How can we know that God exists? How can we prove the Bible is a perfect, inspired, and holy book? How can we be sure that the Creator of the universe has become a man named Jesus Christ who died and came back to life? Those are the questions that have been investigated throughout the history.
Last month, we presented our thoughts on the reliability of the Bible through the lens of science. Beyond science, we also believe that our conscience can testify the existence of God and the importance of His law in our lives. Therefore, we believe the reliability of the Bible can be proven from a moral perspective.
The law of his God is in his heart; None of his steps shall slide. (Psalm 37:31, NKJV)
This article aims to provide reasons why the Bible is trustworthy from the perspective of human’s conscience and moral nature. To start, let us read the following quotes:
“If the universe and man were merely random chance arrangements of atoms and chemicals, then no morality could exist. For instance, it would be no more morally wrong to kill a baby than a mosquito larva, since both are only random chance arrangements of chemicals. Genocide would be no more evil than mass spraying to exterminate mosquitoes. The fact that absolute morals do and indeed must exist implies a moral Maker, Lawgiver, and Judge.”
The Bible clearly indicates that through our conscience and thoughts, we know that God’s law is already written in our hearts (Romans 2:15). Now, there are at least three reasons from moral perspective as to why we can be sure that the Scripture is truly a divine revelation and inspiration. Let us take a closer look.
The right foundation of moral virtues
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17, NIV)
The Bible reveals that the world and its desires are fleeting and provides humanity with a better, stronger foundation for living. While the world teaches us different values which focus on one’s fulfillment through earthly achievements, the Bible gives us an eternal perspective. It is clear: we can’t love both God and the world, because the values are contradictory. Amazingly, the Bible is right when it says that the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10) since this truth still applies to this day. We could see that the motives behind all wars and conflicts in this world are not far away from the selfish ambition illustrated above as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Fortunately, the Bible helps us to have the right priority in life: to do God’s will. To know His will, we must have a personal relationship with Him. Thanks be to God, His desire to have a close relationship with us is greater than we could ever imagine. That is why the Son of God has come to this world to demonstrate His love for us, so that we may give our love to the Right One.
Reason #1: The Bible is trustworthy from a moral perspective because it provides humanity with the highest, firmest standard of moral values: to love the Lawgiver and to do His will.
The noble messages of faith, hope, and love
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)
The core teaching of the Bible is loving God and people. We can love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). The Bible accurately points out the eternal moral values to humanity: faith, hope, and love. No one who truly embraces these values is able to remain in darkness, constantly do wicked things in life. Throughout the history, we have witnessed that the Scripture has the ability to transform corrupt people into the man of God. Paul (formerly called Saul) is perhaps the most prominent example: he was a persecutor, yet God converted him to become the apostle of Christ, the author of nearly half of the New Testament. Through his writings, God shows us the real definition of faith (Hebrews 11:1), hope (Romans 5:3-5), and love (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Of all these three, love is the greatest because faith and hope are contained in love (i.e. love never stops trusting and love is always hopeful). There are four Greek words for love: agape (unconditional love), philia (friendship love), storge (family love), and eros (intimate love). In 1 Corinthians 13, the word agape is used to represent divine love, which can also be found in John 3:16. God has demonstrated His agape since Christ died for rebellious, sinful mankind like us (Romans 5:8). The Bible even offers a ‘challenge’ for us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44) and forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32). To love those who love you is easy, but to love those who hate you is Godly. After all, loving God and people is all that matters.
Reason #2: The Bible is trustworthy from a moral perspective because it teaches humanity with the ‘trinity’ of eternal moral values (faith, hope, and love) which are essential for a fruitful relationship with God and others.
The ultimate hope of humanity
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26)
The resurrection of Christ is the ultimate hope of humankind. If there was no resurrection, life would have no meaning. If life had no meaning, people would be free to do anything they wanted. If people were free to do anything they wanted, life would be a disaster, chaotic. Thanks be to God, Christ is risen! All this means there is a purpose in life. Even though we are not free to do anything we wanted, we have been set free from ourselves, from the bondage of our sinful nature. And even more, we are given a privilege to live for God and to serve the Creator of the universe with the gifts and talents He has given us. We are not afraid of the future, because God through Jesus Christ has guaranteed a place for us in eternity. For this reason, Paul said that to live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21-22) and while we are alive, there are three goals to achieve: always honor and please God, bear good fruit, and increase our knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10). Because Jesus is alive, we never lose hope, our life is full of purpose, and our labor is not in vain.
Reason #3: The Bible is trustworthy from a moral perspective because it offers a certain hope of salvation and eternal life in Christ Jesus, giving us a real meaning in our present earthly life.
Vancouver, June – July 2019