Category: Scripture

The Law Of The Lord

Friday’s Column: Captain’s Blog

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Carl Pollard

How much does your Bible mean to you? Each time we pick it up and read from its pages, we are reading the very words of God. God has revealed His Character, His will, and His love through inspired men. Each time we open our Bibles we are seeing the mind of God. 

What an awe inspiring fact to think about.

We aren’t the first ones to feel this way.

In response to the perfect Law of God, David wrote Psalm 19. It is a tribute to the perfection of scripture. As we read through this chapter, David puts into words these feelings of awe and gratitude.

He begins by stating a fact that has always been true.

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.”

In a psalm dedicated to the perfect Law of the Lord, David starts by praising the Author. The God of creation, who can be seen in every aspect of our world, is the One responsible for writing such a perfect book. We can look around and the world declares the glory of God. The Author of life itself gave us a book that leads to eternal life.

In verse 7 David describes the Law of the Lord as being perfect. Notice what this perfect Law does for us: it “revives the soul.” The words of God are sure and steadfast. They are truly perfect and are ever relevant to us, His creation.

We continue reading and he goes on to say that God’s Word:

  1. Gives us wisdom (wisdom we would otherwise never have)
  2. Is always right (there is no doubting, thinking that they might be wrong)
  3. His commandments are pure (no false motive)
  4. His word enlightens our eyes (we can now see the truth)
  5. His rules are true
  6. His word is righteous

With such a perfect Law, it is only natural that we should desire it more than Gold.
David says in verse 10 that the words we read in scripture are “sweeter than honey.”
His response to God’s word should be every Christian’s response. We should value and cherish God’s perfect Law.

The Bible is a blessing like no other. In its pages we are warned about the things we should avoid. By keeping His commands we receive a great reward. Psalm 19 is a beautiful tribute to a beautiful book.

With these facts in mind, how much does God’s book mean to you?

The Great Canon

Tuesday’s Column: Dale Mail

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Dale Pollard

The “Heavy Gustaf” was a German cannon of incredible size. It’s barrel was 31.5 inches wide and it was built in the 1930s. The entire purpose of this weapon was not to wound the enemy but to completely destroy the French forts which were the strongest of any at the time. 

Later this weapon aided in destroying a Soviet munitions depot that lay 98 feet underground in WWII. It was one of the biggest cannons ever built, but it’s certainly not the most powerful. That title belongs to The Canon of scripture. It doesn’t have the power to take life but to give life eternal. It has the power to convict and completely change someone caught in the clutches of sin. God’s Word is a testimony and another evidence of God’s power. It answers two very important questions.

How do I prepare myself to live on this earth? 

How I do I prepare myself to leave this earth? 

In God’s Word the steps to salvation are revealed. Righteousness is defined as well as sinfulness. It’s a piece of God’s mind, it’s a book from heaven. The Bible is not just paper and ink, it’s much more. When that truly begins to sink in through the study and practice of what’s been written, our spiritual lives and faith will grow in leaps and bounds. We should be confident that grateful to have a guide given by God shining a light forward towards His glory.

Psalm 119:105 

WHAT DOES IT REQUIRE TO ACCEPT INSPIRATION?

Neal Pollard

It is of no little concern to me that men who are supposed to be gospel preachers, many of them men tainted by a corrupted higher education at denominational theology schools, have a poor opinion of the doctrine of inspiration. Like little hungry lambs, these men are led by their “scholarly” shepherds who are eager to bring them to the poisoned waters of the “Q” theory and the documentary hypothesis. They consume the rancid food of deutero-Isaiah and trito-Isaiah.

Their erudite educators push them to believe extrabiblical theories rather than internal claims. Where they get their sermon material and on what they preach would be quite interesting to know, and to what authority they appeal even more so. What does it take to simply accept that the Bible is completely, inerrantly, and plenarily from God through inspired men?

