liThe Miracle of the Book - 3"

by Desmond Ford

The unity of the Bible is a strong indication of its divine origin.It is unified in its doctrine of the fallenness of humanity.

It is also unified in its doctrine of salvation by grace.

The Bible is unified in its view of the natureof fallen humankind. The apostle Peter isa fitting representative of us all. That's

because Peter is always finding fault with cir-cumstances-and thereby implying fault withthe God of circumstances.

Peter Misunderstands the VisionIn Acts 10, God gives Peter a vision. God isshowing Peter that now, in the days of thegospel, no human being is to be consideredunclean. The gospel is for all who believe. Noone is to be assumed as excluded from thegospel.

Peter sees a large sheet let down from heav-en containing all kinds of animals. Includinganimals no good Jewish Christian would eat.

God says, "Now, Peter, look, rise and eat"(see verse 13). Peter informs the Lord that theLord's theology is not too good. "Surely not,Lord!" (see verse 14). Peter is instructing God!

I would very quickly have been rid of Peter,and found a better apostle. But God is verypatient, is he not? What a God!

Peter Remembered at the TombAfter Christ's resurrection, the angel at the tombgave a message to the women. They were tomeet Christ in Galilee (Mark 16:7). "Tell his dis-ciples and Peter," said the angel.

Why did God send a message that called

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Peter by name? Because he knew that Peter wassaying to himself, "I was once one of Christ'sdisciples. But I denied him. I don't belong tohim anymore." But Christ says, "Go and tellPeter I want to see him."

What a glorious picture of the faithful, forgiv-ing God. Sadly, it's also an unflattering picture ofweak humanity. A scary picture. The Christ whosaid, "Beware of men," (Matthew 10:17 KJV)knew that our poor human nature without himis prone to every conceivable wickedness. Eventhe mighty apostle Peter failed!

Anyone Is Capable of Any EvilLet me say something that most of us will notwant to believe. It's true nonetheless. Given theright circumstances, any of us is capable of anyiniquity and monstrosity. Given the right cir-cumstances, any of us is capable of anything.

I'd be ashamed to tell you what the earlyAustralians did to the aboriginals, the nativepeoples. It is a horrendous scandal what thepeople from England, arriving in Australia, didto the people who had more rights to the landthan they did.

There has been a similar sad story here.There are terrible, terrible stories of what hap-pened to the first aboriginals of this country.Soldiers of the United States Army would cut outthe private parts of women and spread themacross their saddles or wear them on their hats.

Deliverer."Thou

shalt not" isa promise to

God's people,because God is

speaking to aredeemed peo-

ple.So the Bible

possesses a unity inits presentation of

doctrine: about the nature ofGod, the nature of man, andthe means of salvation bygrace.

ness of his grace we have all received one bless-ing after another. For the law was given throughMoses; grace and truth came through JesusChrist" (John 1:16-17 NIV).

But even the Ten Commandments, theepitome of law, begin with grace. "I am the Lordyour God, who brought you out of Egypt, out ofthe land of slavery" (Exodus 20:2 NIV). The lawbegins with grace.

God says, in effect, "I have redeemed you.Therefore, you are free from all of these sins thatenslave others."

The "Thou shalt nots," such as "Thou shaltnot murder," and "Thou shalt not steal," are

all promises to us now as well asprohibitions.

This is because ofgrace. Because the

law comesfrom a

For the lawwas given through Moses;

grace and truth came throughJesus Christ.

The Dog Did ItThe Bible is so realistic, so direct, so trenchant;and it has the same picture of humankind all theway through. "If ye then, being evil," said Jesusto us all (Matthew 7:11; Luke 11:13).

The story I think of often is about Hazael.He is told by the prophet Elisha, "I know theharm you will do to the Israelites .... Youwill set fire to their fortified places, kill theiryoung men with the sword, dash their littlechildren to the ground, and rip open theirpregnant women" (2 Kings 8:12NIV). And kill the king.

Hazael answers,"What, is thy ser-vant a dog,that he

They would smash the heads of infants andchildren, by the hundreds.

You see, when men get together they are evenworse than when they are alone. In every waryou hear about the terrible atrocities by theenemy. What you don't hear is that both sidesare responsible for atrocities. The Mai Lai mas-sacre wasn't just an isolated event, dear friends.Whether it's Australians or Americans orGermans, the spirit of Auschwitz is not unique atall. Beware of men!

shoulddo thisgreatthing?" (v.13 KJV).

The quaintold commenta-tor MatthewHenry says, "Dogor no dog, he didit." Beware of men.

Unity of Salvation byGraceThe Bible is unifiedin its view of salva-tion by grace.

The NewTestament, ofcourse, begins andends with the graceof God in the gospel of ourLord Jesus Christ. "From the full-

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