Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006 - by Don Hodges

The Bible is unique in how it deals very openly with the sins of people. Biographies are usually biased and tend to exaggerate the character traits depending upon the viewpoint of the writer. For example, if we look at the prominent men and women in history, we see that most are portrayed as great with few personal flaws. Examples abound, from Washington to Lincoln, Mother Teresa to Voltaire, Freud to Darwin; we hear about great accomplishments but little about personal failures.

The Bible does not follow this pattern. It shows people as they are: sinful, lost, and in need of a Savior. Moses, David, and the apostle Paul were all murderers. The genealogy leading directly to Jesus included prostitutes, liars, thieves, idolaters, cowards, and murderers. This is hardly a ringing endorsement of the goodness of mankind nor a book likely to have been written by deceitful men.

"The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time."

(Genesis 6:5 NIV)

WOW!

The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.

                                - Oswald Chambers