The Christ in Prophecy Journal

Uniqueness of the Bible: A Call to Defend

Mike Gendron

PDF

Should the Bible be defended as God’s Word?

During the last weekend of June each year, Lamb & Lion Ministries conducts a Bible conference in the Dallas, Texas area, with 2010’s themed Defending the Faith.

The second speaker was Mike Gendron, founder of Proclaiming The Gospel Ministries, a ministry established in 1991 to serve and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by equipping and encouraging Christians to proclaim the Gospel clearly, faithfully and effectively. The ministry also exposes the fatal errors of Roman Catholicism and apostate Christianity, along with other faith movements such as the Emerging Church, Purpose Driven Church and the Church Growth Movement. They also proclaim the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ and exhort believers to contend earnestly for the faith until that glorious day.

Mike’s topic at our conference was “The Truth of the Bible” (watch). Considered an expert on Christian doctrine, he did a masterful job of defending the Bible as the revealed Word of God.

Mike Gendron on the Truth of the Bible

The Bible’s promises are everlasting. We know that we trust a God who cannot lie and cannot break His promises. The Bible’s doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its claims are true and its prophecies are sure. When we look at the truth of the Bible we know it reveals not only the mind of God but the nature of man and the only way of salvation. It reveals the judgment of sinners and the blessing of every believer.

There are life-changing consequences for exchanging the truth of God for a lie. In Romans 1:24-25 we read that those who exchange the truth of God for a lie are given over by God to the impure lusts of their hearts. Those who suppress the truth of God in unrighteousness are under God’s wrath.

The bottom line is this — the Bible is the true test of true faith. Scripture is the standard by which all truth claims must be tested, because it is divinely inspired, divinely authoritative, and also reliable. The Bible is absolute truth for all people, for all of time and eternity.

Will you encourage others to believe it? Will you encourage other to read it? Do you have persuasive reasons now to convince people that the Bible is set apart as the most unique holy book in existence? It truly is the voice of God. He inspired His Word to those who penned it, and it is indeed a supernatural book.

Are you convinced that God’s Bible — His Word — is supernatural? I believe that it is a supernatural book because it is miraculous in several different ways. It is miraculous in its origin. We have seen that it is divinely inspired. It is miraculous in its power in converting the soul. It is miraculous in its influence, transforming lives. It is miraculous in its message. As we read the Bible, we see God intervening throughout human history and many miracles are recorded. It is also miraculous in its preservation of the accuracy of its copies handed down from generation to generation. It is miraculous in its prophecy and that it foretells the future with precise detail and accuracy. It is also miraculous in its indestructibility in spite of numerous attempts to destroy it.

I hope that you all agree that we need the truth of the Bible in these days of great deception. We need the truth of the Bible because what the Church is lacking more than anything in is discernment. When the Word of God is not being preached from pulpits, people aren’t getting the truth. When they don’t get the truth, they can’t discern what is false. We need to get back to the Bible and encourage others to do the same.

Don’t let anyone tell you that the Bible is not authoritative. Don’t let anyone tell you that the truth that you find in the Bible is not objective. We have seen that it is. We have been entrusted with it. We must contend earnestly for the faith. We must defend the honor and the glory of our Great God and Savior.

We must also protect the Gospel for the sake of the elect. So many people want to compromise it now and give a wider view of God’s mercy. No! We need to proclaim it just as it is revealed in the Bible. We need to build our faith on nothing less than Christ and His Word.

Resource

Defending the Faith June 2010 Conference
Defending the Faith June 2010 Conference DVD Album
Get back to the Word and the absolute essentials of the Christian faith by learning how to defend what you believe in this 6-part conference album!

