The Indispensable Role of the Bible

What would the world look like without the Bible?  In this episode, we explore the reality of why Scripture is indispensable in a believer's life. We examine how general revelation through nature and moral law points us to God, supported by powerful insights from Psalms and Romans. Don’t’ miss this episode!!!

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Welcome to Faithfully Living, the Podcast, where we learn how to live for Christ in our daily lives. I am Dwan, your host, and I would like to invite you on a journey with me to explore and learn how to be a faithful follower of Christ. Hey everyone, welcome to Faithfully Living, the Podcast, where we encourage you to strive to live for Christ faithfully by offering guidance on how to study the Bible, how to understand the Bible better and how to remain faithful to historic Christianity in a contemporary society. So why do we need the Bible as believers? Do we really need it? What would the world be like if we didn't have a Bible? In today's episode, we're going to be talking about the necessity of Scripture. A Bible that's fallen apart usually belongs to someone who isn't Charles Hatton Spurgeon. All right, so I posed this question earlier. What would the world be like if we didn't have a Bible? What if God had chosen not to give us his written word? Now, if we didn't have a Bible, I think God would have given us a way to know him. Before we get into the doctrine of the necessity of scripture, let's look at some ways we can know God without the Bible. So one would be knowing God through general revelation and then God's character and his moral law. So God has revealed certain things through general revelation. General revelation is the knowledge god is given to people, apart from scripture, usually is due observing nature, the innocence of god's existence and our understanding of god's moral requirements. And our understanding of God's moral requirements, psalms 19.1 says and we know that God exists through creation, the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky proclaims his handiwork. Romans 1.18-20 says and people know something about God's character and moral law, and it said Romans says that. And moral law. And it said romans says that, for the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. But what can be known about god is plain to them because god has shown it to them, for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. So it tells us in Romans that God has given every person this general revelation, whether they want to acknowledge it or not.

Speaker 1: 3:11

The Word of God, well understood and religiously obeyed, is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. We must not select a few passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian, aw Tozer. So God did not just give us general revelation for us to know him, he gave us his written word. So let's define the necessity of scripture. And this is going to be from Wayne Grudem's systematic theology. He says the necessity of scripture means that the bible is necessary for knowing the gospel, for maintaining spiritual life and for knowing God's will. But it's not necessary for knowing God God exists or for knowing something about God's character and moral law. So let's kind of take this definition apart to see why scripture is necessary.

Speaker 1: 4:14

So first, gudum, in his definition, says the Bible is necessary for knowing the gospel. Paul tells us in Romans. Paul tells us in Romans, and that's in Romans 10, 13 through 14. And he also says in Romans 10, 17,. And faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. So saving faith comes by hearing the gospel message, and this gospel message comes through the proclamation of Christ from God's word. We can read the gospel message in the Bible and it reminds us and tells us of the saving work of Christ.

Speaker 1: 5:07

Next is scripture is necessary for living and maintaining a holy and spiritual life. So during his temptation in the wilderness, jesus told the devil it is written man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God, and that's Matthew 4.4. So the Bible is to be a source of daily nourishment for believers. It instructs us how to live a life that is pleasing to God. So that's why it's important for us to at least try to dig into God's word or read God's word every day. So, from the greatest commandment of loving God and loving others to the 10 commandments on how to love God and others, the Bible has much to say about how we are to live as follows, for Christ right, and then also scripture is necessary for knowing God's word, and I think this is something that we all struggle with, with knowing God's word for our lives. But there there's an overarching will that all believers are called to. And I'm not talking about just like your individual, you know niche of where you're to serve God, like whether that is to be, you know, a doctor, or to be electrician, to be a carpenter, to be a missionary. We're just talking about the overarching will for believers.

Speaker 1: 6:37

The Bible provides us with a clear statement about God's will In Deuteronomy 29, 29, it says the secret things belong to the Lord, to the Lord, our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever. That we may do all the words of his law. Psalms 119.1 states To be blameless in God's sight is to walk in the law of the Lord. Psalms 1.1-2 says who does not follow the will of wicked people but delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night. We also have to love God, is acting in a way that's pleasing to him, and to keep his commandments. 1 John 5, 3. So you can see some of the scriptures that tells us God's will. For us, as a believer, it's multifaceted because the Bible is our guidebook. So God's will for us is to know his law, to be blameless, to love him first and then to love others. The Bible will keep you from sin. Our sin will keep you from the Bible. Dwight L Moody.

