Why Study the Bible?

“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.” ― Oscar Wilde

David Platt says that if we want to know God’s will, we just need to open the Bible. When it comes to studying God’s Word, there are a lot of false ideas that we often attach to it. God has given His Word to us so that we can know about Him and His will. It is His divine revelation. Since its purpose is to help us know Him, we do not look at this book as having secrets or hidden meanings. We can study the book on our own. The truth in its pages are not locked away for only a few to understand. Pastors and teachers are to help us understand it’s meanings and purposes, not reveal new truths.

When we read the Bible, there are correct ways and incorrect ways, and strategies we can use. The Bible was not given for the purpose of fulfilling vain curiosities or secret mysticisms. We cannot pick it up and open to a random verse and guide our lives that way. We may randomly open the Bible to a verse about Judas hanging himself, and then randomly open it to the passage saying “go and do likewise.” Such reading would not be a way of determining God’s will.

Reading the Bible means trying to understand the purpose of the passages. Sometimes they are prescriptive and sometimes they are descriptive. Context is always essential. You do not want to read about David slaying Goliath and think that prescriptive means you need to kill a few philistines. Instead we see it is descriptive of an event and shows us that God, being personified in David, will slay our enemies like sin and deliver us. Additionally, it is helpful to read the Bible in the context of who it was written too. The first audience to read scripture were not Americans in the 21st century. They were people with a different culture, government, and way of life. Being able to see scripture in that light is definitely contributive.

Reading the Bible is not looking into an esoteric work that can only be understood by a few. It is something you can read for yourself, and should. You do not have to know the cultures, but it is helpful to. Likewise, you do not have to have someone teaching you about the Bible to fully understand it, but you will miss out on a lot if you do. That teaching is called discipleship and is how the gospel has been shared since Jesus. We will talk about why it is essential later.

In addition to learning about God, reading our Bibles is one of the primary ways that we can spend time with Him. It is how we are spiritually nourished. We should not leave our pastor to do all of the work. I do not know about you, but I get pretty hungry from skipping just one meal. When we limit our spiritual nourishment to just one Sunday feast, we are starving ourselves for the rest of the week.