The Importance of the Bible

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)

From this short verse we learn a great deal about Scripture:

It is God breathed.  Sometimes God gave the writers of the Bible the exact words to write. For example, Jeremiah 30:2 says "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you."   Other times he used their minds, experiences, etc to produce His inerrant, infallible, perfect revelation.  He breathed His Word through the writers so that they wrote exactly what God intended to reveal to us.

It is extremely important to understand that while translations of the original text may not perfect, God's revelation to man is perfect without any mixture of error.  If one piece of Scripture if fallible or erroneous, the full Scripture is untrustworthy and useless.

The Bible is God's Word about the Word, that is, it is the revelation of God's ultimate revelation to man.  This essential truth becomes clear when we read John 1:1, which says "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  As we read further in John, it becomes very clear the Word - the Revelation of God - is Jesus Christ.

It is because of this truth that Scripture is the written revelation of Jesus Christ that makes it "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness."  Ephesians 5:1 tells us to "Therefore be imitators of God."  It is Scripture that teaches us what it means to be that imitator of the Most High God and corrects us when we fail to live the holy life we are called to live each day.

Current trends are to downplay the importance of Scripture and to treat it as a suggestion or as an additional tool rather than the ultimate revelation of God and the final authority of our lives.  We have also experienced through history a number of so called spiritual leaders that claim to have additional revelation that is either necessary to understand Scripture or transcends Scripture.  God had made it clear that His Word is the complete and final revelation of Himself to us.

How important is His Word to you?  Before you answer that question, ask yourself how many times have you picked up your Bible this week.  If you don't know His Word, how can you truly know Him to the fullest?