Is My Bible Reliable? — Psalm 119:89-96

Reverend Anthony R. Locke March 20th, 2011 www.FirstPresTucker.org at the First Presbyterian Church of Tucker Are English Bible’s the Word of God? Psalm 119:89-96 Do I hold in my hand the Word of God? English Standard Version 89 Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. 90 Your faithfulness endures to all…

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Why Does the Apostle's Creed Think Pontius Pilate is Central to our Faith? — Luke 1:1-4


When the early church pieced together the Apostle’s Creed, they were using the baptismal formulas previously in use by the actual Apostles. We don’t know which Apostle coined each phrase of the Apostle’s Creed, but one of the twelve was baptizing converts in the name of Jesus Christ who suffered under Pontius Pilate.

Which begs the question, “why are we confessing anything about a secular Roman governor?” This morning I am going to explain why Pilate’s name is in the creed, and I am going to suggest that it is necessary for a sound faith.

During this time period in Rome there were mystical religions that taught a variety of strange ideas. These false religions didn’t claim their teachings were real in a historic or scientific sense, but their teachings were spiritually real.

Lots of Christians understand their own faith within this context. My sermon will try to convince you otherwise.

Let me illustrate this with a true experience of mine. I visited a seminary in the late 1990’s where I considered enrolling. Before I enrolled I wanted to discern what kind of an education I would receive so I asked a professor this question. “Do you think the virgin birth really happened historically or is it just spiritually real?” The teacher knew what I was asking. I wasn’t being a smart-aleck. I was trying to size up the orthodoxy of the school.

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Is Inerrancy A Bible Doctrine?


Inerrancy is not an intellectual construct that we build in our mind after we make a careful analysis of the data. Jesus considered the Bible to be without error. Inerrancy is a Bible doctrine.

To not embrace the doctrine of inerrancy is to pervert the Gospel and put your soul in danger.

We do not prove the Bible to be God’s word by labeling it inerrant as a matter of reason or logic. The Bible claims this for itself.

We should close the debates and refocus our collective energies.

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Why do we use the ESV Bible?

The ARP Denomination has selected the English Standard Version (ESV) as the translation of choice for Synod materials. The First Presbyterian Church of Tucker has also embraced this Bible version. Below is a page from http://www.wtsbooks.com/content/about_esv which explains the benefits of this English version. Blessings to you as God transforms your life with His sacred Word. The English Standard…

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