How Can We Be Sure the Bible Was Written Without Error?

How can we be sure that the Bible was written without error? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. Well, hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us right now with your question. Here's our phone number.

It's 833-THE-CORE. Our phone lines will be open for the next 20 minutes or so, 833-843-2673. Now, you can also post your question on one of our social media sites. You can also watch Adriel live in the studio right now on our YouTube channel and send him your question that way. You can also email us anytime at questionsatcorechristianity.com.

First up today, here's a voicemail from one of our listeners named Paul. I was wondering if mediums have the power to call somebody out of the presence of the Lord, kind of based on the story in the Old Testament about Saul. So that's my question. It's an excellent question, and this is a difficult passage because it does seem to indicate that this medium had the ability to speak to the dead, to call Samuel down. And there are a couple of ways that people have taken this text in particular. Some people say, well, this was all theatrics.

This didn't really actually happen. No, I mean, it does seem to me when you read this text, like Samuel does appear and what he speaks to Saul is true. It really is a terrifying passage of scripture, a sobering, scary text of the Bible.

I'm going to read the text. This is really coming to the end of Saul's life and his ministry. He's being rejected by the Lord because he disobeyed the word of the Lord. In verse three, it says, Samuel had died and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put out the mediums and the necromancers out of the land. The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel and they encamped at Gilboa. And when Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly.

And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets. And Saul said to his servants, seek out for me a woman who is a medium that I may go to her and inquire of her. And his servant said to him, behold, there is a medium at Endor. And so he goes to her, he disguises himself, he goes to her.

And the woman does her magic spell or whatever. And Samuel appears. And verse 10 says, Saul swore to her by the Lord, as the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for doing this thing. And the woman said, whom shall I bring up for you? And he said, bring up Samuel for me.

And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, why have you deceived me? You are Saul. In other words, it seems like she's caught off guard too.

Maybe she wasn't expecting this to happen. Why have you deceived me? You're Saul. And the king said to her, do not be afraid.

What do you see? And the woman said to Saul, I see a God coming up out of the earth. And he said to her, what is his appearance? And she said, an old man is coming up and he is wrapped in a robe. And Saul knew that it was Samuel. And he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage. And this is what gets me thinking that, look, no, this is real.

This actually happened. It's what Samuel said. Samuel says to the Lord, why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? And Saul answered, I am in great distress for the Philistines are warring against me and God has turned away from me and answers me no more either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore, I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do. And Samuel said, why then do you ask me since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy, the Lord has done to you what he spoke by me for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David. And then he basically prophesized that, hey, this is it.

Your children are going to be with me coming up here. And of course, Saul is terrified. And so it seems to me, you asked, you know, well, do mediums have this power? Let me say a couple of things. There are evil forces at work. There are spiritual forces at work with the occult, with mediums and necromancers and so forth. And so there is a spiritual power there.

It's obviously right. It's not on par with the power of the true and the living God. But we have to understand that there is a whole unseen world and that there are evil forces at work in the world that we need to be aware of and pray against as the followers of Jesus Christ. And here specifically, I don't think that just mediums have this kind of authority before God. I think what you have here is a providential circumstance, this thing that happens that of course was recorded for us in scripture. And it was essentially how God was rebuking Saul. I mean, here he is at the end of his life, chasing after witch doctors, essentially, this one who knew the Lord, who had heard the voice of the Lord and yet had rejected the voice of the Lord. And so there's a warning here.

And again, just a reminder of the reality of the unseen world. And frankly, the big thing here is the importance of listening to the voice of the Lord, following the Lord. And so appreciate your question and thank you.

Really good counsel. Thanks for that, Adriel. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Our phone lines are open right now.

If you have a question about the Bible, the Christian life doctrine, theology, we would love to hear from you. Here's the number 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. You can call us for the next 20 minutes or so.

And now is the time to jump on the phone. Let's go to Paul, who's calling in from Nebraska. Paul, what's your question for Adriel? Well, we live in a prominent Catholic community. And I ask people that is with me about our faith, and I ask them if they know what to do to receive eternal life. And most of them say they don't read the Bible, they're Catholic, or they don't know. And I just wondered if Catholicism was a Christian faith.

