IS THE BIBLE REALLY RELIABLE? 2 PETER 1:12-21

Introduction

God is the ultimate author. He has written a book, a love story from His heart to ours. This book, of course is the Bible, the very Word of God. The passage we have come to asks a question that demands an answer in our day. The question is: “Is the Bible really reliable?” Let me just say that if you hold as I do to the inerrancy and infallibility of the Word of God, you will be hated increasingly in this culture. You will be unpopular. If you are going to follow Christ in this day you need to understand the mounting pressure that will be ours: Wimps Need not Apply. It will come upon you from everywhere. You will be hated by bloggers, tweeters, and the Facebook crowd. They will say all sorts of evil things against you. You and I will be forced in the days ahead to validate in our own hearts the answer to the question of the reliability of Scripture. I have already answered the question for myself. It is the question you too must answer.

In the text at hand, Peter writing under the direction of the Holy Spirit will give us 3 reasons why the Bible is truly reliable.

There is the urgency of the memory of God’s Word (1:12-15).

We are informed that Peter’s purpose in these verses is to “remind you of these qualities (12).” What qualities is Peter talking about? It is those virtues of Christian growth he has previously mentioned (1:5-11). Peter does not want his people to forget those moral virtues and the other things he has taught them. Peter wants to ake sure believers are firmly established in the faith.

Our goal is to be so grounded in the Word of God that when the difficult times come, and they will, our feet will be firmly planted on the solid rock of God’s Word. Therefore, our prayer is not to plead with God or to make deals with God to promise to do thus and such if God takes the difficulties away. No, our prayer ought to be, “Lord Jesus, please help me to endure my current difficulties.”

People in America are abandoning the church. One of the reasons for this is because of some of the theological wimps behind the pulpit. In some churches people have been fed a steady diet of spiritual potato chips and ice cream. They have not been given the healthy vegetables and proteins of Scripture so that they have the spiritual nutrients flowing in their lives to stand strong in the face of adversity. They have not been given the strong foundation needed to have the memory of growing biblical truth.

I think most of you already understand this.To know God is to love God. The more you know of Him the more you are going to love Him. The more you love Him the more you are going to trust Him. When the difficult times come, are are you going to do? If you are grounded in the Word of God, you can say, “Jesus, I don’t really understand what is happening to me. Yet, what I do know is that You are awesome and You are worthy. You are to be praised and You are to be trusted. [read verse 13]

Peter writes with a sense of urgency as he states, “I think it right.” The word for right is “righteous (dikaios).” It was the righteous, just, and godly thing for Peter to do to “stir you up by way of reminder.” To “stir up” comes from the Greek compound word (dieyeiro) which means “to arouse completely” or to “thoroughly awaken from” lethargy, drowsiness or sleep. As Peter wrote these words, I can just imagine how how he remembered his own physical/spiritual drowsiness in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Peter understood that his days were limited, not so much from old age, but from the promise of Jesus of how he was going to die (14). [read verse 15]

This is basically a restatement of what he said in verse 12. Peter restates his diligence to remind and keep on reminding the people of the truth of God and His Word. Peter states that he is determined to be faithful in the present (“and I will make every effort”). He promises that he will be faithful up to the time of his death (“so that at after my departure”), so that his hearers will continue to be faithful (“you may be able at any time to recall these things”).

Point: Peter is not so concerned about the people remembering him. He was concerned that they remember the truth that he taught them.

The Bible is reliable because the more we study it, memorize, and the more we live it, the more our lives will be transformed by it. There is the urgency of the memory of the Word of God.

There is the unique majesty of God’s Word (1:16-18).

The Word of God is really reliable because of the recorded history of eyewitness testimony. Peter moves from reminding the people of what he has already stated to an event that has yet to happen. Peter is talking about the Parousia or second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. [read verse 16]

The word for in this verse links the previous verses to this set of verses. Verses 16-18 explains why Peter is reminding the believers of the truth. These verses are Peter’s recollection of what he was an eyewitness to. Peter, James and John were eyewitnesses of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ.

