If I’m a good Hindu, I’m right.  If I’m a faithful Mormon, I’m okay.  If I’m a righteous Muslim, I’m in.  In other words, my ethic validates the truth.  That’s the common message of our day.

But Paul said to Timothy, “I have kept the faith”—2 Timothy 4:7c.  He did not say, “I have kept faith.”  He used the definite article “the” to communicate one faith, and that faith is established in the propositional truth of God’s Word, the Bible.

The Bible’s credibility is not validated in my behavior or even in my response to it.  The Bible is credible with or without me.  But keeping the faith means embracing the Bible.

So here are six indispensable truths about God’s Word that will establish your faith and guard against frauds:

The Bible is sufficient.

No more revelation is necessary. Everything we need for life and godliness is found in the canon of the Bible.

The Bible is clear.

We can know God’s will.  We can know God’s purposes.  We can know God.  He is not playing hide-and-seek with us.  And we don’t need to be mystics or super-spiritual saints to understand God’s Word.

The Bible is authoritative.

It is absolutely accurate and truthful in everything it says.  Whether the issue is historical or geographical or related to genealogy or science, the Bible is reliable.

The Bible is the words of men, but is also the Word of God.

God used the common language of men to communicate the eternal Word of God.

The Bible is cohesive.

The entire Bible fits together.  We are limited, but there are no contradictions in Scripture.  And there are no competing interests.

The Bible is the Word of God.

Some argue that the Word of God is nestled somewhere in the pages of the Bible.  There are only two problems with that: (1) It’s an unbiblical view, and (2) It elevates personal opinion by allowing the individual reader to determine what is inspired biblical authority and what is not.

God’s Word is not true because we say it’s true.  The Bible is true.  And there is no righteousness in Christ Jesus, no meaningful ethic, and no trustworthy guidance apart from the special revelation we know as the Bible.