How do I know if what people say about God is actually true?

Jun 30

This is part of a series giving an overview of theology and Neighborhood Church’s doctrinal statement. (Introduction, The One True God, The Lord Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit, The Bible, Humanity, Salvation, Church, Christian Life, Angels, Satan, Demons, Future Life)

How do you know what you know? It's a question that can keep you up at night if you think about it too long. Take something as simple as your name. You know your name because your parents told you, right? But how do you really know that's your actual name? You could check your birth certificate, but how do you know the government didn't just print whatever they wanted on that piece of paper?

This might sound like we're heading down a rabbit hole of doubt, but stick with us. The point is that all of us depend on others to tell us things about the world. We learn from teachers, parents, friends, and even textbooks written by people we've never met. We're all dependent on revelation—on someone else revealing truth to us.

The Problem of the Invisible God

Here's where it gets interesting for those of us curious about God. How would you begin to understand someone you cannot see? What if there was a person who was invisible and only spoke when they wanted to? Where would you even start?

This is exactly the challenge we face when it comes to understanding God. We need Him to help us out. We need God to show us what He's like. The theological term for this is revelation—God revealing something of Himself to us. And here's the thing: we're completely dependent on Him to do that.

God does this in two ways. First, we can learn some things about God by looking at what He's made. When you consider the incredible creativity and complexity of life on our planet, it's pretty clear that whoever made all this has an imagination that far exceeds our own. Most of us have some sense that there's a Creator who's more powerful and creative than we are. This is often called “general revelation” in theological circles.

But that doesn't get us very far, does it? We need something more specific.

That’s where we need a second, clearer kind of revealing. We need what's called special revelation—God communicating to us clearly and specifically about things we couldn’t understand without His help.

God's Choice: A Book

Here's something fascinating. An infinite, almighty Creator who knows everything and can see every possible future decided the best way to communicate with us was to write a book. Not through dreams, not through mystical experiences, but through a book that we can study, examine, and discuss together.

The Bible isn't just any book, though. It's actually a library of 66 different books, written over about 1,600 years, in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek). It contains different genres—stories, poetry, history, prophecy, songs, and even some plays. But they're all telling one continuous story.

What is the Bible? It's a library of diverse writings that show us God's character through His actions with one specific family over thousands of years for the benefit of all creation. Instead of giving us a fact sheet about Himself, God tells us stories about what He's done. It's like the difference between reading someone's professional bio versus sitting down with their kids and hearing stories about what dad is really like.

This approach makes sense when you think about it. The Bible is God's Word in a form that's available for study, for public inspection, and as a basis for discussion. You don't have to take anyone's word for what God says—you can read it yourself and check it out.

Reflection question: How does our relationship with the Bible reflect our relationship with God?

Why Should We Trust This Book?

Okay, so God chose to communicate through a book. But why should we trust that this particular book is reliable? That's a fair question, and there are some good answers.

First, let's talk about how we got the Bible. When we say the Bible is "inspired," we're using a word that comes from 2 Timothy 3:16, which says all Scripture is "breathed out by God." This doesn't mean the writers had some special feeling of inspiration—it means the actual words on the page are breathed out by God.

God also "superintended" the writing process. Think of a school superintendent who doesn't teach every class but makes sure every class gets taught. God used human writers with their own personalities, writing styles, and cultures, but He guided the process to ensure His message came through clearly and without error in the original manuscripts.

Now, we don't have those original manuscripts anymore, but here's what we do have: more handwritten copies of the Bible than any other ancient document—and it's not even close. We have thousands and thousands of manuscripts, and when you compare them, you can spot the copying errors and figure out what the original said. It's like having multiple witnesses to the same event.

Here's something remarkable: When scholars found manuscripts that were hundreds of years older than the ones used for translations like the King James Version, they expected to find major differences that would undermine the Bible's reliability. Instead, they found that the transmission of the text had been incredibly accurate over time. It took a lot of people a lot of work to pass these copies down, and even more to translate these words into our modern languages.

Translation Isn't Like Telephone

Some people worry that the Bible is like a game of telephone—that the message got distorted as it passed from person to person. But that's not how translation works. We're not translating from Hebrew to Persian to Roman to German to French to English. Good modern translations go back to the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts.

Yes, there's always some interpretation involved in translation (if someone says "that jacket is the bomb," future readers might wonder why everyone didn't run for cover). Some translations are more word-for-word literal, while others focus more on thought-for-thought clarity. Both approaches have value.

The amazing thing is that we live in an era where we have access to multiple reliable translations, audio versions, and even tools to study the original languages if we want to. We have more access to God's Word than any generation in history.

Reflection question: How do our habits with God's Word reflect gratitude for the work others have done to bring it to us?

How Do We Understand What We Read?

This brings us to the most important part: How do we interpret and apply what we read? The Bible isn't like any other book because it promises something unique—the Author shows up to help us understand what He wrote.

1 Corinthians 2 tells us that God's Spirit helps us "understand the things freely given us by God." This doesn't mean the Bible is always easy to understand, but it does mean God “turns on the lightbulb” as we read His Word.

Here's the key: You can't have the opportunity for God’s Spirit to speak through His Word if you never read it. The best gift we can offer is encouragement to actually read the Bible, not just hear other people talk about it.

When we read Scripture, we want to understand what the original writers meant for their original audiences, and then understand how God intends for that to apply to us today. We focus it all on Jesus, because Jesus said the Bible is about Him (Luke 24:27). We ask the Holy Spirit to guide us, and we approach it all with grace—knowing that none of us has completely mastered this text yet.

Reflection question: What doubts prevent us from looking to God's Word for guidance?

The Goal Is Practice

Here's why all this matters: We know God and live for Him by practicing what He has written.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 doesn't end with Scripture being "breathed out by God." It goes on to say that Scripture is "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."

The goal isn't just to know about God—it's to be equipped for every good work He has for us. Not just some good works, but all of them. God's Word is sufficient for our whole life.

2 Peter 1:3 reminds us that "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us."

If you want to live your life in a way that accomplishes everything God put you on earth to do, you'll find what you need in His Word. It's not that the Bible answers every curiosity we might have, but it tells us everything we need to know to know God and live well with Him.

Moving Forward

Doubts aren't the enemy of faith—they can actually sharpen our faith. If you find yourself thinking, "God doesn't really understand this situation" or "His advice about relationships seems outdated," bring those doubts to His Word. Work through your doubts by seeing what God has actually said and meet Him there.

Remember, we accept the absolute authority of the Bible over traditions, leaders, or our own opinions. We commit to ongoing study, understanding, and application of God's unchanging truth in our constantly changing world.

The practice is the goal. And by practice, we mean actually living out what we read, not just knowing about it.

Final reflection: What areas of your life need to be shaped more by what God has written rather than by what the world says?

Listen to this entire sermon.