  1. “The Truth of the Christian Worldview” – Brannon Howse
  2. “The Truth of the Bible” – Mike Gendron
  3. “The Truth of Creation” – Dr. Jobe Martin
  4. “The Truth of the Divinity of Jesus” – Eric Barger
  5. “The Truth of the Resurrection” – Dr. Ron Rhodes
  6. “The Truth of the Virgin Birth” – Dr. David Reagan
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

RELATED ARTICLES

ABOUT AUTHOR View all posts Author Website

Dr. Nathan E. Jones

As the Internet Evangelist at Lamb & Lion Ministries, Nathan reaches out to the over 4.5 billion people accessible over the Internet with the Good News of Jesus Christ. He also co-hosts the ministry's television program Christ in Prophecy and podcast The Truth Will Set You Free.

4 CommentsLeave a Comment

  • Hello Nathan

    Part1.

    I have been waiting in hope that the new series might help me with my question as The Word of God is our sure foundation, our bedrock; it is the plumb-line which ensures the building that goes onto the foundation is straight and safe. Yet my youngest son seriously warned me that I went too deep into the Bible and it was bad for me – doctrine would turn me loopy.

    I was dumbfounded at first; I couldn’t credit how a Christian could believe such a thing. I was left feeling bemused by this ‘accusation’ as we are encouraged to study doctrine; and one verse in particular is straight to the point.

    1Timothy 4:13 “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to DOCTRINE.”

    We are encouraged to study God’s Word.

    2Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”.

    Recently I came to realise that this is just one of many of Rick Warren and Company’s twisting of Scriptures. By misquoting 2 Corinthians 3:6 they remove from the verse “…THE LETTER KILLETH, BUT THE SPIRIT GIVES LIFE.” Meaning the letters in the Bible will make us mentally ill it is the Spiritual experiences that gives us life.

    What better way to keep the sheep dumb and ignorant than to warn them off relying upon God’s Word in their daily walk of Faith in Jesus saying “Don’t read too much of the Bible, it’s bad for your health, you will become ill”!
    What is ‘doctrine’? It is simply ‘teaching’. The Bible contains the Teaching of God, and with the guidance of The Holy Spirit we gradually come to realise what The Lord wants us to know and understand.

    Yet All things Purpose Driven/ Seeker Sensitive/ Church Growth Movement/ Emergent/Word of 'Faith'— are allegorizing Scripture to deceive and to support their apostate teachings. They have an idea, then find a Scripture, and by removing it from its context, use it to ‘Biblically’ support their heresy. Satan did the same thing to Jesus during the temptation in the wilderness. Matthew 4:1-11.

    2Timothy 4:3 "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear".

  • Part 2

    So what of 2Cor.3:6, what is GOD telling us in the entire context of this verse? I found the following:

    Let Us Reason by Mike Oppenheimer
    "* 2 Corinthians 3:6 (The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life) is allegorized in its interpretation to mean that Scripture is a dead letter and only the Spirit is what is important. So we need to heed new and fresh words from the Spirit.

    But this is not what the Apostle Paul is saying. Again if we read it in context (before and after the portion that is lifted out to mean something other than the author wrote) we find the true meaning.

    2 Corinthians 3:6-8 “who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?"

    Paul is making a distinction between the Old Covenant written on stone and the New Covenant that is presented inside us by the Spirit. The old (the law) brought death, because no one could keep its directives, whereas the new brings life through the life-giving Spirit.

    The letter (the law) killed because no one was able to keep it. It made us guilty, while the New Covenant sets us free from the condemnation of the law. The law was fulfilled in the only person who could have fulfilled it, the God/man Jesus Christ.

    Now we have the spirit of God inside us all because of this new covenant that is superior to the old covenant."

    http://www.letusreason.org/default.htm
    So the likes of Rick Warren, warn people away from the Teaching of God in the Bible, and encourage them to instead read the doctrines of the Rick Warren types and their variety of the ‘Purpose Driven’ Books instead. Interestingly, it is Jesus, the tender, caring Shepherd of our soul who leads us, while the false shepherd drives to the point of barren exhaustion.

    John 8:32 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”.

    Sue

  • I share your pain that your kids joined the Emergent Church and that it's caused a rift in your family, Sue. Don't give up hope, though. If they're God's children, and I'm sure they are, He won't let them dangle out there for long. Just enough to gain some wisdom and common sense perspective about what is true, right?

LEAVE A REPLY

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *