Pretribulationism (Continued)

Argument from the nature of the tribulation. Just as premillennialism is founded upon a literal interpretation of millennial passages, so pretribulationism is based upon a literal interpretation of the tribulation passages. A careful and literal exegesis of the Scriptures dealing with the tribulation reveal no evidence whatever that the church of the redeemed of the present age will go through the tribulation. This is brought out particularly in the Scriptural revelation of the nature of the tribulation.

Before ascertaining whether the church will pass through the tribulation, it is of utmost importance to understand first what the Scriptures teach about this coming period. Practically all types of posttribulationism are built upon confusion of tribulation in general, which characterizes various ages, and the great tribulation, which is the predicted future time. For instance, George H. Fromow answers the question of whether the church will pass through the great tribulation by countering: “The Church is already passing through ‘the Great Tribulation,’ according to the sense of Rev vii, vv. 13, 14 …Rev vii . is the only passage where we find the Tribulation called ‘great.’ Its use as embracing the whole of the Church’s course, corresponds with the entire record of the Scriptural history of the redeemed. ‘Great’ thus covers the entire period of the history of the redeemed people of God, of ‘Saints,’ or ‘Gracious Ones,’ or ‘Church,’ however they may be described.”1 This quotation is notable because it illustrates two leading characteristics of posttribulationism which are essential to their conclusions: (1) confusion of the great tribulation with tribulation in general; (2) confusion of the church with saints as a whole. While posttribulationists sometimes avoid the first, they seldom avoid the second. As a study of the tribulation will bring out, “…not one syllable of Scripture affirms that the church goes through the great tribulation, or even enters that awful period.”2

The Old Testament reveals that the tribulation deals with (1) the nation Israel; (2) the pagan Gentile political powers; (3) saints who are described as either Israelites or Gentiles. It is certain that the true church cannot be equated with the Gentile political powers, though the apostate church of the tribulation period is under the control of the political ruler of that time. Only by spiritualization, characteristic of amillennialism, can the nation Israel be considered the same as the church. The Old Testament revelation which specifies the judgment of Israel and the Gentile powers as the objective of the tribulation period by so much declares that the tribulation does not concern itself with the church, the body of believers in this present age. The fact that saints are mentioned proves only that there will arise in that period some who believe and are saved. A survey of tribulation passages will demonstrate these facts.

One of the first references to the tribulation is found in Deuteronomy 4:29-30: “But from thence ye shall seek Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt find him, when thou searchest after him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, in the latter days thou shalt return to Jehovah thy God, and hearken unto his voice.” The tribulation here is revealed as preparatory for the restoration of the nation Israel, and therefore the preparation of Israel for the coming kingdom is an outstanding aspect of the period.

Another important Old Testament reference dealing with the tribulation is found in Jeremiah 30:4-11. In this passage the tribulation is declared to be “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (v. 7 ) and as unprecedented in its severity (cf. Matt 24:21). The revelation continues, however, with the glad announcement, “he shall be saved out of it” (v. 7 ). The Gentiles are described as being judged and Israel is delivered from her oppressors. Jehovah is to be the God of Jacob and David is to be raised up to be their king (v. 9 ). Israel will be regathered from near and far and shall return to the land (v. 10 ). The destiny of Israel and the nations is contrasted in these words: “For I am with thee, saith Jehovah, to save thee: for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee, but I will not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure, and will in no wise leave thee unpunished” (v. 11 ). Again in this passage, both Jews and Gentiles are declared to be the objects of divine dealings in the tribulation, but the church, composed of true believers, is not in view at all.

Daniel supplies much material on the tribulation which falls into the same pattern. The seventieth “week” of Daniel,3 the latter part of which is the time of great tribulation, describes the coming of the “one that maketh desolate”—the evil world-ruler of the great tribulation (Dan 9:27). The period is concerned with “thy people” (Dan 9:24) which can be no other than the Jewish people in this context. In Daniel 12:1, “a time of trouble” for “the children of thy people” is described. Like Jeremiah 30:7, this period is declared to be “such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time” (Dan 12:1). It is declared to culminate in deliverance: “and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book” (Dan 12:1). The reference to “thy people” is clearly a reference to the Jewish nation which shall be delivered at the end of the tribulation period.

None of the Old Testament passages nor any of the multiplied references in the Minor Prophets includes the church of the present age in its foreview of the tribulation. It is universally presented as dealing with the nation Israel and with the Gentile nations. Only by unwarranted identification of the church with Israel and by ignoring the context can the church be drawn into the picture.

What is true of passages in the Old Testament dealing with the tribulation is also true of the New Testament. Posttribulationists tend to slide over the obvious fact that the church is never once mentioned in the New Testament as being in the tribulation period. A notable passage is Matthew 24:15-31, the context of which is definitely Jewish. The sign given is the abomination of desolation connected with desecration of the Jewish temple of that time. Instructions are given to those in Judea to flee to the mountains—another indication that Israelites are in view. Reference is made to the Sabbath, a Jewish institution (Matt 24:20) and they are told to pray that their flight be not on the Sabbath—a day in which their flight would be very obvious.

Posttribulationists, while conceding that there is no reference to the church as such, seize upon the word “elect” found in Matthew 24:22, 31. Pretribulationists concede and uniformly teach that there will be elect, that is, saved people in the tribulation time. This fact does not in the slightest prove that these mentioned in this way belong to the church, the body of Christ. All saved people of all ages as individuals are elect. Israel is also an elect nation, that is, specially chosen to fulfill divine purposes. The question is not whether there are any elect in the tribulation, but whether that portion of the elect which is called the church, the body of Christ, is ever found. As far as this passage is concerned, there is no evidence whatever for the presence of the church in this period. heaven” (Mark 13:27). The point is that pretribulationism is not hindered in the slightest by the form of expression that is used here, and posttribulationists are guilty of begging the question by assuming that this passage confirms their position. The fact is that the church is not mentioned at all in this passage by any distinctive title such as the word church or the term body of Christ, or any other term peculiarly a reference to the church. It is not claimed that this passage proves pretribulationism, but it is fair to claim that it does not off er any evidence whatever against it.

The argument of Reese that the gathering of the elect is positive proof that the translation of the saints takes place at this time is another instance of reading into the passage what it does not say. Reese states: “The assertion of Kelly’s in his Second Coming (p. 211) that there is no rapture at Matt. xxiv.31 , is as bold as it is unfounded. Oar Lord in that passage gave a perfect picture of the assembling of the saved of this Dispensation by means of a rapture; St. Mark even used for ‘gather’ the verbal form of the same word used for ‘gathering’ in 2 Thess. ii.1 , where Paul refers to the Rapture. To unbiased minds the gathering of the saved, or the Elect, in Matt. xxiv.31 , is the prototype of Paul’s teaching in 1 Thess. iv.16-17 , and 2 Thess. ii.1 .”6 The logical fallacy of this statement should be apparent. Reese argues because there is a gathering at the translation that therefore every mention of a gathering must be the same event. The truth is that there will be a gathering of the church, the body of Christ, at the translation, before the tribulation. There will also be a gathering after the tribulation which will be more inclusive. Matthew says nothing about a translation and the idea of translation is foreign to any passage dealing with the coming of Christ to establish His kingdom. There will be no translation then, though there will be a resurrection of righteous dead. Matthew says nothing about the resurrection either. It should be clear that Matthew’s revelation deals with the gathering of the elect as an event subsequent to all that has gone before.

