DEALING WITH DEEPLY ENTRENCHED SINS

We are afflicted with deeply entrenched sin. While some of our sins have ceased to plague us, others remain untamed, as Scripture warns:

• For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. (Galatians 5:17)

How then do we gain victory over our sins? Some would say that, since God understands that we will continue to struggle against sin in this life, we can simply accept their presence. After all, we don’t want to be legalists or to walk around dismayed about our moral failings. They therefore erroneously argue that we have to reject sin consciousness.

However appealing this message might sound, it is not biblical. Jesus taught that we have to endeavor to be like God:

• Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)

Peter agreed that the perfect Christ had to be our role model:

• As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." (1 Peter 1:14-16)

In fact, Holy living is never optional:

• Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

The Bible never gives us an excuse to sin. Even if we have a perfect moral track record, we still do not have the right to sin (Ezekiel 33:12).

Yet, we continue to sin! What then? We don’t give up! Not according to Paul:

• Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14)

But how do we press on in the midst of repeated failures to overcome sin, especially the internal ones? By knowing that pressing on is what is expected of us! Also by knowing that:

• If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (1 John 1:9-10)

We cannot expect to become be sinless in this life. Anyone who claims this is a “liar.” Sinlessness will only become a reality when Christ returns for us:

• Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

Why does our Savior abandon us to this often discouraging struggle against sin? Because we need it! An immediate victory over sin would not serve us well. Why not? We do not do well spiritually when everything is going well for us. The pagan King Nebuchadnezzar had been very proud of his accomplishments. However, God was merciful to him and struck him down with insanity for seven years. After these seven years, his mind was restored and his pride had been crushed. He therefore confessed:

• Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble. (Daniel 4:37)

Job was the most spiritual man in the entire earth, yet he too had become proud, as the prophetic Elihu revealed:

• "But you [Job] have said in my hearing-- I heard the very words-- 'I am pure and without sin; I am clean and free from guilt. Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy.’” (Job 33:8-10)

Elihu explained that, because of Job’s spiritual pride, God, in love, had to humble him:

• "But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than man. Why do you complain to him that he answers none of man's words? For God does speak… to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword… His soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the messengers of death. Yet if there is an angel on his side as a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him… then his flesh is renewed like a child's; it is restored as in the days of his youth. He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God's face and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state. Then he comes to men and says, 'I sinned, and perverted what was right, but I did not get what I deserved. He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.'” (Job 33:12-28)

For his own good, even Job needed to be humbled. We too need to be humbled in order to receive the blessings of God. Paul also had to learn this same lesson:

• To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

There is nothing that can humble us like our repeated moral failures. These teach us compassion and gratefulness for our Lord’s grace. Otherwise, we tend to trust in ourselves instead. Paul also had to learn this lesson:

• We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1:8-9)

We too need to learn this lesson, but this is a lesson we can only learn in our struggle against sin.

PREACHING GRACE ALONGSIDE OF THE LAW AND OBEDIENCE

What should a good sermon look and feel like? One Christian scholar and Reformed brother answered the question this way:

• Sermons and Bible studies that focus on “law” (the demands of Scripture for our obedience), no matter how accurately biblical in context, tend simply to add to the burden of guilt felt by the average Christian. A friend of mine calls these sermons “another brick in the backpack” – you arrive at church knowing five ways in which you are falling short of God’s standards for your life, and you leave knowing ten ways, doubly burdened. In my experience such teaching yields little by way of life transformation, especially in terms of the joy and peace that are supposed to mark the Christian life.

There is truth in this. To understand the Bible is to perceive its Christo- grace- and Gospel-centricity. It’s all about Christ and what He accomplished for us on the cross. Because of this, all the promises of God are fulfilled in Christ:

• For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. (2 Cor. 1:20)

Jesus also repeatedly pointed back to show how Scripture is about Him (John 5:39; Luke 24: 25-27; 44-48). Peter (1 Peter 1:10-11) and Paul did likewise (Acts 26:22-23).

