The Word of God

“All the ideas of Christianity might be discovered in some other religion, yet there

would be in that other religion on Christianity. For Christianity depends, not upon

a complex of ideas, but upon the narration of an event.” - J. Gresham Machen

What is the Bible?

On a very basic level, it is the foundational document of the Christian religion. The

Bible is what conveys the values, truths, an overall message of Christianity to the

people. In the Christian worldview the Bible conveys messages from God to man.

It reveals the very nature of God and of man, and directly shows our need of a

savior. The Bible also shows us the means for salvation.

The entirety of the Old Testament looks forward to the coming of Jesus and the

New Testament finds its purpose in His work. Christians believe then that salvation

is not a discovery of a personal transformation but something that happened. This

is what sets Christianity apart from all other religions.

Salvation depends on how an event that happened many years ago from interacts

with us today. This event that happened years ago is tested through Christian

experience. However, while this experience is important, it is not the only thing that

matters.

Liberalism maintains that all we need is a current and personal experience of Jesus.

If we have the feeling of his presence we don’t need the message of his saving work

because we have him. However, this is not Christian. True Christian experience

depends on the aforementioned event of salvation.

Not only does the Bible show the need, purpose, and means of salvation, the Bible

provides believers with the truths of God. Christians believe the Bible is the inspired

word of God, not from human lips but from His spirit. Because of that, “the account

itself is true, the writers have been so preserved from error, despite a full maintenance

of their habits of thought and expression...the resulting Book is the ‘infallible rule of

faith and practice” (Macgen 62).

Many liberals do not believe the Bible is inspired from the Spirit. Though they have

rejected the Bible as the inspired Word of God, they still believe they are Christian

because they rely on Jesus. However, you cannot believe in Jesus and what he says

without believing the Bible. Jesus in his earthly ministry could not tell us all that we

need to know about God and salvation. Liberals then have to pick and choose what to

believe of the words Jesus from the words of the Bible.

At first glance Liberalism and Christianity may seem to be similar. Both claim Jesus as

the only source of salvation and have similar values, however, they are completely

different worldviews. The foundation of Christianity is in the truth of the Bible and

anything straying from this is an entirely different religion. We must hold fast to the

truth of the inspired Word of God, study it, and help bring light to a darkening

generation.