Does the Bible actually contradict itself? It is one of the most common accusations people throw at Scripture, and honestly, most Christians have never been given a straight answer for how to handle it. Pastor Brandon walks Alliance Church Hortonville through exactly what to do when two Bible verses seem to sit in direct tension with each other.

This sermon is part of an August teaching series at Alliance Church on how to actually study the Bible for yourself. Pastor Brandon opens with a bold claim. What looks like a contradiction almost never is. The Bible is 66 books written by around 40 authors over about 1,500 years, and every one of them fits together with a coherence that is honestly a little mind blowing. But there are moments where two truths in the Bible feel like they cannot both be true at the same time. What do you do with that?

He gives a working example that most Christians have felt in their bones. Does God control every single detail of the universe? Yes. Hebrews says Jesus upholds all things by the word of his power. Jesus himself said not a sparrow falls apart from the Father's care. Proverbs even says when you roll the dice, God decides how it lands. And yet the Bible also demands that human beings take real responsibility for their choices. Deuteronomy 30. Joshua 24. Romans. Galatians. If God is truly in control, how are we responsible for anything? And if we are truly responsible, how is God's sovereignty not somehow limited?

Pastor Brandon offers three Bible study don'ts that will change how you read Scripture. One, do not interpret a verse without the rest of the Bible. Two, do not build your theology on one verse. As A.W. Tozer said, nothing less than the whole Bible can make a whole Christian. Three, do not choose sides when Scripture seems to conflict. Hold both truths as true and trust the resolution lives in the mind of God.

Then he walks through Peter's first sermon in Acts 2, where Peter looks at the same crowd that had shouted crucify him just weeks before and tells them the death of Jesus was both handed over by God's deliberate plan and carried out by their wicked hands. Both. At the same time. And into that impossible tension, Peter preaches the gospel and 3,000 people receive the promise of forgiveness that day. The same crowd that crucified Christ became the first great outpouring of the Spirit's work in the early church.

If you have ever wrestled with the Bible feeling contradictory, or if you have ever been afraid that your past disqualifies you from grace, this teaching from Pastor Brandon is for you. There is no crowd God cannot forgive. Including the one you are part of.

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