Chapter 4
WHY READ THE BIBLE?
Before we begin this study, let us pray,
Dear Heavenly Father,
I come before You, in Jesus Christ’s Holy Name, to ask You to please open my eyes to see the things of Your Kingdom and to open my ears so I can truly hear from You. Lord, I also ask that You would take away my doubts and fears and increase my faith in You.
Amen
In the previous chapter we saw that the Bible is the Word of God. By way of review let us read what Peter wrote in his second letter concerning the true author of the Scriptures,
2 Peter 1:20-21
"[20] Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. [21] For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
Let us notice the following verse,
21 … in other words it was not the prophet who was speaking or writing the Scripture but the Holy Spirit working through the prophet.
As another confirmation to the fact that the Bible is the Word of God, let us read what Paul wrote to the church in Galatia relative to where he received the Gospel that he was preaching.
Galatians 1:11-12
"[11] I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. [12] I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ."
Pretty clear isn’t it? However, just so there is no doubt in our minds with respect to the authorship of the writings and preaching of Paul, let us explore the question of, "What did Paul mean, in verse 12, when he said that he received it by revelation?"
The answer to this question comes to us by reading what Ananias said to Paul after Paul received his sight. By way of background, Paul, before he became a Christian and an apostle of Jesus Christ was extremely zealous for the Jewish faith. During this time of Paul's life he believed that the Christian faith was a false religion and was leading his fellows Jews astray. As a result, Paul was known for his efforts to remove the Christians from the Jewish community. While on his way to Damascus to further arrest and persecute Christians, Paul was visited by the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result of this meeting Paul became a born again believer, that is a true Christian. However, during this visitation by Jesus, the light was so intense that Paul was blinded. To restore Paul's sight and to commission him as an apostle, God sent Paul to a believer named Ananias. With this background let us now read what Ananias prophesied to the Apostle Paul,
Acts 22:12-15
""[12] A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. [13] He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I was able to see him. [14] "Then he said: 'The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. [15] You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard."
Let us notice the following verses,
13 … It is noted that Paul was also called Saul.
14 … he (Paul) was chosen to see Jesus and hear words from His mouth.
15 … Paul was appointed to bear witness to what he saw and heard. As we read his letters we find that he was faithful to this call.
What is especially significant about Paul's visitation by our Lord Jesus Christ is that the time of the visitation was after Jesus had already been crucified, resurrected and ascended into Heaven.
Given that the Bible is God’s Word, let us now address the topic of this chapter, which is: "Why read the Bible?"
In reflecting upon this question, we must realize that when the time of judgement comes for you and I we will not have a priest, or minister, or our mother, or father, or anyone other than the Lord Jesus Christ to speak on our behalf to God the Father. At that time what possible reason could we give for not reading the book that He, through His servants, so painstakingly gave us to read?
However, the most important reason for reading His Word, the Bible, is so that we can be led into a personal and saving relationship with Jesus Christ. In other words, by prayerfully reading the Bible and earnestly desiring to hear what God has to say we are brought to Jesus Christ. God the Father does this so that we can be set free from the penalty and power of our sins and enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. To see this we will briefly explore the following three characteristics of the Bible,
GOD'S WORD IS TRUTH
To see that the Bible, that is the Scriptures, is truth, we begin our study in the Old Testament. To do this let us read what God's Heavenly Messenger once said to Daniel. The reason for reading these verses is not to explore all what the Messenger said to Daniel but to see how the Messenger described the Scriptures. With this in mind, let us now read from,
Daniel 10:20-21
"[20] So he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; [21] but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince."
Let us notice the following verse,
21 … the messenger from Heaven tells Daniel what is written in the "Book of Truth" or as translated in the New King James version of the Bible as "Scripture of Truth." In other words, the Messenger was bearing witness to the fact that the Scriptures in the Old Testament days of Daniel was truth.
Moving on to the New Testament we find that even the Pharisees, a powerful Jewish religious sect, and their disciples recognized that Jesus spoke the truth. In fact, they knew that He would speak the truth no matter who was listening. Knowing this the Pharisees attempted to trap Jesus in His own Words. To see this, let us read how they addressed Jesus when questioning Him about paying taxes to Caesar.
Matthew 22:15-16
"[15] Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. [16] They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are."
Since the New Testament records what Jesus said and did, then It too is truth.
Given that God’s Word is Truth, let us now consider some of the benefits derived from reading it. First of all we find that being truth, God’s Word is a reality, a fact and is never to change. To see this, let us take the example given to us in the Old Testament where the prophet Balaam tells Balak, the king of Moab, about God’s protection over Israel. This incident between Balaam and Balak occurred during the time of Israel’s exodus out of Egypt. On their journey they came to the land of Moab. Balak, king of Moab, the son of Zippor, seeing the vast multitude of Israel became terrified of all the people and was afraid that they would over run his kingdom. Consequently, Balak sent his servants to hire Balaam to prophesy a curse over Israel. However, what Balak did not know was that Israel was under God's protection and blessing.
