How can we have as much confidence as the prophets, that the Bible is real? I’ve heard from some Christians that “prophets do not lie” as a retort.
What a wonderful privilege to have the opportunity to defend the Bible. God has entrusted us with the advancement of the kingdom as stated in 1 Thessalonians:
1 THES. 2:4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not intending to please people, but to please God, who examines our hearts.
1 THES. 2:5 For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is our witness—
1 THES. 2:6 nor did we seek honor from people, either from you or from others, though we could have asserted our authority as apostles of Christ.
1 THES. 2:7 But we proved to be gentle among you. As a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children,
1 THES. 2:8 in the same way we had a fond affection for you and were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.
First and foremost, without illumination by the Holy Spirit we can never convince the unbelieving world of the truth in the scriptures, much less that the Prophets were real historical figures, divinely inspired by the a Holy God. Without the element of God revealing Himself to a person who He is, the stories and characters in the Bible will sound like foolishness as stated in 1 Corinthians:
1COR. 1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Furthermore, we must first focus on sharing the Gospel message with the lost. Paul then further explains, in verse 8, that IF you do take this salvation message out, you are called to a position of gentleness and love by way of discipleship.
Unfortunately, we see quarreling masked as friendly debate among those attempting to share the good news with those who disagree with a biblical worldview; this brass approach is unbiblical and not the model in which a mature believer should adopt. Instead, we suggest knowing what you believe about "the Gospel."
1 COR. 15:1 Now I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand,
1 COR. 15:2 by which you also are saved, if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
1 COR. 15:3 For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
1 COR. 15:4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Paul adds emphasis on the importance of this simple message when he brings the rebelling church of Corinth back to what he has already preached before: Christ died for our sins, was buried and raised on the third day. Once we understand the gospel ourselves, we should then be prepared to defend our faith – not every single detail – but to have the basics down is key in presenting the gospel. This practice would be defined as apologetics. The Greek word apologia means “defense” as a lawyer gives at a trial. Arguably, the New Testament writers point out that we must be ready to give a defense to all people God brings our way, in every season. Simply put, always be ready to defend what you believe.
PHIL1:7 For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me.
1PET. 3:15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, but with gentleness and respect;
1PET. 3:16 and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who disparage your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.
Moreover, Christian faith depends on the truth of a resurrected Christ. If the resurrection is not true, then the hope we have in defeating death completely evaporates. Without the resurrection it would mean that Jesus’ claims to be God and having power to overcome death were all lies. If one does not believe in Jesus’ resurrection, then they have not believed in the true Gospel.
1COR. 15:12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
1COR. 15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised;
1COR. 15:14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is in vain.
1COR. 15:15 Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.
1COR. 15:16 For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised;
1COR. 15:17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
1COR. 15:18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
1COR. 15:19 If we have hoped in Christ only in this life, we are of all people most to be pitied.
The message we bring to the world must be one in which is centered around the Gospel instead of various theological arguments often debated today among believers and unbelievers.
Also, once a believer realizes that the gospel message we believe is made to look foolish to those that are perishing, we will be better equipped to understand the rejection and continue in our stance on it:
1 COR:1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1 COR:1:19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And the understanding of those who have understanding, I will confound.”
1 COR:1:20 Where is the wise person? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world?
1 COR:1:21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
1 COR:1:22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom;
1 COR:1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness,
1 COR:1:24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1 COR:1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than mankind, and the weakness of God is stronger than mankind.
Additionally, a believer who is consistently depending on God and living a gospel-centered life, silences those who claim to be wise:
1 PET. 3:15 For such is the will of God, that by doing right you silence the ignorance of foolish people.
As believers, our primary mission is: proclaiming to a rebellious and sinful world that a Savior has offered mercy and forgiveness through His own life, death, and resurrection. The Gospel was and continues to be grace shown to us, so when presenting the good news exude the same grace you inherited from your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
So, should someone reject what you bring, simply move on to the next person. It is never through our abilities, skills, or speech that one come to understand the beauty of salvation, but rather, it is a grace gift, as stated in Ephesians:
EPH. 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
EPH. 2:9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Moreover, the office of prophet is also misunderstood. The Bible uses the term prophet to describe a man gifted to deliver God's revelation to men. A prophet's words were recorded and eventually made a part of the canon of scripture. The office of prophet carries significant responsibilities and burdens, according to scripture. Specifically, the Bible says this concerning the office of prophet:
DEUT. 13:1 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder,
DEUT. 13:2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘ Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’
DEUT. 13:3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
DEUT. 13:4 “You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.
DEUT. 13:5 “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.
Therefore, the words that prophets spoke gave evidence of God and the divine words spoken through men by the fulfillment of prophecy. For example:
ISA. 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel.
Fulfillment:
LUKE 1:26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth,
LUKE 1:27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
LUKE 1:28 And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”
LUKE 1:29 But she was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was.
LUKE 1:30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
LUKE 1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.
LUKE 1:32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
LUKE 1:33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
LUKE 1:34 But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
LUKE 1:35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also the holy Child will be called the Son of God.
LUKE 1:36 And behold, even your relative Elizabeth herself has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called infertile is now in her sixth month.
LUKE 1:37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
LUKE 1:38 And Mary said, “Behold, the Lord’s bond-servant; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Prophecy:
ISA. 53:1 Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
ISA. 53:2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of dry ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we would look at Him,
Nor an appearance that we would take pleasure in Him.
ISA. 53:3 He was despised and abandoned by men,
A man of great pain and familiar with sickness;
And like one from whom people hide their faces,
He was despised, and we had no regard for Him.
ISA. 53:4 However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore,
And our pains that He carried;
Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted,
Struck down by God, and humiliated.
ISA. 53:5 But He was pierced for our offenses,
He was crushed for our wrongdoings;
The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him,
And by His wounds we are healed.
ISA. 53:6 All of us, like sheep, have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all
To fall on Him.
ISA. 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
ISA. 53:8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off from the land of the living
For the wrongdoing of my people, to whom the blow was due?
ISA. 53:9 And His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
ISA. 53:10 But the Lord desired
To crush Him, causing Him grief;
If He renders Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
ISA. 53:11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
For He will bear their wrongdoings.
ISA. 53:12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the plunder with the strong,
Because He poured out His life unto death,
And was counted with wrongdoers;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the wrongdoers.
Fulfillment:
Over 600 hundred years after the Prophet Isaiah said these words they were fulfilled in perfect detail in the New Testament Gospels. All four Gospel accounts speak to Isaiah's prophecy.
Prophecy:
In Matthew 27, the author is blending Jeremiah 19:1-11 and Zechariah 11. In rabbinical tradition, when teaching from two prophets is blended into a single quote, the greater prophet receives the credit. In this case, Jeremiah is considered to be a greater prophet, so Matthew attributes the prophecy to him:
ZECH. 11:12 And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!” So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages.
ZECH. 11:13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord.
ZECH. 11:14 Then I cut in pieces my second staff Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
Fulfillment:
MATT. 27:9 Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the One whose price had been set by the sons of Israel;
MATT. 27:10 and they gave them for the Potter’s Field, just as the Lord directed me.”
Prophecy:
HOS 11:1 When Israel was a youth I loved him,
And out of Egypt I called My son.
Fulfillment:
MATT. 2:14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.
MATT. 2:15 He stayed there until the death of Herod; this happened so that what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
Prophecy:
MIC. 5:2 But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will come forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His times of coming forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.”
Fulfillment:
MATT. 2:5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:
MATT. 2:6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah;
For from you will come forth a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
These are just a few of the hundreds of prophecies that came to pass being fulfilled perfectly. The Book of Isaiah is full of prophecy that was later fulfilled in the Gospels. We suggest an in-depth study of this book in order to see the importance of the divinely inspired Prophets.
For more in-depth studies on bringing the Great News of the Gospel to a lost world, we suggest the seminars from our Ambassadors for Christ conference.
