Why we Need the Bible

Back again for part 2 of a post about the Bible and why it is held high in absolute importance and authority for Christians.

In Part 1, I gave some reasons why the Bible is a reliable historical document. If you haven’t read that post, it might be worth checking back or recapping because this most will piggyback off some of that.

Here is a link to part 1: https://www.morelikechrist.co.uk/post/why-is-the-bible-important

If you’ve already read it or just want a brief recap, here are the main points from before:

• There are many sources, both writers and eyewitnesses to the events of the Bible

• These sources are independent; they are from multiple writers, all with different perspectives on the same historical events.

• The witnesses had nothing to gain by giving their accounts; on the contrary, many died defending them.

• The accounts fit other historical facts and accounts of the day, including writings other than the Bible and from different religions.

• The accounts were created within a lifetime from the actual events. This proximity is unprecedented for other accounts of the same period about other historical figures.

• The sources all stuck to their stories, there were no changes or amendments at a later date, remarkable given the oppression that the New Testament writers endured for teaching about Jesus and his life and teaching.

So, we have 6 reasons all added together giving us a fairly weighty argument for the reliability of the historical account of Jesus, his followers and the life of the early Christian church; but what does this mean?

It is at this point that I would encourage you to go and read a couple of the books; if we’re sticking to the historical argument here, perhaps start with the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, books three and five of the New Testament. This will give you an account of Jesus’ life and the beginning of the Christian Church, written by a man who was a Greek (not a Jew, like Jesus and his followers) who had intimate conversation with St Paul, the man given the task of taking the message of Jesus to the non-Jewish world.

Okay, so you’ve either read the passages or are ready to go on with my line of thought; bear in mind we have established the reliability of the Gospels. Looking at the reliability of the New Testament, you could say “fair enough” to that, but here is where it gets interesting because I openly admit that the Bible is not the easiest read. Once we have some of the actual teachings of Jesus, we are presented with a decision to make, we cannot agree with some and not all of these teachings if Jesus is who he says he is. More on this in a sec.

Let me first give you a few details and teachings from the New Testament for you to think about:

• Jesus was born to a mother who had never had sex. (Mary the Virgin, Luke 1:34, Matthew 1:23; )

• Jesus’s birth, and huge amounts of his life were predicted hundreds of years before. (see especially Isaiah 7:14–15, and Micah 5:2; Isaiah 42:1–4; Psalm 22:16–18)

• Jesus performed numerous acts of power in miracles (John 2:1–11), healing (Luke 9:37–43 and many more), knowing others’ thoughts (Matthew 9:4–8) and even raising people from the dead (John 12:38–44)

• Jesus did not sin. (1 Peter 2:22; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1 John 3:5;

• Jesus predicted his death and resurrection more than once. (Luke 9:21–22; 9:43–45; Mark 10:44; and more)

• Jesus claimed to be and was recognised to be God. (John 1:1–18; 8:58; 14:9; Mark 2:28; Matthew 16:15–17; Luke 22:67–71)*

• Jesus taught us to love one another, but he also taught us that if we do not turn away from our sins and follow his teaching and ways, we will find our way to hell. (Matthew 13:30, 42; 13:47–50; Luke 13:3; John 15:6, Matthew 7:21–23, and so on)

• Jesus died, willingly. (John 19:30–37; Luke 23:46; Mark 15:37–39; Matthew 27:50)

• Jesus was buried in the tomb of a rich religious official and on the third day rose from the dead, fulfilling both his own and others’ predictions. (Matthew 28:1–10; Mark 16:1–8; Luke 24; John 20)

• Jesus was taken up to heaven and did not die (John 3:13; Acts 1:9–11; Luke 24:50–51; Ephesians 4:8–9)

* “Son of Man” is in reference to Daniel 7 where Daniel sees a vision of one that looks like a Son of Man (Dan 7:13), who is God.

Wow.

So Jesus, who was born to a virgin mother by the power of God the Holy Spirit, who performed many wonderous miracles, predicted his death and subsequent resurrection whilst claiming to be God, was correct in these predictions and was vindicated in all the things he did and said when he was raised back to life.

Humankind	Jesus
​We are born by Man	Jesus was born by God
We are created	Jesus is eternally God
We can do nothing else but rebel against God	Jesus lived a human life not once doing anything against God’s standards
We are imperfect and separated from God	Jesus was perfect, and in constant unity with the Father
The result of our sin is eventual death and righteous punishment for rebelling against God	The result of sinless life is eternity with God
All people are condemned, unable to repay a debt we owe	Jesus had no debt to pay, and was wholly innocent

Without the Bible, we cannot know how to return to a right relationship with God, and how to be rescued from the path to destruction that all humanity is set for. Thankfully, God has revealed to us through the Bible how to fix these two problems.

