Redeeming God

Liberating you from bad ideas about God

Learn the MOST ESSENTIAL truths for following Jesus.

Get FREE articles and audio teachings in my discipleship emails!


  • Join Us!
  • Scripture
  • Theology
  • My Books
  • About
  • Discipleship
  • Courses
    • What is Hell?
    • Skeleton Church
    • The Gospel According to Scripture
    • The Gospel Dictionary
    • The Re-Justification of God
    • What is Prayer?
    • Adventures in Fishing for Men
    • What are the Spiritual Gifts?
    • How to Study the Bible
    • Courses FAQ
  • Forum
    • Introduce Yourself
    • Old Testament
    • New Testament
    • Theology Questions
    • Life & Ministry

Putting on the Belt of Truth (Ephesians 6:14a)

By Jeremy Myers
Leave a Comment

Putting on the Belt of Truth (Ephesians 6:14a)
http://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/p/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/690740344-redeeminggod-169-putting-on-the-belt-of-truth-ephesians-614a.mp3

It has been said that truth is stranger than fiction. This is definitively the case with the following true facts:

Most animals don’t eat moss because it’s hard to digest and has little nutritional value. But reindeer fill up with lots of moss because it contains a special chemical which helps keep reindeer warm in the icy arctic temperatures. Moss, for the reindeer, acts like antifreeze in a car.

A lightning bolt generates a temperature five times hotter than the sun.

One cup of neutron star weighs about 480 million tons.

If you lived in Virginia 300 years ago, you could have paid your taxes with tobacco.

If you are scared of spiders, you will be happy to learn that you are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than by a spider.

One thousand years ago, the Grand Vizier of Persia had to make a long journey. But he was an avid reader and couldn’t stand the thought of being away from his scrolls for so long. So he had his 117,000 scrolls loaded onto 400 camels, and trained servants to keep the camels in alphabetical order as they followed him around on his journey.

However, such facts, though interesting and true, are not that helpful. Trivial facts such as these generally provide no help at all for what matters in life. The best kind of truth is that which will help us in life, will answer our questions, and will guide us into happiness, peace, and prosperity.

We want to know when our kids are telling the truth. We want to know when we’re being lied to at work. We want to know when the news is fake and when politicians are lying. Most significantly of all, we want to know truths of eternal importance, such as what God is like, what He expects of us, how He wants us to treat other people, whether or not our sins are forgiven, and how we can know that we will spend eternity with Him.

But Satan, as the father of lies, does not want us to know the truth about such questions. Satan seeks to spread as much disinformation as possible about these critical questions. Remember, the one tactic the devil uses in setting traps for us is to question and challenge the truth of God’s Word. God has revealed in Scripture the answers to our most pressing questions about life and eternity, and Satan seeks to obscure, challenge, and distort the truth of what God has revealed.

So, for example, while God repeatedly informs us in Scripture that we receive eternal life by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, there are numerous books, pastors, schools, and organizations which teach the opposite, that in order to receive eternal life we must submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, stop sinning, get baptized, attend church, read the Bible, pray, tithe, and a whole host of other human activities.

Gospel According to ScriptureBut eternal life is not earned through good works; it is the free gift of God’s grace to anyone and everyone who simply and only believes in Jesus for it. The devil doesn’t want people to know this, and so he works tirelessly to confuse and confound the gospel message (take my courses on the gospel to gain clarity about the gospel).

Similarly, the clearest revelation of God that we have in Jesus Christ shows us that God is non-violent. God does not want, seek, or demand the death of anybody. God does not want, seek, or demand blood sacrifice. The Gospel accounts show us that it is we humans who want such things. It is Satan, the accuser, who demands death and destruction. But Satan loves to twist and distort the character of God by getting people to think that God, like Satan, demands blood sacrifice as a payment for sins. But God is not like Satan; God looks and acts just like Jesus (read my book, Nothing but the Blood of Jesus, to learn more).

Satan not only spreads lies about the gospel and lies about the character of God, Satan also spreads lies about the church, lies about sin and forgiveness, lies about human relationships and what is important in life, and lies about our own worth, dignity, and value. Satan tell lies to us about us, and sadly, we believe these lies. These lies then destroy our lives, our health, and our relationships. These lies cause us to get stuck in the past and worry about the future. They introduce fear into our lives about whether or not God loves and forgives us.

But God wants to liberate us from all such lies.

He has given us truth so that the truth can set us free (John 8:32). Knowing the truth allows us to live as God intended and to experience the joy and satisfaction of life.

So it is with good reason that when Paul turns to write in Ephesians 6:14 about the spiritual armor we are to wear, he begins with the belt of truth. With the very first piece of armor, he tells us that God has given us something to help us break through all the dark lies of Satan, and his deceptive twisting of the truth.

As with each piece of spiritual armor, it is first of all important to know how the actual piece of armor worked and functioned on a Roman soldier. This will enable us to know how the spiritual piece of armor will help us as Christians, and how we can follow the instructions of Paul to take it up and put it on. So let us begin with how the belt functioned for Roman soldiers in Paul’s day.

