part0107

An important characteristic of the Bible is that it is an honest Book, and it does not paint either a pretty picture or a glamourous picture about any of its heroes. Instead, it tells the truth about all of them, and often, that truth shows that even God’s choicest saints were ungodly at times. In Genesis 12:10-20 and again in Genesis 20:1-18, for example, Abraham was less than honest with an Egyptian Pharaoh and with a Philistine king, named Abimelech, concerning his marital status. Then, in Genesis 26:1-11, his son, Isaac, lied to the same King Abimelech about his being married to Rebekah. Both men did wrong in their situations, and the Bible did not try to hide the truth about either of them.

In II Samuel 11:1-26, the Bible also told the whole truth about David’s sins with Bathsheba and Uriah. That way, the reader can have a more complete picture of the man that was described, in Acts 13:22, as a man after God’s own heart. In Genesis 2:24, Moses wrote that one man for one woman for one lifetime is God’s way, but in I Samuel 25:40-44, the author indicated that David also had multiple wives. When one reads the whole account of King David’s life, he or she finds that God did not look the other way whenever David departed from the sound teachings of the Scriptures. Instead, He dealt with David’s sins just like He deals with every person’s sins, and despite his spiritual status, David did not get away with anything.

Thus, the Bible is an honest Book because otherwise it could not be trusted. All people make mistakes, and the Bible student can learn from reading about the mistakes of others. He or she can also learn that salvation is the result of God’s love, mercy, and grace rather than man’s goodness. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast."