The Bible: Is It the Same Today
As When It Was First Written?

by Bryan Gibson

Can we be sure that the Bible has been preserved accurately through the years? In other words, can be sure that the Bible we have today is the one God intended for us to have?

Several different routes could be taken to answer this question, but let’s consider first the providence of God. If we acknowledge the existence of God, surely we would concede that if God so desired, He could make certain that His words were preserved through the centuries. Consider the words God spoke to Jeremiah: “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:26-27). Indeed, nothing is too hard for the Lord, including preserving His word for those in every succeeding generation. But did God even desire that His word be preserved? Passages like 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and 1 Peter 1:22-25 make it abundantly clear that He did. So if God has both the ability and the desire to preserve His word, who is willing to charge Him with failure to do so?

Consider, too, that our eternal salvation hinges on knowing and obeying God’s word (John 12:48; Romans 1:16; 10:17; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; Hebrews 5:9; James 1:21). Think now, if our eternal destiny is dependent upon our response to His word, would God allow portions of it to be lost, or changed to such an extent that the meaning is lost? If you claim to have faith in the Almighty God, you shouldn’t have any trouble believing that He has preserved His word through these many years, that what we have today is worthy of our full confidence.

We will deal with this question in more detail in the other two articles in this series.