The Belt for the Soldier

Everybody knows what a belt is. It is a long strip of leather or fabric, usually with a buckle on one end, which we fasten around the waist to keep our pants up or as a fashion accent to our outfit. But the belt of the Roman soldier served a critical function in the overall purpose of their armor.

The belt of the Roman soldier was about 2-4 inches in height and was made of leather, covered with decorative metal strips. It had a buckle just like modern belts, and had little straps or attachments to help connect the belt with the sword and the breastplate.

Quite often, some straps with metal disks or studs on them were attached to the front of the belt. These studded straps did nothing to provide protection for the soldier, and archaeologists and historians have not been able to discover a purpose for these, leading many to believe that they were purely ornamental, and may have represented rank or awards. This is likely true since these metal studs were often made from expensive material such as gold, silver, and ivory.

Furthermore, only soldiers were allowed to wear this kind of belt, and most of them wore it all the time, even when they were out of uniform. Therefore, the belt functioned as a status symbol of their position and authority in the Roman army. It set them apart and identified them in public as a member of the elite Roman military.

As such, much like a modern police officer might be disciplined by taking away his badge. Soldiers who were dishonorably discharged also had their belts taken away from them. There are records of soldiers who became Christians symbolizing their conversion in public by taking off their belts and throwing them away.

However, this does not mean that the belt was nothing more than an ornamental status symbol. If we were to rank the relative importance of the various pieces of armor listed here by Paul, most of us would put the breastplate, helmet, or shield at the top of the list. After all, the breastplate protects the lungs and heart. The helmet protects the head. The shield provides general protection of the whole body.

But the belt? It seems to be a relatively minor and unimportant piece of the Roman military armor. However, this is not the case. Paul mentions the belt first in his list of armor, and when we understand the role of the belt in the Roman soldier’s armor, we see how important it was in protecting the soldier on the field of battle. The belt served three primary functions.

First, beneath their armor, the Roman soldier wore a loose fitting tunic. The belt helped keep the soldier from getting tangled in his own tunic. The belt kept the tunic cinched in tight and close. If the soldier had a longer tunic, he would take the four corners of the tunic, and fold it up underneath the belt to keep his legs free and to keep from getting tangled. This was called “girding up the loins.”

In fact, here in Ephesians 6:14, probably the most literal translation of the verse would be “Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth.” The loin is the upper part of the thigh, and so when the tunic was wrapped up and around the groin area and then tucked into the belt, it was called girding up the loins so that the tunic did not trip the soldier in battle.

But this was not the only purpose of the belt. The belt was also used to help carry the load of the heavy packs the soldiers wore while marching. When they marched, their packs could weigh 50-100 pounds, carrying their gear, food, and bedroll. This is a lot of weight to carry all on your shoulders during a ten or twenty mile hike, and so the Roman military devised a way to attach the packs to the belts of the soldiers. This kept the pack tight against the back so that it didn’t swing or bounce around while marching (which was often closer to a run), and it helped redistribute some of the weight of the back off of the shoulders and down onto the hips.

Modern hiking backpacks have similar weight-distribution properties. The best backpacks not only have shoulder straps, but also a belt that clicks together around the waist, so that the pack is secured in place and some of the weight of the pack is carried on the hips.

Thirdly, and maybe most importantly, the belt kept the breastplate tight against the soldier’s chest and his sword secure and ready at his side. Without the belt, the breastplate would wobble around and bang against the chest of the soldier as he tried to move or run.

Yes, the breastplate was also secured in place around the back, but then it was firmly tied down in position by attaching it to the belt, it would not ride up into the neck, thereby making it difficult for the soldier to breathe. And of course, it held the sword at the soldier’s side where it was ready to be drawn for battle.

Imagine, then, what would happen to the soldier who tried to enter battle without his belt. His legs would get tangled in his tunic, his breastplate would flop around and choke him, and his sword would drop to the ground. In short, he wouldn’t be much good in battle.

In light of all this, the belt was one of the most important pieces of the soldier’s armor. It is likely the same for any police officer today. The duty belt of the officer carries all of their most important gear. It carries the gun, extra magazines of bullets, their handcuffs, radio, keys, a flashlight, the night stick, pepper spray, first aid kits, and almost anything else the officer thinks he might need when chasing down a suspect.

Or you can think of a carpenter and his tool belt. It holds a hammer, nails, screws, drill, a tape measure, and anything else he needs while on the construction site. Belts are like a portable toolbox.

So this is why Paul lists the belt first when he writes about the spiritual armor we have from God. First and foremost, we are told to take up and put on our belt. Paul calls it the belt of truth.

Based on what we have learned about the belt for the Roman soldier, why does Paul equate the belt with truth? What analogy between a belt and the truth is Paul trying to make? How is the belt of truth helpful for Christians who finds themselves in spiritual battle? It is to this topic we turn as we consider how the belt of truth functions for the Christian.

The Belt for the Christian

Paul equates the Roman soldier’s belt with truth because just as the belt marked a person as a Roman soldier as they wore it around all the time, truth is the identifying characteristic of the Christian. Truth is one of the primary things that sets Christianity apart from everyone else in the world.

Trap of TruthThis is not to say that other people and various religions don’t have truth. They do. But Christianity has some of central truths that are not available anywhere else, and these truths are essential for understanding life, God, human culture, and what is needed to receive eternal life. These truths are all found through Jesus Christ and the revelation of the gospel.

