It shocked me to know that there are pastors out there who don't believe the entire Bible to be true. This one doesn't. He said so when he said "I don't think that's true" and yet the Bible does say that the Lord gives and takes away (Job 1:21). Then he said that "some" of what Job said was "right-on". When he said that Job believed in karma: that you get what you deserve, I knew this pastor was in need of some truth. The Word of God says that God could find no fault in Job. Job was without sin. (Job 2:3). So Job didn't get what he deserved when God allowed Satan to torment him. Job didn't believe in karma. (Note: Karma is actually from the Indian Religions of around 1 B.C.) Job trusted in God, not just in the good times but in the hard times as well.
Why should hearing that another pastor doesn't believe the Bible to be true bother me? It bothers me because pastors are supposed to be our spiritual leaders. They are the ones who hear from God and share His Word with us. The ones to teach us and guide us. If our spiritual leaders don't believe the Word of God to be inerrant, we're in trouble as a society. We've lost our compass. How can we find God if we don't believe we can trust what His Word says?
I've read several polls which were conducted in the United States and they only further shocked me. One stated that only 40% of born again Christians believe that the Bible is the Word of God and is inerrant. Forty percent! That means that 60% of born again Christians in the United States of America don't believe the Bible to be true! These aren't unsaved people; un-churched people, but these are saved, born again Christians who can't trust what the Bible is telling them to be true.
I wonder how they can pick and choose what they do believe? Do they only believe the parts they agree with? If so, that would make for a very shaky theology. If I believe that God loves me (John 3:16) but choose not to believe that the cost of sin is death (Romans 6:23) then I can believe that I can do anything I want and still go to Heaven some day. That's contrary to God's Word. But that all depends on if you believe God's Word to be true.
We are living in the last days and we are told in Scripture that in the last days the world will seem to be upside down, where wrong will seem right and right will seem wrong. Paul instructed Timothy, a young pastor, to beware when these things happen because they are a sign of the times. Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:16 " All that is written in the holy writings comes from the Spirit of God. The holy writings are good for these things: to teach people, to show them when they are wrong, to make them see what is right, to teach them to do what is right." But again to believe this we would have to believe that the Bible is true.
I guess it all boils down to this: do YOU believe the Bible to be true? Do you trust what God has said in His Word? Only you can answer those questions. This is a very black or white area to be in. Either you believe that God's Word, the Bible, is true or you don't. It can't only contain some truth because how would you know what part is true and what isn't? No, you have to decide whether you are going to trust that God has protected His Word and kept it true down through the ages or you are going to believe that it merely contains some truth.
We are living in an age where people are writing their own theology, their own doctrine. They are deciding what they will believe. They've chosen to throw out the parts of the Bible they don't agree with and have chosen not to believe those parts that make them uncomfortable. But God tells us that we are not to add or take away from His Word. (Deuteronomy 4:2, Proverbs 30:5-6, Rev. 22:18-19). He has promised retribution for those who do such a thing. Are we not doing this exact thing, taking away or adding to the Word, every time we pick and choose what we believe is true in the Bible? Of course we are.
Its extremely sad when a pastor publicly states that he doesn't believe a part of the Bible to be true, but we each have to examine our own beliefs and determine whether we believe the Word of God is true or not. We must decide for ourselves and stand on that belief. I believe the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God. I believe that if there were errors in it that the God of all creation would make sure they didn't stay there. I believe God loves His people and He desires for them to believe Him and His Word. What about you?
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