Understandably, the above scholar warns against the do-better-try-harder sermon as unbiblically burdensome, tending “simply to add to the burden of guilt.” After all, since He is the One who has secured our grace and forgiveness through the cross, shouldn’t our teachings be Christ-centered, focusing on His mercy and not the moralistic, death-dealing requirements of the law? Yes! However, I think that this assessment requires some modification.

Christ is not only the mercy of God; He is also the righteousness of God. He is the all-in- all, embodying the fullness of God (Col. 2:9-10):

• But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. (Romans 3:21-22)

• It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.(1 Cor. 1:30)

However, the gift of Christ’s holiness does not let us off the moral hook. Instead, we too must be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). Jesus taught the very same message:

• Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)
  

Paul claimed that we must follow God’s unchanging moral dictates, even though no longer under the law:

• Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law. (Romans 3:31)

Having been freed from the Covenant of the Law doesn’t mean that we are now free to murder and steal. Instead, we are now freed so that we can live under Christ and bear moral fruit by the Spirit:

• So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code [the Covenant of the Law]. (Romans 7:4-6)

Under the headship of our Savior, we have been reconciled to God, have received the Spirit, and He has His laws upon our hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-34). And these laws are there for a purpose. They not only instruct us but they also guide us into moral obedience, and our teaching should reflect the Spirit’s plan.

Consequently, although Paul’s Pastoral Epistles are Christ-centered, they also law-centered. They require that our teaching and preaching demand moral holiness. In line with this, Paul insisted that all Scripture “is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16), not just the parts that emphasized God’s mercy.

He instructed Timothy to ”Teach these things” (1 Tim. 4:11). Which things did Paul think that Timothy should teach? Just things of grace? No:

• For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (1 Tim. 4:8)

Paul taught about how servants and masters should treat one another. Then he instructed Timothy to teach “these… things”:

• These are the things you are to teach and insist on…If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. (1 Tim. 6:2-4)

Understandably, it would have been difficult for servants to obey a harsh master, and so this command would have provoked feelings of guilt and possibly disdain. However, this should not be the last word for a Christian. Instead, the guilt should continue to lead us to Christ, forgiveness, and restoration.

Paul then instructed Timothy:

• Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. (1 Timothy 6:17-18)

These commands were not to simply be expressed on a personal level but also through teaching and preaching. It is unthinkable that these moral teachings could not be expressed in sermons or Bible studies.

In his next letter to the young pastor Timothy, Paul instructed:

• And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Tim. 2:2)

Paul didn’t simply teach Timothy about grace, but also the need for grace in the face of ubiquitous moral failures. Teaching adherence to the requirements of the law was central to Paul’s message to Timothy:

• Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen… Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly… Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2 Tim. 2:14, 16, 22)

Paul then instructed Timothy about the lawlessness in the last days when people would no longer be interested in hearing moral teachings. What was the answer? Teaching a message consisting only of “God loves you?” No! Preaching Scripture in its fullness would be required:

• Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. (2 Tim. 4:2)

This would be a message that would not only embody encouragement but also moral correction and rebuke!

Paul’s instruction to Titus about the substance of his teaching was similar – it had to include moralizing:

• You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. (Titus 2:1-3) 

It is the teaching of the law – the commandments of God – that serves to highlight grace. Moralizing and preaching obedience must not be isolated from grace. They should work inseparably:

• For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.  It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. (Titus 2:11-12) 

“Grace… teaches!” What does grace teach? “It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness!” The law should not be taught without the hope of grace; nor should grace be taught without the requirements of the law and our failures in light of them.

In light of this, theologian Iain M. Duguid wrote:

• To put it simply, he [Paul] never preached Ephesians 4-6 (the ethical imperatives) without connecting them to Ephesians 1-3 (the Gospel indicative.) (Is Jesus in the Old Testament? 12)

Law (requirements) and grace (the gift) should not be separated in our teaching and preaching. They are partners that complement each other. The law highlights the exceeding beauty and necessity of grace, while grace is the necessary answer to our ubiquitous failures in light of the teachings of our Savior.

