16] II Timothuy 4:11 “Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.”

[17] Galatians 6:11 “Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand.” (Read the Old Scofield footnote #1 p. 1248.)

[18] Boyd, James P., Bible Dictionary, p. 83.

[19] Bryant, Alton, The New Compact Bible Dictionary, p. 302

[20] II Corinthians 5:10 “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”

[21] I Corinthians 3:14 “If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.”

[22] Revelation 20:4 “I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

[23] Revelation 21:1 “I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.”

[24] Hebrews 9:21 “He sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.”

[25] II Timothy 3:16-17 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

[26] Psalm 37:4 “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

[27] Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”