The major Scriptural passage on the tribulation period is the Book of Revelation, chapters 4-19 . Here in fifteen chapters in the most graphic language possible the great catastrophic time of trouble is unfolded. Any reasonably literal interpretation of this portion of Scripture will sustain the point of view that the events herein described have never been fulfilled and comprise the awful period of human history still ahead which will culminate in the “revelation of Jesus Christ,” the second advent proper. It should be borne in mind that the Book of Revelation deals with the revelation of Jesus Christ to an unbelieving world as its God and Judge. The description of the tribulation time is the fitting frame to the picture, giving the events preceding the climactic day of the Lord.

It is notable that in this extended portion of Scripture there is not one mention of the church, the body of Christ. After the message to the seven churches in Asia, obviously contemporary to the first century, not one reference is found to the church or any other title peculiar to believers of this present age. To be sure, saints are mentioned both in heaven and on earth, but this general reference is not a hindrance to the pretribulational position. The church is also in view in the figure of marriage in Revelation 19 picturing the coming of the wife of the Lamb, but this is in connection with the second advent and does not constitute any problem. Like passages previously considered, the Book of Revelation presents the tribulation as having the divine purpose of purging the nation Israel and bringing them to repentance and of judging and destroying the Gentile political power of that day. The entire program as revealed in the Book of Revelation is without relevance to the present purpose of God of forming a body of believers from Jews and Gentiles to constitute the bride of Christ.

It is, of course, conceded that there are many passages which teach that even the church will have a measure of tribulation while on earth. Christ told His disciples plainly, “In the world ye shall have tribulation” (John 16:33). Paul preached “that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22; cf. 2 Tim 3:12). This is taken as proving beyond question that the church will go through the future tribulation by some posttribulationists.7 It illustrates the illogical thinking which confuses Scriptural teaching on tribulation in general which abides through the age with the future distinctive period of tribulation declared to be unprecedented. The same passage cannot refer to both. The great tribulation is always presented in Scripture as a future time of trouble while the state of difficulty and persecution experienced by the early church was clearly contemporary. Posttribulationism has not proved anything until it has proved that the church, the body of Christ, will be in that prophesied period of unprecedented trouble. This is, however, impossible, as none of the passages which deal with this tribulation period mention the church.

Not only is there no mention of the church in any passage describing the future tribulation, but there are specific promises given to the church that deliverance from that period is assured. According to 1 Thessalonians 5:9, Christians are promised, “For God appointed us not unto wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The wrath of God will be poured out upon the world during the great tribulation. Revelation 6:17 states, “For the great day of their wrath is come; and who is able to stand?” The character of the judgments which will fall is such that they will affect everyone—famine, pestilence, sword, earthquake, stars falling from heaven. The only way one could be kept from that day of wrath would be to be delivered beforehand. The same context in 1 Thessalonians 5 also affirms that the believer will not be overtaken by the day of destruction like a thief in the night and that the believer is not to be included with the children of darkness who are doomed for destruction. Instead of being appointed to wrath and sudden destruction as children of darkness, believers are declared to be appointed to salvation and to living together with Him.

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 speaks in similar vein. Jesus is declared to be the one “who delivered us from the wrath to come.” The possibility of escaping the coming day of trial is predicted in Luke 21:36: “But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

The church at Philadelphia is promised: “Because thou didst keep the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev 3:10). As the translators have made clear, the thought of the Greek is to “keep from,” not to “keep in.” The promise was to be kept from “the hour” of trial, not just the trials in the hour. The primary promise to the church of Philadelphia was that they would not enter this hour of trial. Historically, it meant just that. The church at Philadelphia was not to enter the tribulation period. By application, if expositors are correct who find in the seven churches a foreshadowing of the entire church age, then the Philadelphia church, representing the true and faithful church, is promised deliverance before the hour comes. While it may be debatable to what extent this constitutes absolute proof for pretribulationism, it gives no comfort whatever to posttribulationism.8

The Scriptures repeatedly indicate that Christians of this age are kept from wrath. Romans 5:9 states: “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him.” This principle is illustrated in Scripture in such historic cases as the deliverance of Lot from Sodom, which is taken as a specific illustration of deliverance from wrath in 2 Peter 2:6-9. Noah and his family, delivered from the flood by the ark, constitute another illustration of the principle. Rahab at Jericho was also delivered from the doomed city. While illustrations cannot property be taken as absolute proof, they support the idea that God characteristically delivers believers from wrath designed for judgment upon the unbelievers. If God delivers the church before the time of tribulation, it will be in keeping with the general principle.

The nature of the tribulation as revealed in Scripture constitutes, therefore, an important argument supporting the teaching that the church will not go through the tribulation. It has been shown that a literal interpretation of the tribulation does not produce any evidence that the church will be in this period. Important passages such as Deuteronomy 4:29-30; Jeremiah 30:4-11; Daniel 9:24-27; 12:1 ; Matthew 24:15-31; Revelation 4-19 ; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10; 5:4-9 do not indicate that the church will be in the tribulation period. It has been shown that the purpose of the tribulation is to purge and judge Israel and to punish and destroy Gentile power. In neither aspect is the church the object of the events of the period. In addition to these general arguments, the Scriptures also indicate that the believer in this present age will be kept from the time of wrath (1 Thess 1:9-10; 5:4-10 ; 2 Pet 2:6-9; Rev 3:10). Taken as a whole, the study of the tribulation as revealed in Scripture does not afford any support to a posttribulational translation of the saints.

Argument from the nature of the church versus the nature of Israel. Much of the background for the differing points of view on pretribulationism as opposed to posttribulationism is found in different concepts of the church. While it is difficult to make an accurate generalization, usually those who sharply distinguish Israel and the church are both premillennial and pretribulational, while those who consider Israel and the church more or less the same concept, even if premillennial, tend to be posttribulational. The concept of the church as a distinct entity, peculiar to the present age since the Day of Pentecost, usually goes along with the idea that the church will be translated before the tribulation.

If the point of view is accepted that the church of the present age is distinctive, as argued in earlier discussion, it supports the idea that the church will not go through the tribulation. This is seen, first, in the nature of the professing church as compared to the nation of Israel. According to pretribulationism, at the time of the translation of the church all true believers are translated from earth to heaven, leaving only that portion of the professing church which was not genuinely saved. These professing but unsaved members of the organized church in the world continue on earth through the tribulation and form the nucleus of the ungodly, apostate church of the tribulation which becomes the state of religion of that time. In this sense only, the church goes through the tribulation. In like manner, the nation Israel enters the tribulation in an unsaved condition and proceeds through the purging experiences which culminate in the second advent and the separation of those in Israel who turn to Christ in that period from those who worship the Antichrist.

All points of view accept the conclusion that both Israel and the professing church go through the tribulation. The many Old Testament passages on the tribulation as well as the New Testament revelation make this clear and beyond dispute. Pretribulationism finds in these facts supporting evidence that the true church, the body of Christ, does not enter the tribulation by the very fact that the same Seriptures which frequently mention Israel and apostate Christendom never mention the true church as being in this period.

This is borne out by the contrast between the body of Christ and the professing church, both of which have a considerable body of Scripture describing their respective programs. The distinction between them, in a word, is the difference between mere profession and reality, between outward conformity and vital regeneration. The professing church moves on to its complete state of apostasy and ends in awful judgment. The true church is caught up to heaven to be the bride of the Son of God. The presence of the apostate church in the tribulation is one of its principal characteristics. The presence of the true church is wholly unnecessary. The distinctions between the true church and the professing church justify the widest difference in program and destiny.

Likewise, there is a graphic difference between the true church and true or spiritual Israel. In the present age, all who are Israelites by natural birth upon receiving Christ as Savior become members of the church, the body of Christ. By so much they are cut off from the particular promises and program of Israel and instead partake of the new program of God for the church on the same basis as Gentile believers. In other words, all who are true or spiritual Israel in the present age by this very fact are members of the church. Immediately after the translation of the church, however, Israelites who turn to God and trust in Christ have the privilege of being saved as individuals even in the tribulation period. When saved in this period Israelites lose none of their national promises. Their hope is the second advent of Christ, the coming of Christ as King and Messiah. While saved on the same basis of the death of Christ as saints in the present age, their program for the future is entirely different. Those who are martyred will be raised at the second advent (Rev 20:4-6). Those who survive the presecutions of this period will enter the millennium and become the objects of divine favor and blessing according to the kingdom promises. The contrasts herein provided in the prophetic Word serve to distinguish the future of spiritual Israel in the present age from spiritual Israel in the tribulation. The distinctions are built upon the differences between the church in the present age from saints of all preceding or succeeding periods.

In a word, prior to Pentecost there was no church, though there were saints among both Jews and Gentiles, who, while retaining their national characteristics, were nevertheless true saints of God. After Pentecost and until the translation there is no body of believers among either Gentiles or Israel except as found in the true church. After the translation of the church, there are no true believers in the professing and apostate church, but believers in that tribulation period retain their national characteristics as saved Gentiles or saved Jews. Never are tribulation saints given the special and peculiar promises given to the church in the present age. The nature of the church in contrast to Israel therefore becomes an argument supporting the pretribulation viewpoint. While these arguments have only relative strength, when added to preceding arguments and supported by those to follow they constitute confirming evidence.

Dallas, Texas

(Series to be continued in the Jan-March Number, 1955)

This article was taken from the Theological Journal Library CD and posted with permission of Galaxie Software.

¹ George H. Fromow, Will the Church Pass through the Tribulation?, pp. 2-3.

² C. I. Scofield, Will the Church Pass through the Great Tribulation?, p. 10.

³ For a good discussion of the future character of the seventieth week, see Robert D. Culver, Daniel and the Latter Days, pp. 135-60.

⁶ Ibid., p. 208.

⁷ George L. Rose, Tribulation Till Translation, pp. 76-77.

⁸ For further discussion, cf. E. Schuyler English, Re-Thinking the Rapture, pp. 85-91.

As a college freshman I surrendered my life to the Lord and was immediately confronted with questions. What should I make of my life? What did God want me to do? My initial response was that God wanted me to be a missionary, possibly to China. To achieve this goal I decided to complete college and seminary.

It also seemed important that I should learn what the Bible teaches about life, as I recognized it as the Word of God. My mother had given me a Scofield Reference Bible while I was still in high school, and I set myself to read through the Scriptures twice a year. In doing this, I discovered biblical truth as it related to my faith and life.

Later, when graduating from seminary, it became clear to me that God wanted me to dedicate my life to teaching others who were preparing for Christian work, and I accepted a faculty position at Dallas Theological Seminary, where I served for fifty years. I had the joy of seeing thousands of young people, after seminary preparation, going out into the ministry, including many to the foreign field. As I discovered biblical truth through years of study, and passed it on to others, I found that the Bible answers all the important questions concerning this life and the life to come.

From the dawn of history inquisitive humankind has reached for answers to the question of the origin of the world. The Bible reveals that God taught Adam and Eve concerning the divine origin of creation and gave meaning to the order and beauty of nature. But, as the Scriptures reveal, man soon turned from God and divine revelation to find his own answers as embodied in the many false religions that came into existence. As Romans 1:21-32 describes so clearly, idolatry and immorality replaced worship and obedience to God. Then, as now, men forsook the truth and gave themselves to false religion and immorality.

According to the Bible man as originally created was made in the image and likeness of God. As stated in Genesis 1:27, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” The history of people as recorded in Scripture reveals that they knew God, that God spoke to them directly, and that He gave them various instructions concerning their life on earth, including the instruction that they were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

When Adam and Eve sinned by partaking of the forbidden fruit, however, they immediately became conscious of their sin and of their departure from the righteousness of God. As we study the Bible it reveals to us our own sin and the fact that we too have departed from God, but with this we find God’s wonderful remedy in salvation. Adam and Eve, having been driven out of the Garden of Eden, faced the sad results of the wreckage that sin brought to the human race. But, for many generations God spoke directly to them, giving them instructions concerning who He was and what He wished them to do. This included the instruction to Abel, Adam and Eve’s son, concerning the kind of sacrifice that he was to offer to God, one in which an animal was killed and blood was shed. As Hebrews 9:22 expresses it, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Although the Bible does not record it, apparently man was also given many moral commands, and because he failed, God had to wipe out the human race with the flood. The Bible is a faithful record of the sin of man and the results it brings. It clearly indicates what our response to the temptation of sin should be and how God can help us obey Him. At the time of the flood God gave specific instructions to Noah concerning the building of the ark in which Noah and his family would be saved when the rest of the world was destroyed by a flood. Communication from God, however, continued, and it is apparent from Scripture that people knew a great deal about God long before the Bible itself was written.

An outstanding illustration of this is the book of Job, which records the life of Job and his problem with suffering and sin. Commenting on Job’s problems, his companions stated the many aspects of truth they already knew and some things they had failed to comprehend correctly. The book of Job, however, is so complete in its revelation concerning God and His works that a theology could be written based upon what is stated in that one book. Accordingly, when Abram came on the scene in Genesis 11, humankind already knew a great deal about God and His ways, and Abram received additional important revelation.

Competing with the revelation that came from God were the myths and false religious concepts that were promoted by the devil, even as false religions abound today. These began in the Garden of Eden, where the devil had lied about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and had told Eve, “You will not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). This led to Eve’s sin and partaking of the fruit. Subsequently, the devil continued his work of spreading false religion and corrupting the human race, which God judged with the flood that cleansed the earth of all humankind except Noah’s family. Following the flood, however, the descendants of Noah again were the victims of false religion, which produced the worship of many gods and the creation of many idols. This situation has continued to the present day.

About 1,500 years before Christ, Moses produced the first written Scripture. It served to reveal the truth concerning God and His will for man in an explicit and clear form. Today the Bible in its entirety, the Old and New Testaments, constitutes the revelation of who God is, what His goals and purposes are, and what His rule is for humankind on the earth. Discovering the truth of Scripture is discovering the truth about God.

In Scripture not only does God record history and revelation that relates to history in times past and God’s present purpose of salvation in Christ for those who put their trust in Jesus Christ as Savior, but also God reveals the future, from the present into eternity future. Understanding prophecy helps us to prepare for the future that the Bible reveals and teaches us how we can live for eternal values.

About one-fourth of the Bible dealt with the future when it was written. Though many of these prophecies have already been fulfilled, Christians justify their faith in the fact that God knows the future completely. The remaining prophecies are yet to be fulfilled and constitute the important truths about the future. A thorough study of this as provided in the Scriptures will give direction and goals to humankind and will serve to alert all who will heed its admonitions that God is going to judge the world. Eventually God will bring in His eternal kingdom, which will continue forever in the new heaven and the new earth.

The study of prophecy is a fascinating subject and does so much to cast light upon our present path as well as to give the believer in Christ a solid hope for the future. The prophecies of the Bible stand out in sharp contrast to the false prophecies that often characterize false religions. Though there is much in prophecy that can only be partially understood, what is revealed is sufficient to give us clear guidance for our life on earth and our hope for the future.

Questions

1. What is the first question facing a person who wants to do God’s will?

2. Does God want everyone to be a foreign missionary? Why?

3. What is the role of the Bible in determining the will of God?

4. What is the role of the Bible in answering questions?

5. What does the Bible reveal about the origin of human sin?

6. What is the place of bloody sacrifice in religion?

7. What are some of the important results of sin?

8. How should we respond to the Bible’s revelation of sin?

9. How much did God reveal about Himself before the Bible was written?

10. What did God reveal to Noah?

11. How much does the book of Job reveal about God?

12. Were there early departures from true religious belief?

13. What does the Bible reveal about Satan in the early chapters of Genesis?

14. What was added to divine revelation by Moses?

15. Why does one need to study the whole Bible?

16. What is the special benefit of studying prophecy?

Though Christians believe the Bible is the Word of God, it is obvious that the world as a whole does not pay attention to what the Bible says. So why should we pay attention to what the Bible says?

