Updated May 6, 2004 (first published March 18, 1996) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

The Bible says that man is a liar -- “with their tongues they have used deceit” (Romans 3:13). Paul proclaimed, “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” Jeremiah says man's heart is “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9).

It is no surprise, then, that false teachers are liars. “For such are false apostles, DECEITFUL workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Cor. 11:13-15).

False teachers lie. They lie to others; they even lie to themselves. Of these Paul said, “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, DECEIVING, and BEING DECEIVED” (2 Tim. 3:13).

One reason God demands that His people separate from false teachers is because of the deceptive character of their teaching. “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches DECEIVE THE HEARTS OF THE SIMPLE” (Romans 16:17,18).

I could illustrate this with hundreds of books from my library. Let me use just one. It is Who Wrote the Bible? by Washington Gladden, published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1891. In fulfillment of Scripture this book is literally filled with bald-faced lies. I cite four of these:

Lie # 1. “The facts are, that Jesus nowhere testifies that Moses wrote the whole of the Pentateuch; and that he nowhere guarantees the infallibility either of Moses or of the book. On the contrary, he sets aside as inadequate or morally defective certain laws which in this book are ascribed to Moses” (p. 25).

A more blatant lie has never been uttered. The Pentateuch claims to be the writings of Moses (Exodus 24:4-7; 34:27-28; Num. 33:2; Deut. 1:1-5; 4:4-5; 31:9,24-26). The Lord Jesus Christ affirmed the whole of the Old Testament Scriptures as the infallible Word of God. He cited many parts of the Pentateuch and called it “the law of Moses” and “the book of Moses” (Mark 12:26). He divided the Old Testament into “Moses and the prophets” (Luke 16:29; 24:27). He called the Pentateuch the writings of Moses (John 5:45-47). He said of the entire Old Testament, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17,18). A higher view of the Old Testament Scriptures could not be uttered. Those who mock the verbal, plenary view of biblical inspiration are mocking the very Son of God.

Lie # 2. “No man on earth knows or ever will know what were the precise words that our Lord used in his Sermon on the Mount, in his conversation with the woman at the well, in his last discourses with his disciples. ... his very words we have not, and this fact itself is the most convincing disproof of the dogma of verbal inspiration” (p. 248).

This false teacher believes the popular modernistic myth that the Gospel writers were relying on their own defective human memories or upon fallible documents written by other men. He also believes they were translating words that Christ spoke in Aramaic. These are unbelieving assumptions. The Gospel writers were not relying on their on memories or upon the memories of other men; they were writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13). We have no evidence that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke chiefly in Aramaic, though it is plain that He did at times use Aramaic (Mark 5:41; 7:34). The very fact that Mark translated those two verses into Greek and that ordinarily the Gospel writers quoted Jesus as speaking directly in Greek is evidence enough for a Bible believer. We DO have the very words which Christ spoke! If not, the Gospel writers were liars, because they said they were writing precisely what Christ said. From the beginning to the end of the Gospels we read, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying...” If Jesus did not speak the words recorded in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were liars, and the Bible is an undependable fairy tale.

Lie # 3. “[Christ and the apostles] nowhere pronounce any of these writings free from error; there is not a hint or suggestion anywhere in the New Testament that any of the writings of the Old Testament are infallible...” (p. 26).

The Bible exposes this lie.

Paul said, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).

Jesus said that “the scripture cannot be broken” (Jn. 10:35). This means that they are absolutely authoritative, that not even the least thing can be proven to be weak and ineffective.

The Lord Jesus said, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matt. 5:18).

Lie # 4. “Revelation, we shall be able to understand, is not the dictation by God of words to men that they may be written down in books; it is rather the disclosure of the truth and love of God to men in the processes of history, in the development of the moral order of the world. ... It is by no means confined to words; its most impressive disclosures are in the field of action. 'Thus did the Lord,' as Dr. Bruce has said, is a more perfect formula of revelation than 'Thus said the Lord'“ (p. 43).

This is pious-sounding wickedness. If the Bible is not the very words of God, it is the biggest lie ever recorded, because from beginning to end it claims to be the very infallible words of God. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). This is the apostolic view of biblical inspiration. Gladden cites a fellow heretic who claims the Lord's actions are a more perfect formula of revelation than the Lord's words. A more stupid statement has never been recorded. Without an infallible “thus saith the Lord” we have no way of knowing “thus did the Lord”! We can learn certain things by observing what the Lord has done in creation and history, but such observations apart from divine Revelation are limited to man's ability to understand God--which is exceedingly limited and fallible.

I reject false teachers and their lies, and I am glad to “call a spade a spade.” When a Bible-believer quotes Scripture to them, they smile and look down from their imagined position of mental and spiritual superiority and think of you as a weak-minded literalist. That's fine with me. If taking the Bible literally is a sign of non-intellectualism, I gladly reject intellectualism.

False teachers fill their writings with pious-sounding language. They claim to love the Lord Jesus Christ. They claim to honor the Bible. But they are liars.

“Let God be true, and every man a liar”!