We all want to know whether or not we can trust the Bible.

We want to know that it is true, and we want to know that it can help us through life.

One of the areas that helps us trust the Bible is that the New Testament writers lived what they wrote.

Think about the Apostles. While the term can be used in different ways, the most common view of Apostles had to do with their experience with Christ. When the early church met to select an Apostle to take the place of Judas, they had this criteria: the Apostle had to “have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning with John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection” (Acts 1: 21-22).

In other words, they wanted an eye witness who could talk and lead from a position of first-hand knowledge. They particularly wanted someone who could give evidence of the resurrection of Christ.

I find great confidence knowing the New Testament writers were people who had been with Jesus. They give us eyewitness accounts of all the things He said and did.

Therefore, when John the Apostle tells us about Jesus, we are not getting opinions. We are getting what he observed and saw from a unique vantage point: he had been with Jesus.

It was these eyewitnesses who declared Jesus lived a sinless life. The eyewitnesses testified He had been raised from the dead and ascended into heaven.

We should pay close attention when John wrote: “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus Christ), and Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1: 1-3).

And because He is the Creator, we also should listen when John tells us “In him was life” (John 1:4).

The Eternal Word, Jesus Christ, created us and made us for His purpose. He came to give us real, permanent, and rich life.

We should receive Him and let the Eternal Creator guide our lives.

I write a daily devotional about Scripture and life. If you would like to receive these by email, please subscribe at www.waylonbailey.com.