Did God Really Say That?
Every Christian knows that spiritual warfare will always be part of our lives. Jesus said that the enemy Satan, came to kill and steal and destroy. And Peter said that Satan prowls around like a lion looking for someone to devour. We need to be on our guard and be aware of the type of schemes that the enemy has against us.
And you know what? They're the same schemes that there's always been. They work out a little differently in our context than they may have hundreds and thousands of years ago. But you'll notice that the same way that he worked in the Bible is the same way he tries to scheme against us today.
Satan's Deception and the Bible's Trustworthiness
Have a look at Genesis chapter three, where Satan appears as a serpent to Adam and Eve. And we read that he said to Eve, “Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” This is one of his great schemes, to try and convince us that God didn't say what he said.
Over the last few hundred years the Bible has been under such intense scrutiny. And many people, Christians even have taken a critical view of the Bible. I remember when I was studying theology, it was all about critical study of the Bible and trying to see it without spiritual eyes to see if it held up. There are those who believe that it doesn't, and there are those who believe that it does.
I believe that it does. I believe that the Bible is the word of God. The Old Testament and the New Testament revealed by God to those who wrote it containing God's truth, which gives us life and tells us right from wrong. Satan worms his way into our lives and says “did God really say that all these words? Is it really trustworthy?”
The Bible as the Foundation of Faith and Experience
And many people fall for this lie - some saying the Bible is just old and outdated and irrelevant, but some say more subtly that it contains some truths about God but it's in the end more a historical document than the inspired word of God.
What I've found is that when I make my experience my main way of viewing the world and the Bible as secondary to that, then I just put my own frames all over the Bible and block out the stuff that I don't really like. But when I see God's Word for what it is and believe that it was him who inspired it, it informs my experience! And I believe that that is the way God desires it.
Beware of those whispers from Satan saying that God really say this. Can I really trust this? Because without the Bible as the Word of God, we just make it all up and then it all falls apart. But holding tight to God's Word in the Scriptures gives us a firm foundation for our lives.