What is Faith?

A nineteenth-century philosopher by the name of Comte held that we should believe only what we can observe personally. Though advanced as a practical philosophy, it is impossible to live with this definition of faith. Everyone in his daily life is constantly believing and acting upon certain facts that are not necessarily proved.

For instance, if we drive a car across a bridge, how do we know by observation that the bridge will not break down? If we board an airplane for a flight to a distant city, how do we know whether the thousands of workers who put the plane together did a good job, whether the mechanics properly checked the plane, whether enough fuel has been added, and whether the flight crew is competent to fly the plane? We have been able to observe none of these factors, and yet we board a plane with a good deal of confidence. In everyday life, faith is a part of the way we live.

But faith is not a totally irrational step. After driving over many bridges and observing others doing the same, we assume that bridges are constructed safely. After flying thousands of miles, we assume that those involved in the process of flying have done their duty well. Though we have only partial knowledge, we believe it is sufficient upon which to base our faith.

In coming to the Bible, we do not have all the proofs that the Bible is the Word of God, but we have many that are quite sufficient. A study of the Bible not only provides an object of faith, something to believe in, but gives us many reasons why we should believe what the Bible states. The answer to why we believe the Bible involves many facts that together provide an intelligent basis for believing the Bible to be a supernatural statement of truth. The Bible itself claims to be a supernatural book that God produced through human authors.

The Bible Inspired of the Holy Spirit

The authors of the Bible do not claim to be men of supernatural knowledge, and they freely admit that God is the source of their information. This is brought out in a central text that states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The claim in this statement is that all Scripture, that is, all the “holy Scriptures” (2 Tim. 3:15), comes from God, who guided the men who wrote it. This was a supernatural process that human minds cannot understand, but the practical effect was that the writers wrote what was their thinking, but their thinking was so guided by God that the very words they used to express the truth were exactly what God wanted them to use.

Because of this, the Scriptures are effective in teaching spiritual truth about God, about morals, about salvation, and about our future hope. The Scriptures are capable of rebuking those who are not obeying its commands. The Scriptures also provide correction. They answer the question, How can a person who is not doing the will of God correct his life and make it correspond to the will of God? They also provide training, or schooling, in righteous living as well as teach all the truth about God, His righteousness, His justification, and the righteousness that He can provide for a Christian. The end result is that the man of God as he studies the Bible will be equipped thoroughly, as the Scripture states, for every good work into which God leads him.

The process of inspiration is beyond our understanding. In reading Scripture, however, it becomes evident that inspiration does not hinder human expressions. As illustrated in many Psalms, the Scriptures record the thinking of the psalmist, even his doubts and his fears. They state his struggles. All of this, however, is by divine design, and what is written accurately portrays the situation and helps one to understand something of the spiritual struggles that every godly person goes through. This also explains how various sources of information can be used sometimes by direct revelation from God, as would be the case in regard to creation and in regard to eternity future or in regard to history as to whether an account of history is accurate or not. Inspiration would assure that God would correct any mistake in recording history and in any other writing that might be used as a basis for information, such as the genealogies and other facts that related to Israel written by the scribes in the Old Testament. In all these cases, inspiration guarantees that what they wrote was accurate and true and that God would supernaturally correct any mistakes that otherwise might appear.

Inspiration does not deter a human author from expressing his own personality and his own vocabulary. For instance, Luke, who wrote the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, used medical terms because he was a doctor and showed insight into illnesses that other portions of Scripture might not demonstrate. God allowed this but guided him so that what he wrote was exactly what God wanted to be recorded. In other words, even if the author had freedom to express himself, God guided him in such a way that he never expressed what God did not want to be written; he did not leave out anything that God wanted to be recorded; and he did not state anything as true that was, as a matter of fact, not true. In defining the doctrine of inspiration, we may conclude that God supernaturally directed the writers of Scripture without excluding their human intelligence, their individuality, their style of writing, their personal feelings, or other human factors so that His own complete and coherent message to man was written in perfect accuracy with the result that the very words of Scripture bear the authority of divine authorship.

Because the work of inspiration is supernatural, how it was accomplished cannot be completely analyzed, but some help is afforded by the statement of 2 Peter 1:21, “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The figure of speech is of a man in a boat who was traveling to a destination. While he has human freedom within the boat to move around, when the boat arrives, he arrives at the destination. He has been carried by the boat from where he was to where he is going. Likewise, the writers of Scripture, while they had freedom within limits to express themselves, were carried along in such a way that their product was supernatural, and it was the absolute truth, which God wanted them to record in the way and words that He wanted. It is only natural that people attempt to limit the extent of inspiration, and that unbelievers challenge its supernatural character.

In the history of the church various theories of inspiration have arisen. The orthodox position has been that inspiration is verbal and plenary, meaning that it extends to the words and that it is full in its extent. As this was sometimes misrepresented, additional words have been used to describe inspiration; it is not only verbal but infallible and inerrant. In other words, the Bible never affirms to be true something that is actually not true.

In attempting to discuss the issue, some have offered other solutions to the doctrine of inspiration. It has been suggested that inspiration is mechanical, or dictation, and God actually dictated the Scripture. This, however, is not what the Bible teaches, as the Scriptures freely record the author’s thoughts, his aspirations, his prayers, and his praise, and other expressions of himself in his human situation. If it were dictated, this would have no meaning and would actually be false. Still another attempt at explaining inspiration is that God gave the concept but the writers were free to express it in their own way. This, obviously, would open the door to many inaccuracies and misunderstandings and is not what the Scripture teaches. It is very clear in Scripture that the very words of Scripture are inspired by God.

Some offer the idea that inspiration is partial, that is, that it may extend to spiritual truth but not to historic or geographic matters. This, again, is not what the Bible teaches and is not an accurate description of inspiration. A purely naturalistic view of inspiration is, of course, that the Bible is just a natural book, but this leaves entirely unexplained the many proofs of its supernatural character as evidenced in the way it was written and in the extent of its revelation. In modern times another concept has been offered. Proponents of this view assert that while the Bible itself is not inspired, the reader is guided as he reads what God wants him to understand from the Scriptures. This is the so-called neo-orthodox position. This, however, is impossible to substantiate, as no two people will come up with exactly the same concepts, or truths, if they are allowed to put their personal interpretation on each text. Accordingly, the only view that the Bible supports and that really answers the problem of inspiration is the concept that while the Bible was written by human authors who had human characteristics, the very words of Scripture were fully inspired by God, so that they are infallible, that is, they never will fail, and they are inerrant, that is, they will never affirm as true something that is false. The statements of Scripture, however, are subject to proofs, and there are abundant proofs that what the Bible claims is substantiated by its contents.

The Testimony of Jesus Concerning Inspiration of Scripture

One of the most dynamic and important reasons for believing in the inspiration of Scripture is that Jesus Christ affirmed this view again and again. In Matthew 5:18 Christ said, “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” In making this statement, Christ is offering the most complete definition of how far inspiration extends. According to Christ, it not only extends to the words but to the letters and even to the smallest part of a letter that would affect the meaning. In the Hebrew, one little stroke, like an English apostrophe, was the letter “yodh.” This is the smallest letter. In other cases, simply adding an additional stroke to a letter would change its meaning. This can be illustrated in the English in the capital letter “F.” If another horizontal line is added at the bottom of the letter, it becomes “E.” This is what Christ meant when He said that the smallest part of a letter has meaning. If this is the case, then the Scriptures as a whole must be true because Christ declared the Scriptures were true to the smallest letter and the smallest part of a letter that would change the meaning. Believing the Scriptures becomes believing the words of Christ Himself.

