Confusion can produce all kinds of mistakes; sometimes fatal ones. For those alive in the years following Christ’s resurrection, there was a lot of confusion concerning Jesus. Many had encountered Him during His travels, heard His stories, knew someone He had healed, and so forth, but the picture each person had was limited to their own perspective. Then, at just the right time, the Holy Spirit began moving in the hearts of certain men to write down accounts that would eventually be canonized into holy scripture. Luke described His approach this way:

“…it seemed good to me also…to write to you [Theophilus] an orderly account…” – Luke 1:3 NKJV

Sometimes it feels like our generation is the first one to be confused about Jesus; but that’s simply not true. Over the centuries, there’s been much disbelief, heretical teaching, and outright denial. Pride is nothing knew and false teaching is still happening (even in the information age). When it comes to “faith”, it’s imperative that one’s belief is specifically based on the truth of the Bible.

We live in a time where postmodern thought has influenced much of the teaching within Christian circles; with ideas about Jesus disconnected from the actual biblical text. The problem is that loosely referenced stories, general ideas, and feel-good teaching eventually break down under life’s pressure, or worse, can cause a person to miss the real gospel message altogether.

So, here’s a question, “Is the story of Jesus you believe an “orderly account?” No, not a commentary-style exposition, but “an orderly account”. Yes, it takes more effort to join the phrases “I believe” with “according to the Bible”, but it can have far-reaching effects on our personal faith and those we influence. May our lives communicate a gospel according to the Bible today…