For example, the truth of Christianity teaches that life is about serving others. While most people in this world put themselves first, and put personal goals, needs, and desire above everyone else, Jesus shows us that we are to die to ourselves and put others first.

Furthermore, we know from Scripture that this life is not all there is. Though many in this world spend all their time and energy striving after money, power, possessions, fame, and glory, Christianity teaches that such things are but a puff of smoke. They are worthless and insignificant in light of eternity, and it is for things of eternity that we must work and strive.

When it comes to God, Christianity teaches that God looks and acts just like Jesus. God is not a god of violence and wrath. He does not seek to kill and destroy. God is a God of life, love, and liberty. He is a God who freely forgives, extends unconditional grace toward all, and seeks to serve rather than be served. Such a view of God is not found anywhere else in human history.

Only Christianity teaches that God would rather die for us than ask us to die for Him. He demands nothing from us in order to be loved and accepted by Him. This truth about God is radical and shocking, but it is the truth found in Jesus Christ.

Scripture further teaches that human culture is built upon violence, bloodshed, and warfare, but God has called us away from such things. While many philosophies, religions, and teachings talk about the evils of violence, nearly all of them also teach that the way to defeat the evil of violence directed toward us is to combat it with great violence.

All human civilization and culture is founded on the “myth of redemptive violence,” that our “good” violence can be used to stop their “bad” violence. But the Bible reveals that everybody thinks their violence is “good” violence and everyone else’s is “bad.” And when we all try to defeat everyone else’s bad violence with our own “good” violence, the only result is an ever-increasing contagion of violence that threatens to destroy and consume us all.

God’s solution to violence, as primarily revealed in Jesus Christ, is to defeat violence, not with more violence, but with forgiveness. As God incarnate suffered the injustice of false accusations, torture, and being murdered on the cross, He revealed the heart of God when He cried out “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” This is a truth you will not find anywhere else in the world except in Christianity.

And then there is the truth of eternal life. If you ask the average person on the street, or the average person of nearly any religious group (sadly, many in the “Christian religion” as well) what it takes to receive eternal life or spend eternity with God, you will almost always be told that people must try to obey the laws and commandments, be a good person, stop sinning, and do what God says.

But the good news of Christianity does not teach this. The gospel teaches that since we can never be good enough to earn our way to heaven, since we can never do enough good works to merit eternal life, God decided to give eternal life as a free gift to anyone who wants it. God wants to spend eternity with us, but since we cannot ever work our way into God’s good graces, God decided to extend His grace to us freely.

Eternal life is the absolutely free gift of God to anyone and everyone who simply and only believes in Jesus for it (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47; etc.). This absolutely free offer of eternal life by God’s grace is another truth that is unique to Christianity.

There are numerous other examples of truth that could be discussed, but these are some of the central truths found in Christianity and in Scripture that set us apart from everyone else and which make the belt of truth so essential in spiritual warfare.

believing in GodFor just as the Roman soldier wore his belt at all times, even when he was off duty, so also the Christian is never off duty. We are to continually live in light of the truth we have received from God. We should never let go of the truth. Just as it was shameful for a Roman soldier to have his belt taken away, so also, it is shameful for a Christian to deny the truth we have received from God.

The belt of truth also helps keep our life on track. Remember, the belt is attached to the breastplate, which Paul equates with righteousness in the second half of Ephesians 6:14. We will consider this item of the spiritual armor in the next study, but since the two pieces were connected on the armor of the Roman soldier, it is important to note how truth is connected to righteousness.

First of all, as already discussed, we can only receive the righteousness of God by believing in Jesus for it. No amount of good works can gain for us the perfect and complete righteousness of God.

Beyond this, Paul also has in mind the righteous type of living that God wants and desires for us. We are to live righteously, not because it earns us merit with God or helps us gain eternal life, but because the righteous life is the best type of life there is. The righteous life is the most fulfilling and satisfying life.

God did not give us rules to keep us from enjoying life, but so that we could enjoy it to the full. His laws are not too restrictive; they are liberating. They free us from sin and temptation so that we can life free from addiction and slavery. God’s truth sets us free. As Jesus said in John 8:32, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” The only way truth is restrictive is that it keeps us from becoming controlled, enslaved and entangled from the things that will really restrict us. Correctly understood and rightly applied, truth is liberating.

If you are driving up a mountain road with a cliff on one side, the signs on the side of the road are designed to get you to the top of the mountain safely so you can enjoy the view and get down the other side to your destination. But if you decide to ignore the signs because they limit how fast you can drive or because you don’t want to heed the warnings about the hairpin turn coming up, you will not make it to the top of the hill. You will die. The signs are not there to prohibit your driving experience, but to help you enjoy the mountain rode to its fullest extent. This is how the truth of God’s laws work as well.

There is one final aspect of the belt of truth to consider. The belt of truth is not just about knowing the truth and living the truth, but also about telling the truth. We must not only hold fast to the truth that has been revealed to us, but must also speak the truth to others in everything we say. We must surround ourselves with the truth and speak the truth to others if we are going to be effective soldiers of Jesus Christ on the spiritual field of battle.

