MAX ON LIFE

74. Can we be sure that the text of the Bible we read is exactly what God wanted to write? With so many years between Bible times and our day, isn't it possible that his words and thoughts could have been changed by the writers?

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Tim 3:16-17)

The Bible makes a statement about itself. A bold statement.

"I am God-breathed."

This self-declaration says the words found in its pages have come from God's heart and were pushed out of his mouth and into the world. Where did those words go? To the ears and hearts of scribes, kings, and prophets, who took notes, then passed them on to us

But were they accurate notes?

Some books were transcribed a thousand years after they happened (Genesis), while some were published twenty to thirty years after the events (the Gospels). Some were recorded by people who weren't there (some believe Samuel wrote Judges); others saw it all firsthand (Luke traveled with Paul and wrote Acts).

As for the content, did words change over time? Were there mistakes in the copies of the copies of the copies?

Maybe. Probably. Some minor word-order variations. A misspelling crept in now and then. These things happen when humans breathe on anything - literary hiccups, burps and coughs.

God knew that when he breathed the Bible into people, they could potentially make huge mistakes, so he employed the Holy Spirit to guide those words to us today - inspiring, reminding, awakening, clarifying.

The God who had the power to make those incidents happen long ago has the power to get his holy words through wars, memory loss, and persecutions.

We must believe that the Bible in our hands is the Bible that God wanted us to have.

By: Max Lucado