Author: pastortoney

I have watched the videos and see all the posts about the gorilla and the boy incident.  We all know what we believe to be the facts and different opinions have formed.  I came in this afternoon and my son was repeating how sad it was that the gorilla was shot.  He said the four year old made his choice and that was that.  Obviously he was repeating what was heard at school from the adults or children there.  The whole situation is sad I agree.  We have a boy who was curious and fell into a life threatening situation, a mom who will forever blame herself (although accidents happen) and zoo officials who no doubt made a hard call.  The right call might I add.  Let me say to all of those out there that are outraged over the shooting of the gorilla, Your not related to it get over it.  Why don’t we get mad about the unborn babies, or the children that are abused in this country.  There are over 150,000 abortions worldwide daily or if you can’t wrap your mind around that just the 3,000 abortions in America daily.  There were 1,520 kids that died last year to child abuse, but I haven’t seen the protests over that.  Instead we get mad over an animal and act like they shot your uncle.  The Bible says in the Book of Genesis that you were formed in God’s image.(not a monkey or gorilla)  I have heard it said that you might of had relatives hang from their necks but never one from their tale.  When  did we as a country begin to value an animal more than a human life (even an endangered one).Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. Genesis 2:7 ESV.  

2Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  James 1: 2-3 HCSB

You should tell your face that you have the Joy of the Lord in your heart. Does that statement make you wonder? It does me when I see people who say they are saved. As I interact with people on a daily basis I wonder if they have told their faces they are saved. You see our facial expressions tell a lot about our lives. Now I understand that you may not always be happy. Since happiness is based upon your surroundings and what is currently happening in your life. We all go through those stages. Joyfulness is based upon what is in your heart. When you are saved the Lord places His Joy in your heart. You see you have passed from death to life, so you are no longer a walking dead person, but now have life. The Bible goes on to tell us that we should consider trials of this life a matter of Joy, because it will increase our faith. I know all of this sounds impossible, but when if you are truly saved then you know I am right. You see we as children of God are strange people according to the Bible. People do not understand how we are to have this joy going through tough times of life. But when our face doesn’t show the joy in our hearts, then why in the world would a lost person want what we claim to have? So I suggest that either you send missionaries to your face and let it know that you have accepted the good news in your heart, or maybe you really need to accept the Good news.

There are several objections why we don’t share our Faith. They are as follows; there are many ways to God, I do not believe or have always believed in God, how can a loving God condemn someone to hell, and why does God allow evil and pain to take place? All of these raise valid concern in an unbelievers mind and I a will attempt to answer these with both practical answers and biblical references.

First let us address the comment there are many ways to God. I will often agree with this statement and then clarify what I mean. I will say there are many ways to God, because at some point everyone will stand before Him for judgment. But John 14:6 says “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. In this verse we see that God is referred to, as Father and that will show the loving aspect of God. He has given us the chance to be one of His children through accepting the work of Christ on the cross. John 1:12-13 says But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.  They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.   You see thinking there are many ways to God and Believing in the One true way to the Father are completely different things.

Second we will address whether or not you believe in God. Let us tackle when someone says I don’t believe in God. I sometimes will say you can stand out in the middle of the road and say I don’t believe in big trucks, but if one hits you that doesn’t change the fact that it really existed. Or if you say I don’t believe in gravity and jump out of a plane without a parachute, it won’t change the fact that you will be picked up in pieces will it. See God doesn’t exist because we believe in Him or not, He has always existed as shown in Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,”* says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”  Next let us deal with the person who says I have always believed in God. Often times I say that is awesome so it should not be a stretch for you to believe in His son Jesus Christ and what He has done for you. I will even goes as far as giving them James 2:19-20 that says you say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. * Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. ²⁰ How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

Third let us talk about if you face the question how can a loving God condemn someone to hell? I will often times just say off the cuff the it is not God that condemns people to hell, we take care of that all by ourselves. Then I will share John 3:16-18 that says ¹⁶ “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

¹⁸ “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.

Fourth let us deal with the question of why does God allow evil and pain to take place? I will instantly say that is not Gods fault that evil or hurt takes place. I will often times try and take them all the way back to the garden and walk through what sin has done to the world. Therefore explaining that it is not really allowing bad things to happen, but sin causing bad things to happen. Make sense?

