Why We Need The Bible

The Bible in its natural habitat (?) - joke

The Bible is an old book. I get that. But what is the Bible? What's the point?

Is the Bible just another book written by men, telling us in some way their views of God and life? Is the Bible an archaic threat to progress and modern society?

We've all probably interacted with the Bible in some way. For most, it may have been the big, dusty book on the bookshelf. Perhaps we busted it out on special occasions. We heard from it in church services, and we know some of the key stories. We remember some of the teachings of Jesus. 

Here is some research from Barna on our interaction with the Bible (6 year study):

If you're like me, often you've interpreted the Bible through its believers -- you actually learn about the book from the way Christians cite it and live it out. Or if you're like I was, when I was a skeptic, you've interpreted the Bible based on what others have cited or told you about it, as they make their case against it. 

We all have some interaction with the Bible. It is my aim with this post to argue briefly that we actually need the Bible.

We need the Bible. In doctrinal mumbo jumbo, we call this doctrine "The Necessity of Scripture." Did you know there are multiple doctrines in the Christian faith, simply regarding the Bible? Allow me to do a quick flyover of the Doctrine of the Word of God. 

1. The Doctrine of the Word of God:

a. The Doctrine of Inerrancy - all the words, facts, and historical data in the Bible are true. 

What this is? The Bible, in all it affirms, does not lie or have error, but is true. We can rely on, and trust the Bible to be God's words. We can rely and trust that God has provided truthful words, because God cannot lie, and God is a good provider

What this is not? The Bible is always to be interpreted literally, and the Bible speaks about every question and life situation.  The Bible is true. However, the Bible does not speak exhaustively about every thing in human life. The Bible does actually give us a unique window into the human heart, mind, and psyche. However, the Bible isn't a science book, a research book, or a history book. The Bible is not exhaustive on specific topics. The Bible contains elements of all of those things, and in all of those things it speaks the truth. 

One sentence definition: God has provided us the Bible which is entirely truthful in all it affirms, therefore we can trust it, rely on it, and base our lives upon it. 

b. The Doctrine of Authority - The Bible is God's Word, which means it has authority to tell us what to obey and believe. 

What this is? The Bible is our Creator God speaking to us. God, as Creator, has a sovereign and kingly right over our lives. Authority is about rule and power to enforce. God as Creator, has authority. God delegates that authority to the Scriptures, to the Bible. The Bible, therefore, comes to us in the authority of God. To disbelieve or disobey the Bible is to disbelieve or disobey God, because the Bible is our Creator God speaking to us about belief and obedience. God has authority, God gives the words of the Bible their authority. 

What this is not? We give people, books, and things authority in all kinds of ways. Sometimes, those people are not worthy of being ascribed authority. Authority is very subjective in all kinds of ways. In our post-modern era, even leading experts in fields such as medicine, nutrition, and science are not given proper authority despite their expertise. We may esteem ourselves to their authority by dismissing their findings, because we see it differently and have read some alternative views. 

One sentence definition: The Bible has God-given authority, because it is God's true words to his creation, whether we acknowledge that authority or not, the Bible is authoritative. 

c. The Doctrine of Clarity - "The Bible is a plain book." - Charles Hodge

What this is? The Bible frequently affirms that it is a book written plainly, to be easily understood by the common person, who is seeking to read in faith. The Bible comes alive to those who seek to read it in faith, and the Bible is written in such a way that people can understand it. We don't all need to be Biblical scholars, or to have gone to years of seminary to be qualified and capable Bible readers. We simply need faith, persistence, and our mind. God gives us plain, clear, easy to understand words in our language. 

What this is not? This does not mean that every passage of the Bible will make immediate sense to us. Jesus himself spoke in parables. The Bible comes alive, but there are difficult and hard things to understand. We need help with many passages, and remarkably the Bible helps us interpret the Bible. The Bible is plain and clear, but it is also deep and challenging. The Bible can give us simple, beautiful truths, and it can also be a deep ocean of study and instruction. 

d. The Doctrine of Necessity - The Bible is necessary for saving faith through knowing the gospel, for living and maintaining a spiritual life, and for knowing God's will. 