So the only remaining question is how to put on the belt of truth. We have seen the importance of the belt for the soldier, and how the belt represents truth in the life of the Christian, but none of this will help us if we do not know how to take up and put on the belt of truth.

Putting on the Belt

To understand how to put on the belt of truth, we must first recognize that this belt of truth is God’s belt. Isaiah 11:5 says that God wears a belt of righteousness and faithfulness, but the Greek translation of this text (the LXX) uses the word “truthfulness” instead of faithfulness. Paul likely had the Greek version of this text in mind when he wrote about the belt of truth. So if this belt belongs to God, and He has given it to us, then how can we take it up and put it on?

By referring to Isaiah 11:5, Paul has revealed that the truth of this belt is not human truth, but God’s truth. It belongs to God and comes from God. This truth is the unwavering standard of truth that is found in God alone. And where is this truth found? It is found in Scripture. Psalm 119:160 says that God’s Word is truth. Jesus says the same exact thing in John 17:17, when, in praying to God, He says, “Your Word is truth.” In Colossians 1:15, Paul calls the Bible—specifically the gospel message—the “word of truth.” Similarly in 2 Timothy 2:15, we are told as Christians to correctly handle the Bible as the Word of truth.

If we want to put on this first piece of spiritual armor, we need to dive into and dig around in Scripture.

In Proverbs 6:21-23, we are told by the wisest man who ever lived, that the good life comes from taking the truth of the Bible and binding it on our heart, tying it around our neck, think about it when we walk, when we sleep, when we wake up. In other words, we take up and put on the belt of truth by taking up and studying the Word of God.

is the Bible trueSome might object to this by saying that the belt of truth cannot refer to reading and studying the Word of God, because down in Ephesians 6:17, the sword of the Spirit is also identified as the Word of God. How can the belt of truth and the sword of the Spirit both be equated with the Word of God?

We will discuss this more when we look at the sword of the Spirit, but the answer is discovered in remembering that on the armor of the Roman soldier, the sword hangs on the belt. That is, if you don’t have the belt, you also don’t have your sword. So the two items are intimately connected. Therefore it is not surprising for the belt of truth to be so closely associated with the sword of the Spirit.

But how are the two different?

The short answer is that the belt of truth is obtaining or learning the truth of Scripture while the sword of the Spirit is using or practicing Scripture to defend ourselves against Satan. We put on the belt by reading and studying the Bible. By listening to good, biblical preaching and teaching. By reading books that explain Scripture and theology. By memorizing verses from the Bible.

Putting on the belt of truth is putting on the truth of the Bible. Understanding what it says. Knowing what it teaches. This is how we take up and buckle on the belt of truth. And when we do this, the sword comes with the belt. We use the sword by using the truths of Scripture to defend ourselves against the attacks of the devil.

When Jesus was tempted by the devil in the desert, Jesus was able to turn away the attacks of the devil by quoting verses which defused the devil’s tricks. This was Jesus using the sword of the spirit to defend Himself against the wiles of the devil. But Jesus was only able to do this because He had previously spent time studying and learning the Scriptures so that He was familiar with the Bible when He needed the truths that are found within. It is only because Jesus wore the belt of truth that He was able to take up the sword of the Spirit and defend Himself when He was attacked by the devil.

So we put on the belt of truth by putting on the Word of God. We wrap it around us and cinch it tight by getting daily into the pages of Scripture. It is the truth of the Word of God which enables us to stand against the lying and deceiving wiles of the devil.

The devil has set his traps. And these traps are everywhere, both inside and outside the church. He is like a fisherman, reeling in ignorant people, who do not know the truth revealed in the Word of God. Without the Bible, we can’t know anything for sure about God, about Jesus, about ourselves, or about eternal life.

Furthermore, if the Word of God is not true, then we can know very little about what is true. Either the Bible is your foundation, or you have no foundation. Either the Scripture is authoritative for your life and theology, or you have no authority other than yourself, based on your own emotions, experiences, and opinions.

Roman soldiers beltSo we must accept the Bible as the true word of God, as the primary authority on all matters about which it speaks. Only on this way do we put on the belt of truth.

So gird up your loins. Buckle the “Bible Belt” around you, so you can stand secure in the promises and truths it contains. The enemy is coming with his lies and deceptions, but with the belt of truth firmly clasped around your waist, you will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Do you want to learn about spiritual warfare and how to put on the full armor of God? If you want to defeat sin and gain victory in your life over temptation so you can better follow Jesus, take my course on the Armor of God as it is explained in Ephesians 6:10-20. This course costs $297, but when you join the Discipleship group, you can to take the entire course for free.

God is Redeeming God, Redeeming Scripture, Redeeming Theology, z Bible & Theology Topics: armor of God, belt of truth, Bible Study, Ephesians 6:10-20, Ephesians 6:14, One Verse Podcast, spiritual warfare, truth

Advertisement

7 Gospel Truths that Help Prepare People to Believe in Jesus

By Jeremy Myers
14 Comments

7 Gospel Truths that Help Prepare People to Believe in Jesus

There are a myriad of gospel truths in the Bible. Yet only one gospel truth is presented as the truth that people must believe in order to receive eternal life.