Now to attempt to provide some comfort and assurance to people who have made a decision to follow Jesus Christ. We have all heard the parable of the farmer and the seeds, just in case here is a small part to illustrate what could happen “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. ⁴ As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants.   I believe personally that after decisions to follow our sin nature automatically tries to make us believe that we really didn’t do what we thought. People will always doubt if you make Salvation out to be something it was not intended to be. I first want people to realize that Jesus simply says to follow Him first, He knows that you still have hang ups and your not perfect. He will change you from the inside out, just give Him time to work. I am also quick to share with them stories of the disciples Peter mostly and even Paul had struggles after he got saved. The most important thing I believe you can tell somebody is that Salvation is a one and done, you can’t lose it couldn’t give it back if you wanted to. Whom Jesus saves He seals and holds in His hands where nothing can ever remove you. You might have times that you need to check your salvation that is good that means the Holy Spirit is working in you to remove some impurities. Just stop and pray for guidance and trust in the finished work of the cross. If none of the above stuff seems to comfort them at all, I sometimes ask if they are sure they got saved or were they just following the crowd at the time. I then share my story of just following the crowd in third grade and show how dangerous that really is. People it is ok to pray with somebody again so that they know for sure they are saved. You would want somebody to do that for you.

16All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

2 Tim 3: 16 -17 HCSB

Fourth, Scripture uses Scripture in a way that supports its inerrancy. At times an entire argument rests on a single word (e.g., John 10:34 – 35 and “God” in Ps. 82:6), the tense of a verb (e.g., the present tense in Matt. 22:32), and the difference between a singular and a plural noun (e.g., “seed” in Gal. 3:16). If the Bible’s inerrancy does not extend to every detail, these arguments lose their force. The use of any word may be a matter of whim and may even be an error. It might be objected that the NT does not always cite OT texts with precision, that as a matter of fact precision is the exception rather than the rule. This is a fair response, and an adequate answer requires more space than is available here. A careful study of the way in which the OT is used in the NT, however, demonstrates that the NT writers quoted the OT not cavalierly but quite carefully.

Finally, inerrancy follows from what the Bible says about God’s character. Repeatedly, the Scriptures teach that God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18). If, then, the Bible is from God and his character is behind it, it must be inerrant and infallible.

A second argument for biblical inerrancy is that this has been the view of the church throughout its history. One must remember that if inerrancy was part of the corpus of orthodox doctrine, then in many discussions it was assumed rather than defended. Further, the term “inerrancy” may be a more modern way of expressing the belief in the English language. Nevertheless, in each period of the church’s history one can cite clear examples of those who affirm inerrancy.

In the early church Augustine writes, “I have learned to yield this respect and honor only to the canonical books of Scripture: of these alone do I most firmly believe that the authors were completely free from error.”

The two great Reformers, Luther and Calvin, bear testimony to biblical infallibility. Luther says, “But everyone, indeed, knows that at times they (the fathers) have erred as men will; therefore I am ready to trust them only when they prove their opinions from Scripture, which has never erred.” While Calvin does not use the phrase “without error,” there can be little question that he embraced inerrancy. Of the writers of the Gospels he comments, “The Spirit of God . . . appears purposely to have regulated their style in such a manner, that they all wrote one and the same history, with the most perfect agreement, but in different ways.”

In modern times one could cite the works of Princeton theologians Archibald Alexander, Charles Hodge, A A Hodge, and B B Warfield as modern formulators and defenders of the full inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture.

Because epistemologies differ, this argument has been formulated in at least two very different ways. For some, knowledge claims must, to be justified, be indubitable or incorrigible. It is not enough that a belief is true and is believed on good grounds. It must be beyond doubt and question. For such an epistemology inerrancy is essential. Inerrancy guarantees the incorrigibility of every statement of Scripture. Therefore, the contents of Scripture can be objects of knowledge.

Epistemologies that do not require such a high standard of certitude result in this argument for inerrancy: If the Bible is not inerrant, then any claim it makes may be false. This means not that all claims are false, but that some might be. But so much of the Bible is beyond direct verification. Thus, only its inerrancy assures the knower that his or her claim is justified.

When discussing inerrancy we must also remember that if we take either side out of the equation (God or Man) it messes it up.

How are we to live out our lives concerning Scripture if we believe what this doctrine teaches is the difficult matter? We must first fully understand what scripture teaches about are fallen state. Romans 6:23 says ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. ^[1] Here in this verse we find what we deserve and we also see a glimpse of what God has done for us. We find it said in another way in Romans 5:8 ⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.^[2] The Bible tells us in I Corinthians 6: 19-20 You do not belong to yourself, ²⁰ for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.^[3] The early Christ followers would have understood this relationship somewhat better than their modern counterparts. See the practice of slavery was very much a part of society and once a slave was purchased they no longer had any rights of their own. We as Christ followers need to understand the same thing. We no longer have opinions on the matters of the world. When people ask us we just simply need to reply with what the Bible has to say about that topic. Paul often times referred to himself as the slave or bondservant of the Lord Jesus. Our entire lives need to hinge on the absolute authority of the scriptures in our lives. The Bible teaches of its own authority. Jesus spoke of its authority (Matthew 5:17-20 and John 10: 34-35) and says the Bible is indestructible. Something that contains errors cannot be our absolute authority in life.

