Paul insists that Titus find those who hold firm to the trustworthy nature of God’s Word. Biblical leadership is nothing if it’s not biblical. We either make disciples for ourselves or we make disciples for Christ. If we are to make disciples for Christ we must hold firm to the truthfulness and reliability of His word. One commentator explained the relationship between Jesus Himself and the scriptures. He writes, “It is impossible, however, to take Jesus seriously and not take Scripture seriously. It is impossible to believe that Jesus spoke absolute truth and not to consider Scripture to be that absolute truth because that is precisely what Jesus taught it to be. If Jesus was mistaken or deluded on this point, there would be no reason to accept anything else that He said. At the outset of His ministry He makes clear that His authority and Scripture’s authority are the same; His truth and Scripture’s truth are identical and inseparable.”

One cannot ignore the fact that the Bible itself claims to be infallible. (See John 10:35; 17:17; Prov. 30:5–6). But many argue that it’s full of mistakes and misrepresentations and is simply a collection of fairy tales. One translation even begins the story of Noah with “once upon a time.” Some others, well meaning, argue that the Bible can only be trusted in religious matters, not scientific or historical. But the Bible argues that it is trustworthy in the smallest parts of words (see Matt. 5:17–18; Gal. 3:16). Furthermore, and this is the key issue, if the Bible is not infallible then its claim to be infallible is false. Another writer puts this dilemma this way, “If the Bible says that it is inerrant, but has errors, then we have no idea where those errors are and we have no reason to trust any part of it. If Jesus claimed to tell the truth in all things, but lied or was mistaken about some, then we have no reason to believe anything that he said. Errors would prove that he was not speaking as God’s spokesman, and he might be wrong at any time. The very claim to authority itself is wrong, so how can anything else be trusted?

Many assume a position above the Bible and become its judge. Those that do that are unfit for true biblical leadership according to Paul. The Scriptures, although sometimes difficult to understand, must be “over” our limited thinking and given its rightful place over us. The Bible is reliable in all it records because its authors were sovereignly guided in what they wrote by God himself, and hence infallible and inerrant. You can trust the Bible.

Chuck
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding…” Proverbs 3:5