Loyally Advocate God’s Word

Why can we loyally advocate the Bible as being God’s Word?

Among the loyal advocates of God’s Word in apostolic times were the Christians at Thessalonica. This is apparent from the words of the apostle Paul as found at 1 Thessalonians 2:13: “When you received God’s word, . . . you accepted it, not as the word of men, but, just as it truthfully is, as the word of God, which is also at work in you believers.”a

Among the many reasons why we can, like the Christians at Thessalonica, be loyal advocates of God’s Word is that Christianity, the religion of the Bible, is distinguished from all other religions by its historical character. It presents a scheme of doctrine based on facts. The Bible is indeed built around people who actually lived and places that truly existed.

Another reason why we can loyally advocate God’s Word is that it is a book of reliable prophecy. Ever so many of its prophecies have actually come to pass, many even being fulfilled in the lifetime of those who first heard them.

Still another reason why we can loyally advocate the Bible as God’s Word is the obvious truthfulness, the honesty, the frankness, the candor and the humility of its writers. In their very frank manner they recorded not only the fine and noble things that God’s servants did, but also their mistakes, their shortcomings and their sins. They recorded that Noah on one occasion got drunk, and that Moses once lost his temper and so forfeited his privilege to enter the land of promise. Bible writers also tell of the shortcomings of Jesus’ twelve apostles, that Peter denied his Master three times and that they all fled when Jesus was taken captive. All such honesty helps us to advocate God’s Word loyally.

And so does the fact that the Bible as God’s Word gives us information obtainable from no other source. And what is that? It alone tells us of the origin of the universe, of the earth and of man. It alone tells us why humankind is so plagued with difficulties, disease and death, and it alone tells about God’s purpose to restore paradise and humankind to perfection.

In what practical ways can we loyally advocate God’s Word?

Children often have the privilege of doing this in school when such subjects as biology, history or evolution come up for consideration, by boldly presenting what the Bible has to say about these subjects. The same is also true when there is a discussion regarding morals and principles. If children are asked to write an essay, they can use this opportunity to choose some Biblical subject and thus give a witness.

Adults similarly can be alert to opportunities for showing loyalty to God’s Word in their day-to-day contacts with other people by incidental witnessing.

And, of course, a person is a loyal advocate of God’s Word when he applies Bible principles. By the way Christians dress, by the kind of language they use, by their refusal to laugh at obscene jesting, by their being conscientious in meeting all their financial obligations and by their obeying the laws of Caesar, whether these are tax laws or related to their driving an automobile. In all such ways God’s servants can show themselves to be loyal advocates of his Word.

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