Paul observed that the law was instrumental in leading us to Christ (Galatians 3:22-24). I think that the convicting and humbling power of the law continues to show us the relevance of Christ:

• Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.  Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. (Romans 3:19-20)

God continues to humble us so that He might also exalt us:

• Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:9-10)

Good preaching should grieve us, but it must also lift us! Okay, we are no longer under the law. We are under Christ, but even His teachings still humble and provoke guilt. However, these difficult teachings serve to lead us back to the mercy of Christ where we again grasp what He accomplished for us on the cross.  It is when I am overcome with the sight of my own sins that the cross appears in its glorious splendor.

Without this, the God-loves-you message can become insipid and uninspiring. Instead, we need constant reminders of how much we need His love and forgiveness. Without these reminders, our preaching might be casting God’s precious seeds upon hardened ground unprepared to receive them.

I therefore think that the law still leads us humbly to the cross, while the cross gratefully and confidently leads us back to the law – a functional and growth-producing marriage.

A CHRISTMAS MEDITATION

Where do we find true happiness? By rejoicing in God’s truth:

·       “True happiness is to rejoice in the truth, for to rejoice in the truth is to rejoice in you, O God, who are the truth… Man’s love of truth is such that when he loves something which is not the truth, he pretends to himself that what he loves is the truth, and because he hates to be proved wrong, he will not allow himself to be convinced that he is deceiving himself. So he hates the real truth for the sake of what he takes to his heart in its place.” (Augustine’s Confessions, Book 10:23)

How do we love God? We can’t cook for Him, clean His house, or launder His cloths.

Some believe that it is strictly about experiencing God by shutting down the mind. For Augustine, a relationship with God is a matter of abiding in His Word, His unalterable truth:

·       “Only a master who really teaches us really speaks to us: if he does not teach us, even though he may be speaking, it is not to us that he speaks. But who is our teacher except the Truth that never changes? Even when we learn from created things, which are subject to change, we are led to the Truth that does not change.” (Confessions, Book 11:8)

Is it proper then that we limit such a relationship to feelings and experiences without understanding? According to Augustine, the lack of wisdom is both darkness and a punishment:

·       “I am aglow with its fire. It is the light of Wisdom, Wisdom itself, which at times shines upon me, parting my clouds. But when I weakly fall away from its light, those clouds envelop me again in the dense mantle of darkness which I bear for my punishment.” (Confessions, Book 11:9)

Well, what does this have to do with Christmas? A friend called me today to say that he had been reprimanded for speaking out against a visiting pastor. At the end of her sermon, she called the youth of the church to come to the altar to commit themselves to the Babe in the manger, “whatever you might think about Him.”

Well, what we think about Him is all important and shouldn’t be designated as a “whatever.” Paul had insisted:

·       I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel… But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! (Galatians 1:6-9)

Strong words, but these are Gospel words. My friend yelled out that who that Babe is does matter and was later reprimanded!

His conduct hadn’t been “nice,” but perhaps it glorified God. The children of Israel had sinned against God, having been tempted into sin by the Moabite women. Consequently, a plague broke out and was consuming Israel. Nevertheless, the Israelites continued in their sin, even to the point of bringing Moabite women to their tents, even in front of Moses. However, the priest Phinehas drove a spare through a couple in their sinful embrace and the plague ceased. What did the Lord think about such “un-nice” behavior?

·       The LORD said to Moses, "Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them.” (Numbers 25:10-11)

My friend had also been zealous about the Lord! But Phinehas had been a relic of Old Testament morality, right? Well it seems that confronting anti-Gospel messages is also a part of the NT. Peter had denied the Gospel when he withdrew from Gentile believers when the legalistic Jewish believers arrived from Jerusalem. However, Paul was convinced that his behavior actually denied the Gospel and our oneness in Christ. Therefore, he publicly opposed Peter in the midst of his hypocrisy (Gal. 2:11-14).

Perhaps we have become too “nice,” and perhaps Paul’s example should be a model for us? Perhaps we aren’t loving the Lord as we ought by failing to stand up for His truth? I suspect that Augustine wouldn’t have reprimanded my friend but would have honored him as the Lord had done for Phinehas, by honoring him with an enduring priesthood.