Many other instances illustrate that Christ affirmed the Scripture. In John 10:35 Jesus said, “The Scripture cannot be broken,” which indicates in the context that the very word of Scripture is accurate. In the gospel of Matthew a number of Scriptures are cited, claiming quotations from the Old Testament and affirming the accuracy of Scripture (Matt. 1:22-23; 4:14-16; 8:17; 12:17-21; 15:7-9; 21:4-5, 42). In Matthew 22:29 Jesus asserted that the Sadducees were in error about their denial of resurrection. He stated, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” In Matthew 26:31-56 Jesus again asserts that Scripture is being fulfilled accurately. In Matthew 27:9, when Judas took thirty pieces of silver to betray Christ, there is an allusion to Jeremiah 18:1-4 and Jeremiah 19:1-3. Then in Matthew 27:10 Judas used the money to buy a potter’s field, foreshadowed in Zechariah 11:12-13. In still another passage, in Matthew 27:35, the gospel writer mentions those who crucified Christ and divided up His clothes by casting lots, alluding to Psalm 22:18 where it states, “They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.” Psalm 22 in its entirety refers to the death of Christ on the cross and contains many allusions to what would be fulfilled when Christ died.

In a similar way, the other gospels as well as the rest of the New Testament consistently support the concept that the Bible is inspired by God and, therefore, is a reliable source of divine revelation.

In His teaching Jesus frequently alluded to the Old Testament and quoted it as a reliable source of information. In Matthew 12:40, for instance, He cites the story of Jonah as an illustration of the fact that He would be in the tomb three days and three nights, putting His stamp of approval on Jonah and its divinely inspired record.

In Matthew 24:15 He talks about “the prophet Daniel” and “the abomination that causes desolation,” referring to Daniel 9:27 and Daniel 12:11. Whenever Jesus quoted the Old Testament, even though He was going to add truth to what the Old Testament revealed, He would, nevertheless, affirm the fact that the Old Testament Scriptures were inspired by God.

Though the New Testament was not written while Christ was still on earth, He predicted that the disciples would receive truth from God and would be able to have a supernatural memory concerning the things that happened, as Christ stated in John 16:12-13. The New Testament writers, like those of the Old Testament, were fully aware of the fact that they were being guided by God. In the New Testament 1 Timothy 5:18 quotes Luke 10:7 as equally inspired as the Old Testament passage of Deuteronomy 25:4. Because Christ so completely put His stamp of approval on the Old Testament and predicted that the New Testament would be of God as well, a denial of the written Word of God becomes a denial of the incarnate Word of God.

Internal Evidence for Inspiration of the Bible

Even a casual reading of the Bible will reveal numerous texts where the Bible itself claims to be the Word of God. According to His commands in Deuteronomy, for instance, God says through Moses, “Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you” (Dent. 6:17). Accordingly, all the instruction preceding and following this passage is equated as a command from God Himself.

An illustration of the power and character of the Word of God is found in Psalm 19:7-11: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”

In this passage the Bible is declared to be perfect, trustworthy, wise, right, radiant, pure, sure, righteous, more precious than gold, sweeter than honey, capable of warning, and greatly rewarding for those who obey it. These qualities do not exist in ordinary literature but characterize the perfection of biblical revelation.

There are many other passages of similar character that in one way or another reflect the Word of God throughout Scripture (Josh. 1:8; 8:32-35; 2 Sam. 22:31; Ps. 1:2; 12:6; 93:5; 119:9, 11, 18, 89-93, 97-100, 104-105, 130; Prov. 30:5-6; Isa. 55:10-11; Jer. 15:16; 23:29; Dan. 10:21; Matt. 5:17-19; 22:29; Mark 13:31; Luke 16:17; John 2:22; 5:24; 10:35; Acts 17:11; Rom. 10:17; 1 Cor. 2:13; Col. 3:16; 1 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 2:15; 3:15-17; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 2 Peter 3:15-16; Rev. 1:2; 22:18). The Bible makes these tremendous claims of being the very Word of God. Thousands of earnest Christians who have examined the Scriptures have found that these claims are fully justified and supportive of all the facts known to us.

External Evidence for the Inspiration of the Bible

The evidences of the inspiration of the Bible are found in many areas, and they serve to support the claims of the internal evidence. One of the important evidences for the inspiration of the Bible is found in the continuity of scriptural revelation from Genesis to Revelation. Though written by different authors, each of them independent as far as their own contribution was concerned, biblical truth and revelation can be traced through book after book, culminating in the book of Revelation. This, obviously, points to the fact that somebody guided the writers so that what they wrote would not contradict previous writers or be a problem to those who followed and that their writings would harmonize with the grand truth being revealed. Though the authors lived in different times, came from different backgrounds, and spoke different languages, the unity of their presentation is an indisputable evidence for the Bible’s inspiration. No other book of multiple authorship can claim what the Bible claims about its unity of revelation.

In its broad sweep of revelation the Scripture also goes far beyond the ingenuity or knowledge of humankind as it speaks of eternity past and eternity future, and it does so with facts that are beyond human investigation. Accordingly, the Scriptures record creation before people were created. The Bible describes the history of the world with prophetic revelation concerning the destiny of human events. Because about a fourth of the Bible was prophetic when it was written and half of these prophecies have been literally fulfilled, it follows that the prophecies relating to events still future will have that same accuracy and literal fulfillment as prophecies in the past. In the light of modern discoveries that are unfolding new aspects of our created world, it is amazing that the Bible, written so long ago, still fits in naturally and intelligently with all the important truths of science that are substantiated and has supernaturally influenced millions of those who have read its pages. No other book has ever been written that has had a wider circulation in more languages, in more cultures, and in more periods of human history than the Bible. Today, as in former years, millions of copies of the Bible are being distributed. As translators reduce languages to writing, the Bible, or portions of it, continues to be translated for the benefit of people of diverse language backgrounds.

The influence of the Bible has not simply been social, though it has affected the morality and spirituality of those with whom it has come in contact, but the Bible has also demonstrated its ability to transform lives. Millions of people read its pages and come to faith in Christ. They testify to the fact of their new birth, a new understanding of the written truth, and a new comprehension of God’s plan and purpose for them in the present and in the future.

The influence of the Bible also has in specific ways brought morality and purity of life into focus. The Bible has cleansing power in that its Scriptures point the way to the grace of God and His plan of forgiveness for those who come to Him through faith in Christ. The cleansing aspect of the Scripture was mentioned by Christ in His high priestly prayer at the conclusion of the Upper Room Discourse, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). The Bible is the final answer for those who are seeking the answers to the question of what is right and what is wrong. The Bible is also a remarkable piece of literature, embracing such wide subjects, including knowledge about God, knowledge about people, knowledge about human history, knowledge about morality, knowledge about divine purpose, and knowledge about future plans for the human race and the created world. No other book embraces so many different kinds of literature, such as history, theology, poetry, drama, prophecy, and philosophy.

The Bible also deals with the real world, a world of sin and death, a world of divine judgment, and a world of human attainment and human failure. The Bible does not gloss over man’s shortcomings, nor does it present the problems without solutions. The Bible is a reliable source of information concerning man’s present life as well as the content of his hope in the world to come.

