We can agree with Justin Martyr that perhaps the most outstanding supernatural proofs of the divine inspiration of the Bible are the hundreds of predictive prophecies in the pages of the Bible and their fulfillments in biblical times and in history on down to the present.

In the Bible, God says: "I am God and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" (Isaiah 46:9-10).

No other holy book of any other faith comes anywhere near the Bible's record of prophecy and fulfillment of prophecy. Holy books of other faiths contain few prophecies of any kind and none, to my knowledge, contain any fulfillments.

There are several prophecies in the Old Testament that predict various aspects of the birth of Christ.. Genesis 49:10 contains a prophecy predicting that the coming king (Messiah) would be born of the descendants of one of the tribes of Israel called Judah. One of the families of the tribe of Judah was that of king David (c. 1070-1000 BC) who was king of Israel during Israel's golden age. Isaiah 9:6-7 prophesies that a Son shall be given to Israel and He will be called the Prince of Peaceand He will be heir to the throne of king David and therefore must, of necessity, be a physical descendant (on His human side) of king David. The New Testament faithfully records that Jesus was, in fact, a descendant of king David who was of the tribe of Judah.

Micah 5:2 prophesies that Bethlehem, a small town near Jerusalem that was the birthplace of king David, would be the birthplace of the Messiah (Messiah is the Hebrew equivalent of Christ). Christ was born in Bethlehem. Daniel 9:24-26 prophesies of the time that Christ would die. (See Defending the Faith #80 for a fuller discussion of this.) Therefore the timing of Christ's birth would be fixed at a time one generation earlier. Christ was born right on time! Isaiah 7:14 famously prophesies that Christ would be born of a virgin.

In addition to the prophecies of Christ's birth, there are literally hundreds of prophecies in the Old Testament that were fulfilled in various aspects of the life, ministry, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

One passage in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 gives a very comprehensive prediction of the atonement. The atonement is the suffering and death of the Messiah for our sins. Here is a brief quote from that passage: "He was pierced through for our transgressions . . . the chastening for our well being fell upon Him . . . the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him" (Isaiah 53:5-6 NASB). In fact, this passage in Isaiah, written 700 years before Jesus was born, taken as a whole, is in many ways more complete in its description of the atonement than any equivalent passage in the New Testament! No wonder this passage is often called "the Gospel according to Isaiah."

Jesus, in His suffering and death, took upon Himself the punishment due us for our sins. Therefore, forgiveness is given freely to those who turn to God and ask for forgiveness of sins on the basis of Christ's death and resurrection.

The Bible is scientifically accurate! Find the evidence at www.icr.org.  

Steps to salvation: Jesus said "Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)

1. Believe that God created you and loves you and sent the Messiah (Messiah is Hebrew for Christ) to redeem you.
2. Believe that Jesus the Messiah came in fulfillment of over 300 Bible prophecies to die for you to take upon Himself the penalty for your sins. (Isaiah 53:5-6, John 6:29, Romans 4:5, First Peter 3:18)
3. Turn from sin and call on the name of Jesus to receive forgiveness. (Romans 10:13)
4. Receive Jesus as Savior and experience the new birth. (John 1:12, Acts 2:38)
5. Follow Him as Lord. (John 14:21)

"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13)

To receive the salvation that Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:

"Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I am a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen."

If you prayed that prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!

Bill Nugent, Overcomer Ministries of West Harrison, New York, USA

(C) 2010 William P. Nugent, permission granted to email or republish if credit given

DEFENDING THE FAITH APOLOGETIC ARTICLES Bill Nugent currently writes a series of articles called "Defending the Faith" which, as the title suggests, defend the Christian faith from the many attacks leveled against it in our postmodern world. The articles deal with such topics as evolution, UFOs, cults, modern/postmodern philosophy, liberal theology and popular culture. At the end of each article is an invitation to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. These articles are sent out over the Internet to several opt-in email lists. People who receive these articles are encouraged to resend them to their own lists and in this way reach their own unsaved relatives and friends with the Gospel. All Defending the Faith articles are © 2009 William P. Nugent, permission is granted to email or republish if credit given. To receive these articles which are sent out once per month fill in your email address below and click the SUBMIT button. *Security: Write the characters in the image above (Case sensitive)