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Pastor's Blog October 29, 2020
"What To Do With Doubt IV"
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For most of the month of October, we've been confronted with the idea that the primary reason for spending time reading the Bible is to get to know Jesus; knowing what the Bible teaches is good, but knowing Jesus as he reveals himself in the Bible is better. However, there is still a looming question about the Bible that has not yet been addressed: if you have doubts about the Bible, what should you do with them?
Our friend Ellen continues to sound like a broken record in her answer to our question: focus on Jesus! In "Steps to Christ," Ellen seems to summarize all biblical doubts - doubts about the Bible's historical accuracy, scientific reliability, and divine inspiration - under the issue of whether or not the Bible is "true" (80; 1977 edition). But what is fascinating is that the truthfulness of the Bible is based on whether or not you accept it as God's word to YOU: for those who turn to God, they can say, "I needed help, and I found it in Jesus. Every want was supplied, the hunger of my soul was satisfied; and now the Bible is to me the revelation of Jesus Christ. Do you ask why I believe in Jesus? Because He is to me a divine Saviour. Why do I believe the Bible? Because I have found it to be the voice of God to my soul" (79-80).
Ellen makes clear that those who find the Bible to be God's love letter to them are also those who would say they have been brought out of sin and transferred into the light of God's kingdom and a relationship with Jesus (79). Due to this spiritual reality, these same individuals will also find that the truth of the Bible can be summed up in the words of 2 Peter 3:18, "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (80). Those who grow in Jesus' grace now will find some biblical perplexities answered and made clear in the present; all other perplexities will be made clear in the new heavens and new earth, when "we shall see the most perfect and beautiful harmony" in all of Scripture (80).
So friends, what should you do with your doubts - any doubts - you may have about the Bible? You should give them to Jesus and continue trusting that the Bible is his voice and message to you, telling you of his love and causing you to grow in his grace. In his own time he will resolve all your perplexities.
(*) Steps to Christ, Chapter 12— What to Do with Doubt, 1977 edition
God Bless.
Pastor Nathaniel Gamble