The Scripture tells us that Balaam was a corrupt prophet who desired riches and to be in good fellowship with the king. Consequently Balaam wanted to please the king and pronounce a curse upon Israel. However, God would not let this happen and insured that Balaam would only pronounce blessings over Israel. To see this let us read the beginning of Balaam’s second oracle over the nation Israel. Notice Balaam begins God’s oracle by speaking the following words to Balak .
Numbers 23:18-19
"[18] Then he uttered his oracle: "Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me, son of Zippor. [19] God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?"
(From this point we read the blessing pronounced by Balaam over Israel, which by the way was exactly what the king did not want to happen.)
The point for this study is to note that no matter the situation or the plans of man, God will do what He says. In this case, God had blessed Israel and no matter what a king and his prophet desires He will not go back on his Word. The message to us is that you can trust and rely upon God to do what ever He says. Thus, it will be of great benefit to us to know and prayerfully study His Word.
Another benefit to God's Word being truth is that His Word is eternal, that is it does not change with time. This is given to us by reading what Jesus said to His disciples as He was teaching them about the signs of the end of the age.
Matthew 24:35
"[35] Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.""
In this age of relative truths, sliding morals and flexible ethics, it is of great value and comfort to read a book whose Author’s values, ethics and promises does not and will not change with time or culture.
Since this is the case we also find that God’s Word is a measure or plumb bob and it judges our thoughts and attitudes. To see this, let us read from,
Hebrews 4:12-13
"[12] For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. [13] Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."
Since God’s Word cuts right through our exterior masks and speaks directly to the very issues of our heart, we find that it is to be used for teaching, correction and reproof. This is provided to us in one of the statements that Paul made in his letter of instruction to Timothy.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
"[16] All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, [17] so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
But most importantly we find that being truth, God’s Word leads us to Jesus Christ. As we read God’s Word with all His statutes, judgments and commands we become convicted of our sins, the unholy attitudes of our heart and how far we have strayed from Him. In fact this is precisely what the Bible teaches us in,
Romans 3:19-20
"[19] Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. [20] Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin."
In addition we find that because of our sins and disobedience we can expect to reap the wrath of God. We find this in,
Colossians 3:6
"[6] Because of these, the wrath of God is coming."
Once convicted of our sins and with the expectation of facing eternal damnation, we find ourselves looking for help, looking for forgiveness and wanting to change our hearts and desires and become right with God. The great news is that as we continue to read God’s Word we also find that Jesus Christ came to this earth to do all these things for us. To see this let us read from,
Colossians 1:13-14
"[13] For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, [14] in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
Let us notice the following verses,
13 … in other words He has rescued us from the power of sin.
14 … In Jesus Christ we have forgiveness of our sins and have been redeemed, that is returned to God.
Thus, we find that our loving Father uses His Word, the Bible, to show us our ills and weaknesses. He does this so that, through His Word, He can teach and lead us to His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to heal us.
GOD'S WORD IS LIFE
To begin with let us remember that when we read about the creation in Chapter 2 of this book we found that God actually spoke the world into existence. To refresh our memories let us read several excerpts from the book of Genesis,
Genesis 1:3
"[3] And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light."
And now let us read from,
Genesis 1:6
"[6] And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.""
Genesis 1:9
"[9] And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so."
Genesis 1:11
"[11] Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds."
Genesis 1:20
"[20] And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."
Genesis 1:24
"[24] And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.""
Notice that in all the above God spoke or commanded the universe and life into existence. In fact this truth is beautifully summarized in,
Hebrews 11:3
"[3] By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible."
In addition to God speaking or commanding the universe along with all life into existence, we also find that His Word is our life. To see this let us read what Moses said to the nation of Israel to encourage them to remain true to God after he (Moses) will die.
Deuteronomy 8:1-3
"[1] Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. [2] Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. [3] He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."
Let us notice the following verse,
3 … man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
As we reflect upon the above, we must be very careful to not erroneously believe that the Scriptures themselves provide life. We must never forget that the Scriptures are not the source of life, they are intended to be the means by which we are led to the life giver Himself … Jesus Christ.
To see this, let us read what Jesus said to Martha just before He raised her brother, Lazarus, to life after being dead in a tomb for four days.
John 11:25-26
"[25] Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; [26] and whoever lives and believes in me will never die…""
Let us notice the following verses,
25(a) … Jesus is the resurrection and the life…namely it is He who gives life!
25(b) … In other words, if ones dies believing in Jesus Christ he will be resurrected and possess eternal life, that is will live with Him forever.
26 … If Jesus returns to earth before we die, those who believe in Him will be transformed to possess eternal life, that is will not pass through death.
Given that we want to live forever with Jesus Christ in Heaven and not be cast into the lake of fire, that is eternal death or God’s wrath, we find again that God’s Word leads us to Jesus Christ. To see this let us read the following correction that Jesus gave to the Jews who were trying to discredit Him.
John 5:39-40
"[39] You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, [40] yet you refuse to come to me to have life."