More so than any other book, the Bible exalts Jesus Christ as God’s Son, and the constant references to Him in one way or another throughout Scripture provide a portrait of Jesus that no human author could write unaided by the Spirit of God. Throughout Scripture all aspects of Jesus Christ are manifest, including His eternity, His deity, His role as Creator, His incarnation, His future as the Son of David, and His ultimate place of honor in the Godhead. In the gospels Jesus is presented in Matthew as King; in Mark as the servant of the Lord; in Luke as a godly man; and in John as the Son of God. Though the emphasis is different in each of the four gospels, each equally testified to His deity, His humanity, and His possession of the infinite attributes of God. No other book could present so accurately and with such finality the person and work of Jesus Christ as is recorded in Scripture itself.

The Testimony of Fulfilled Prophecy

Though many facts presented in the Bible are not subject to checking or to proof as they depend upon the authority of God and His inspiration of the Scriptures, the Bible also records hundreds of prophecies of the future in a definite and specific way that sets it apart from any other book on religion that attempts to predict the future. As half of the prophecies of the Bible have been fulfilled, it provides a student of Scripture with an accurate insight into how prophecies yet to be fulfilled will be enacted. In the Old Testament the first prophecy of Scripture given to Adam and Eve—that they would die if they chose to eat the forbidden fruit—was literally fulfilled. When they sinned they became sinners who were spiritually dead, and eventually they died physically. The prophecy that God would provide salvation that would crush the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15) was fulfilled by Christ, who died on the cross for our sins and who ultimately will crush Satan and cast him into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10). The prediction of the curse on the ground (Gen. 3:17-19) has been literally fulfilled throughout history as man has struggled to provide food for himself and for his family. Throughout Scripture God predicted future events, such as the flood in the time of Noah (Gen. 6-8), an event now history.

Most of the tremendous promises given to Abraham have already been fulfilled. As stated in Genesis 12:1-3, a great nation has come from Abraham; his name is great; he has been a blessing; those who have cursed him have been cursed; and all peoples on earth have been blessed through the death of Christ and His provision of salvation. These great and extensive promises given so long ago are still in the process of being fulfilled.

The record of prophecies and their fulfillment would occupy hundreds of pages if recorded in a book, but each prophecy literally fulfilled is another testimony that when the Bible speaks, it speaks authoritatively and accurately.

In the case of Christ on earth, in His life, death, and resurrection, hundreds of prophecies were fulfilled concerning His person, concerning His attributes, concerning His words, concerning matters of His birth and of His death and of His resurrection. These prophecies have been literally fulfilled and give us intelligent ground for believing that prophecies yet unfulfilled will be fulfilled in God’s time.

Problems with the Doctrine of Inspiration of the Bible

Because those who do not desire to submit to the Bible and its claims have sought every possible evidence that the Bible is not true, certain problems have emerged, all of which have been answered satisfactorily by Christian scholars.

One of the common problems is the fact that we do not have the original Scripture writings, and what we call our Bible is a translation from copies of the original. This, at first glance, would seem to introduce an element of error in the Bible as there are thousands of small variations in extant copies of the Bible. However, when these variations are studied, it is found that practically none of them affect the doctrine of Scripture, and that in cases where the teaching of a passage is obscure, other passages that are clear make it evident what the truth of God is. For all practical purposes, the Bible as we have it, even in its translated form, can be used as if it were the very Word of God. Though the original copies of Scripture do not exist, we have many copies of the Old Testament and thousands of copies of portions of the New Testament. As these are compared in what is called “lower criticism,” or the attempt to determine the original text, it is possible with great accuracy to determine what the original writings stated.

An illustration of this is the book of Daniel. Until our twentieth century the most recent copy of Daniel came from a period of six hundred years after Christ. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, however, a copy of Daniel was found that was written a hundred years before Christ. As we compare these two versions, recorded some seven hundred years apart, and, undoubtedly, through the pens of many copiers, we find, amazingly, that there is practically no difference. Those who copied the Scriptures did so with such care that any small item that might have crept in becomes irrelevant as far as the truth is concerned.

The same is true of the book of Isaiah. The copy found in the Dead Sea Scrolls was much more ancient than any previous copy and yet it showed practically no variation with later versions. Accordingly, the accusation that we cannot believe the Bible because we do not have the original writings is just as wrong as saying that in a textbook where the Declaration of Independence is recorded we cannot believe it because we do not have the original document in our hands. In any publication small variations creep in, but the variations are so small that we can take for granted that any reputable book quoting an ancient document is doing so accurately. Actually, the Bible is the most accurate ancient writing in existence.

For centuries so-called contradictions in the Bible have been examined. This is especially apparent in the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—which give parallel accounts of Jesus and the wording is not identical. Scholars have gone over this for centuries, and the result of the best scholarship is the conclusion that no one knows enough to contradict what the Bible says. Because Jesus undoubtedly repeated His messages again and again and many of the statements in Scripture are condensations of much longer messages, it is obvious that the human author is given some freedom in restating the material. The important fact is that the Holy Spirit guided in all of this, and what was written down is absolutely true and reveals God’s truth.

An illustration of how problems can be solved may be found in the account of the healing of the blind man at Jericho. In the varying accounts as given in Matthew 20:30, Mark 10:46, and Luke 18:35, the accounts differ as to whether there were two blind men or one. The problem also occurs because in the Synoptic Gospels, Luke 18:35 indicates that Jesus was going into Jericho while Mark 10:46 and Luke 19:1 indicate that He was going out of Jericho. How can such a contradiction be resolved?

Scholars have demonstrated that there were actually three Jerichos. One was the Old Testament Jericho, the other was the New Testament Jericho, and the third was the fort of Jericho. Thus, it would be geographically possible for Christ to go in and out of Jericho three times without retracing His steps. When the further detail of the conversion of Zacchaeus is included in the story, it is obvious that he went back to stay in the home of Zacchaeus. Accordingly, there is no contradiction in that all three accounts are correct. Probably the most profound statement issued by outstanding scholars who believe the Bible to be the Word of God is that no one knows enough to prove that the Bible contradicts itself. The problem is always that we do not have all the information, and if we did, we would understand that what is apparently a contradiction is actually in harmony with the truth.

The Testimony of Faith

For most Christians the various arguments in support of the Bible as the Word of God are unnecessary. Their own contact with Scripture in connection with their conversion to Christianity and their faith in Christ and their subsequent fellowship with Christ is in itself evidence that the Bible is true and that its message can be believed. Such faith, however, does not discard intellectual evidences for the Bible as the Scriptures have abundant evidence that they can be believed as the very Word of God. But there is the confirmation of individual Christians who put their trust in God and found their lives transformed, people who have experienced God’s supernatural power as He gives joy and peace through the Holy Spirit. These elements provide truths that are far beyond the ordinary proofs for the inspiration and authority of Scripture. Christians walking with God find that by meditating on Scripture they have fellowship with God and that His truth thrills them and brings them joy and peace in their faith.