God, in his glory, mercy and perfect love for himself and his creation, took on the form of a human man, and in his humanity, lived a perfectly sinless life in total polar opposition to all other men and women to have ever lived. Let me be clear that Jesus was both 100% human and 100% God.

Though completely undeserved, Jesus died and bore the debt that we cannot pay. The eternal debt of sin against an infinitely good and righteous God could only be paid by an infinitely righteous man, who himself was God.

The only thing required of us is to respond to this truth in faith and thanksgiving. This is not something that we have earned, it is a gracious gift of God to be accepted (Ephesians 2:8–9).

This is what the Bible teaches. The writings before Jesus look forward in anticipation to Jesus, and the writings after Jesus look back and inform us how to live in the light of this glorious truth. We are also given insight into big questions like, "How did we get here?", "What is my purpose?", "What happens when I die?", "Why is there evil in the world?"

The Decision

If the Bible is true, and Jesus is who he claims to be and taught what he did, the response I mentioned above is one of two options:

1. I accept this truth, and in light of the sacrifice of Jesus to pay the debt that I could never pay, I submit my life to him and turn away from my old life where I could do nothing but sin.

2. I do not accept this as truth and the gift of grace; I want to carry on my life as I think best.

If you’ve read this far and are considering this decision with openness, I applaud the journey you are on, and I hope this post has given you some good food for thought. If you’re in this category, whether you think option 1 or 2 is for you, I would love to chat with you! If you have my contact details, send me a massage. If not, please feel free to enter a contact form on my homepage, and I will get back to you.

Purpose of the Bible

Above all, the Bible glorifies God, and as we read it, we are reminded of God's absolute transcendence and holiness (set apart or other-ness). God is perfect in all his ways and attributes and is not the same as us. There are, however, ways in which we are similar to God; we are given some of his attributes and the ability to make moral decisions so that we have the ability to be in relationship with him. God is transcendent and holy but also wants intimate relationships with his creatures because he loves us.

God reveals himself to humanity through the Bible, with more than enough information for us. to study a lifetime and still not fully know him. The Bible is perfect in its original languages and shows us what God is like so that we can live lives in service and worship of him.

The Bible cannot be reduced to just moral teaching or history because it must all be believed, or none of it.

Either this man [Jesus] was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

C.S. Lewis - Mere Christianity

Jesus and many other writers affirm the Bible and the very words of God. If the Bible is the word of God, totally true and without any error, it holds authority over our life. It is a truth that comes from God and not from any person.

I realise that a universal and independent truth is difficult for some to grasp, especially when that truth sits against the general flow of culture and society, but this is not something we can negotiate with.

In fact, universal truth is something we can be thankful for and draw great strength and joy from because we know that it is a firm foundation (Psalm 62:7), something other than ourselves, unchanging and forever established before creation began. (Psalm 119:160; John 17:17)

A brilliant piece of the Bible that sums up the worth of the Bible can be found in Paul’s second letter to his apprentice Timothy in chapter three, verses sixteen and seventeen.

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 complete, equipped for every good work.

Let’s briefly have a look at what these mean for us.

Teaching

The Bible is there for us to learn about God. The Bible presents all we would ever need in terms of standards and ways of life so that we can be “complete” and “equipped for every good work” (Emphasis mine)

Reproof

This word is sometimes translated from Greek as “rebuking,” but the sentiment remains the same; it is about showing us the things we do wrong and how to fix that and turn us back to the right and proper ways.

Correction

Similarly to reproof, correction is about changing our way of thinking to conform more to God’s ways than the way of the world, which is the word the Bible uses to describe our “natural” desire to rebel against God.

Training in Righteousness

Training goes hand in hand with discipline. We will never get anywhere in life without good discipline. Anyone can relate to this. Generally, people are more successful if they practice, build good routines, and ensure that we safeguard against bad habits and temptations. God's righteousness helps us build good routines and discipline when it comes to how he wants us to live. This could include reading God’s words regularly, communicating with God frequently, and joining with other Christians to give God glory and praise.

The Bible also teaches us how to handle bad things in life, loss, trials, other people’s mistreatment of us, general worldly evil and how to love others effectively, especially those who are hard to love.

The Bible, when we read it, gives us great joy; we gain peace that we receive from God, which sits above our circumstances. God is above and in control of all things and all people; this gives us great hope and assurance that there are things beyond our control and that God, in his perfect wisdom and knowledge, is working all things together for good for those who love him and are called, according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

The Bible is a treasure trove. It will never be exhausted in the knowledge and wisdom it holds and tells us about God. There is so much more that I could have written in this post, and perhaps one day I’ll do another, but for now, I hope this message has spoken to your heart and soul. The Bible is truly in a category of its own in terms of truth and authority in the lives of all people. No other book makes the claims that the Bible does or holds such internal consistency. Therefore the Bible is so important to Christians.