This question was answered by Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in John 17:17. While praying to His heavenly Father, He said: “… Thy Word is Truth.” Note that He used the Word in a singular sense. There is only one Truth, one gospel, one path to eternal life, one faith, one God, one Lord Jesus Christ, etc. (Eph. 4:5). However, billions of church people refute this Biblical Truth, claiming that there are literally hundreds of truths, gospels, paths to salvation, faiths, gods, lords, etc. Catholics and Protestants claim that they alone have the truth market cornered. Each Protestant denomination has created its own version of “thus saith the Lord” and swears that its version is the real truth, the real gospel, the real salvation, the real god, the real lord, etc. Why have they continued to cling to their false religions and false deities over many generations? Why have they not searched the Scriptures to learn God’s Truth? And when they are confronted with it, why do they reject it? This series will answer those questions.

Before we delve into why professing Christendom puts forth hundreds of different conflicting, contradicting, confusing “Bible truths,” let us understand how the Holy Bible came into being. To understand the process by which the Old and New Testaments were made available to mankind we must accept the fact that in the beginning there were two deities: God and the Word (Spokesman). This is explained in John 1:1-4,14 where we are told: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with (a) God, and the Word was (also a) God. The same (Word) was in the beginning with God. All things (the universe) were made by Him (the Word), and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him (the Word) was life, and the life was the light of men. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us ….” The two Gods were equal in every way (Phil. 2:6). But as is the case in any group situation, someone has to be in charge in order for things to run smoothly. For this reason the Word voluntarily assumed the secondary position.

In the case of the Godhead (God and the Word), the two Gods possess a power by which They continue to bring their will to fruition. This power is the Holy Spirit (Lk. 1:35/Acts 1:8;2:3). Note that God’s Holy Spirit power would “overshadow” Mary, and that it “came upon” the people in the upper room, that it descended from heaven and came to rest upon Jesus at His baptism, and that it would “come upon” the disciples following Jesus’ death and ascension. This is the method by which God bestows His Holy Spirit upon men, though it is normally in an invisible form. It is this Spirit that the Godhead do what They do throughout the universe. Dual ownership of the Holy Spirit is proved in Romans 8:9 where the Holy Spirit is called both the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. It is through the Holy Spirit that They created the universe and everything in it. God spoke His will. Upon hearing God’s Words the Word used Their Spirit to create the physical objects that form the universe. In this sense, God literally spoke the universe into existence. In a human sense modern man uses the same system today. A similar undertaking takes place millions of times each day as drivers (speakers) use an unseen power (electricity) to open their garage doors (create motion). Note that in both the creation of the universe and the creation of movement, the power does not operate on its own. It operates only at the command of its owner.

Most people within professing Christendom have little, if any use for the Old Testament, believing it to have been “nailed to the cross” with the death of Jesus. However, its Author has a totally different opinion. In the Bible we find that God spoke to the Word, Who spoke to the Old Testament prophets through the Holy Spirit. The prophets–“holy men of old”–then spoke what the Word said to them(2 Pet. 1:21). Their words were then recorded “for our instruction upon whom the ends of the world have come”–God’s modern church (1 Cor. 10:11). For this reason the Apostle Paul wrote that the New Covenant Church was founded on the writings of the prophets and the apostles (Eph. 2:20). In Romans 1:2 Paul noted that God had written about the gospel through the prophets in the Holy Scriptures. Note it: He called the writings of the Old Testament prophets the “Holy Scriptures.” For this reason Paul could tell Timothy that ALL (Old and New Testament) Scripture is given through the Holy Spirit and is to be used for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, which will make one wise unto salvation (2 Tim. 3:15,16). The original apostles had only the Old Testament from which to teach about God and His rules for life. The New Testament would come into being only after all of the apostles except John had been killed. See The God of the Old Testament and The Importance of the Old Testament.

Some 2000 years ago the Word (the God of the Old Testament) came to earth as Jesus of Nazareth in order to “… finish the Father’s work” (Jn. 4:34; 5:36). Note that God’s New Testament work was the same as His Old Testament work. What God had begun in the beginning the Word came to earth to complete. On the cross the Messiah said: “It is finished.” Jesus had completed God’s Work, which was to show mankind how to enter His eternal kingdom. See The Kingdom of God. Everything had been done perfectly. The way into the Kingdom of God had been spoken by Jesus and exhibited by His life (“walk”). All has now been recorded and made available to most of the people of the earth in the form of the Holy Bible. Each individual chooses either to receive eternal life for believing and obeying It, or die for not doing so.

Notice in Scripture how many times the Bible is referred to as “the Word” and “the Law,” both written in the singular. This is because from Genesis to Revelation the Word/Law is one, indivisible entity. For this reason God said that not one word, jot or tittle can be changed, removed from or added to the Law/Word (Mat. 5:18/ Gal. 3:15). Every Word Jesus Himself spoke while on earth and spoke to His apostles through His Holy Spirit after His death came from God the Father. For this reason man will be judged by that Law/Word when he/she stands before Christ on the Day of Judgment (Jn. 12:48,49). L.J.