Cat Food and Coffee: March 2012

SIN vs SINS

Die (verb): To stop sinning suddenly. ~ Elbert Hubbard

Is there a difference between SIN and SINS?

SIN is literally the condition of being spiritually dead and separated from God, under “the curse” (Rev. 22:3). It is the disease. Sin = Death. When God created Adam and Eve, there was no sin in them. They were in a perfect, intimate relationship with him. Sin originated with Lucifer who was the first to rebel and entered the world through Adam who likewise chose disobedience. Even though sin was a moral, spiritual corruption, it consequently affected the physical world as well (Gen. 3:16-17, Rom. 8:22). Adam’s disobedience brought condemnation for all mankind because it separated us from God. We are born with the disease (Ps. 51:5, Ps. 58:3). Jesus’ sinless atonement for sin restores that relationship and gives life to all that believe (Rom. 5:10-19). “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).

SINS are individual acts. They are the symptoms of the disease. A sin is the breaking of God's law by choosing to do or think anything that is against his holiness. Committing a sin does not make you a sinner. We sin because we are sinners by nature. Why does a dog bark? It barks because it is a dog. Barking does not make you a dog. Not only was Jesus the cure for the disease of sin, he took upon himself the sins of the world, providing forgiveness for each and every act (Eph. 1:7, Acts 13:38).

What is the most common objection to sin?

“I’m a good person. I don’t do horrible things, so I don’t need forgiveness.”

Why is being a good person not enough to get you into heaven? Because no one is a ‘good’ person; there is only one who is good, and that is God himself. “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (Eccl. 7:20). The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The Bible also says that the wages of our sin is death (Romans 6:23). We are not judged by weighing our good deeds vs. our bad deeds. We are judged by God’s standard of “no-sin,” called holiness, which means we would have to be perfect and pure to pass judgment (Rom. 3:12). “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).

Some believe it’s a matter of degree or amount: “Only evil people like murderers or child molesters go to hell,” or “I try my best to do what’s right. I’m sincere.” God does not judge based on sincerity, he judges based on his holiness. Imagine a glass of pure, clean water. How many drops of poison would you allow to be put in the glass and still drink it? 10? 5? 2? How about 1? A glass of water with only 1 drop of poison in it would still kill you. “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it” (James 2:10). This is because we are all under the curse of SIN. We are either lost and separated from God or saved by his grace alone.

"The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4).

The Holy Bible

Is the bible really God’s word?

In 2 Timothy it says that “All scripture is God-breathed” – revealed, inspired from the Holy Spirit.

There are both internal and external evidences that the Bible is truly God’s Word. The internal evidences are those things within the Bible that testify of its divine origin.

1) One of the first internal evidences that the Bible is truly God’s Word is seen in its unity. Even though it is really sixty-six individual books, written on three continents, in three different languages, over a period of approximately 1500 years, by more than 40 authors who came from many walks of life, the Bible remains one unified book from beginning to end without contradiction. This unity is unique from all other books and is evidence of the divine origin of the words which God moved men to record.

2) Another of the internal evidences that indicates the Bible is truly God’s Word is the prophecies contained within its pages. The Bible contains hundreds of detailed prophecies relating to the future of individual nations including Israel, certain cities, and mankind. Other prophecies concern the coming of one who would be the Messiah, the Savior of all who would believe in him. There are over three hundred prophecies concerning Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Not only was it foretold where He would be born and His lineage, but also how He would die and that He would rise again. There simply is no logical way to explain the fulfilled prophecies in the Bible other than by divine origin. There is no other religious book with the extent or type of predictive prophecy that the Bible contains.

3) A third internal evidence of the divine origin of the Bible is its unique authority and power. This authority and power are best seen in the way countless lives have been transformed by the supernatural power of God’s Word.

There are also external evidences that indicate the Bible is truly the Word of God.

1) One is the historicity of the Bible. Through both archaeological evidences and other writings, the historical accounts of the Bible have been proven time and time again to be accurate and true. In fact, all the archaeological and manuscript evidence supporting the Bible makes it the best-documented book from the ancient world.

2) Another external evidence that the Bible is truly God’s Word is the integrity of its human authors. As mentioned earlier, God used men from many walks of life to record His words. In studying the lives of these men, we find them to be honest and sincere. The fact that they were willing to die often excruciating deaths for what they believed testifies that these ordinary yet honest men truly believed God had spoken to them.

3) A final external evidence that the Bible is truly God’s Word is the indestructibility of the Bible. Because of its importance and its claim to be the very Word of God, the Bible has suffered more vicious attacks and attempts to destroy it than any other book in history. From early Roman Emperors like Diocletian, through communist dictators and on to modern-day atheists and agnostics, the Bible has withstood and outlasted all of its attackers and is still today the most widely published book in the world.

There are presently 5,686 Greek manuscripts in existence today for the New Testament. If we were to compare the number of New Testament manuscripts to other ancient writings, we find that the New Testament manuscripts far outweigh the others in quantity.