In other words what Jesus is teaching us is that we can know a lot about God and His ways, but unless we come to Him (Jesus Christ) that is give Him our heart, soul and mind, we have not yet received the forgiveness and eternal life that we long for. As we will see at the end of this chapter, we come to Jesus by: (1) recognizing that He is Lord over all creation, (2) believing that Jesus died and physically rose from the dead to save you from your sins, (3) by opening our heart and giving Him (Jesus) first priority in our lives; in other words, we confess to Him that we have sinned and now want to follow His ways in every facet of our lives. When we make this commitment, we can expect to be what is called "born again", see Chapters 9, 10, and 11. However, for now let us continue with, "Why read the Bible?"
GOD'S WORD IS THE WAY TO SALVATION
We begin this last portion of our study by reading the following Scripture that Paul wrote to the Romans.
Romans 1:16-17
"[16] I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. [17] For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith.""
Let us notice the following verses,
16 … the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of those who believe, that is our salvation from the fires of hell to eternal life with God in Heaven.
17 … notice the righteousness that comes to us from God comes by faith.
Since faith is such a critical element for our salvation let us explore the question of, "What is this faith that we are to live by?" To find out, let us begin by reading the following word of encouragement that Paul gave Timothy in,
2 Timothy 3:14-15
"[14] But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, [15] and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."
Let us notice the following verses,
14 … In other words Paul is telling Timothy to not give up and continue in what he (Timothy) learned.
15 … Here we discover that from his youth Timothy was schooled in the Scriptures. Hence, the Holy Spirit through Paul reminds him of this fact and tells him that it is these very Scriptures that makes one wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
For us to have a better understanding of what the Scriptures mean when They instruct us to have faith in Jesus Christ we will find that they teach us to,
Jesus Christ Is Lord
Since this topic is covered in much more depth in chapter 5, we will only read the portion of the letter Paul wrote to the church in Colossae that describes Jesus’ Lordship and what it implies,
Colossians 1:15-18
"[15] He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. [16] For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. [17] He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. [18] And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy."
Jesus Saved Us From Our Sins
Once we understand and believe in who Jesus is, the Bible then teaches us that we must recognize and by faith believe in what He accomplished for us. Namely, through His death and resurrection, He reconciled us to God, the Father. Since this topic is covered in much more depth in Chapters 6 and 7; we will limit our reading here to the book of Colossians from where Paul summarizes this reconciliation,
Colossians 1:19-23
"[19] For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, [20] and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. [21] Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. [22] But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-- [23] if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant."
Let us notice the following verses,
20 … through blood Jesus shed, during His crucifixion, all things have been reconciled.
21 … my evil behavior, that is my sin, alienated me from God. Perhaps put another way, my sins severed my relationship with God. In fact the Bible teaches us that without receiving God’s forgiveness I am under His wrath and destined for the Lake of Fire. However, what we do find in the next verse, that is verse 22, is that Jesus Christ saved me.
22 … through Jesus we are presented to God the Father as holy, without blemish and free from accusation. In other words because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross we are forgiven!
23 … However, please notice the condition to these blessings; namely, if we continue in our faith and not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.
We Are To Ask Jesus To Save Us
Finally, the Bible instructs us that we must exercise this faith and belief and in prayer we must call upon Jesus Christ and trust Him to save us. In other words we are reminded again that just knowing these things does not save us from eternal death, that is the lake of fire. We must act upon our knowledge and in faith call out to Jesus Christ to save us. To see this, let us read from,
Romans 10:13
"[13] for, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.""
CONCLUSION
In reflecting upon all what we have read, we come to understand that God’s Word provides us "Truth", "Life", and the "Way to Salvation" because It leads us to Jesus Christ, who is the "WAY", the "TRUTH" and the "LIFE"
To see that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life let us read what He said to Thomas and the rest of the disciples to prepare them for His upcoming death and resurrection.
John 14:6
"[6] Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.""
Notice how this verse illustrates the unity between God and His Word! Awesome isn't it?
Before we close this study, let us expand a bit on what Jesus meant when He said, "No one comes to the Father except through Me." Basically, He is telling us that only He can save us from the penalty of our sins. Let us recall that earlier in this chapter we noted that when we stand before God the Father, only Jesus Christ will be there to speak on our behalf. At that time of judgement if we have placed our faith in Him while we are living here upon this earth, then Jesus will say to God the Father that we are His and can enter into the Heavenly Kingdom. On the other hand, the Bible teaches us that if we do not place our faith in Jesus while we are living here upon this earth, then at the day of judgment Jesus will say to God the Father that He never knew us and we will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. This is why the Apostle Peter spoke the following words to the rulers and elders of Israel,
Acts 4:12
"[12] Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
Given the seriousness of all this, please be sure that your are His and are saved. You can do this by recalling what we have covered and be sure that:
It is noted that this subject of, "How do I know that I am saved, that is born again?" is addressed in more depth in Chapter 14.
Let us now close this study by reading the following,
Psalm 19:7-11
"[7] The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. [8] The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. [9] The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. [10] They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. [11] By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward."
Blessed be the Lord forever!
AMEN and AMEN