Questions

1. To what extent is faith necessary to practical living?

2. How do we exercise faith in our daily lives?

3. To what extent is faith rational?

4. To what extent is faith in the Bible justified?

5. What are some of the facts in the Bible that appeal to our faith?

6. What is meant by the inspiration of the Bible?

7. How does the Bible express God’s work in inspiration?

8. To what extent does the Bible rebuke, correct, and reveal God’s will for us?

9. What does the Bible reveal about righteous living and the righteousness which God provides?

10. Is there a human element in the Bible relating to the authors of the Scriptures?

11. Did the human authors of the Bible often express their own personality and feelings?

12. How do you define the inspiration of the Bible in a comprehensive way?

13. How would you illustrate the inspiration of the Bible by a boat carrying a passenger?

14. What is the orthodox position of the inspiration of the Bible?

15. What are some of the wrong definitions of inspiration?

16. To what extent is the truthfulness of the Bible related to the truthfulness of Jesus?

17. To what extent did Jesus claim that the Bible was inspired?

18. What are some of the statements that Christ made concerning the Bible?

19. What are some of the internal evidences that indicate that the Bible is the inspired Word of God?

20. What are some of the external evidences for the inspiration of the Bible?

21. How does the Bible in its revelation go beyond human ingenuity in the knowledge of man?

22. To what extent has the influence of the Bible been widespread?

23. To what extent does the Bible deal with the real world?

24. To what extent does the Bible exalt Jesus Christ?

25. How does the inspiration of the Bible relate to prophecy in the Bible?

26. Have fulfilled prophecies given us any indication of the truthfulness of the Bible?

27. How can we regard the prophecies of the Bible that are not yet fulfilled?

28. How do we solve the problem that we do not have the original Scriptures or writings?

29. To what extent are our present Bibles identical to those that were written by the original author? What are some illustrations of this?

30. How do we solve apparent contradictions in the gospels?

31. How does Jericho illustrate a method of solving contradictions?

32. How does the experience of Christians in trusting God affect their faith in the Bible?

How did the human race begin? The Scriptures introduce man as a created being. In Genesis 1:27 this truth is stated, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” The origin of man has long been the subject of human speculation. But in spite of all that has been done scientifically and otherwise, no one has ever come up with a better explanation than creation for the origin of man.

In recent centuries the theory of evolution has arisen, which attempts to explain all species of life, whether plant or animal, as a product of a gradual improvement that develops over many millions of years. The problem with evolution, however, is that it is a theory that has yet to be proved. With all the advantages of modern science, it has never been possible to change one species into another; a dog never becomes a cat; a plant never becomes a fish; and a tree never becomes a cow. In other words, a tree remains a tree though it may vary in its structure and leaf design and new kinds of trees can be formed, but the fact is that we have never been able by any scientific process to change one species into another.

Evolution has no solution for the origin of life. Science never has been able to produce life out of that which was not life. The Bible remains the simple and effective and clear explanation of how man was created. Further, in the creation of man he was made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:27). No development in evolution could ever take an animal and produce in it that which corresponds to the image of God.

The revelation that man is the object of God’s creation is not simply taught in one passage but in many. In the first chapter of Genesis alone the fact of man’s creation is stated repeatedly. In the sweeping statement of John 1:2-3, Jesus Christ as the Word was “with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” Colossians 1:16 is even more explicit, “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.”

According to Hebrews 11:3, all things, not simply human beings, were made by God: “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” If one accepts the Bible as the Word of God in other matters, one must necessarily accept the Bible when it indicates that God is the Creator and originator of all that has been created. It is significant that even unbelievers who scoff at the second coming of Christ have to conclude, “Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4), in other words, they must begin with creation. There is no alternative explanation to the doctrine of creation that satisfies the questions that are raised by the nature of our universe and the nature of man.

The Nature of Man

In the original creation as stated in Genesis 1:27, man was made in the image and likeness of God. This means that he has the essential qualities of personality, which are intellect or mind, sensibility or feeling, and will, that is, the ability to make moral choices. These qualities do not exist in any creature other than man, but they make it possible for him to have communion with God and also to be morally responsible for his actions.

The Scriptures further define man as composed of that which is material or immaterial. Accordingly, man has a body and he has life. In considering the matter of the life of man, the Scriptures record, “The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7). As man is discussed in Scripture, it becomes evident that in addition to material and immaterial, the immaterial part of man is considered under two major aspects-that of spirit and soul. When man was created, according to Genesis 2:7, he “became a living being,” literally, man became “a living soul” (KJV). Several hundred times in both the Old and New Testaments man is declared to possess a soul.

The Bible also claims that human beings possess a spirit. In Hebrews 4:12 the Word of God is said to penetrate human consciousness to the point that “it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit.” In general, the word “soul” seems to refer to the psychological aspect of man or his natural experience of life. The word “spirit” seems rather to refer to his God-consciousness and his ability to function in moral and spiritual realms. However, in the Bible these terms are sometimes used to refer to the whole man, such as the words “body” or “soul” or “spirit.” For instance, in Romans 12:1 believers are exhorted to offer their bodies as living sacrifices to God. In referring to a believer’s body, Paul is referring to the whole person. Likewise, “soul” sometimes refers to the whole person, and sometimes “spirit” refers to the whole person.

Other immaterial aspects of man are also mentioned in the Bible, such as mind, will, conscience, and other references to aspects of human personality. While the body of a Christian is considered sinful, it, nevertheless, is referred to in Scripture as the “temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 6:19). The bodies of Christians should be kept under control and made to submit to the human mind (1 Cor. 9:27). The bodies of Christians, which now are corrupt and sinful, are going to be transformed, cleansed from sin, and made new like the resurrection body of Christ, at the time of resurrection or rapture (Rom. 8:11, 17-18, 23; 1 Cor. 6:13-20; Phil. 3:20-21). Though man in his present humanity is sinful and comes short of what God would have him to be and do, Christians can look forward to the time when their bodies will be made perfect in the presence of God.

The Problem of Sin

The problem of sin in the world has been faced by theologians as well as by philosophers of all kinds, and some explanations have been attempted. People who ignore the Bible fall into two classifications-those who explain sin as that which occurs because God is not omnipotent and could not prevent it, and those who postulate that God Himself is sinful and that, therefore, sin is in the universe. Adherents to polytheism, the belief that there are many gods, assume that the gods have limitations, that they are not omnipotent, that they sin. Therefore, they can offer no solution for the sin problem.

Christianity explains the problem in terms of divine revelation and what took place after Adam and Eve were created. The answer to the sin problem is that man freely chose evil and this brought sin into the human race. God had commanded Adam and Eve, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17). The biblical narrative in Genesis, however, continues with the account of how Eve partook of the fruit of the tree and Adam joined with her in partaking of it (Gen. 3:2-6). The result was that the entire human race was plunged into sin.

The biblical narrative also supplies the fact that Satan, who appeared to Eve in the form of a serpent, was evil. This implies that there was an original creation of the angelic world and that some of the angels sinned against God and became the demon world, led by Satan, that exists today. Scripture assumes that God would not create evil but created a world in which there was moral choice possible, and both angels and men chose evil instead of that which was right.

Unlike the philosophic world, which has no solution for the problem of evil, the Bible not only accounts for its origin but also provides a divine remedy in the promise of Genesis 3:15 that the woman would have offspring who would crush the head of the serpent, fulfilled in the death of Christ on the cross and His resurrection. Satan was defeated and his ultimate judgment was assured.

A biblical doctrine of sin is absolutely essential to understanding the Scriptures as an account of God’s revelation of salvation that is available through Christ and a record of victory over sin that is promised to those who will put their trust in God. The doctrine of sin is at the root of explaining history with its record of wickedness, suffering, sin, and death. The proper doctrine of sin is also necessary to understand humankind and his reaction to God and to God’s revelation.

Before Adam sinned he was innocent in thought, word, and deed. He had been created without sin but with moral choice. The challenge of obedience to God was very simple. The only command God gave that could be disobeyed was the command not to partake of the forbidden fruit (Gen. 2:17).

After Adam sinned a radical change took place. He died spiritually. Physical aging began the process that led ultimately to his death, and his conscience was aware of the fact that he had sinned against God. The immediate result of sin was that God cursed the serpent for tempting Eve (Gen. 3:14-15). The woman was promised that she would be subject to her husband and that her pain in childbearing would increase (Gen. 3:16). Adam was promised that the ground would be cursed because of him and he would find it difficult to produce food. He was also informed that eventually he would die and return to the dust from which he was made. Because of the changed situation, Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden where they had been placed, which prevented them from eating of the Tree of Life, which would have given them physical life forever (Gen. 3:22-24).

