How Important Is the Bible Really?

What even is the Bible?

What even is the Bible? Is it just a collection of God’s do’s and don’ts for mankind? Is it just an old book that was written a plethora of generations ago and therefore no longer applies to us? In order to be a Christ follower, do we have to agree on everything the Bible says? Is the Bible as important to the Christian as the Quran is to the Muslim? As the Torah is to the Jew? As the Book of Mormon is to the Mormons? As we begin the month of July, I want to dive into the overall idea of bibliology, that is, the study of the Bible. With the Bible being the source of truth that we learn from each and every Sunday at our church services, I find the most vital question we need to ask ourselves and also be able to answer is, ‘Why is the Bible so important?’. As we will find out from this study, not only do we have clear answers from multiple respected Christian leaders on this topic, but the Bible itself answers this question as well. 

The Bible According to Christians 

Perhaps no one explains the magnitude and weight of the Word of God more than John MacArthur. He notes, “The Bible, the only source of absolute divine authority, will inform you of God’s mind and will for your life. It remains the only source of divine revelation and power that can sustain you as a Christian in your walk with God.” If this statement is true, then the Bible should be the Christian’s best friend! It’s the only source we have to give us authority from God?! And it’s the only source we have to sustain our lives as we strive to follow Christ in this world?! Again, if these statements are accurate, then there is no reason why any Christian (and any theist for that matter) wouldn’t do their absolute best to study and follow all that the scriptures tell them to. Divine authority and revelation from God alone is far vaster than a book of do’s and don’ts that may be outdated or a scroll that was written by a bunch of old guys that thought they knew everything. If this actually is the Word of God, then the words in this book are not limited by time or culture, these words apply to every being who God created for all time. 

To stop myself from going on an apologetic rant on how the Bible fairs in comparison to all other religious books and how historically accurate its texts really are, I want to encourage anyone who is still questioning the reality of the Bible being God’s Word, to read ‘I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist’. I personally just got done reading this book and while this book goes through amazing arguments for the existence of God, it also upholds the reliability of scripture through historical and scientific facts that I believe would benefit anyone who reads it. Back to the topic at hand however, in order to see how important the Bible is, we need to see what the Bible says about itself. Do Christians just submit to the Bible because they have no other book of morals that they can submit to? Or do they actually believe like MacArthur, that this book is divine authority and revelation from God Himself? 

The Bible According to Itself

To answer this in the best possible way, let’s look at 2 Timothy 3:16 “16 All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness;” Based on this text alone, we can see that the entirety of the Bible is inspired by God and beneficial for our everyday lives. And unless we want to argue about whether or not God can lie, then we have to admit that if scripture is inspired by Him, then it is absolutely inerrant and infallible. Meaning, the Word of God is without error and is totally true. As a matter of fact, in case we ever wanted to doubt the timeline or applicatory status of scripture, Isaiah mentions from his own prophecy in 40:8 “8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” God clearly intended for His word to not just be reliable and without error but to be able to stand the test of time as well. 

Now right away the skeptic may be thinking, ‘That’s cool and all, but every religion believes their book is the Word of God, why should I think differently about the Bible? Aren’t they all essentially the same thing?’ To that person, I would greatly warn and encourage them to study these religious books themselves and figure out where they stand based on the conclusion they come to because as we compare and contrast these books, we will find many contradictions between them all which means that it is impossible for them to all be true. The Bible alone warns about this in Revelation 22:18-19 when it states, “18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.” Not only is this unmistakably clear, but these are also among the final words written down in all of scripture. God knew that there would be skeptics and others open to idolatry, and warns us Himself to not add to what is true or take away from what is true because then we would be making it a lie. 

The Bible According to you

I hope and pray that through these passages, through the guidance of Christian leaders, and through the outcomes of your own personal study, you too can conclude that the Bible is of utmost importance to the believer. This is not just a book written to judge people or compare and contrast cultural norms. The Word of God is absolutely authoritative, it withstands the test of time, and it is wholly perfect and without error, in need of no additions or subtractions. That’s a pretty important book if you ask me. 

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Sources

[1] “Access Your Bible from Anywhere.” BibleGateway.Com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 150 Versions and 50 Languages., www.biblegateway.com/. Accessed 2023.

[2] “Why Is It Important for Me to Study the Bible?” Grace to You, 18 Aug. 2016, www.gty.org/library/questions/QA168/why-is-it-important-for-me-to-study-the-bible.