Paul, thank you for that question. Well, of course, Catholicism is distinct from Protestant Christianity. The Protestant Church broke off from the Catholic Church or was removed from the Catholic. There are different ways of thinking about this, and there are some significant doctrinal differences. So if you're talking to a Roman Catholic who knows their stuff, who maybe is more aware, I mean, there are many Catholics, just like there are many Protestants who don't understand the basics of their faith, of what they believe. But if you're talking to someone who's been catechized and is more well versed in the theology of the Roman Catholic Church, they'll say, well, no, there are some significant differences. There was a period in church history where the Catholic Church, thinking of the Council of Trent, basically said if you are a Protestant, if you believe the things that the Protestant Reformers believed, you are anathema, you're accursed.

That was a serious judgment. Now, if you talk to a lot of Roman Catholics today, they sort of, I think, watered down that anathema. They'll say, well, no, you guys are separated, brethren.

We don't think of you that negatively. But the reason that that anathema was made, those anathemas were made, is because there are these distinct theological differences pertaining to church government, the authority of the pope, whether we should have a pope, but really even the doctrine of salvation, the doctrine of justification. What is justification? Is it something that God does, an act that God does, whereby our sins are forgiven, we're given, gifted to the righteousness of Jesus Christ? Or is it a process of inward renewal so that we're as justified as we are sanctified?

This sort of process of growing in holiness makes us more justified so that we merit eternal life? This is some of the things that we differ on. One positive thing is, I mean, I think when we're talking about the Roman Catholic Church, the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of the incarnation, the deity of Christ, those are things that we agree on fundamentally.

And so I think that's something to praise God for. But there are differences. And that doesn't mean that there aren't Catholics who truly know and love Jesus. And as you're recognizing, there are many people who just aren't really familiar with what it is that their church teaches.

And that's true, again, even in Protestant circles. And so I would encourage you, Paul, as you're having conversations to say, hey, let's talk about that, then. If you're not sure, what do you need to do to have eternal life? Well, the Bible actually gives us some pretty specific answers, some clear answers.

And it sounds like it'd be a good thing to know, right? Like what do I need to do to be saved, to have my sins forgiven? You think about what the Philippian jailer said to Paul. I mean, he asked that question in Acts chapter 16, verse 31.

So maybe this is a text you can go to with some of your friends and neighbors. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said to him, believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. And this is one of the big focuses of the Protestant Reformation is salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And faith is not a work. It's not that I'm saved by my works, by my righteousness. Even the good works that I do that, you know, the Spirit of God helps me with, those don't save me.

It's a free gift of God, not of works, so that no one can boast. And so that gospel message, that good news that you can't save yourself. God sent his son Jesus into the world so that by faith in his name, your sins can be forgiven. And having had your sins forgiven, follow him, get to know him, grow in your understanding of his word and his will for your life.

It's so important. And so I pray that the Lord blesses you as you continue to have conversations with your neighbors. And as you grow, I think in your own understanding of the word of God, and you're able to share with others about the good news of the gospel and what God has done for us in scripture. God bless. Hey Paul, if you'll hang on the line for a second, we would love to send you a copy of the book Core Christianity, which is by our founder, Dr. Michael Horton, which really would be a great book to sit down with one of your Catholic friends and go through the fundamentals of the faith, what we really believe as Christians.

I think it would really be helpful. By the way, if you join our inner core, we'd love to send you a complimentary copy of the book by Dr. Horton. And if you're not familiar with the inner core, that's a group of people who listen to this broadcast on a regular basis, and they really believe strongly in what we do, so much so that they're willing to make a monthly contribution to keep us on the air.

Yeah. If you're blessed by the broadcast, consider joining the inner core. It's a monthly donation of $25 or more. And I hope that you see it as a way to partner with us to continue to share the truth of scripture every day as we get live calls and get to talk about the word of God. And so if you've been blessed, join the inner core. And as Bill said, we'll send you a copy of Core Christianity by Dr. Michael Horton. Here's the special URL. Just go to corechristianity.com forward slash inner core. That's corechristianity.com forward slash inner core.

Love to have you consider joining that special group of folks. Well, we do receive YouTube questions here at the core. And if you can go to our YouTube channel, watch Adriel live in the studio every day, Monday through Friday at 11 30 a.m. Pacific time. Here's a YouTube question from Justin. He says, how do I respond to someone who says Abraham changed God's mind in Genesis or Moses did so in Exodus?

