Does hypocritical Christian behavior nullify the Bible? Do all religious paths eventually lead to the worship of the true God? Can the truth of scripture be proven logically?
The prophet Ezekiel wrote something that has a direct bearing on the question of whether or not the Bible should matter. He wrote, "You may wonder why a son is not punished for the sins of his father. It is because the son does what is right and obeys my laws. Only those who sin will be put to death . . . Good people will be rewarded for what they do, and evil people will be punished for what they do" (Ezekiel 18:19 - 20, Contemporary English Version Bible).
Christian sins do not nullify or cancel the need for others to obey God's commands. The lack of perfect behavior on the part of those who support an absolute moral code is not only not unusual, the Bible itself plainly states that those who adhere to its words will sometimes sin.
If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our own sins, He is faithful and righteous, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us. (1John 1:8 - 10, HBFV).
The argument that the inability of some to live perfectly by a belief system renders the beliefs themselves worthless and unworthy of being followed does not make sense.
It is ultimately unfair to reject God and the Bible just because some are viewed as fallibly living by them. How many atheists, for example, have rejected their beliefs because of the sins of Mao or Joseph Stalin, who together murdered one hundred million people?
Using the sins of believers as a reason to reject him and the Bible is illogical. Those who sin do not cancel out the efficacy of his words for an individual. The truth or falseness of God's existence and his words exists independently of the perceived inability of some to fully believe in him or perfectly follow his way of life.
Does the Path Matter?
Do all religions and spirituals paths ultimately lead to the worship of the true God? Make no mistake, the Bible makes it quite clear that one way and one way only matters to the Almighty! And that "way" is through Christ, who embodies both the truth and eternal life (John 14:5 - 7).
In the book of Acts we also find what is the only way any human can be saved. Peter, emboldened by God's spirit, proclaims that only through the name of Christ Jesus can any human receive eternal salvation (see Acts 4).
Many in the world today condemn as intolerant anyone who states there exists only one God or that there is only one true way of worshipping him. As stated previously, the Bible emphatically says there is only one way, one path, one religion that will ultimately save a person.
To say that religions such as Islam or Buddhism, for example, are just as valid avenues for reaching God as Christianity is to deny what Scripture teaches.
In God's eyes, it is not enough to be sincere, since such a feeling can be generated about any belief system. It certainly is true that sincere people can be wrong - sincerely. The truth or falseness of something cannot be determine strictly by emotion or feelings. Can we then know if the Bible is correct when we assert it contains the only path to reaching the true Creator of all things?
Proven Logically
The Bible has all the answers mankind needs. The problem is determining whether these answers are the correct ones!
Let us suppose you grew up knowing viritually nothing about God's word like some tribe living in the deepest part of the Amazonian jungle. One day, a missionary comes where you live and drops off a Bible in the same language you speak and can read. How could you judge whether what it contains is true or not?
Let us also suppose that soon afterward another missionary, this time representing a different religion, drops off a Koran for you. How could you judge whether it was reliable? For us to be rational in our beliefs, we must apply reason to them and not simply tradition or emotions.
Fulfilled Bible prophecy is the ultimate litmus test that shows its words matter. Such fulfillments show that the authors were divinely inspired and not merely lucky at guessing.