The Effect of the Fall on the Human Race

The devastating effect upon Adam’s personal situation was extended to the entire human race because Adam was the head, or beginner, of humanity.

In the discussion of sin and its effect upon the human race, the Bible teaches that what Adam did was imputed, or reckoned, to all his descendants. Accordingly, it is revealed in Romans 5:12-14 :

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.

The whole human race was considered as if they themselves had done what Adam did, and the judgment was affirmed that if they had the same opportunity in the same situation that they would have sinned against God also.

In providing a solution for human sin as intimated in Genesis 3:15, God provided in Christ crucified the One who would make it possible for people to be saved. This required an imputation, or a reckoning, of people’s sin as if Christ Himself had performed it. As stated in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made him [Christ] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” When Christ died on the cross, He died in our place as a Lamb of sacrifice because He was bearing the sins of the whole world (John 1:29).

The fact that Christ has died and paid the price of man’s sin makes it possible now for God to reckon, or impute, righteousness to those who believe in Christ. An earlier example of this is the statement that when Abram believed in the Lord concerning his future posterity, “it was credited to him as righteousness” (Rom. 4:3). Accordingly, though Abram was a sinner like all other members of the human race, when he put his trust in God as the one who would fulfill His promises, he received by divine reckoning the righteousness that only God can give. Accordingly, the same God who permitted sin to occur also provided a Savior in the person and work of Jesus Christ, which now makes it possible for sinners to be saved and be considered righteous in God’s sight.

The principle of imputation of righteousness to those who believe in Christ is the basis for our justification and is mentioned frequently in Scripture (Rom. 3:22; 4:3, 8, 21-25; 2 Cor. 5:21; Philem. 17-18). Though it is difficult to understand completely what Christ did when He died, He died as our sin-bearer, as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, a fact that is mentioned many times in Scripture (Isa. 53:5; John 1:29; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18). The fact that Christians have been made righteous and justified before a holy God makes it possible for them to be a part of the body of Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13).

Just as the Scriptures make clear that a believer in Christ is justified by faith, or declared righteous in the sight of a holy God, so it is also true in Scripture that one outside of Christ has none of the benefits of Christ’s redemption. The unsaved have the sin of Adam reckoned to their account; they are born with a sin nature that naturally sins against God; and to this their personal sins are added. Because of Adam’s sin everyone, even those who are Christians, experiences physical death (Rom. 5:12-14). Those who are not saved through faith in Christ are spiritually dead and are separated from God (Eph. 2:1; 4:18-19). They will also experience the second death, which is defined as eternal separation from God (Rev. 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8).

The History of Man

The history of man since Adam and Eve brought sin into the world has been a sad record of the human race departing from God in spite of all that God has done for them. Though Adam and Eve had consciences that enabled them to distinguish right from wrong, that did not make them good, and their posterity drifted farther and farther from God until God decided to destroy the whole human race, except Noah and his family (Gen. 6:13). Following the flood, God gave to Noah the basic principles of human government. However, the human race again demonstrated its depravity by building the Tower of Babel, and God had to judge by confusing the languages of the people.

With almost the entire world departing from God and sinning flagrantly, God chose Abram to fulfill His purpose in redemption. To Abram was promised that he would be able to bring blessing to the entire world (Gen. 12:1-3), ultimately fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Throughout the Old Testament the descendants of Abram were used as channels of divine revelation. Prophets spoke orally to the people, and some of them wrote the Scriptures, including the opening books of the Bible written by Moses. In spite of increased knowledge of God and His moral standards, the human race became evil, and Israel, the immediate divine recipient of God’s blessing, was also judged sinful and had to be dealt with in the captivities. The Old Testament, instead of being a revelation of improvement as envisioned in the theory of evolution, instead took man farther and farther from God with the result that the human race no longer had the longevity it did in creation and that many acts of violence and sin were performed.

After Jesus’ birth in the New Testament with His subsequent life on earth, His rejection by His generation, His crucifixion and death for the sins of the whole world, and His glorious resurrection, a new chapter in the history of man begins. However, just as was true in the Old Testament, the human race, for the most part, rejected God and went on its wicked way.

In the present age God is calling out from both Jew and Gentile those who will believe in Christ and be saved. He is not attempting to judge the sins of the world, though sometimes there is divine judgment upon sin. Even with all the advanced revelation given in the writing of the New Testament and the presentation of Jesus Christ to the world, the moral history of the world has become more and more a record of departure from God.

The apostle Peter recorded in graphic tones how man departed from God and denied redemption by blood (2 Peter 2:1), and how religious leaders who were not saved would, like Balaam, lead people astray (2 Peter 2:15). This would continue even to the time of the second coming of Christ, when scoffers would reject the doctrine and refuse to believe that Christ is coming again to judge the world (2 Peter 3:3-4).

The apostle Paul in his last epistle in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 summarizes the awful extent of human sin, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power.”

The present age of grace will be followed by the Day of the Lord, an age in which God will deal directly with human sin in the time of trouble preceding the second coming of Christ, a time that continues throughout the millennial kingdom when His rule will be one of absolute authority. Though the millennial kingdom in many ways is a bright spot in the future history of the world, even in the millennial kingdom there is rebellion at the end when, in spite of all the divine revelation given to them in the Millennium, people will rebel against Christ and attempt to conquer Jerusalem by force.

In the sad destiny of the human race, there will be division of those who are saved and those who are lost, with the saved being in the presence of the Lord forever in the new heaven and the new earth and the new Jerusalem and the lost ultimately being cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15). From God’s viewpoint, out of the dark history of the human race will come those among angels and men who choose to worship God and who will share with them the joy and bliss of eternity in the presence of God in the new Jerusalem.

Questions

1. How do the Scriptures represent the creation of man?

2. What is the claim of the theory of evolution?

3. Why is organic evolution rejected by those who accept the Bible as the Word of God?

4. What solution does evolution have for the origin of life?

5. How does evolution fail to explain that in man which corresponds to the image of God?

6. How was Jesus Christ related to creation?

7. From what was the universe formed at God’s command?

8. Why do scoffers have to begin with the concept of creation?

9. Define how man is divided into material and immaterial?

10. To what is “soul” referred to in man?

11. What does “spirit” refer to in man?

12. How are “soul” and “spirit” contrasted to “body”?

13. Why are these three terms sometimes used to represent the whole of man?

14. What immaterial aspects of man are mentioned in the Bible other than soul and spirit?

15. What is the contrast between the present sinful state of a person’s body and his future body?

16. How has humankind attempted to solve the problem of sin in the world?

17. How does the Bible explain the entrance of sin into the human race?

18. In contrast to the world of philosophy, what does the Bible offer as a solution for the sin problem?

19. Why is it important to understand what the Bible teaches about sin?

20. How is physical death related to sin?

21. What curses did God pronounce upon Satan, woman, and man after Adam and Eve sinned?

22. How does the sin of Adam relate to us today?

23. How does God solve the sin problem for people today?

24. What is meant by imputation? And how is it used in the Bible?

25. What does it mean to be justified by faith?

26. How does history demonstrate that conscience is not enough to keep people from doing what is wrong?

27. What did God do in the time of Noah?

28. What principles of government were introduced after the flood?

29. What did the descendants of Noah demonstrate regarding sin at the Tower of Babel?

30. What did God promise Abram?

31. To what extent were the promises to Abram fulfilled?

32. How did the world as a whole react to the coming of Christ, His death, and His resurrection?

33. What is God’s primary purpose in the present age?

34. Does the Bible predict that evil will get worse or that sin will be gradually overcome?

35. What age follows the present age of grace? And what does it include?