Yeah. Thank you for that question, Justin. In the passages that you're referring to, it looks like Genesis 18 and Exodus 32. For those who are not familiar with those texts in particular, there you have the intercession that's made on behalf of the people who had sinned in Exodus 32.

It's after the situation with the golden calf. In Genesis 18, Abraham is, is interceding for the people there in Sodom and Gomorrah, verse 22 of Genesis 18. So the men turned from there, went towards Sodom and Abraham stood still or still stood before the Lord and drew near and said, will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are 50 righteous within the city.

Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the 50 righteous who are in it? And so he's, he's pleading, he's interceding, he's asking for God to show mercy. And of course there's an interaction there. And so what do you say to someone who says, well, it looks like prayer is our way of changing God's mind. That, that, that sometimes, you know, when you, when you look at these passages, just a sort of surface level reading, you can get that sense. Now, of course we know that God knows all things.

And so we're seeing this from, from the human perspective. We're called to intercede, we're called to pray for each other, but, but I think it's better and more biblical to understand prayer, not so much as, as our way of bending God's will towards ours or changing God's mind, but prayer is how we align ourselves with God's will. And in fact, it's one of the ways that he accomplishes his sovereign purposes in the world.

Mysteriously, he does it through the prayers of his people. Have you ever felt in your life, like, God is just really impressing upon my heart to pray for this person or for this situation or for this church or for this need, God is using you and your prayers to accomplish his sovereign purpose. And so I would just say, you know, oftentimes scripture speaks to us analogically, gives us these, these pictures.

It helps us to understand things. But this, this isn't teaching that God is just up there, sort of, you know, changing his mind. You know, well, if you pray harder, then I'll do this or that. At the same time, we do want to affirm that our prayers are heard by the Lord and accomplish things. It's just that the Lord himself is the one who's working in us, as Paul told the Philippians, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. And so, you know, recognizing that I think gives us some insight into these texts.

Thanks for reaching out, Justin. Just out of curiosity, Adriel, how would you respond to a person when they're, you know, saying, okay, my friend or my church, my denomination said that if I just prayed harder, if I just had enough faith, then I'd be healed of my cancer or that I, you know, this relationship would be healed or I'd get this job. That can be so destructive and dangerous because the assumption there is the reason you're sick or the reason you're struggling with this or that is because you are doing something wrong spiritually. Now, of course, we know that God does discipline us as his children because he loves us. And so there are times where, yeah, that is the case.

But that's not always the case. And certainly, I mean, Paul, you know, when he's talking to Timothy, Timothy has these terrible stomach pains, these frequent ailments. And he tells him, hey, take a little bit of wine to help settle your stomach. But it's not like he's saying, Timothy, you must not be praying hard enough.

You know, you got that stomach ulcer or whatever it is that he had. That's your problem, Timothy. Maybe you got some secret sin in your life. And so we need to recognize that sometimes these kinds of things happen. And it's not that, you know, there's sin or we're not praying hard enough. It's just welcome to a fallen world. And we can pray about those things, but sometimes the Lord doesn't choose to remove that thorn in the flesh, that thing that humbles us, that thing that causes us to depend upon the Lord Jesus and his strength. And so I would, if you're in a church where they're putting that burden on you, they're saying, well, the reason you're not more wealthy or the reason you're, you know, you're battling with this sickness or the reason your kids aren't walking with the Lord or whatever is because you're not doing enough and you're not trying hard enough. I really think you should sort of take a step back and say, okay, is this right?

No, probably not. And be critical of that approach because it really has been destructive for so many Christians, sincere Christians who want to follow the Lord. Really well said. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We're still taking your calls. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, feel free to give us a call right now at 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. We do receive voicemails here at the Core, and here's one that came in from one of our listeners named Stefan. My question is, knowing that the Bible was compiled by human hands in the fourth century after several variations and the authorship of many biblical texts are shrouded in mystery, how does one hold an inerranist position? The best argument I've heard is that God would not allow his holy text to be incorrect, but that's akin to saying that he wouldn't let anything human happen, which we all know he does. Stefan, thank you for that question.

Super articulate and just thoughtful. And so, given the fact that humans were involved in the inspiration of, you know, getting these texts down, and that there have been translations over the years, how can we hold to an inerrantist position? How can we be sure and confident that when we open up the Bible, we have God's word? So first, we believe in the doctrine of inspiration. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, 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.

