Does the Bible Contradict Itself?

Many people give up reading the Bible because they believe it contradicts itself. I disagree. Instead, I think the Bible is full of paradoxes which appear to be contradictions, but with a little thought (and some comparing of verses with others) are not.

The seeming contradictions generally boil down to this: God's way is not the way of humans. Our thinking is totally different from God's thinking, and we can never "get it" apart from our relationship with him. In fact, I Corinthians 2:14 tells us "Spirit can be known only by spirit - God's Spirit and ours in open communion."

Because of this difference in looking at life, the two philosophies will never reach the same conclusions. Here are 7 examples of this from the Bible:

1) The foolish understand more than the wise (Matthew 11:25)
The human view of wisdom is based on experience, and is constantly changing. Furthermore, it assumes as a starting point that humans are basically good. Often today, truth boils down to a general consensus: if enough people say black is white, it becomes "true."

By contrast, heavenly wisdom is based on an unchanging foundation, the eternal, fair God. Since he does not change, truth does not change. The Bible assumes that God spoke truly when he assured us of the innate sinfulness of man.

God's truth does appear to be "hidden" from many of the intellectuals of our day, but it is really so simple a little child can understand it. From the first book of the Bible we learn that Satan has always tried to use human "wisdom" to make people question God's Word.

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 (NIV) explains it this way: My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

2) To be great you must be a servant
"And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." (Matthew 20: 27 K.J.V.)

Our Western value system assumes the following:
'" Everyone should seek success and greatness
'" You earn your own way in life
'" Hard work gets you ahead
'" Servants have less value to society than rich people

All these greatly influence our thinking and beliefs. The human way is to get as far ahead of others as you can as quickly as you can.

The goal in God's kingdom is not to rule over others but to show love to others by serving them. When we go out of our way to do something helpful and unexpected for someone else, they wonder what our motivation might be. This is an opportunity to tell them about God and the changes he has made in our lives. They can see his way at work in us.

Jesus is the chief example of this. He left the riches of heaven to live among those he created, then died to free us! God's definition of greatness is foolishness to humans, and the human definition of greatness is of no consequence to God.

3) To save your life you must give it up or "lose" it (Matthew 16:24-26)
As we continue comparing God's thinking to human thinking, these verses take on a more amazing meaning: Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" (NIV)

When you hide your life so well in Jesus that you essentially live his way, then you genuinely fulfill your calling on this earth. Furthermore, this "losing" of your own rights and desires leads to a real gain: life that doesn't end with death, but instead lasts forever.

4) You are richest when you are poor (Luke 12:15, 29-34)
Again, looking at human wisdom, we see that one of life's greatest desires is to have more. Even rich people always want a little more. Obviously, though, riches don't satisfy the real needs of a person's heart.

In God's economy, things aren't really important, relationships are. Earthly possessions will not go with us into eternity. They are given to us by God while we are here to fulfill his mission on earth. Losing them is not a major problem as we will have so much more in eternity.

Again, Jesus was the ultimate example of this. W. Dyer put it this way: "Christ uncrowned Himself to crown us, and put off His robes to put on our rags, and came down from Heaven to keep us out of hell. He fasted 40 days that He might feast us to all eternity; He came from Heaven to earth that He might send us from earth to Heaven."

5) Trouble brings joy (James 1:2-4, 12)
The first of these verses states: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds..."

Of course, humanly speaking we hate it when trouble comes into our lives. Sometimes we wonder what we did to bring it on, sometimes we blame God for not saving us from it. In reality, if we ask why we have trials we also need to ask why we receive undeserved blessings.

Trials are specific times and events God uses to mature his children. One strong biblical example is the story of the patriarch Joseph. Hated by his jealous brothers, Joseph was sold into slavery in a foreign nation, jailed unjustly and kept there a long time. But God had a reason for all that happened, and the trouble became a triumph for Joseph and his family at the end.

This doesn't mean we are expected to enjoy problems which come into our lives. Instead, we are to remember God's past faithfulness and look forward to the joy which will result when the trial ends. From experience, we know he walks with us through the trouble and ultimately uses it for our good.

Happiness is tied to human circumstances, but joy transcends our circumstances. It is based on the eternal goodness of God our Father. God promises our troubles will end in joy.

6) You are made strong through weakness (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
Here again, human wisdom says the strongest win but God says the meek and humble win. Christian's are ultimate winners when they are too weak to handle a situation. Once they face this fact and surrender to the leading of God in their lives, they found incredible strength in him.

This verse also speaks of humility versus pride. Humility is highly valued in God's economy, but it is not the false modesty and self-deprecation "humble" humans often display. In God's thinking, it is honest self-appraisal. It doesn't minimize your achievements or exaggerate your shortcomings, but faces truths about yourself that help keep you on the right path.

7) Your role as a Christian is to become a "living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1)
The best explanation of this paradox comes from the Message translation of this very verse: "So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life - and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him."

The death of Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for sin has swept all dead sacrifices off the altar forever. There is no more need for us to die to pay for the wrong we do. Instead, God asks us to live'"to live for him, not ourselves. This is a process known as sanctification, dying daily to our own selfish way of doing things and living more and more to complete the work God created us to do: show the world what he is like.

Not only did Jesus die, but the Bible says God made him sin, so sin and it's power over us died that day at Calvary. It no longer rules and controls us, but Jesus does if we ask him to. As he lives in us, we essentially live his life, not our own. Romans 6:13 (New Living Translation) puts it this way: "...use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God."

Paradoxes, not contradictions

These 7 statements, at face value, seem to be contradictions, but people of faith see them as paradoxes. God's way is unique in all the world, and it must be understood as he meant it to be. As Christians, we consider paradoxes a lot. Some, like those above, we can figure out. Some will remain a mystery until we enter eternity.

In fact, a Christian is himself a paradox. As A.W. Tozer wrote: "Every Christian is, by definition, a paradox. He receives love from someone he never met in person, talks with someone he doesn't see on a daily basis, and admits he is wrong so he can be made right. Finally, he dies to live forever!"


References:

The Holy Bible in the following versions: GOD'S WORD Translation (GWT), King James Version (KJV), New International Version (NIV), The Message (MSG)

http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/romans-6-13.html

A.W. Tozer in his "Description of a Christian" article from Good News Broadcaster 28 #6 (June, 1970)

http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-concise/romans/12.html

http://www.goodtheology.com/inventory.php?target=quote"eformat=all#Jesus-%20Lordship