Question:

How do you know for sure that the Bible and Jesus is really the truth of God? – I was a Christian for a long time , not just religious.  I thought I was a born again and experienced things but nowadays some things (Objective info from psychology, learning about suffering, etc.) brought doubts in my faith and eventually I lost almost all  my faith.  Now I can’t depend on those Christian reasons and it really scares me that I simply can’t find a steady point as evidence to depend on like I cant even hear  God’s guidance even if I pray for it so many times.  Thanks in advance for answering!

Answer:

There is a vast array of evidence which supports belief in Jesus and belief in the inspiration of the Bible.  Something tells me that you got caught up in sin and made the mistake of being distant from deep relationships in your church and allowed the lies of Satan to get into your mind.   I do not say that at all to blame you or to make you feel guilty, but to point out that you are like many others before you.  You are certainly not alone in having not paid sufficient attention to your faith.   Let me tell you this, you are not losing your faith because of lack of evidence in the existence of God or lack of evidence for the inspiration of the Bible.   There is plenty of that.   It is Satan’s scheme to pull you away and to plant seeds of doubt which bear fruit if you are not tight with the church.

Anyway, let me stop preaching and answer your question.  There are several clear, convincing, logical, rational lines of evidence which make the claims of Jesus and the reliability of the Bible a slam dunk if you are willing to put your mind to these things (but also be open to becoming reinvolved in a church which is teaching the truth and which has a strong fellowship.  (I will be happy to make a suggestion and get you in touch with a great Christian group where you live if you tell me where you live… no pressure….  up to you).

Let me list some of the powerful proof of Jesus being who he said he was and of the inspiration of the Bible.   (outline next, with my final comments below the outline)

1. The Resurrection. The FACT that the tomb was empty and the FACT that there were more than 500 eye-witnesses to the resurrection is proof positive that Jesus is Lord.
2. Fulfillment of prophecy. There are dozens of clear prophecies which Jesus fulfilled in crazy detail which prove he is the Messiah. Here are a few examples:

John 5:39,40       Question:  What is Jesus claiming here?    He is claiming that the Old

Testament, written hundreds of years before he was born, was written about him!  Imagine the implications of this claim.

Luke 24:44           Jesus is claiming to have fulfilled all the prophecies of the Messiah!

The point:  If Jesus’ claims above are true, then that would surely imply that he is the Messiah and that the Bible is the inspired Word of God.  As you look at the following Old Testament prophecies and their fulfillment in the New Testament, for each one, ask yourself the following questions

1. When was the prophecy written down?
2. Was this clearly a prophecy about the Messiah, or could it be just a random passage taken out of context, but not obviously about the Messiah?
3. Can we really be sure that Jesus actually did these things? Are they recorded in historical records outside the Bible?
4. Could Jesus have simply done these things so he could manipulate his way into a false claim to be the Messiah?

As to the first question, the entire Old Testament was translated into the Greek in what is known as the Septuagint Translation by around 200 BC.  Also, the Dead Sea including an entire manuscript of Isaiah from 150 BC prove that these prophecies were written down at least 250 years before they were fulfilled.

Isaiah 53:1-9       Written about 750 BC.  It should be noted that the Jews themselves considered this passage to be about the Messiah.

1. v3 The Messiah to be despised and rejected.  Fulfilled in Luke 23:18-24 and many other places.
2. v5 The Messiah to be “pierced” for our sins.  Fulfilled in John 19:31-37.
3. v7 The Messiah will be silent and meek when accused and led to his death.

Fulfilled in Mark 14:60,61, Mark 15:1-5 and other places.

Psalm 22:15-18  Written about 1025 BC.  None of these events occurred during David’s life, so who is he talking about?  This must be a Messianic prophecy

v15 Thirsty.  Fulfilled in John 19:28.

V16 The Messiah to be crucified.  Fulfilled in Mark 15:25.  It should be noted

That crucifixion was not invented for about six  hundred years after David lived.

1. v17 No bones broken.  Fulfilled in John 19:32,33, when they broke the bones if the thieves, but not of Jesus, because he was already dead.
2. v18 Divided up and gambled for the Messiah’s clothing.  These seem contradictory, yet both were fulfilled in John 19:23,24.

Comment:  The crucifixion of Jesus is an historical fact which even the die-hard skeptic cannot deny.  Jesus could not have arranged for the fulfillment of any of these prophecies.

Zechariah 11:12,13  Written about 520 BC.  Careful study of v7-11 shows this to be a prophecy about the Messiah.

v12 The Messiah will be “priced,”  ie. sold for thirty pieces of silver.  Fulfilled in Matthew 26:14-16.

V13 The money will be thrown into the Lord’s house and “to the house of the potter.”  Fulfilled in Matthew 27:3-10.

Micah 5:2  Written about 750 BC.  This was a well-known Messianic prophecy to the Jews in Jesus’ day.

1. The Messiah must be born in Bethlehem. Fulfilled in Matthew 2:1.

Isaiah 9:1  Written about 750 BC.  See v 6,7 to prove this is a prophecy about the Messiah.

1. Despite Micah 5:2, the Messiah must be raised in Galilee. Fulfilled in Matthew

4:12-15.

Comment:  If you look closely at a map of the tribal territories, finding the border between Zebulun and Naphtali, and compare it to a map which includes Nazareth, you will see that the town where Jesus was raised is on the border of these two territories.

Daniel 9:24,25   Written about 550 BC.  This is a prophecy concerning “The Annointed One.”  The Hebrew word Messiah means literally the anointed one.

The Messiah will appear in Jerusalem “seventy sevens” (490 years) after the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.  This decree was issued by the Persian king Artaxerxes in the seventh year of his reign (Ezra 7:8-26), which was 458 BC.

Counting 490 years from 458 BC brings one to the year 33 AD .  In other words, the Messiah would come to Jerusalem to bring in forgiveness of sins in about 33 AD.

Summary.  According to the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, he must:

1. be despised and rejected.
2. be pierced.
3. be crucified.
4. have people divide and gamble for his clothing at his crucifixion.
5. be born in Bethlehem.
6. be from Galilee, in the vicinity of Nazareth.
7. be sold for thirty pieces of silver.
8. come to Jerusalem about 33 AD.
9. etc…. There are many other messianic prophecies.

As he claimed in Luke 24:44, Jesus fulfilled all these prophecies and many more.  Many of these events are a matter of historical record, not just from the Bible.  Many or most could not have been fulfilled on purpose by a manipulative fake.  Is there any other conclusion to all these facts except that:

Jesus is the Messiah, sent by God                       and      The Bible is the inspired Word of God

Then there is the evidence for the scientific accuracy of the Bible, the evidence that Jesus worked miracles, the historical reliability of the Bible, the consistency of the Bible, the fact that the Bible works, and so much more.  I want to very strongly urge you to get a copy of my book “Reasons for Belief” available at www.ipibooks.com    It has tons of evidence of this sort.  Bottom line, the evidence that God is real, that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah and that the Bible is inspired is overwhelming.   There is much reason for you to return to the faith you had, but you need to be ready to put in some work (like reading this book) and to humble yourself and get into a strong Bible-teaching, Christian church so that you can spend time with believers who will not try to tear down your faith in Jesus.

John Oakes