SELF-ESTEEM vs. GOD-ESTEEM

We Westerners generally feel that, if we want to accomplish anything in life, we have to believe in ourselves and to nurture a high self-esteem. However, Augustine was accomplished and seemed to have had a low self-esteem:

• For I am needy and poor, but you who care for us, yet are free from care for yourself, have enough and to spare for all those who call upon you. (Confessions, Book XI:2) 

Augustine’s “Confessions” can be uncomfortable. They contradict some of our most basic assumptions about our lives. While it has become an almost unquestioned assumption in the Western world that the good life is about being happy and self-fulfilled, Augustine’s “Confessions” are about being God-filled:

• By confessing our own miserable state and acknowledging your mercy towards us, we open our hearts to you, so that you may free us wholly, as you have already begun to do. Then we shall no longer be miserable in ourselves but will find true happiness in you. (Book XI:1)

There is a biblical logic in this. After all, what blocks us from a joyous relationship with our Savior? Our baggage! Our self-absorption! How do we leave behind our self-obsessions? Well, how do we leave behind any relational conflict? By apologizing! First, we have to acknowledge our wrong-doing; then we can leave it behind us. After I have wronged my wife, I cannot simply tell her, “Let’s forget about that and move on.” Instead, I have to apologize for what I have done.

The same principle pertains to our relationship with the Lord. We cannot move on until we confess our self-centeredness and self-righteousness. Then we can move to the next step by asking for His help.

The Bible articulates this concept in so many ways. Jesus told a parable about two men who prayed in the Temple. While the “successful” man congratulated himself, the other humbled himself by confessing his sin. Jesus concluded:

• "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:14)

Likewise, Jesus taught that we must not think that we are entitled to our Lord’s mercy. Instead, we have to become as little children:

• He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:2-4)

In contrast to little children, the self-righteous believe that they are better than others and, therefore, are entitled to what can only come as a gift from God. In regards to this, a Roman commander was theological miles ahead of even Jesus’ disciples. He requested that Jesus heal his servant but added that he was not worthy that He should come to his house where his servant laid. Instead, it was enough that Jesus merely speak the word of healing.

Instead, of regarding the Roman as having a defective self-image, Jesus marveled at his faith, expressed through his humble heart and the wisdom that accompanies humility:

• When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. (Matthew 8:10)

In appropriate biblical humility, Augustine had prayed:

• "O Lord, perfect your work in me. Open me to the pages of your Book. Your voice is my joy, a greater joy than any profusion of worldly pleasures... If we make it our first care to find the kingdom of God, and his approval, all these things shall be ours without the asking." 

Augustine's prayer should prompt us to reconsider the way we regard ourselves and the way we regard our Savior.

IS THE BIBLE THE ACTUAL WORDS OF GOD? IS THE KORAN?

There are many ways to approach this question. One way is to compare the biblical evidences against the Koranic evidences or claims. The first apologetic for Islam I encountered, entitled, “Can we Prove Quran [Koran] is From God?” reads (I copied it in its entirety.):

• Muslims have something that offers the clearest proof of all - The Holy Quran. There is no other book like it anywhere on earth. It is absolutely perfect in the Arabic language. It has no mistakes in grammar, meanings or context. The scientific evidences are well known around the entire world, even amongst non-Muslim scholars. Predictions in the Quran have come true; and its teachings are clearly for all people, all places and all times.

• Surprisingly enough, the Quran itself provides us with the test of authenticity and offers challenges against itself to prove its veracity. Allah tells us in the Quran:

• “Haven't the unbelievers considered if this was from other than Allah, they would find within it many contradictions?” [Noble Quran 4:82]
• Another amazing challenge from Allah's Book:  “If you are in doubt about it, bring a chapter like it.” [Noble Quran 2:23]
• And Allah challenges us with: “ Bring ten chapters like it.” [Noble Quran 11:13]
• And finally: “Bring one chapter like it.” [Noble Quran 10:38]

• No one has been able to produce a book like it, nor ten chapters like it, nor even one chapter like it. It was memorized by thousands of people during the lifetime of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and then this memorization was passed down from teacher to student for generation after generation, from mouth to ear and from one nation to another. Today every single Muslim has memorized some part of the Quran in the original Arabic language that it was revealed in over 1,400 years ago, even though most of them are not Arabs. There are over nine million (9,000,000) Muslims living on the earth today who have totally memorized the entire Quran, word for word, and can recite the entire Quran, in Arabic. (godallah.com)

First of all, this Islamic apologetic (TIA) claims that the grammar of the Koran is perfect. Therefore, it must come from above. However, after citing numerous grammatical errors, answering-islam.org concludes:

• No doubt many learned people have gone over this Arabic Qur'an to check it for mistakes, like any good publisher would do. If even with the advanced technology they have, there are still errors in it, how can we have any confidence that the first edition of the Qur'an in a time when very few people can read and write Arabic, was written down error free? Mohammad himself said "we are a nation that does not know how to write or do accounting." And the Muslim in early Islam used to set free some Jews among their war captives if they would in turn teach a few Arabs how to read and write Arabic.

While the Bible makes no such claims about its grammar, it does make many claims about its authenticating divine miracles. For example, when Moses complained that the Israelites would never believe that God had sent him, God gave him miracles to prove otherwise (Exodus 3-4).

Jesus performed so many miracles that even the adversarial writings of the Jews acknowledge them.

In contrast to this, Mohammad often indirectly confessed that he didn’t perform any miracles:

• [ Koran Surah 3:183-84) (The same are) those [Jews] who say: Lo! Allah hath charged us that we believe not in any messenger until he bring us an offering which fire (from heaven) shall devour. Say (unto them, O Muhammad): Messengers came unto you before me with miracles, and with that (very miracle) which ye describe. Why then did ye slay them? (Answer that) if ye are truthful! And if they deny thee, even so did they deny messengers who were before thee, who came with miracles and with the Psalms and with the Scripture giving light.

• [2:118] And those who have no knowledge say: Why doth not Allah speak unto us, or some sign come unto us? Even thus, as they now speak, spake those (who were) before them. Their hearts are all alike. We have made clear the revelations for people who are sure.

• [29.50-51] And they say: Why are not signs sent down upon him from his Lord? Say: The signs are only with Allah, and I am only a plain warner. Is it not enough for them that We have revealed to you the Book which is recited to them? Most surely there is mercy in this and a reminder for a people who believe.

TIA also claims that scientific findings support the Koran. However, Wikipedia claims otherwise:

• This effort has been criticized by some scientists and philosophers as containing logical fallacies, being unscientific, likely to be disproven by evolving scientific theories.

Meanwhile, the Bible has many teachings that prefigure scientific findings:

1. TIME IS NOT ETERNAL: 2 Tim. 1:9 who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

2. THE UNIVERSE HAD A BEGINNING: Genesis 1:1  “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Contra the steady-state theory that had ruled science).

3. THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE PHYSICAL WORD AREN’T VISIBLE: Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

4. WATER CYCLE: Job 36:27 "He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams.” (Also Amos 9:6)

5. DINOSAURS?? Psalm 74:14 It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert.

6. STARS AS GUIDES TO SEASONS AND GEOGRAPHIC POSITIONS: Genesis 1:14 lights in the expanse of the sky… [would] serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years.”

7. GOD WORKS THROUGH FIXED LAWS: Jeremiah 33:25 states that God accomplishes His purposes through “fixed laws of heaven and earth.”  (Although science demonstrated that phenomena operated according to laws, the Bible long before posited the operation of the God’s laws.) (Also Job 38:33)

8. COUNTLESS STARS:  Jeremiah 33:22 states, “I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore. " (Also Job 11:7-8; 22:12)

9. ROUND EARTH, EXPANDING UNIVERSE: “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in” (Isaiah 40:22; 42:5).

10. THE EARTH DOES NOT SIT ON A PEDESTAL AS ANE COSMOLOGY HAS IT: Job 26:7 He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.

11. UNHEALTHY QUALITY OF EXCREMENT: Deut. 23:12-13 Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. 13As part of your equipment have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement.