Speaker 1: 7:58

Alright, so we looked in detail about the definition that Wayne Goodham gave about the necessity of Scripture. So let's look at some more reasons why the bible is our and should be necessary and indispensable in our lives. First, I just want to say that we all know that the world is overflowing with opinions, ideologies and philosophies and the bible is to be our anchor, to hold us steadfast to a standard, and it's going to. It needs to be our, our guide and our light as we we live in, we live in this world. So, first off, the bible is an immutable truth, it's unchanging truth. It's it's not merely a collection of ancient texts, but it is a reservoir of unchanging truth. Its word has resonated throughout the ages, providing wisdom, guidance and then comfort for those who seek comfort, for those who seek comfort. And you know the world is always going to be shifting back and forth on various opinions, but the Bible is one thing that stands firm. It stands true because it's God's divine revelation to us. And then that kind of leads us into the Bible, is a lamp for us, our feet, to guide us on this path called life.

Speaker 1: 9:49

So when we are confused, we have doubts, answers for our answers. But we also can find courage through the lives of the people that are illustrated and narrated in the Bible. Also, the Bible can be a mirror to our souls. Even though we have fears and doubts, it can help, steer us to be in right relationship with God. It helps us to be introspective, looking at the things that the Bible offers us, and not for us just to go on how we feel even though we should acknowledge how we feel but also place that acknowledgement into faith and trust in the God of the Bible. And then that also leads us to understanding the character of God. When we have fears, doubts and we despair, if we can lean on the character of God, we know that he's a creator, redeemer, he sustains us.

Speaker 1: 10:58

And when we read through the Bible, the Old Testament and the New Testament, those narratives bear witness to his unchanging love, his unfailing mercy, his justice and then fulfillment of his promises. And then fulfillment of his promises, especially the Old Testament reveals to us that Jesus Christ is coming. And we see in the New Testament that Jesus came and fulfilled the prophecies and the promise that God had promised Adam long ago. So we see that Christ is a fulfillment of that promise. So we see that Christ is a fulfillment of that promise. And then we read about God's grace and love through Christ, through his teachings, and how he came to die for us, to save us of our sins, to help us realize what love is, is and how that we can be more like him and living our lives to be more like Christ.

Speaker 1: 12:01

The Bible gives us a lot to think about, but it also gives us a call to action, like I said that probably in another episode that we not only need to read and study the bible, but the bible also calls us to act, to live in a certain way, to believe certain truths because they are true there. The bible has timeless principles and it challenges us, you know, not only to love our neighbors, but it also calls us to love our enemies, that to show mercy, to walk humble, to repent of our sins, to lay down our lives, to be strong in the midst of a world that tells us lies, and for us to remain true and steadfast even in the midst of those struggles. You can see that the Bible is our source of truth. It's going to guide us, it's going to inspire us as we seek to know more about God and to find wisdom in his words. So, as we journey through life, it's important for us to hold fast to the teachings of the Bible, to allow it to shape our minds, mold our hearts, transform our lives, that we may bring glory to God and to worship and honor him through the things that we do, to worship and honor him through the things that we do.

Speaker 1: 13:38

Nobody ever outgrows scripture. The book widens and deepens with our years, charles Hattensburg, all right. So during this episode we have learned that the Bible should be an important part of our lives because it's necessary for us, as believers, to be more like Christ, to know God in his character and to know his word that he has given to us. So you know, from the start of our life in Christ, when we yielded our life to him, to the living of our lives, lives and to the future that we anticipate, we know that we need God's word. It's necessary for us to live a life that's pleasing and honoring him. So I hope this episode was helpful and you learned why we, as believers, need the Bible. So until next time, remember God is always good and he's always faithful. Thank you for listening to the podcast. Do me a favor by following the podcast and leaving a review to help spread the word. I look forward to hearing from you.