What's the Point of the Bible?
NOV 25th 2008 • 2 Comments
I just overheard a recording of a pastor or speaker who commented that "People who use their Bible are far less likely to drink, gamble or view pornography, it's not a gimmick, it's a solution". This is an improper way of looking at the Word of God and taken by itself, it misses the primary point of why we have the Bible I think.
On the surface, the statement may seem innocent enough: reading the Bible helps you to not live an unhealthy lifestyle. But should we be "marketing" the Bible in that way? Should we be telling people that the reason to spend time in the word is so that they can have a cleaner, healthier lifestyle? The word of God was given to us for something far more amazing than that!
The Point
The Bible is given to the world to reveal our condition to us apart from Christ and the cross. To show us our need of Grace. The entire message revolves around the death and resurrection of Jesus! It reveals to us God's sovereignty in all things, and shows us who we would be apart from Him. I try to read the Bible every day, although I'm not always consistent with my reading. But the reason that I do it is not so that I can overcome my personal problems. The reason I do it is so that I can dwell on who Christ is and seek to be transformed by his Holy Spirit into a mirror image of Him. He is the epitome of righteousness, and any good part of me is due to His grace in my life. That's why I want to read and study the Word, so I can better understand the work that He is doing in me. So that I can be reminded of my degenerate and wicked state apart from Him.
Only when we approach the Bible in that way does it have any value. Good, clean and righteous living, if done by our own effort is worth absolutely nothing. We *must* recognize our dependency on the Grace of Christ, or we'll easily be lead toward self righteousness. And those who are self righteous are in a very sad state indeed.
The bible should clearly be used to help us guard against our natural inclinations, but it should be done through the power of God living in us, and not of ourselves.
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
- Ephesians 2: 1-10 (ESV)
posted in: God |
Nick the Geek • Jan 5th 2009 • 7:31 pm
I just found your site while searching for how to do a particular css trick with photos.
I really love that you have these tutorials but also have this really nice looking website. That is so important. It seems like most of the websites I've been to looking at how to do the thing I want to do have terribly generic layouts and don't really take advantage of any of the things they are telling me how to do.
Then I saw you had all these things about God and that was just awesome. I just wanted to give you a bit of encouragement. Keep up the good work.
Dave Joyce • Jan 5th 2009 • 7:44 pm
Thanks for the encouragement Nick =) I appreciate it!