The Bible Transforms Us

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. – John 17:17

Yesterday, we began a conversation about why we can believe the Bible is true. Many people struggle with doubting God’s Word. But I’m here to tell you today that there are so many reasons why we can trust that the Bible is true! Yesterday, we talked about the first two reasons – the Bible is historically reliable and scientifically compatible. If you missed yesterday’s devotion, I think it would help you tremendously to go back and read it.

For now, we’re going to continue in this discussion as I give you three more reasons why we can believe the Bible is true.

The third reason is because the Bible is prophetically fulfilled. There is no other book anywhere on this planet that can match the staggering accuracy of foretelling future events like the Bible. Thirty percent of the Bible consists of prophecy.

To this point, fixed prophecies have never been shown to be false, though some are still yet to be fulfilled. In fact, the prophecies are so specific and so detailed, they have to be exactly fulfilled. Many of these prophecies speak of things of which there was no likelihood they would ever come to pass. Many times they predicted the very opposite of what you would normally expect. Furthermore, the fulfillment of the prophecy often did not even take place until the prophet had already died. In the Bible, two thousand prophecies have come to pass. You can’t find anything like that in any other book in the world. What fuel to our faith!

The fourth reason we can believe the Bible is because it is thematically unified. If you chose ten different people from the same city with the same culture, with the same educational level, speaking the same language apart from each other, never talking to each other, never consulting with each other think about one controversial topic – let’s just say the “meaning of life.” What are the chances they would be absolutely from end-to-end totally in agreement? I think we can agree that’s practically impossible.

Now, with that in mind, think about the Bible. Here is a book that consists of sixty-six books all wrapped into one. It was written over 1500 years by 40 different authors living on three different continents (Europe, Asia, and Africa), and writing in three different languages (Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic). These words were written by all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds, education levels, and walks of life. They wrote on many controversial topics...on every moral and ethical issue you could imagine. But when you read this book, you don’t feel like you are reading sixty-six books; you feel like you are reading one because there is a unified theme. And that can only happen when God is involved.

Finally, the fifth reason we can believe the Bible is because it is personally transforming. I have never come across a book that has transformed so many people’s lives. Sure, you’ll hear of a book every now and then that is getting popular and helping people. But in a year or two, you stop hearing about that book. But the Bible is not that way.

The words in Scripture have been impacting people’s lives for thousands of years. It’s never been forgotten. It’s never gone out of style. It’s never been proven wrong. Year after year it continues to do transformative work in the lives of the people who read it. And that should give us confidence and hope that we can take God at His Word because His Word is truth.

Dear Lord, thank you that your Word is truth. Thank you that it transforms our lives unlike any other book ever written. Help me to make it a priority to read your Word every single day so I can continue to experience your transforming power. In Jesus’ name, amen.