This is the truth that God gives eternal life to anyone who believes in Jesus for it (John 3:16; 5;24; 6:47; etc.)

But realistically, if someone knowing absolutely nothing about God, or Jesus, or sin, or eternal life, then what are the chances that someone will believe in Jesus if you tell them “Hey, you can have eternal life if you believe in Jesus for it”?

I would say the chances are close to zero.

gospel preparation truths

This is one reason why there are so many other truths in the gospel. Many of the gospel truths are there, not so that people are required to believe them in order to receive eternal life, but because they help a person get to the point where they do believe in Jesus for eternal life.

I call these the Preparation Truths of the Gospel

7 Gospel Preparation Truths

There are potentially thousands of preparation truths in the gospel, but I have found that seven of these truths tend to be the most effective and necessary in helping a person come to the place where they believe in Jesus for eternal life.

Here are these seven preparation truths:

  1. There is a God (and He looks like Jesus)
  2. The Bible is God’s Word (so we can look to it for guidance)
  3. God Made Humans (so we are responsible to him in some way)
  4. God requires holiness (this is His standard)
  5. All have sinned (and fallen short of the standard)
  6. Sin results in separation from God (we separate from Him; not vice versa)
  7. Jesus delivered us from sin, death, and separation (due to grace and forgiveness)

IF a person believes all seven of these truths, it is nearly certain that they will also believe in Jesus for eternal life.

Now is it possible to take a person from knowing none of this to believing in Jesus in one 5-minute conversation? I highly doubt it.

This is why evangelism often takes place over the course of months and years, through relationship building and numerous conversations. Often, these seven truths are caught, not taught, as our friends observe us living out these truths in our own lives. And usually, despite how neat and tidy that seven-pointed list is above, the conversations are never that focused or that tidy.

But that’s okay, for that is what relationship-building is all about.

share the gospel

But what about the rest of the gospel?

Once a person believes, this does not mean that the gospel conversations are over. There are still lots of gospel truths left. What are we to do with these? It is this question that we will look at in next week’s post.

For now, what do you think about these seven “Preparation truths”? Are there others you have found helpful when you have conversations about Jesus with other people?

Also, if you want a better explanation of those seven truths, I delve into each one a little more deeply in my course, the Gospel According to Scripture.

The Gospel According to ScriptureWant to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

God is Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: believe in Jesus, evangelism, gospel, gospel according to Scripture, truth, witnessing

Advertisement

The Question is not, “Is the Bible True?” but rather, “How is the Bible True?”

By Jeremy Myers
26 Comments

The Question is not, “Is the Bible True?” but rather, “How is the Bible True?”

Thinking about the nature of truth helps us understand how the Bible is (and is not) true.

And don’t get nervous … I believe all the Bible is true … but you need to read on to discover what I mean by this.

Beginning with Truth

There are different types of truth.

There is logical truth, scientific truth, historical truth, relational truth, poetic truth, and yes, even universal truth. There is a lot of overlap between some of these types of truth, but there are also some areas that might be true in one category, but not true in another.

Various Types of Truth Claims

what is truth

For example, the statement “2+2=4” is mathematically true, while the statement “I love my wife” is relationally true. But I cannot use mathematics to defend the truth that I love my wife, so the statement “I love my wife” is not mathematically true.

Then there are statements which are true for some and not true for others. The statement, “Halloween is a day on which children get candy,” is true for children who go Trick-or-Treating on Halloween, but is not true for those who don’t.

Many historical truth claims are true when they are made, but are not true later. For example, “King George is the King of England” was true when he was king, but is no longer true today.

Then there are experiential truths and truths from a certain perspective. Consider these two statements: “The sun rises in the east. The sun rises in the west.” Which statement is true? Everybody would agree that first statement is true. Yet from a scientific perspective, the sun does not rise in the east. This is an illusion based on our experience of seeing the sun rise up out of the Eastern horizon. Scientifically, however, the sun is stationary and the earth rotates around the sun.

Of course, even that is not a scientifically true statement, since in reality, the sun is not even close to stationary. The sun it is moving through the Milky Way galaxy at a speed of 450,000 mph. And when you consider that the Milky Way galaxy is moving toward the Andromeda galaxy at a speed of about 150,000 mph, and the earth is moving around the sun at a speed of about 70,000 mph, what this means is that when you were a child and your mother told you to “Sit still” you were still moving at a rate of about 670,000 mph.

So as you sit there reading this text, are you sitting still or are you moving?

You might say, “Well, I’m sitting still relative to my chair, but not sitting still relative to the universe.” Fine. Except that even relative to your chair, you are not sitting still. For the word “still” means “absent of all movement.” Yet your blood is moving, your eyes are blinking, your cells are reproducing, and your molecules are vibrating around like crazy. You are not remotely “still.” So you see? The truth claim that you are sitting still relative to your chair requires even further clarification to be truly true.

This dilemma about truth becomes even more convoluted when we begin to discuss history, poetry, and literature.

The statement, “I ate porridge for breakfast this morning,” is a true statement (Relative, of course, to how I am using the words “porridge” and “morning.”) But if I say, “The porridge was good,” we now have a truth dilemma. What do I mean by “good”? I could mean that it tasted good, or that it was morally good, or that it was not rotten, or maybe that it manufactured and sold by a company named “Good.”

