Read, Joel 2:13f; Gen. 15:1-6, The Authority of the Bible (5)

We are considering the consistency of the Bible in how a person can be saved.  We noted that Paul’s arguments for salvation by grace through faith are based in the OT.  The key example is, in Rom. 4 (and Galatians 3) in his repeated reference to Gen. 15:6: And Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.  Abraham is the very definition of faith in Scripture and his faith saved him, not his works.  Did God call Abraham to walk in a blameless manner?  Yes, of course (Gen. 18:1).  But Paul made no mention of this in Rom. 4 because that was not the way Abraham came to be in a right relationship with his Creator.  In Rom. 4 Paul also makes a reference to David as being saved in the same manner, by a God who imputes righteousness to him through faith. 

The only alternative to salvation by grace through faith is salvation through measuring up to some law.  Either we reach God’s standard or Someone else reaches the standard for us and their righteousness is put to our account.  So not only is the Bible consistent that we are saved through what Christ did; it is also consistent that salvation was never and is not now and will never be by our attaining to God’s standard, however you may state that standard.  Again, in Rom. 10:5-12, in Paul’s clear statement of faith and not any heroic efforts on our part, he bases the entire argument on Lev. 18:5 and Deut. 10:12-14.  Leviticus and Deuteronomy are two of the five books of Moses and are arguably the strongest of the Pentateuch in terms of defining and clarifying the Law of Moses. 

It can be accurately said that the Bible’s answer to the salvation question is different that any other supposed “holy book” of any religion anywhere and anytime.  But the Bible’s is consistent throughout.  The teaching of Mormonism is not gospel, not good news.  It contradicts the Bible and it requires an impossible goal.  Meanwhile, from beginning to end, the Bible has a consistent message.  That’s what you would expect in a Book that is the Word of God.

iii)      A consistent fulfillment of prophecy. 

Again, here is a subject far to big to handle here.  But it is important as it is a profound mark of the Book that claims to be the Word of God.  This is a strong contrast between the Bible and the Book of Mormon.  The latter supposedly has a prophecy of the Civil War tucked in it somewhere.  The Bible, on the other hand, is filled with prophecies from the OT that are filled in the OT (e.g. those having to do with the years in slavery in Egypt, Gen. 15:13; those having to do with the Assyrian and Babylonian actions taken against the divided kingdom).  The Bible is also full of predictions in the OT that are fulfilled in the NT (especially, of course, those involving Jesus of Nazareth, His birthplace, virgin birth, and so forth).  There are NT prophecies that have already been fulfilled (the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, Luke 19:41-44).  At some point in the future we will post a study of the fulfillments of prophecy in the Gospel of Matthew.  There are many and they are quite interesting.  When you look closely you will see the consistency, that the fulfillment in Matthew is of a passage that is perfectly fitting when seen in the OT context.  There is amazing consistency, as you would expect in a Book that claims to be the Word of God.