Author	Date Written	Earliest Copy	Approximate Time Span between original & copy	Number of Copies	Accuracy of Copies
Lucretius	died 55 or 53 B.C.		1100 yrs	2	----
Pliny	61-113 A.D.	850 A.D.	750 yrs	7	----
Plato	427-347 B.C.	900 A.D.	1200 yrs	7	----
Demosthenes	4th Cent. B.C.	1100 A.D.	800 yrs	8	----
Herodotus	480-425 B.C.	900 A.D.	1300 yrs	8	----
Suetonius	75-160 A.D.	950 A.D.	800 yrs	8	----
Thucydides	460-400 B.C.	900 A.D.	1300 yrs	8	----
Euripides	480-406 B.C.	1100 A.D.	1300 yrs	9	----
Aristophanes	450-385 B.C.	900 A.D.	1200	10	----
Caesar	100-44 B.C.	900 A.D.	1000	10	----
Tacitus	circa 100 A.D.	1100 A.D.	1000 yrs	20	----
Aristotle	384-322 B.C.	1100 A.D.	1400	49	----
Sophocles	496-406 B.C.	1000 A.D.	1400 yrs	193	----
Homer (Iliad)	900 B.C.	400 B.C.	500 yrs	643	95%
New Testament	1st Cent. A.D. (50-100 A.D.)	2nd Cent. A.D. (c. 130 A.D.)	less than 100 years	5600	99.5%

There are dozens of known fragments from manuscripts dating to the 1^st and 2^nd centuries AD. Most people that try to disprove the bible’s authenticity state that the writings of the NT did not occur until the late 3^rd or early 4^th centuries. Some recent examples include parts of Mark’s Gospel, Paul’s letters and an early sermon based on Hebrews 11 from the 2^nd century. This shows the church’s early recognition of the NT books as authoritative scripture (only those were allowed to be read in church).

While there was undeniably some debate in regards to the Old Testament canon, by A.D. 250 there was nearly universal agreement on the canon of Hebrew Scripture. The only issue that remained was the Apocrypha, with some debate and discussion continuing today. The vast majority of Hebrew scholars considered the Apocrypha to be good historical and religious documents, but not on the same level as the Hebrew Scriptures. Very early on, some of the New Testament books were being recognized. Paul considered Luke’s writings to be as authoritative as the Old Testament (1 Timothy 5:18 ref. Luke 10:7). Peter recognized Paul’s writings as Scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16 “And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures”). The first “canon” was the Muratorian Canon, which was compiled in A.D. 170. The Muratorian Canon included all of the New Testament books except Hebrews (which is about to be disproven), James, and 3 John.

One false point that the book and movie The Da Vinci Code contends is that the Council of Nicaea, led by Emperor Constantine in 325 AD, hand-picked which books would be in the NT canon. Their purpose in writing the Nicene Creed was to dispel the false gnostic teachings that Christ was only a man. The Council of 325 had nothing to do with forming the bible.

The bible is full of contradictions:

A difference is not a contradiction. It is only an error if there is absolutely no conceivable way the verses or passages can be reconciled. Even if an answer is not available right now, that does not mean an answer does not exist. Many have found a supposed error in the Bible in relation to history or geography only to find out that the Bible is correct once further archaeological evidence is discovered. So, what are we to do when someone approaches us with an alleged Bible error? 1) Ask if they can show you what they are talking about. Many are going on hearsay alone. Prayerfully study the Scriptures and see if there is a simple solution. 2) Do some research using some of the fine Bible commentaries, “Bible defense” books, and biblical research web sites. 3) Ask our pastors/church leaders to see if they can find a solution. 4) If there is still no clear answer, we trust God that His Word is truth and that there is a solution that just simply has not been realized yet.

The bible has been translated so many times that it isn’t the same as the original:

The fact that there are so many English Bible translations is both a blessing and a problem. It is a blessing in that the Word of God is available to anyone who needs it in an easy-to-understand, accurate translation. It is a problem in that the different translations can create controversy and problems in Bible studies, teaching situations, etc. The differences between the translations can also be a subject of great division within the church body.

For example, the KJV and NAS attempted to take the underlying Hebrew and Greek words and translate them into the closest corresponding English words as possible (word for word), while the NIV and NLT attempted to take the original thought that was being presented in Greek and Hebrew and then express that thought in English (thought for thought). Many of the other translations attempt to "meet in the middle" between those two methods (ESV).

Bible Trivia

66 books in the bible; 39 in OT, 27 in NT (3x9=27)

Psalm 118 is the middle chapter in the bible, 117 is the shortest, 119 is the longest

Middle verse in bible is Psalm 118:8 “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.”

Additional Resources

http://www.christianexaminer.com/Web%20News/Webnews_Headlines07.html

http://www.gotquestions.org/questions_Bible.html

carm.org

The Reason for God by Timothy Keller

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses by Richard Baukham