Bible Contradictions True Or False

Bible Contradictions - True or False? If we believe the Bible is the word of God why do we often interpret it in a way that makes it contradict itself? Truth is harmonious or else it's not truth and cannot be. Jesus says of God's word, "your word is truth." (John 17:17) It does not oppose itself when properly interpreted. Martin Luther was persuaded he had found contradiction in the Bible between what Paul wrote in Romans about salvation being by faith versus James saying it was by works. In an online article entitled, "Martin Luther's View of the Epistle of James" by Daniel Petty he says, "Once Luther remarked that he would give his doctor's beret to anyone who could reconcile James and Paul (Bainton 259)." (His source: Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. New York: New American Library, 1950; 1978.) Martin Luther's doctrine does indeed make Paul and James contradict one another. That fact alone ought to tell you he was wrong in his theology no matter how sincere. Any time your doctrine makes the Bible contradict itself this tells you, if you will listen, that your doctrine is in error, incorrect, that you are wrong in your thinking, and need a new approach to understanding the scripture. In the first place we error when we speak of the word of God as though it came from man even though I concede we generally know what is meant by such statements. But, the reality is it is not Paul's word, then James' word, and then Peter's, etc., for "all scripture is given by inspiration of God." (2 Tim. 3:16 NKJV) What Paul wrote he wrote by inspiration. What James wrote he wrote by inspiration. Thus if Paul says we are saved by faith and James says we are saved by works then both are correct else you have God fighting against himself. Even worse you have God lying in one place or the other if either Paul or James is wrong. If both are correct truth is harmonious as it must be. Everyone agrees the New Testament is full of passages that teach that a man is saved by faith so due to space considerations I will only list a couple. John 3:36 (NKJV), "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life." Rom. 5:1 (NKJV), "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." We all accept these passages and this teaching but too often people do not consider or give thought to what faith is. Do these passages define faith? Do they tell you whether this is a living faith or a dead faith as per James? Is it an obedient faith or a disobedient faith? Is faith just a matter of the mind alone, a belief held, or is it more than that? The texts do not tell us. The assumption is we know what faith is and generally that is whatever we each individually want it to be. We define it as we desire. This creates a lot of problems in interpreting the Bible and the end result is we end up with doctrines that have the Bible contradicting itself.

Without preaching a sermon on faith to define it let me refer you to James 2:22 (ESV). "You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works." The scriptural biblical faith that saves is that faith which is a completed faith, not an incomplete faith. Other versions use the word "perfect" instead of the word "complete". It is the faith that is made perfect that saves rather than the faith not made perfect. The New Living Translation of the Bible, which I consider a paraphrase, gets at the sense of what is being taught. (James 2:22 NLT), "You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to do. His faith was made complete by what he did - by his actions." This is saving faith, the faith that saves, the only kind of faith that makes a difference, the only concept of faith we should hold, the only concept of saving faith that is scriptural. Only faith so strong that it obeys can save but this is the very concept of faith that is wanting among most believers, believers whose concept of faith is merely mental assent. James then says by inspiration that we are saved by works. "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only." (James 2:24 NKJV) A man can either believe that or say it is a lie. We can say no, justification is by faith alone. A man can say a lot of things. It is what the Bible says that matters. Jesus has said we will be judged by his word in the last day. "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him - the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day." (John 12:48 NKJV) If a person's doctrine does not allow for salvation by both faith and works he is in error since the Bible states clearly that one is saved by both. The passages quoted above suffice to show that. But, one will object. How about Eph. 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." (NKJV) Since the Bible, and truth, cannot contradict itself it becomes immediately obvious that Paul is speaking of one kind of works while James speaks of another. One type of works saves; the other does not and cannot. The type of works that cannot save are the works of the Law of Moses. Why could they not save? I quote Gal. 3:10 (TEV), "Those who depend on obeying the Law live under a curse. For the scripture says, 'whoever does not always obey everything that is written in the book of the Law is under God's curse!'" One act of disobedience during any point in the course of one's life would condemn him without remedy under the law. No man can live a perfect life without ever sinning. No man will ever be a perfect law keeper.

This being the case Paul writes in Gal. 3:21, "For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law." (NKJV) Since no such law could be given man could only be saved by Christ, by faith in him. But, there are works other than the works of the Law of Moses. These are the works James speaks of which bring justification. What are those works? Hear the writer of the book of Hebrews. The Hebrew writer says of Jesus, "And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him." (Heb. 5:9 NKJV) Paul who speaks so much of salvation by faith and grace says in Rom. 6:16, "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?" Note his phrase, "obedience to righteousness." This is the same as to say obedience to salvation for the righteous person will be saved, not the unrighteous. It becomes readily clear then that the works James speaks of that bring justification are works of obedience to Christ. Too many are ready to say that obedience is more or less equivalent to law keeping. Since we are not saved by law they do not see obedience as being essential. True, for example, Christ commands baptism but one does not have to obey that to be saved. To require it would be law keeping or salvation by works. The trouble with that way of thinking is that the idea is in conflict with passages such as those I have just quoted, Hebrews 5:9 for example. If one's doctrine does not harmonize with total Bible preaching on a subject it cannot be true. The truth is Christ was also a law giver and has a law we are expected to keep as much as we humanly can. Listen to the following scriptures. "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Gal 6:2 NKJV) This is Paul writing, the very one who wrote of salvation by grace and faith. Paul says of himself, "not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ." (1 Cor. 9:21 NKJV) The Hebrew writer says, "For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law." (Heb. 7:12 NKJV) He doesn't say now there is no law but only that the law has changed. It is now the law of Christ, not the law of Moses. If there is no law today how does one commit sin? John says, depending on which version you use, that "sin is lawlessness" (NKJV, NAS), "sin is the transgression of the law." (KJV 1 John 3:4). Jesus himself says, "He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me." (John 14:21 NKJV) Is a God given commandment not law? But, here is the difference. The law of Moses required perfect law keeping for salvation, an impossibility. The law of Christ, while still law, provides a grace element for sin. The person, however, who thinks he can forget all about the commandments of Jesus and just be saved by grace and faith apart from works of obedience makes the scriptures

