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LOVING THE BIBLE
It is quite clear that there is really no neutral ground when it comes to individuals and the Bible. Either a person hates the Bible and proves their hatred by having nothing to do with it or they love the Bible and seek to understand and obey it. People either regard the Bible as worthless or as the Word of God. One thing that stands out: those who criticize and oppose the Bible when asked nearly always admit that they have never read the Book. Generally they have heard or read the criticisms of others (who also probably never have read the Book) and merely parrot them. It is a fact that very often when honest individuals read the Bible they are very often converted from opponents to proponents of the Bible. So then the matter of loving the Bible is important! We are not to worship the Bible for that would be bibliolatry – the worship of a book. But children of God do love and respect the Bible. The psalmist wrote: “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them,” (Psalm 119:165). Here is a test to see if you really love God's Book. The word law is often used of all the revelation of God: especially the Old Testament – all the Bible that there was when the psalmist wrote. So we must each ask ourselves, “Am I offended at anything written in the Bible?” “Do I stumble at or reject anything revealed in the Bible?” There may be things that we do not understand in the Bible, but those who love God's Word do not argue with it or reject it or find fault with it. And so it is they enjoy “great peace” with regard to all that God has revealed. For instance: an individual may not understand, say, the Bible doctrines of election or predestination. That is one thing. But to refuse to believe these things – to object to what the Bible says about them – is quite another. Those who love the Bible and enjoy the peace that it brings. God's children have no quarrel with the Book. There are ten good reasons (perhaps more) that can be given for believing that the Bible is God's Word. Reasonable, thinking persons who are honest about the Book must give attention to these things though they are too many to deal with in this brief article. However, there is such a thing as the witness of the Holy Spirit to the authenticity and inspiration of the Bible. God who indwells the born again (regenerate) sinner testifies inwardly to the truthfulness and divine origin of the Bible. Such a calm inner assurance cannot be destroyed by all the raging and reasoning of those who hate the Bible. Such as have this Spirit-enabled knowledge and assurance have great peace and confidence in the Bible: nothing thrown at them by the Bible-haters can move them from their peaceful confidence in the Bible as God's Word.
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