What this is? The Bible is our Creator God speaking to us in language we can understand about the lives we lead in the world we live in. The Bible is needed for us to know our Creator God, to learn about our Savior Jesus, and to live a life of Spirit-led obedience that glorifies God. The Bible is an oasis in the desert of this world, breathing life into our souls and telling us about who we are and who God is. 

What this is not? This is not a decree that we only read the Bible. We can read other books. There are multitudes of other great resources for knowing more about God, but it is in the Bible where we get God's word to us directly, and the Bible helps us to discern which of those resources are trustworthy and reliable. 

One sentence definition: We need the Bible to know God, know about God, and come to faith in Jesus. 

e. The Doctrine of Sufficiency - The Bible has been given to us by God so that we have all we need to know and trust him perfectly for salvation and life. 

What this is? The Bible gives us all we need to live a life obeying and glorifying God. The Bible gives us sufficient words to know and be known by our Creator. The Bible is our Father's words to us, in fullness. 

 What this is not? We aren't required to know, believe, and obey any words that are outside of God's Word in the Bible. There are not other books that attain to the authority, necessity, or sufficiency of The Bible. The Bible is our source and our resource for knowing God. 

One sentence definition: The Bible gives us all we need for abundant life in the presence of God. 

All the doctrines of the Word of God, defined together:

God, our Maker, has given us the Bible. The Bible is God's fully truthful Word to us, written in language we can know and ways we can understand. The Bible comes to us in the power and authority of God, and we can rely fully upon it. 

We need the Bible to know God, find salvation through Christ, and live a life pleasing to God and in pursuit of Him. The Bible has given us all the words we need to grow in that life, and it is sufficient for us to build our entire lives upon. 

The Bible is God giving Himself to us, in power and in truth. In the Bible we find the words of eternal life, right now!

2. John 6 & The Necessity of Scripture

We need the Bible because the Bible is God giving the words of life to us. Let's look at a passage from John 6:22–71. My comments will be in red. 

On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” In the context of the story, Jesus has just fed the five thousand. Because Jesus was performing signs and wonders, a large crowd had begun to follow them. Jesus tests the disciples, asking them how to feed the crowd. Then, Jesus feeds the crowd with the 5 loaves and 2 fish. Imagine, these flocks of people, sitting on this hillside, and each person is filled with a great meal. Jesus has provided this meal, and now the people row across to Capernaum to seek him. They ask Jesus this question and then Jesus replies. 

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Jesus here seems to indicate that the only reason they are seeking him is because he fed them temporally. Jesus provided for their basic need with that meal, but he was doing something greater, and they missed it. Jesus fed the people from heaven, much like God did with the manna in the wilderness. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, sitting the people down in pasture and feeding and caring for them. However, the people were zoomed in on the temporal benefits of receiving the food. They completely missed the sign, the bread from heaven, revealing that Jesus is the Christ, God's Messiah come in human flesh to establish God's Kingdom. 

Thus, Jesus tells them to work for the food that endures to eternal life, which will be given by the Son of Man (Jesus, the Messiah), because on the Messiah God has set his seal. The sign, the feeding of the five thousand, was evidence to all that Jesus is God's Messiah. 

Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” The work of God is to believe in whom he has sent. Jesus has just said, "Believe in me." In the original greek, this is a verb. Jesus is saying act! Trust in me, believe in me, put your faith in me because I am the one whom God has sent. 

