Part 5: How can I believe the Bible is the true Word of God?

The Bible claims to be the only book inspired by God. That means that all the other religious texts that exist are false and misleading. That’s a big call!

So how can we trust that it really is the only way to God? How can we trust that it is even true?

ITS PROMISES CAN BE EXPERIENCED PERSONALLY

Most other religious texts describe what we need to do to become acceptable to God, or to achieve ‘spiritual perfection’. That often means trying to live good lives and praying particular prayers at particular times of day. It is about what we need to do ourselves to become acceptable to God.

The Bible is very different. As described in previous articles, we can never make ourselves good enough for God. Instead we have to accept God’s grace and mercy that He can make us good enough.

And when God does that, miracles happen. We can trust the Bible when the promises God makes in it to us, become real to us. When we receive God’s forgiveness and are filled with His Holy Spirit, we no longer just believe with our minds, but experience God in very practical and physical ways.

We can trust the Bible when we see that what we read in it, comes true in our own lives.

GOD STILL HEALS

The God of the Bible wants to restore and make us whole, and healing is a promise to all who believe in him [1].

Throughout the Book of Acts, the disciples brought God’s power to people, preaching the salvation message and praying for all with needs.

Healing is an integral and normal part of a Christian’s life, and is described as a gift in the church [2]. The sick are told to call for the elders and the prayer of faith will save the sick [3].

Miracles and healings were a key part of Christ’s ministry, demonstrating the power of God. And they continue in God’s church today – see some of our True stories for examples of God’s miraculous provision.

The miraculous promises made by the Bible still happen in our lives today.

BIBLE PROPHECY

The prophecies of the Bible throw light on the past, present and future. They have predicted many events with amazing accuracy, even though we often only understand a prophecy after the event occurs.

Many Bible prophecies have already been fulfilled – the birth, life and death of Jesus; the rise and fall of world empires like the Assyrians, Greeks and Romans; the return of the Jews to Palestine. Even some very specific prophecies like the effect on Egypt of the construction of the Aswan Dam, built in the 1960s.

The Bible also describes the times we live in now – the end times that precede the return of Jesus Christ following great conflict and trouble on the earth. It says that all the world will see Christ return, and that when He stands upon the Mount of Olives, it will be split by a great earthquake causing Jerusalem to become a sea port [4].

Nearly one third of the Bible is prophecy, and with the benefit of hindsight we can see many events that came to pass hundreds and even thousands of years after they were first prophesied.

Such a book could only have been inspired by a God who could see the future.

View the other articles in this series that summarise what the Bible says about what we need to do to re-establish our relationship with Him – to truly become a ‘friend of God’.

You are like God
Connecting with God
What must I do to have eternal life – to be saved?
What’s it like being a Christian?