The Infallibility of Scripture

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

The Bible is the Word of God.  All Christians should know the popular verse of scripture: 

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..." John 1:1;14

Paul is telling Timothy that all scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit, breathed out by God through the authors of each text.  It is inerrant, meaning without error, in its original form.  Through the years as the text was copied by scribes and translated into different languages typographical and grammatical errors have arisen along with possible mistranslations of certain words, dates and other minor details.  However, scripture still stands as infallible, meaning it is unable to fail in bringing people to the knowledge of the Truth of the Gospel when the Holy Spirit illuminates the eyes of those who behold it.  It is also unable to fail in its ability to teach, correct, train, perfect and equip saints.

God is still the Word and is able to use man to maintain the clarity of His message through His Spirit.  The Bible stands as the final authority for the believer.  God has preserved His Word through years of darkness, attempts to remove it from the hands of those that proclaim faith in Christ, and has used people from the original Apostles to the reformers to modern translators to make it available to all.  

Being that the Bible is the Word and the Word is God, it is understandable that demonic powers are constantly at work to keep believers from spending time reading, studying and meditating on it, for it is the primary means by which God chooses to communicate with His people.  Paul told Timothy to study to show himself approved, God told Joshua to meditate on the Word day and night, and Paul instructed the Roman Church that the Word renews our mind.  No wonder there is such a battle to study the Bible.  I can attest to this in my own life.  I may read the Bible, but I often allow distractions to keep me from meditating and studying the way I know I should.  

Jesus gave the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:1-23.  In this parable, the Word of God is the seed and our hearts are the ground.  

• Some seeds fell by the wayside, meaning they were sown but never made it to the soil of the heart.  Jesus said these represent those who listen to or read the Word but don't understand it.  The enemy comes and steals the Word before understanding hits the heart (aka mind).
• Others fell on rocky ground where there wasn't much soil.  The seeds only hit the surface of the soil and the sun destroyed them.  Jesus described this type of soil as hearts that receive the Word with joy, however once trials and persecution arise they let go of it because it never took root in the heart a/k/a because they failed to retain the knowledge of the Word in their mind.
• Some fell upon thorns which chocked up the seeds before they could grow.  This represents those that received the Word but placed more focus on the cares of the world and once again didn't allow the Word to take root.
• The rest fell on good ground, and bore fruit - some 30, 60 and 100 fold.  Jesus said "this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit..." (verse 23)

So it's not enough to just hear the Word preached or just read the Bible as a story.  It is important to spend time studying and meditating on the Word.  This will prepare your heart to be good soil that will result in understanding and ultimately cause you to bear fruit.  The fruit that Jesus was talking about is the fruit of the Spirit as mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23:

1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Longsuffering
5. Gentleness
6. Goodness
7. Faith
8. Meekness
9. Temperance

"...against such there is no law." - Galatians 5:23

So let's take advantage of this amazing opportunity to get to know God through His Word, to renew our mind, be edified, perfected, equipped, and bear good fruit.

Blessed, Chosen, Predestined and Accepted

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
    Ephesians 1:3-6 

What usually comes to mind when you hear the word "blessed"?  Certainly blessings can be defined as material possessions, being kept out of harms way in times of danger, and even the breath that we breathe, yes that is a blessing too.  However, what kind of blessing is Paul speaking about in Ephesians 1:3?  He begins by saying that God the Father is blessed.  He then says that the Father has blessed us.  But what has He blessed us with?

The Father has "blessed us with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ".  Notice the emphasis I placed on every and on spiritual.  This does not mean that God does not and has not blessed us in the natural realm.  However, I believe that Paul is speaking about a greater blessing than what the eyes can see.  This blessing involves being chosen, predestined, and accepted.

And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled. - Colossians 1:21

David wrote in Psalm 51:5 that he, and subsequently we, were shapen in iniquity and concieved in sin.  We inherited a sinful nature from Adam.  This nature separated us from God and made us His enemies.  

We who were once enemies of the cross (Phil 3:18) have now been blessed and made friends of God (James 2:23).  We have become heirs of God, and because God is blessed we are blessed.  We share in the riches of God because of what Christ has done for us.  These riches are freely given to us!  He chose us, predestined us, accepted us who were once rejected to be benefactors of His blessedness.  He did this so that we would be "holy and without blame before Him in love" for "the good pleasure of His will".  That we would share in His perfect nature, no longer in bondage to our old sinful nature.

So "walk worthy of the calling with which you were called" (Eph. 4:1) and remember that in Christ you are blessed, chosen, predestined and accepted.