And what about the statement, “I will eat porridge next Monday morning?” It is my plan to eat porridge next Monday, but does this plan make the statement true today? In other words, can a statement about the future be true?

Then there is the language of poetry. Take this statement: “The color of love is red?” Is that true? Yes, it is true. But not from a scientific, or logical, or mathematical, or historical perspective. Love has no color. And in fact, what exactly is “red”? For that matter, what is “love”? (Baby, don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more!)

Or take fiction and literature as an example. Here is a True or False question for you to answer: Aesop’s Fables are true.

Well, of course they’re false! In fact, the word “fable” means “myth” or fictional story, which by definition, means they are not true.

And yet Aesop’s Fables contains some of the greatest truths in literature. Truths about greed, teamwork, hard work, and self-discipline. So in this sense, Aesop’s Fables are amazingly true.

Enough with all this though. I hope you see that the truthfulness of a statement depends almost entirely on the type of truth statement it is, the context in which it is said, and numerous other factors.

So what about the truthfulness of the Bible?

The discussion above is why it is so difficult for some people to answer the question, “Is the Bible true?” Is that question referring to scientific truth, historical truth, relational truth, mathematical truth, poetic truth, or some other type of truth?

Initially, the answer to all these questions seems to be “Yes.” Many would state that “No matter what type of proposition or claim the Bible is making, it is true.”

is the Bible true

Okay, let’s consider a few examples.

Earlier in this post, we talked about mathematical and scientific truth claims in the Bible.

In my One Verse Podcast, we have been looking at some of the claims in Genesis 1 (which some people believe are scientific truth claims … but I don’t). In Genesis 1:6, we read that God placed a firmament in the sky to separate the waters above from the waters below.

As I pointed out in the podcast, the word “firmament” means a hard dome. So is it true that there is a hard dome up in the sky which holds back a heavenly ocean from falling upon us?

Well, no, this isn’t true.

Ah, so then the Bible has errors?

I do not believe so (as I explain the Podcast). While Genesis 1:6 may not be scientifically true, there are other ways that a statement can be true. The key is figuring out how Genesis 1:6 is true.

Take the truth claim of the Bible that “God is love.” Is that true? Well, of course it’s true. But it is not mathematically or scientifically true. It is relationally true. It is a statement about God’s character and nature.

Or what about the numerous statement in the Psalms about how God looks and acts? I just randomly opened to the Psalms and found the statement in Psalm 68:4 that God rides on the clouds. Is this true? If you look up at the clouds and see them moving across the sky, is God up there riding across the sky on the clouds like a person rides a horse? Or maybe God is into cloud surfing the way people surf waves?

No, of course not. Psalm 68:4 is poetically true, describing the glory and majesty and power of God.

Or how about the parables of Jesus? Are they true?

Well, of course they are true!

But was there really a landowner who went away and when he sent back servants to receive the income from the land, the tenants of the land killed all the servants? And so the landowner finally sent his son, thinking the tenants would listen to him, but instead, the tenants killed the son as well? Did that really happen? Maybe … but its highly unlikely, and the reason Jesus told this parable, was not to teach a historical truth, but to teach a theological and relational truth about his own mission and ministry.

the truthOr take prophecy. Are prophetical statements about future events true? Well, they do reveal divine intent, and since God can bring about what He intends, we could say that prophetical statement are more true than the statements about any human intent, but again, are statement about future historical events actually true before they occur?

We could go on and on, but here’s the point:

The question is not “Is the Bible true?” but rather, “How is the Bible true?”

Asking that second question is key in properly studying and understanding the Bible.

This sort of approach to Scripture allows us to take a more nuanced view of the doctrine of inerrancy.

I Believe in Inerrancy

Biblical Inerrancy is loosely defined as the idea that the Bible is without error. That everything on which it speaks, it speaks truly.

I agree with this.

I believe the Bible is true. I believe every word of it is true.

And in fact, I am going to go further than most inerrantists I know. I believe the Bible is more true than most of them believe.

Most inerrantists qualify their belief in the truth of the Bible by saying that the Bible is without error in the original manuscripts. That is, most inerrantists only believe the original manuscripts of the Bible are inerrant. They freely admit that the manuscripts which we have now are full of errors.

But I do not qualify my belief in the truth of Scripture this way at all. Because of how I understand truth, I believe the Bible is true more than inerrantists do.

While I do believe that the original manuscripts were completely true, I also believe that the copies of these original manuscripts are completely true, and I believe that all translations and Bible versions are completely true, including not only the KJV, but also the NIV, the NASB, the Message, the Living Bible, and even translations into Swahili or Klingon. Yes, did you know there is a Klingon version of the Bible? There is. And I believe it is true.

I know these sorts of statement will make people mad, but here’s the thing: I believe that these debates about who truly believes the Bible and who doesn’t are just the smoke and mirrors of religion.

Debates About Inerrancy are Debates for Control

Debates about inerrancy are nothing more than ways for one particular group of religious leaders to manipulate and control their followers into submission and to keep them from listening to the ideas or teachings of another group of religious leaders — who, incidentally, use the same arguments to control and manipulate their followers to keep them from listening to the first group!

