Coherence is an important word and idea. It denotes the degree to which something holds together. Is something logical? Does it hold together? Is it internally consistent? Does it correspond to the way things actually are? For example, if I say, “It’s sunny today in Atlanta,” but then you open your door and look outside and there’s a thunderstorm, the sky is darkened by ominous clouds, and there’s nothing but rain as far as you can see, well, then my statement does not cohere. It does not accurately reflect the way things are in reality. It does not correspond to reality.

Coherence is one of the tests for the trustworthiness of Scripture. God is holy; God cannot, therefore, lie. When God speaks, his Word is true. So when God said that all men everywhere are to repent and flee to the gospel of Christ Jesus to escape holy judgment, that word from God is true: “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man [Jesus] whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31). 

God’s Word coheres. It holds together. It accurately expresses the way God is, the way we creatures are, and the way the world is. God does not say one thing and do another. He is internally consistent. His nature, his Word, and his covenants are trustworthy. This is why the resurrection of Jesus from the dead welcomes investigation. No one has produced the body of Jesus, and no one will, until God’s promise is fulfilled. You can count on Christianity, dear ones, because God is coherent. And in an age that is as intellectually vapid as our day, coherence is a beautiful treasure.