KingdomView, Vol. IV, Issue 6 Scripture: Psalm 25:21
A PREACHER GOT ON A BUS ONE DAY, and he gave the bus driver the fare. The bus driver gave him too much change. The preacher went and sat down, counted the money, and noted that the bus driver gave him too much change, so he went back to the bus driver and said, "You gave me too much change. You gave me fifty cents too much."
He said, "Pastor, I really appreciate this, because I was in your church service yesterday, and I heard your sermon on honesty. So I intentionally gave you too much change to see whether you abide by what you preach."
Likewise, several years ago one of our youth found a five-dollar bill in the parking lot during a Sunday morning service and reported it to one of our staff ministers. We informed the congregation during the service and no one claimed the money. The church, however, would shower the youth with hugs and monetary gifts for her honesty (she gave a good tithe on her blessing, too!). Now, let us build upon these two stories and have a brief discussion about the spirit of integrity.
Accordingly, I define the spirit of integrity as "Possessing a commitment to biblical truth and honesty, where we refuse to allow our character to be corrupted or compromised." (Psalm 25:21) Now, why is the spirit of integrity manifested through character so important? The answer is found in understanding the Bible’s teaching regarding the Fall and mankind’s need for redemption. According to the Bible, the first humans, Adam and Eve, are created innocent—free of sin. (Genesis 1:26-31) However, they would violate God’s command and lose their innocent standing before Him. (Genesis 2:16, 17; 3:1-24) Since Adam and Eve are the progenitors of the entire human race, their offspring would be born with sin natures because of their transgression. (Romans 5:12-14; Psalm 51:5) Well, how does the sin nature affect our daily walk?
Let me illustrate. Have you ever entered a bookstore, whether Christian or secular, to find a book that instructs parents on how to train their children to misbehave? Let me guess; I would say you have not! Nevertheless, we have probably seen numerous books related to helping parents to train their children to develop amicable social skills and to exercise good behavior in public. Yes, just like our precious little ones, we are all born with a propensity to behave contrary to God’s righteous standards because of the sin nature that is present in all of us. (Romans 7:17-23) Hence the Bible, which is revealed truth, serves as our guide for training in righteousness and the Spirit enables us to live out this reality as Christ-like character is being formed in us; thus, enabling us to satisfy the latter part of our definition regarding the spirit of integrity. (2 Timothy 3:16; Romans 8:5-9)
Furthermore, God has spoken to us through the written Word. However, many people question its truth claims and authority. I am often incensed when I hear people question whether the Bible can be trusted. They say that men wrote the Bible, and King James may have manipulated it to suit his purposes―the list of objections to the Bible’s truth claims are numerous. It’s funny how some academics and so-called enlightened thinkers are hostile to the Bible, but never seem to have many issues with taking books of antiquity at face value, e.g., Plato, Aristotle, Caesar, Herodotus, Homer’s Iliad, etc. However, when discussions relating to the Bible’s truth claims arise, it is often subject to great attack, ridicule, and rejection. Let us have a very brief discussion that deals with the documentary evidence for a second. I would like to you examine the following chart below:
|
Arthor |
Time Between Original & Copies |
Number of Copies |
Accuracy |
|
Plato |
1200 years |
7 |
--- |
|
Herdotus |
1300 years |
8 |
--- |
|
Thucydides |
1300 years |
8 |
--- |
|
Ceasar's Gallic Wars |
1000 years |
10 |
--- |
|
Tacitus |
750 years |
20 |
--- |
|
Aristotle |
1400 years |
49 |
--- |
|
Homer's Illiad |
500 years |
643 |
95% |
|
New Testamnt |
25 years |
>24,000 |
99.5% |
We have some 5,000 copies of the Greek New Testament manuscripts and 19,000 manuscripts other than Greek. In addition, these manuscript copies date to within 25 years of the original writings and they have a variance of accuracy of 99.5%. Likewise, here is another amazing fact according to New Testament scholars. If no New Testament manuscripts existed, they could reproduce them from the letters written by church fathers during the first four centuries as they quoted from the New Testament. As the chart shows, no other ancient text comes close to the New Testament (or the Bible). Yet, many people question whether the Bible is historically accurate, but they can accept the above charted ancient secular writers and their works without question, even though the Bible is proven to be the most accurate!
In sum, God has ensured the integrity and preservation of His Word. Through the spirit of integrity, the same in principle and action must hold true for us, too. We must maintain a commitment to honesty and the truth claims of Scripture as we are steadily transforming to Christ likeness.
