Can We Trust the Gospel Message?
Several years ago, a little girl wanted a new bike. Her parents decided to teach her a lesson about saving, so they told her that if she worked hard and raised half the money, they’d pay the other half. Almost a year later, she had every penny. Her parents kept their word, and that little girl rode her new bike up and down the street, showing every friend on the block.
Then a missionary couple visited their church. Their little boy was miserable. No friends. Hated being there. The little girl heard their story and went straight to her parents: “God is telling me that little missionary boy needs to have my new bike.”
Her parents said no. They weren’t buying another one. But she came back the next day and said, “I prayed, and God told me to give him my bike.” So they shipped it.
Now here’s the question that matters: How did she know she heard from God?
Messages are everywhere. From subtle to shouting. From irrelevant to irreligious. From demonic to divine. So how do we know the Bible is true? How do we know the Gospel is the right message? Paul answers that in 1 Corinthians 15:1-6, and he gives us three anchors.
First, the Gospel is received. Paul says, “I delivered to you what I also received.” This wasn’t invented. It was handed down — an eyewitness account passed from Christ to the apostles to the church. You can trace the chain.
Second, the Gospel is believed. That word means to think something is true, to be persuaded, to place your confidence in it. God isn’t asking you to take a blind leap. He’s asking you to trust what He’s already proven.
Third, the Gospel is according to the Scriptures. This is where the math gets staggering. Sixty-six books. Forty authors. Written over 1,600 years, across three continents and thirteen countries, and every part points to Jesus. Three hundred and thirty-three Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus Christ alone.
Someone calculated the odds of that happening by chance: 84 to the 123rd power to one. Psalm 22 describes crucifixion in detail. Written six hundred years before crucifixion was even used as capital punishment. We have over 20,000 New Testament manuscripts in existence today. Compared to Caesar’s Gallic Wars in the same period, we have nine copies.
The evidence isn’t hiding. The Gospel has been received, believed, and confirmed by Scripture. As Jesus said in John 8:32, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”
The question was never whether we can trust it. The question is whether we will.
Keep Looking up!
May God bless your day.
Related devotionals: Why you can trust the Bible · Is Jesus really God? · Can I know God personally?
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If today’s devotional spoke to your heart, my books carry these same themes deeper. Stories of God moving in ordinary lives, scripture for tired pastors and weary parents, and steady reminders that heaven is closer than you think.