That we're breathed out, you know, you might translate that exhaled. I mean, this is God's speech to us, and because God is perfect, his word is perfect. Beyond inspiration, you also have the idea of the infallibility of the scripture, that is that the Spirit of God carried these individuals along as he was inspiring them to write down the things that they wrote, not in a way that was mechanical, you think of like automatic writing or something like that, or God whispering into their ears, but in a way that was organic, that retained the humanness of what was going on, you know, the individual's personality and writing style even, and yet still preserved them and carried them along such that they were communicating to us the very word of God. And the same God who inspired his word infallibly through these human authors is capable of preserving his word.

I mean, how strange would it be for him to inspire it, to give us this revelation, and then just to lose it in a short amount of time. And what we have is not just something that was put together in the fourth century, we have thousands of manuscripts, Old Testament manuscripts, New Testament manuscripts, dating back from before even the fourth century. We have the testimony of the early church. We have even the disciples themselves, you know, referring to each other's writings as scripture, as the word of God.

You see this with Peter and Paul. And so there's a lot of reason for us to be confident that what we have here is the very word of God. And going back to the idea of inspiration, God says in Isaiah 46 verses 9 and 10, I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done. How do we know that God is behind this book? Well, he gives us the end from the beginning.

This is one of the proofs, one of the evidences. You think of the messianic prophecies, speaking of Messiah, of his suffering. You think of Jesus's own words about the gospel going out to the whole world, about the destruction of Jerusalem.

I mean, these are things that actually happened. And what a strange, I mean, for Jesus to say that, we often don't realize how remarkable that is for him to talk about his gospel being preached throughout the whole world. I mean, who's he talking to?

A handful of fishermen. And yet he's confident that this isn't going to happen. Why? Because he's the Lord, because he's God. So the divine inspiration of scripture, there are things that we look at that I think give us confidence and you should have confidence that what we have before us is the preserved word of God for our edification. Amen.

Good word. Thanks for that, Adriel. You're listening to CORE Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Just a reminder, we'd love to have you get involved and join our inner CORE.

You can find out more about that special group of folks by going to COREChristianity.com forward slash inner CORE. And let's go to Marlene, who's calling in from Iowa. Marlene, what's your question for Adriel? Hi, can you hear me? Hey, Marlene. Hi. I called in several weeks back about any of this and how to talk to others a little bit.

I was just listening today again and there was a cast, like I missed the first part of it because I was wasn't in my car and always listening in my car. But anyway, you had talked about, you had read up, you had read a quote from the Bible about to be saved, you have to believe in Jesus Christ, you have to believe in him. And that was pretty much it. And I just feel like, I know people who say that if they at one point in their life say, I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, that they are saved. Whether they sin, you know, because I had a friend whose brother was living with a woman that he wasn't married to for a long, long time. And I said, what do you think would happen to him if he died tonight? And he said he'd go to heaven because he accepted Jesus. And I said, but I think it takes more of a commitment than he has made then, because it takes commitment to every day, try to do your best to be that person that believes in God, that follows his word, that does what he asks, that tries to be everything that he's asked us to be. Yes, we'll sin. Yes, we'll get forgiven when we sin, as long as we are, you know, sorry.

Marlene, sorry to cut you out. We just have about a minute or so left in the broadcast, and you asked a really good question. You know, there is a kind of, quote unquote, easy believism that's floating around out there where people will say, oh, you know, if so long as you profess that Jesus is Lord and ask him into your heart, that kind of a thing, you know, you're a Christian, you're good to go. And people, you know, they say a prayer, the sinner's prayer, I asked Jesus into my heart, but they're not really looking to Christ by faith. They're looking, you know, for fire insurance, maybe, or for an excuse to keep going on and sinning.

So there's something really dangerous about that. But the question is, is it more than faith that saves us? Is it more than faith that justifies us?

And I think that the answer is no. Now we can talk about whether a faith is real or not. You know, James talks about this in the book of James specifically. He says, if somebody says, I have faith, but don't have works, can that faith save him? He's talking about a particular kind of faith.

I think a false faith, frankly, a faith that isn't truly resting in Jesus Christ, as exhibited by the fact that an individual who says, I believe they just go on sinning and rejecting God and his word. And so we're saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves us also sanctifies us over time. God bless. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at corechristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833-THE-CORE. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.