So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Immediately this people seek a sign. The people who just ate the loaves and fish in a miraculous meal are asking for a sign. Before we mock, we must realize that we do this to God constantly. Recently, despite years of evidence of God's provision for me, I was doubting God. I was saying, "God, give me a sign!" while ignoring all the evidence. Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Jesus again gives this command to believe. He points back to the work of God in Moses' day. God gives the bread from heaven, and in Christ, God is giving the true bread from heaven. The true bread from heaven is Jesus in the flesh, sent by the Father. Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus tells us why he is issuing this teaching: "You have seen me and yet do not believe."Then Jesus makes this clear distinction about believing. Everyone who looks on Jesus, and believes, will rise with Jesus. It is one thing to say we are Christians, or to think we will be saved. These people have seen the sign and yet they do not believe. Do we? Belief is ongoing, active trust, obedience and dependence upon Jesus. Belief comes through knowing Jesus, not just seeing him. Belief is strengthened and lived out by feeding upon the words of Scripture, the words of Christ who is the bread of life. Jesus will lose none of those who believe in him. 

So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Jesus is God's Messiah sent from heaven. Notice how the people immediately try to categorize Jesus as coming from human parents. Likewise, they saw the manna as coming from Moses' hands. God is the one at work in the manna, and God is the one at work in the Messiah. We need God's help in order to see Jesus for who he is. We need God's help to believe. Thus Jesus says, "Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me..." 

What is this living bread that we must eat of to live forever? The bread of life is Jesus' human body, his flesh, which he will give on the cross. Life is found in Christ alone, and through the cross, God makes that possible for us. Jesus gives his life, that we may "eat of his flesh" by believing in His name. This is why we take communion, because we remember that Jesus gave his flesh to pay the penalty for our sins, that we might believe and take hold of eternal life. 

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 

Again they see things from a temporal, not a spiritual lens. This is another reason why we need the Bible. We are so quick to see things from our perspective, from our understanding. We need God's perspective, and God's understanding, and we find it only in the Bible. 

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

When Jesus says, "Truly, truly," he means, "Listen up!" The way to eternal life is to believe in Jesus. This looks like feasting on Christ's flesh, given for us. This looks like abiding in Christ, and Christ abiding in us. This a supernatural union with Christ. This bread of life will endure forever, because Jesus endures forever. Those who ate the manna in the wilderness died. Those who eat the Bread of Life will not die, because Jesus overcame death. Whoever feeds on Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection will live forever. We are commanded to believe on the one whom God has sent, Jesus the Messiah who has given his life for our sake. 

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 

One of the great literary devices is juxtaposition, and here it will be beautifully illustrative. First, we have the disciples grumbling at Jesus' hard teaching. Jesus does not flinch but goes on teaching. He says that the Spirit gives life. Jesus' words are spirit and life. Likewise, we need the Bible because it guides us into that which is truly life. The Scriptures give us life because they are written in the power of God's life-giving Spirit. The Spirit who spoke creation into being (Genesis 1-2), has given us the Bible to speak new life into us. God's Words are spirit and life. But some do not believe. Jesus tells us not all will believe. No one can come to Jesus unless God the Father has drawn them. Do you believe in Jesus? Praise God that He has had mercy on you, and revealed Jesus to you! We do not save ourselves, but God saves us!

Many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. Many of his disciples walked away from Jesus, which leads us to this marvelous scene of juxtaposition and suspense. 

So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 

What will the disciples choose? Will they walk away from Jesus, or will they stay?

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” 

Peter's confession is brilliant! To whom shall we go? Jesus, you have the words of eternal life. We have believed. We have come to know that you are God's Messiah. 

Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.

The Bible gives us a trustworthy and clear basis upon which to build our entire lives, because the Bible is God's trustworthy word to us. 

We need God's Word so that we can believe in Jesus, feast upon his glories, and have life in his name. 

The Bible is oxygen to a drowning man, an oasis in the desert, food for the starving, medication for the sick. The Bible is beauty in desolation, hope in hopelessness, grace offered to sinners. The Bible is the foundation of healthy Christian living. The Bible contains all we need for life and hope. 

The Bible is God making himself available and known to us as a loving Father. The Bible is God's self-revelation in simple language that inspires us to trust Him for all things and through all things. The Bible tells us about who we are, who God is, and how to live in this world. The Bible offers hope, healing, and help as we navigate the harshness and beauty of life.  

The Bible is a true gift, God's words of eternal life. Where else shall we go?