When the Lord Jesus was on trial before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, just prior to His crucifixion, Pilate asked Him this question, "Are you a king, then?" Our Lord answered in these words, "You say rightly that I am a King. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the Truth. Everyone who is of the Truth hears my voice" (John 18:37). Pilate responded with yet another question, "What is Truth?"--and then walked away without waiting for an answer (verse 38), totally unaware that Truth Incarnate (John 14:6) was standing before him. Had Pilate been with Christ and His disciples the day before, he would have heard the greatest prayer ever spoken and recorded (John 17), when the Lord Jesus Christ opened His heart to the Father, in the presence of His disciples. During the course of this prayer, as He prayed for them, our Lord spoke these gracious words, "Sanctify them through thy Truth. THY WORD IS TRUTH" (John 17:17).
The answer to Pilate's question is found is these words of our Lord's prayer. The Word of God, as recorded in the Holy Bible, is the TRUTH, and has the answers to all the great and vital questions of life, such as, "Who am I?"; "Where did I come from?"; "Why am I here?"; "What is the purpose of life?"; "Who is God--what is He like, and how can He be known?"; "Is there life after death?"; and "How can I find acceptance and peace with God?" The answers to these important questions--and many others--are found in the Holy Scriptures.
The Bible claims for itself Divine authorship and inspiration. In the Old Testament, its writers repeatedly used such phrases as, "Thus saith the Lord," "The Lord hath spoken unto me," "The Word of the Lord by the hand of Moses," and many other similar expressions. In the New Testament, these words are recorded in 2 Timothy 3:16-17,
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."
The writer of the book of Hebrews in the New Testament began the Epistle with this statement:
"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds ..." (Hebrews 1:1-2).
These passages and many others
teach without a doubt that the Bible claims to be an infallible
revelation of Truth from the very heart of the God of the Universe--given
to us through human agency--and, as such, it gives an accurate
account of the creation of the universe and of man, the fall and
desperate plight of mankind, the early history of man, the nature
and attributes of God, and His personal involvement with His creation,
particularly His redemptive purposes for man in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Indeed, the central theme which runs throughout
its pages like a scarlet thread from Genesis to Revelation is
God's Remedy for Man's Ruin--salvation by the sovereign
grace and mercy of the triune God through a living faith in the
Son of God--blood redemption through the Person and work of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ is "God manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy
3:16; John 1:1,14), and therefore His Words are the very words
of God Himself. It is because of this amazing truth that the Lord
Jesus Christ could say, "Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but My words shall not pass away" (Matthew 24:35). The
Apostle Peter repeated this statement in substance when he wrote,
"But the Word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is
the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you" (1
Peter 1:25).
In the final analysis, then, a search for Truth concerning God, man, salvation, and eternal life must begin with this question: "What saith the Scripture?" (Romans 4:30). Therefore, you will find the Bible referred to or quoted on every page of this book as the only source of authority, because it is only the "Holy Scriptures that are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15). It is the writer's goal to give Biblical answers to those who are searching for Truth. This book is sent forth with the earnest prayer that God may be pleased to use it in the salvation of many precious souls, by pointing them to Him Who said,
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6).
May it be a blessing, my friend,
to YOU!
"Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." Ecclesiastes 8:11
"The Lord looked down from Heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. The are all gone aside, they are altogether become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one." (Psalm 14:2-3)
Click to read Romans 3:10-20, Isaiah 53:6, Jeremiah 17:9
There is something terribly wrong with the human race. Read the daily newspaper, or watch the evening news on TV; study the history of mankind; and then ask this question: "Why is man, obviously the most intelligent creature on this planet, so full of moral corruption, so naturally evil?" Our race has produced men such as Adolf Hitler, Jeffery Dahmer, and Ted Bundy. In our race, there are mothers who destroy their children in the womb, parents who kill or physically and sexually abuse their own offspring, and thousands of people who commit suicide, being so disturbed of mind that they deliberately commit self-murder. Even animals and birds will not normally drink poisoned water, yet millions of well-educated men and women daily poison their bodies and numb their minds with the abuse of drugs and alcohol. Consider the two devastating world wars that have taken place in this century, and all the murder, rape, thievery, racial and religious warfare and strife, and other forms of human cruelty that goes on daily among mankind. Man, by nature, either under a religious covering, or without any religion, is basically greedy, selfish, and self-serving. The thin layer of modern civilization does not conceal the moral depravity that exists everywhere. Though we may not have been guilty of any or all of the gross sins listed above, an honest evaluation of our own hearts and lives will reveal that we are all sinners in word, thought and deed.
How can these sad facts be explained? Evolutionists erroneously teach that man is only a more highly developed animal, and that as we continue to evolve, we will learn to live together in peace and love. They would have us to believe that man began at the bottom of the moral ladder, but that through education and progressive civilization, he will slowly climb out of his animal nature. The truth revealed in the Holy Scriptures, however, is just the opposite. The Bible declares that man began at the top of the moral ladder, but that through deliberate rebellion and willful disobedience to his Creator's command, he fell to the bottom.
The truth is that mankind is not progressing at all, from the standpoint of morals. In spite of all our scientific and technological achievements, man is still the same morally depraved creature. Our highly-educated, high-tech society continues to devise more intricate means of destroying itself-hydrogen bombs, "smart bombs," chemical and biological warfare, and atomic intercontinental ballistic missiles are a few obvious examples.
As a result of the "sexual revolution" of the 1960s, adultery, fornication, and divorce are taken for granted today in our culture, and glorified in movies and on television, teaching that it is acceptable, "cool" and "sophisticated" to be immoral. Sexual perversion is no longer generally considered to be a sin, but is termed "gay," and out-of-the-closet sodomites are pastoring churches and being elected and re-elected to political office. Crime and revolt against civil authority are rampant throughout the land, while law enforcement officials and the courts are overwhelmed and baffled in their efforts to cope with it and keep it under control. There aren't enough jails to house all the criminals, and many are being turned loose back on society, with little or no punishment. We are witnessing the disintegration of the family as never before, while many children today are allowed to run wild like the beasts of the forest, doing whatever they please--including carrying loaded guns to school and shooting and killing their classmates and teachers. And yet we are told that the human race is progressing along the evolutionary trail!
The only logical conclusion is that which is revealed in the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures--that man is ruined by a terrible tragedy. According to the Bible, man is not now in the state in which he was originally created. The fall of man, as recorded in the third chapter of Genesis, is the true explanation of human history, and of the universal moral depravity of mankind. SIN has entered, and become a part of human nature, and man is now a fallen and ruined creature; and as such, he is capable of any vileness and wickedness.
The source of all sin and human
misery can be traced back to that tragic day in the Garden of
Eden when our first parents, the fountain from which all mankind
flowed, willfully and deliberately disobeyed the command of their
Creator, and partook of the forbidden fruit, as recorded in Genesis
chapter 3 of the Old Testament. In the New Testament, Romans 5:12,19
states and interprets this sad fact very clearly:
"Therefore, just as through one man [Adam] sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned . . . by one man's [Adam's] disobedience, many were made sinners . . ."