12. FOSSIL FINDS IN THE MOUNTAINS: Psalm 104:6 …the waters stood above the mountains. (Even Everest)

13. SNAKES ONCE HAD USABLE LEGS (now covered by their epidermis): (Gen. 3:14)

TIA also claims that the predictions of the Koran “have come true.” However, answering-islam.org denies this:

• In all fairness, there are no true prophecies in the Quran and the ones that Muslims point to fail to be truly prophetic. The claim that the Quran contains dozens of prophecies is based purely on wishful thinking since none of the so called proof texts presented are convincing when taken within the context of the passage in question.

For example, Surah 7:157 reads: “Those who follow the messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write [Mohammed], whom they find written in the Torah [Deut.18:15] and the Gospel” [John14:16].

However, an examination of these passages does not bear out the claims of the Koran. Moses did not prophesy of Muhammad:

• The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die." The LORD said to me: "What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. (Deut. 18:15-18)

Muhammad was not like Moses. According to his own admission, he wasn’t a miracle worker. Even more damning to the Koran is the fact that this prophet would come from “among their brothers.” Admittedly, Muhammad was not an Israelite.

The Gospels also fail to endorse Muhammad as the Koran alleges:

• “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor (“paraclete” in the Greek and not “periclytos,” meaning “the praised one,” referring to Muhammad, as Muslim scholars claim) to be with you forever.” (John 14:16)

• "When the Counselor (“paraclete”) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. (John 15:26; Also 16:12-14)

However, out of the thousands of ancient Greek NT manuscripts, there is not one instance where “periclytos” is used.

Meanwhile, there are hundreds of OT prophecies that Jesus had fulfilled. There are also an equal number that Israel had fulfilled – about their successes, devastations, and even their restoration to the land of Israel. Oddly, there is even a prophecy that the children of Ishmael have fulfilled:

• The angel of the LORD also said to her (Hagar): "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers." (Genesis 16:11-12)

TIA claims that another proof of the Koran is found in its lack of contradictions. However, answering-islam.org has documented hundreds, perhaps even thousands of contradictions. Meanwhile, the Koran consistently acknowledges that the Hebrew Scriptures and the Gospels are perfectly true:

• Ultimately, the strongest, most serious problem of the Qur'an is that it affirms the scriptures of the Jews and the Christians as authentic and true revelation from God (cf. what the Qur'an says about the Bible), while radically denying central aspects of their message, e.g. the core themes of sacrifice and atonement in the Torah, the crucifixion of Jesus, the deity of Jesus and even the mere messianic title "Son of God" for Jesus, the very nature of God, the fall and the sinfulness of man (*, *), necessity and means of salvation, etc. For this reason Muslims had to invent the unwarranted theory of corruption of the earlier scriptures, even against the clear testimony of the Qur'an itself. 

Here are some assertions of the Koran about the accuracy of the Bible:

• [Surah 18:27] “Proclaim what is revealed to you in the Book of your Lord. None can change His words..”

• [3.3] He has revealed to you the Book with truth, verifying that which is before it, and He revealed the Tavrat [Torah] and the Injeel [Gospels] aforetime, a guidance for the people, and He sent the Furqan.

• [5.44] Surely We revealed the Taurat [Torah] in which was guidance and light; with it the prophets who submitted themselves (to Allah) judged (matters) for those who were Jews, and the masters of Divine knowledge and the doctors, because they were required to guard (part) of the Book of Allah, and they were witnesses thereof; therefore fear not the people and fear Me, and do not take a small price for My communications; and whoever did not judge by what Allah revealed, those are they that are the unbelievers…[5.46] And We sent after them in their footsteps Isa, son of Marium, verifying what was before him of the Taurat and We gave him the Injeel in which was guidance and light, and verifying what was before it of Taurat and a guidance and an admonition for those who guard (against evil).

Lastly, TIA quotes the Koran claiming that no one can produce a verse like those contained in the Koran. However, the same assertion can also be made about the Bible, Talmud, or even Shakespeare. However, these assertions do nothing to prove that they come from God.

What I have presented here is far from an exhaustive presentation. This would require volumes. However, I hope that I have whet your appetite enough to pursue this question further.