November 9, 2025 | By Jay Ashbaucher
I was recently asked this question by a young man who told me that his life was going nowhere. His life was messed up, and it was being destroyed by his many bad choices. He lacked hope that his life could ever be restored and that he could have a good life. Wanting to have a “straightened out life”, someone told him about Jesus and he believed the message. As a new believer in Christ, he had questions about his new faith. He wanted to know the truth. Wanting to know the truth is a remarkable mindset in today’s world where there is so much information, and so many varied opinions about how to live life and what to believe. We live in an age where “you determine your own truth”. Truth is whatever you yourself make it to be. With so many opposing lifestyles and ideas that are contradictory, it seems impossible in today’s world to know who to trust and who to believe. Concerning the young man mentioned above, he was interested in the Bible and had begun to read it seriously. The more he read, the more questions came to his mind. He asked me for help, and I offered to help him research answers to his questions. This was one of them: “How do I know the Bible is true?” With so many religions in the world claiming to possess “bibles” from God, how can one possibly know what to believe? Are all the world’s religious writings from God?
You may have heard something about how experts identify counterfeit money. Federal agents don’t learn to spot counterfeit money by studying the counterfeits. They study genuine bills until they know the real thing, then they can spot the counterfeits. I fact-checked on the internet and I found this to be a true and accurate statement. What is false can be discovered by comparing it to the real thing. Consider the Judeo-Christian Bible (Old and New Testaments). If we begin by saying that this Bible is the real thing, and we study it to know it well, we can then compare it with other books that claim to be from God, to determine if they are counterfeit. How do we know which “bible”, among so many, is truly the word of God? Of course, there are many answers, and people will try to disprove other people’s answers.
Norman L. Geisler wrote an article titled, “HOW DO WE KNOW THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD?”, and he said this: “Christians claim the Bible is God’s Word. That means that they believe the Bible is a verbal revelation from God that is unique from every other book. But how can such a claim be verified?” Geisler says, “First, we would expect certain things to be true about a book from God. Such characteristics might also be true about humanly-authored books, but we would expect that, at the very least, they would be true about God’s book.” He then gives five characteristics that describe the Bible. For example, if the Bible is true, the Bible’s reports of historical places could be shown to be historically accurate, and the authors could be shown to be trustworthy. Geisler then says, “Second, because God is unique, His book would bear characteristics that could be true of it alone. Such characteristics would distinguish God’s book from all other books in such a way that it could not be counterfeited.” Again, he proceeds by giving five characteristics of the Bible that are true of it alone, for example, it would make prophecies about the future that would have happened without fail. Furthermore, the words of the messengers would be confirmed by miracles. You can find the article at (https://normangeisler.com/how-do-we-know-the-bible-is-the-word-of-god/).
In the first book I wrote, “Out of Darkness into the Light,” published by Westbow Press, I wrote a chapter titled “The Bible – Your Choice to Trust it or Not.” In that chapter, I shared the reasons I believe it. I also shared struggles and questions I had to work through that were causing doubts in my mind about whether the Bible was true. For example, Since the Bible was copied over time, was it accurately passed on to us? Some point out contradictions or inaccuracies in the Bible. For example, the Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, seemingly do not agree on their facts. Others say miracles can’t happen; they are simply primitive ways for uninformed people to explain life’s mysteries. Ethical and philosophical issues have also been a problem for me. An example would be, how does a loving God let evil continue? Besides the issues mentioned, reading the Bible often leaves me with more questions than answers. However, from my own studies, and with the help of others, I have found reasonable and satisfying answers to these issues and to most of my questions. Although most are answered, some are not. What I do is keep unanswered questions in the back of my mind, thinking that one day the answers may come. The unanswered questions do not keep me from believing. I remember this quote attributed to Mark Twain: “It’s not the things in the Bible I don’t understand that bother me, it’s the things I do understand.” I don’t need to understand everything before I can benefit from the Bible’s message of salvation and practice its teachings for right living. I’ve decided to trust the Bible as God’s Word. I rely on it as the guide for my daily living and future well-being. In this world of uncertainties, I am glad to have a source of truth that I can trust to help guide my life in the right direction.
The Bible helps me in a variety of ways. I read it to get an overall sense of who God is, and to give God an opportunity to say to me what He wants. I rely on God to speak to me about my life so I can become better; and, for wisdom so I am helped to make good daily choices (Psalm 119:97-100). It serves as a reminder to keep myself on the right path (2 Peter 3:1-2). I use the Bible as a counselor to learn who God says I am, and to give me direction (Psalm 73:23-24). The Bible gives me comfort and encouragement when I am hurting (Psalm 119:50). By meditating, I get deeper insights and I am able to draw intellectually and emotionally closer to God. The Bible gives me a tool for teaching others, including myself, so we can gain a better understanding of what the Bible says and means (James 3:1; Hebrews 5:12; Deuteronomy 6:6-7; Ephesians 6:4). The Bible ought not to be used to come across as one who knows more than others. Nor should it be used to support our personal biases instead of remaining open to discovering all it says about various topics. Certainly, it is not to be used to control people by manipulating them through guilt or fear. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to speak into each person’s life and needs.
Basically, the Bible is God’s story of His acts in history. It tells us that God created the world; that His creation became corrupted by evil; and that God cares about us and intends to restore all things through Jesus Christ. It tells us we can become a new creation in Christ and re-establish loving relationships with God and with each other. It tells us that the world will end, and God will eliminate all evil by creating a new universe for His people to enjoy forevermore. Troubled people have longed to have a copy of this book; people have died to preserve it; and others have discovered that it answers their deepest questions about life’s meaning and purpose. It has helped many to overcome life’s problems. The Bible needs to be seen as a true and ongoing story. The Bible invites us to enter into its story, become part of it, and, like the people we read about in the Bible, to also experience its amazing adventures.