It is a powerful argument in the minds of many to be able to say, “I am right and those people over there are wrong because they don’t believe the Bible, and so you better listen to me.” But every time I hear this sort of language coming out of a teacher or a ministry, I run away faster than I would run from a roaring lion.

But if my understanding of what the Bible says is different than your understanding of what the Bible says, you cannot say that I don’t believe the Bible is true, for I do. I simply believe that the Bible is true in a different way than you believe it is true, and I believe that the truth claims it makes are different than the truth claims you believe it makes.

The claim, “You don’t believe the Bible is true” is nothing more than a smokescreen put up by manipulative religion to discredit or ignore a challenging teaching or idea about the Bible which disagrees or contradicts what that religion teaches. This accusation is played as a trump card, but it turns out to be nothing more than a joker.

But if we can stop arguing about inerrancy, we can return instead to what has true value, which is actually discussing the biblical text itself. We can talk about how a passage is true, even if we know it is not scientifically or historically true.

Does this way of thinking help you know that you can trust Scripture as true? I hope so. Let me know your thoughts and questions in the comments below.

God is Redeeming Scripture, Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: Bible Study, bibliology, inerrancy, truth

Advertisement

What if the Bible is a Myth?

By Jeremy Myers
13 Comments

What if the Bible is a Myth?

This month’s synchroblog challenges us to ask the question: “What if some or all of the biblical narrative is not necessarily true history, but is myth of one sort or another?” In other words, what if the Bible is a myth?

I have considered a similar question before: What if Jesus Did not Rise? and my answer to whether or not the Bible is myth follows the same logic as in that post.

If the Bible is a Myth, it is a TRUE Myth

I believe that even if the entire Bible is a myth, it would be truer than most historical facts.

Some people say that the Bible is nothing but a myth, but there is no such thing as “nothing” but a myth.

Any good story is far more powerful to change lives and direct history than the most provable scientific or theological fact. This is one reason the Bible is a story rather than a book of theological facts.

If the Bible is a myth, then we have no way of knowing if there is a God, or what happens after death, or how humanity came into being. (Even with the Bible, the answers to those last two questions are anything but certain.) If the Bible is a myth then while a man named Jesus might have lived, he probably certainly was not God, and while he might have died as a criminal on the cross, he most likely did not rise from the dead.

And if all of that could indisputably and unquestionably be verified as historical fiction, if it could be undeniably proven that the Bible is a myth, then you know what I would do? I would shrug my shoulders, and continue living as I have been.

Even if the Bible is a myth, the truth that is contained within the Bible is some of the greatest truth that has ever been put onto paper. Even if the Bible is a myth, the Bible is still true!

Let me put it another way. Would you say that Aesop’s Fables are true?

Well, of course they are true! But they are not “true” in that they did not actually happen in recorded history. In that sense, they are “myths.” They are “fables.” But they are some of the truest fables ever told for they provide insights into human activity, provide guidance on proper living, helping the reader make right choices.

Even if the Bible is a myth, it would function in a similar way.

The Bible is True, but HOW is it True?

The Bible is true, not so much because it is fact (which I believe to be true), but because it does what it claims to do, that is, change lives for the better. If you look at the history of humanity, the cultures and eras where lives have been affected most positively for the good are the cultures and eras where the Bible has been taught and followed.

Oh sure, there is great evil that has been done because of the Bible as well, but that is true of every holy book in existence, so in that regard, the Bible as a myth would be just like is just like any other myth-filled religious literature.

the Bible is a MythBut when it comes to the positive benefits that have come to the world, it is an indisputable fact that great advances in medicine, science, equality, health, art, music, prosperity, longevity, and numerous other positive traits have existed most where the Bible is taught and followed best. And as cultures that have the Scriptures begin to abandon them (as is happening in Western culture), that society begins to degenerate once again toward lawlessness.

If the Bible is a myth, it would be the truest and most helpful myth ever written, and I would still read it, study it, teach it, and try to follow it… especially the parts about Jesus, for He (even if he didn’t really exist) represents the truest way to be human.

Everybody recognizes that Jesus was a great teacher, and lived an exemplary life, even those who do not believe the Scriptures are true. Even atheists say that Jesus was a good man and provides a great example for people to follow. People who hate Christians and despise the church, still love Jesus and what He stood for.

So what would change in my life if it turned out that the Bible is a myth? Nothing!

If the Bible is a myth, would your life change? Mine would not, for even if the Bible is a myth, it would be the truest myth ever written.


This post was part of the April Synchroblog. Here is a list of other contributors. Go check them all out!

  • K.W. Leslie – When People Believe Christianity Is A Myth
  • David Derbyshire – What If Genesis Is A Creation Myth?
  • Bud Brown – What if Paul was wrong about the life of Christ living in me?
  • Chris Jefferies – What If … Creation Was A Myth?
  • Paul W. Meier – Is The Bible A Myth?
  • damannwrite – The Bible As A Source of Wisdom
  • Phil Lancaster – What If the Bible Were A Myth
  • Carol Kuniholm – What If Newness Was The Norm
  • Liz Dyer – Penultimate Truth
  • Glenn Hager – Myths in the Bible? So What?