Peter says, “ I was privileged to be part of a very special moment in history. We were with Jesus on the mountain of transfiguration. Suddenly Jesus is transfigured (metamorpheo). We got a brief glimpse of what the glorified Christ would be like in His second coming. I didn’t know what to say, so I just started talking. I thought it would be a great idea to build three tabernacles. We could build one in honor of Elijah, one to Moses and one to Jesus. Jesus wasn’t impressed. Apparently the Heavenly Father wasn’t impressed either. Right then a voice from heaven spoke which said, ‘This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him.’” [read verse 17-18]

There were false teachers who had convinced some in the church that Jesus was never going to come again. However, just because you deny something does not negate the truth. Denial of truth has been going on since the Garden of Eden. Peter demonstrated the futility of the false teachers and their arguments against the Parousia because not only had Peter seen with his eyes the truth about Jesus, he also heard the truth of Jesus on the mountain concerning Christ’s imminent return.

The Bible is really relevant on the basis of accurate eyewitness testimony. Because of what was viewed and what was voiced, there is every reason for us to have confidence that what we have in the Bible is the very Word of God. By the way, Peter was about to die within a few months of writing these words. He lived for decades by the truth that this was to be the way he was going to go out. People are not willing to die for a lie. Thus, we also have Peter’s testimony in his death that the Word of God is true.

There is the ultimate message of God’s Word (1:19-21).

“And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed (ESV). The NKJV renders this the “certain word of prophecy.” What is being referred to here (19)? It is a lamp or lantern shining in a dark and murky place. Thus, Peter is likening the Word of God to a torch that provides light to a dark and sinful world. This draws one back to the truth of Psalm 119 concerning God’s Word. “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path (119:105).”

How on earth did fallible and sinful men ever write infallible and sinless truth? The man who wrote 1 and 2 Peter was the same man who cursed and swore when he was accused of being a follower of Jesus. Yet, as imperfect as Peter was, God allowed him to write Scripture. He did so only because the Spirit of God did something in him (19-21). Peter was able to write these epistles only because of the truth at the end of chapter 1. The Spirit of God picked Peter up and carried him (bore him along) over his own sinfulness.

Does it make a difference that the Bible is the prophetic word more fully confirmed? It most certainly does. If God’s Word is not the certain word of prophetic truth, we are then left without any idea of what is and what is not the Word of God. What happens then? You are then at the mercy of those like the members of the Jesus Seminar who come together and decide what we are to believe about Scripture. “Pastor, what is wrong with that?” I will tell you what is wrong with that. Scholars make mistakes. Scholars are errant, fallible and sinful. There has to be a more sure word of prophecy than what they claim.

There was such a group of scholars that decided they were going to clear up all the confusion that we all have about the Bible, at least that was their perspective. They were going to inform all of us what Jesus actually said. They were going to correct us as to what Jesus probably didn’t say and the were going to instruct us concerning what Jesus definitely did not say. Here is how they did it. They got a bunch of colored marbles. A green marble represented something Jesus actually said. A blue marble represented what Jesus probably didn’t say. A yellow marble represented what Jesus did not say at all. Folks there was a bunch of marbles on the table, but those scholars had lost all theirs.

Thus, this group has decided for us what Jesus did and did not say. Are you willing to trust their assessment? I’m not. These guys couldn’t even agree among themselves. They fought and argued over it. Then they finally voted with a marble. Isn’t that intelligent?

If God did not step in and infallibly and inerrantly give us holy Scripture, then we would be as one theologian put it, “cast upon a raging sea of human subjectivism that can never ever see the shore because of the waves.” In the end, we could not know anything for certain. You could never have confidence in the scriptures that speak of salvation, the atonement, the resurrection, or anything else. However, if you have a perfect infallible and inerrant Bible, guess what you have. You have the very Word of God. My friend you can trust that all the way to the bank of heaven. That is exactly what we have in our hands.

Conclusion

I believe that the old song many of us grew up learning still says it best:

The B-I-B-L-E, Yes, that’s the book for me. I stand alone on the Word of God The B-I-B-L-E.

The B-L-O-O-D, That Jesus shed for me; Christ paid the price, our sacrifice, The B-L-O-O-D.

I’m S-A-V-E-D by G-R-A-C-E; I’m saved by grace, the Scripture says, The B-I-B-L-E.

Yes, it is simple, but not simplistic. It is clear, not complicated. It is the certain prophetic Word of God and it is really, really, really reliable. I have staked my life on it. I have lived my life by. I have raised my family by its certain truths. I pray you will do the same.