A Belief In A Personal God, Able And Willing To Communicate With Man. If we can accept that the Creator God continues to care and be interested in us and what becomes of us, can we also trust that His love would lead Him to accurately, honestly communicate His will–a will He would accurately supervise from beginning to completion and preserve through the process of transmission through the ages?

A Belief In Divine Omnipotence. Is God powerful enough to give us the Word as the Bible claims and is He loving enough and of character sufficient to let the Bible be what it claims to be? Could He provide for us in the 21st century His complete will? Do we have trouble with the idea that God is able to breathe out His Word to and through men and then preserve it for all time?

A Belief That The Bible’s Claims Take Precedence Over Man’s Criticisms. Humanistic thought is quick to accept man’s opinions and conclusions over what the Bible simply says. What qualifies any man to do that? Are we better off to accept the claims made by the most tested, assaulted, yet exonerated book of all times, which, when followed, leads man to the greatest and highest life, or the claims made by men, which repeatedly prove to lead man to emptiness, misery, and hopelessness?

It is frustrating to hear arrogant, though feeble, frail, finite, and flawed men taking cheap shots at scripture, undermining the divine inspiration of the Bible. Herein lies a very critical rub. John 12:48 says the words of Christ will one day judge us. Revelation 20:12 speaks of the books and the book of life being opened, judging mankind.

What will be the standard of judgment? The words of Q, deutero, and JEDP? It just does not make sense, and swallowing such a low view of inspiration will undermine the faith of many. May we have the humility and trust to accept the Bible at face value, believing it to be what our capable God claims that it is!

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HOW BAD DO YOU WANT THE TRUTH?

Neal Pollard

Do you want the truth as bad as Jiang Xulian wanted a six-karat diamond from Thailand?  The 30-year-old woman stole the jewel from a jewelry fair in Nonthaburi, swallowed it, and tried to smuggle it out of the country.  CCTV caught the heist and an X-ray in Bangkok revealed the diamond in her large intestine.  Eventually, a surgeon removed the gem, worth $392,000, and Xulian faces three years in prison (read more here).

In successive parables, Jesus compared the search and pursuit of the kingdom of heaven to treasure, the first unspecified valuables and the second pearls (Mat. 13:44-46). David calls the law of the Lord “more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold” (Ps. 19:10; cf. 119:72, 127). Solomon adds his inspired counsel to “buy truth, and do not sell it” (Prov. 23:23).  Repeatedly, the Bible lays out the superiority of spiritual treasure above not only physical treasure but all else (Mat. 6:19-21).

  • Some do not stand in the truth (John 8:44).
  • Some question even the existence of truth (John 18:38).
  • Some suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18).
  • Some exchange the truth for a lie (Rom. 1:25).
  • Some do not obey the truth (Rom. 2:8).
  • Some are not straightforward about the truth (Gal. 2:14).
  • Some do not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved (2 Th. 2:10).
  • Some do not believe the truth (2 Th. 2:12).
  • Some are self-deprived of the truth (1 Tim. 6:5).
  • Some have gone astray from the truth (2 Tim. 2:18).
  • Some are always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. 3:7).
  • Some oppose the truth (2 Tim. 3:8).
  • Some turn their ears away from the truth (2 Tim. 4:4; Ti. 1:14).
  • Some lie against the truth (Jas. 3:14).
  • Some stray from the truth (Jas. 5:19).
  • Some malign the truth (2 Pet. 2:2).
  • Some do not practice the truth (1 Jn. 1:6).
  • Some do not have the truth in them (1 Jn. 1:8; 2:4; etc.).

The point of Scripture is that these are people who not only do not want the truth but are trying to avoid it.  They lack sufficient hunger and desire for the will of God or the rule of God in their lives. It is not something they treasure.

What about us?  Do we want God’s truth so badly that we are willing to sacrifice, pursue, and strive to obtain it? Its value is without comparison! Its reward is beyond comprehension. Let’s encourage each other to be truth-lovers, willing to pay whatever price is necessary to have it.