contradict themselves, invites lawlessness, and propagates error if he teaches such. The scriptures are harmonious. This brings us to the place where so many want to kick and say it is not so, to baptism. The Bible teaches we are saved by baptism. "There is an antitype which now saves us, namely baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 3:21 NKJV) "Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,'" while preaching the first gospel sermon ever heard after the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2:38 NKJV). Saul was told, "Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins." (Acts 22:16 NKJV) Jesus says, "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." (John 3:5 NKJV) Paul, the very man who speaks of salvation by faith although never faith alone, says, "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." (Gal. 3:26-27 NKJV) Many would have this read, "for as many of you as were not baptized into Christ have put on Christ." That will not work. That is not what Paul said or taught. Paul says in Rom. 6:3, "as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus" so he says the same thing again that he had said in Gal. 3:26-27. One is baptized into Christ. Salvation is in Christ. Paul says (2 Tim. 2:10 NKJV), "Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." Salvation is "in Christ Jesus". We are, Paul says, "baptized into Christ Jesus." Thus if there is no baptism, there is no being in Christ Jesus, and no salvation which is found only in Christ Jesus. One can believe it or not but make no mistake about it, that is what God's word says and teaches. When God says something we ought to believe it and obey it. One's sins are forgiven at baptism which is the act where one contacts the blood of Christ. Jesus shed his blood in his death. His side was pierced and the blood flowed forth after he was already dead. (John 19:33-34) Paul say's we are baptized into his death (Rom. 6:3) which is where Jesus' blood is located for the simple reason that is where God chose to locate it. No, there is no real blood in the water. No one ever literally comes into contact with material blood. But, figuratively or spiritually, that is the place God chose for us to come into contact with the blood of the cross for the remission of our sins. In 2 Kings 5:11 (NKJV) we find a man by the name of Naaman who wanted to be healed of his leprosy and thus came to Elisha, God's prophet. He was told to go dip 7 times in

the Jordan River. This did not satisfy him. He did not want water involved in his cleansing. "But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, 'Indeed, I said to myself, 'He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.'" (2 Kings 5:11 NKJV) Naaman wanted to be cleansed of his leprosy but wanted it done his way and at first that did not include any water. It was only after he decided to go about it God's way that he was cleansed. We ought to learn from that. If God wants water involved in our cleansing from sin why should we object? So far I have not mentioned even one item that conflicts with another in the teaching of God's word concerning those things that bring about our salvation the reason being that everything God has had to say on the matter works together in perfect harmony with everything else he has had to say about it. Faith is not in conflict with works, is not in conflict with obedience, is not in conflict with baptism. But, the Bible teaches there are other things involved in our salvation and thus essential to it. When God says a thing that makes it true whether we like it or not or accept it or not. Here are a few other things that bring us to salvation. It is not an exhaustive list, only a partial one. We are saved by the blood of Jesus. "Having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." (Rom. 5:9 NKJV) Without Jesus and his shed blood for the remission of our sins there is nothing to have faith in and there is no such thing as grace. Thus again we see an interrelationship between factors that save. The Bible also teaches that we are saved by repentance. Paul speaking to the people in Athens said, "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent." (Acts 17:30 NKJV) He says in 2 Cor. 7:10, "For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation." (NKJV) In Acts 11:18 we read, "When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, 'Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.'" (NKJV) The Bible teaches that we are saved by confession with the mouth of the Lord Jesus. Paul says, "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation." (Rom. 10:9-10 NKJV) Is confession with the mouth of the Lord Jesus essential to salvation? Do you believe this passage? We are saved by the love of the truth. "And with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (2 Thess. 2:10 NKJV) Thus the love of the truth is essential to salvation. Jesus says, "the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32 NKJV)

We are saved by fearing him and working righteousness. "But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him." (Acts 10:35 NKJV) Before you get in a hurry to dismiss this passage you need to consider. What about a man who does not fear him and is not working righteousness. Is he saved? I did not say he was and neither does God's word. We are saved by grace. Peter says, "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they." (Acts 15:11 NKJV) Paul says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith." (Eph. 2:8 NKJV) So, we are also saved by grace. If we are saved at all it will be by grace. God was under no obligation to save us or give us a plan of salvation, a gospel, by which we can be saved. The very fact that he did is itself an act of grace. He was under no obligation to give us his word, his will for us telling us how to be saved, under no obligation to send Christ as a Savior into the world. All of these things were God's grace extended to us. Cornelius was told to call for Peter who would "tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved." (Acts 11:14 NKJV) Without the word of God we would never know of Jesus as the Savior of the world, of his sacrifice on the cross, of even God himself, to say nothing of our sins. Who would dare say the word of God is not essential to salvation? Enough has been said to make the point - the Bible does not teach that we are saved by any one thing alone exclusive of everything else but rather there are a number of things, or factors, that work together to bring about our salvation. Every one of them is essential. I emphasize the idea that these things work together, in harmony, and not against each other in bringing about our salvation. The word of God does not contradict itself. Whatever the Bible says you are saved by, made righteous by, justified by, is truth and is essential to salvation. To say it is not is to reflect upon the word of God. It is to set God's word aside to keep one's own tradition, the tradition of men. Many have done that on the subject of how a man is saved.