I believe that a person could hear the gospel, become a disciple of Jesus, and then never read any other book but the Bible and that would be enough. This disciple could never read a single theology book. They could never read a single Bible commentary. They could go through their entire life and only read the Bible and that would be enough. The Bible is sufficient. It is the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12) and it speaks for God. We could go through life and never “hear” the voice of God apart from His Word and that would be sufficient. The Bible is enough.
Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:1-3 that we are to be like newborn babies and crave the pure spiritual milk that comes from God’s Word. Jesus said in Matthew 4:4 that we are to live not on bread alone but upon every word that comes from the mouth of God. This word is the Bible. Some have tried to build a case (rather faulty I might argue) that Jesus uses the word rhema here and not the Greek word logos. They argue that the rhema is when God speaks to you personally and that is His Word to you. The logos is the Scriptures. The problem is that is poor Greek. The New Testament uses the words interchangeably. For example, in 1 Peter 1:25 the same two words appear in the same text! If we hold to the above view of Matthew 4:4 then 1 Peter 1:25 is very confusing.
The Bible is sufficient. In it we find all that we need for salvation (John 20:31; 1 John 5:13) and we find everything that we need to know to truly know God (John 14:9; 17:3). The Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is singularly about Jesus. Yes it deals with other issues along the way but the main purpose of the Bible is to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ so that we can be saved through faith in Him. The Bible does this perfectly without any errors whatsoever.
How vital it is then to read the Bible. I was praying today for people who go to church meetings on Sunday but the other six days they live for themselves. I was praying for the Holy Spirit to open their eyes to what it means to be saved and that is know God and obey Him (Matthew 7:21-23; Acts 5:32; Romans 1:5). I begin to pray that the Lord would show them how vital His Word is to our salvation as James 1:21 tells us or even the words of the Lord Jesus in John 8:31-32. How can we claim to know God or His ways when we don’t search for Him in the Scriptures? Psalm 19:7-11 is one of my favorite portions of Scripture as it expounds on the purpose of the Bible and how wonderful God’s Word is. We are to desire the Word more than gold! As Moses said in Deuteronomy 32:46-47, the Word of God is not mere words to us but is our life!
I love to pray. I love to sing unto the Lord. I love to be around other disciples as we share in this grace. But nothing can replace knowing God through His Word. Nothing. The Word in fact feeds my passion to know God and to pray. I love to have my Bible open during prayer so that I can pray back the promises of God. When I pray I will keep my Bible open and I will often flip from verse to verse praying the Scriptures out loud. I believe there is power in the Word of God because the Spirit of God wrote the Bible through people (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21). The Bible is our sword (Ephesians 6:17) to defeat the lies of the enemy and to set captives free (Matthew 28:19-20).
I pray today that you too will have a passion for the faithful Word of God. Don’t let anything or anyone rob you of the joy that comes from reading and studying the Word of God.
© 2011, Matt. All rights reserved.