I believe the reason many Christians don’t live out their faith is they have never fully surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus. We are taught a very important principle in Galatians 2: 20 ²⁰ My old self has been crucified with Christ.* It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ^[4] When we understand that when we accept by faith the payment Christ has provided we also need to understand the Father no longer sees us, but sees His Son instead. The Bible teaches in Hebrew 8: 25 ²⁵ Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save* those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf. ^[5] When we have someone who has given so much for us shouldn’t we be diligent about wanting to obey everything that they command us to do. Jesus tells us that if we love Him we will obey Him (John 14:5). It stands to reason then if we truly love Jesus as we profess with our mouth that our actions would show. If you are a Christ Follower, then people should be able to look for and find fruit in your life. Why? Because a disciple of Jesus will produce spiritual fruit. Jesus said in John 15:8 “⁸ When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. ^[6]”

So in closing, for us to believe scripture is inspired and inerrant and not to obey it fully in our everyday lives would cause one to sue his brain for non-support.

16All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:16-17 HCSB

Theologians have called the divine action by which the words of Scripture were put into the minds of human writers inspiration. Since God originated not simply the thoughts, but the very words of Scripture, the terms verbal or plenary (“full”) inspiration have been used.

The Latin roots of the English word inspiration suggest that God “breathed (his words) into” the biblical writers. This is not untrue, but it would be more in accord with biblical imagery to think of the expiration of Scripture. For example, Peter declared “God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ should suffer” (Acts 3:18; see also 1:16; 3:21; 4:25). Using this metaphor of oral speech (in which words are “exhaled” through the mouth), 2 Timothy 3:16 states that Scripture is “breathed out by God” (through the mouth of his spokesmen). This is the meaning of the Greek word theopneustos in that passage, which the NIV translates as “God-breathed” (KJV, NKJV: “given by inspiration of God”; NASB: “inspired by God”).

The relationship between inerrancy and inspiration is that inspiration supports inerrancy. For this to be true we must have complete Faith that every word is from God in some form or fashion. Believing God takes faith (Genesis 15:6). 2 Peter 1:20 – 21 says²⁰ above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, * ²¹ or from human initiative. No, the Holy Spirit moved those prophets, and they spoke from God. ^[1]   We believe God is perfect and cannot lie as scripture teaches. Hebrews 6: 18 says¹⁸ So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.^[2]

Inerrancy is the view that, when in its original manuscript and interpreted correctly, the Bible is completely true in all subjects it speaks on and about. Actually, the Bible speaks on its own trustworthiness due to its inspired nature (from God). 2 Timothy 3:16 says All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. ^[3] By believing that God and His nature are divine (perfect), we subject ourselves to the belief represented in 2 Timothy. Numbers 23:19 says  God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? ^[4] The Bible is His Book of Promises and by God, being perfect, divinely inspiring it makes it absolute truth.

The primary arguments for inerrancy are biblical, historical, and epistemological in nature.

First, the Bible teaches its own inspiration, and this requires inerrancy. The Scriptures are the breath of God (2 Timothy 3:16), which guarantees they are without error.

Second, in Deuteronomy 13:1 – 5 and 18:20 – 22 Israel is given criteria for distinguishing God’s message and messenger from false prophecies and prophets. One mark of a divine message is total and absolute truthfulness. A valid parallel can be made between the prophet and the Bible. The prophet’s word was usually oral, although it might be recorded and included in a book; the writers of Scripture communicated God’s word in written form. Both were instruments of divine communication, and in both cases the human element was an essential ingredient.

Third, the Bible teaches its own authority, and this requires inerrancy. The two most commonly cited passages are Matthew 5:17 – 20 and John 10: 34 – 35. Both record the words of Jesus. In the former Jesus said that heaven and earth will pass away before the smallest detail of the law fails to be fulfilled. The law’s authority rests on the fact that every minute detail will be fulfilled. In John 10:34 – 35 Jesus says that Scripture cannot be broken and so is absolutely binding. While it is true that both passages emphasize the Bible’s authority, this authority can only be justified by or grounded in inerrancy. Something that contains errors cannot be absolutely authoritative.