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: bible, bible is a myth, synchroblog, Theology of the Bible, truth

Advertisement

Why was the Bible Written?

By Jeremy Myers
10 Comments

Why was the Bible Written?

Ever wonder “Why was the Bible written?”

Maybe not.

But whether you have wondered this or not, here is the answer: It wasn’t.

The Bible was Never Written

No, I am not falling into some mystical religious explanation where I believe that the Bible has eternally existed in heaven or in the mind of God (though many Christians actually believe this), or that the Bible fell out of the sky on stone tablets or golden plates (like some other religions believe about their Scriptures).

No, all I am saying is that the Bible — as you find it on your shelf, or desk, or bedside stand, or wherever — was never written.

How then did it end up on your shelf, your desk, or your bedside stand?

Ah, well, that is a long story indeed. Too long to tell here. But when it comes to the question of “Why was the Bible written?” there never was a time in the long history of the Bible that someone (or even a group of someones) sat down and said, “I’m going to write the Bible.”

Why was the Bible written?

This is what I mean when I say that the Bible was never written. We must not ever think of it like a novel, or a history book, or a science book that was written by a person or a group of people to make a particular point to a particular audience.

Why Was the Bible Written?

So the question, “Why was the Bible written?” makes no sense when you understand the nature and content of the Bible. To use my analogy from yesterday about movies, it would be like asking, “Why were movies made?” It cannot be answered. At least, not definitively. I suppose some generic answer could be provided about movies, such as “To entertain” or “To tell a story” but even these answers don’t fit all movies.

The same goes for Scripture. When asking, “Why was the Bible written?” there is no answer that fits all the individual books of the Bible. Sure, some generic answer can be proposed, such as “To tell a story” or “To tell us about God” but these do not fit all the books, and even if they did, are so unhelpful, they qualify as a non-answer.

I suppose, rather than ask, “Why was the Bible written?” it might be more fruitful to ask, “Why was the Bible compiled?” Now there is an interesting question with interesting answers. But that question will have to wait until we talk about the Canonization of Scripture later in this series.

For the purpose of this post, I don’t think a suitable answer exists to the question, “Why was the Bible written?” because the question begins the wrong view about Scripture. The Bible was never written. It is not that kind of book.

It is closer to a collection of books, but even that is not accurate, as most of the “books” are not “books” at all, but are letters, or chronicles of events, or even collections themselves of poems and pithy sayings.

Why were Individual Books of the Bible Written?

Which raises a different point. If we cannot ask, “Why was the Bible written?” maybe we can at least ask, “Why were individual books written?” Books like Genesis. Or Romans. Or Revelation. These are better questions, for these are documents that were actually written, and they do, I believe, have purposes. We can ask, “Why was Genesis written?” or “Why was Romans written?” and find some answers. We may not all agree on the answers, but at least we are making some headway on finding the right questions. In the search for truth, the right question is half the answer.

Scripture writing

So where are we on our question? We cannot ask “Why was the Bible written?” because it never was. But we can ask, “Why were individual books of the Bible written?” and to this question, we can attempt to find answers. I am not going to try to do that here as it would take hundreds of blog posts.

Instead, however, we have now arrived at the place where we can approach the third issue I raised yesterday. We wanted to know how the Bible functions, why the Bible was written, and how the Bible presents truth. We have addressed the first two; we will look at the third tomorrow.


God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: bible, canonicity, inspiration, scripture, Theology of the Bible, truth

Advertisement

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »
Join the discipleship group
Learn about the gospel and how to share it

Take my new course:

The Gospel According to Scripture
Best Books Every Christian Should Read
Study Genesis with me
Subscribe to my Podcast

Click the image below to Subscribe on iTunes

One Verse Podcast with Jeremy Myers

Do you like my blog?
Try one of my books:

Click the image below to see what books are available.

Books by Jeremy Myers

Take Online Courses
with N. T. Wright

Choose from Six Courses:
*N. T. Wright on Jesus
*N. T. Wright on Romans
*N. T. Wright on Galatians
*N. T. Wright on Philippians
*N. T. Wright on the Gospel
*N. T. Wright on Worldviews

Theological Study Archives

  • Theology – General
  • Theology Introduction
  • Theology of the Bible
  • Theology of God
  • Theology of Man
  • Theology of Sin
  • Theology of Jesus
  • Theology of Salvation
  • Theology of the Holy Spirit
  • Theology of the Church
  • Theology of Angels
  • Theology of the End Times
  • Theology Q&A

Bible Study Archives

  • Bible Studies on Genesis
  • Bible Studies on Esther
  • Bible Studies on Psalms
  • Bible Studies on Jonah
  • Bible Studies on Matthew
  • Bible Studies on Luke
  • Bible Studies on Romans
  • Bible Studies on Ephesians
  • Miscellaneous Bible Studies

Advertise or Donate

  • Advertise on RedeemingGod.com
  • Donate to Jeremy Myers

Search (and you Shall Find)

Get Books by Jeremy Myers

Books by Jeremy Myers

Schedule Jeremy for an interview

Click here to Contact Me!

© 2021 Redeeming God · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Knownhost and the Genesis Framework