What is a Good Strategy for Bible Reading? (Part 1)
During the summer months, we are focusing our blog articles on spiritual disciplines. A spiritual discipline is a Christ-centered practice that builds our character. In fact, the goal of implementing spiritual disciplines is that we may become more and more like Jesus Christ. His character, forged by faith, is worth our highest aims.
We have examined the spiritual discipline of prayer thus far. Let’s move now to another transformative practice centered on Bible reading.
The Bible is of utmost importance to an effectively evangelistic and joyful Christian life. The Psalmist rightly declared, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). It is beyond clear that Jesus depended heavily on the Scripture both for teaching and for resisting temptation (Luke 4:1-14). The Gospel writers often quoted the Bible’s fulfilled prophecies, and the Apostle Paul specifically requested his Bible and related papers while in prison (2 Timothy 4:13). If the biblical writers themselves depended on the Bible, then how much more is God’s written word important to our daily lives?
Yet, before we examine specific strategies for reading the Bible, it is necessary for us to define with some exactness what the Bible really is. In other words, what makes the Bible so important? Here are a few key answers.
- The Bible is a record of God’s revelation. By faith, we trust that God has revealed himself to humanity. This revealing work of God is specifically known as “revelation.” While God revealed a few things about himself in created nature and in human consciences, his main revelation is in Jesus Christ. Jesus perfectly reveals who God is. In Jesus Christ, people know God. This revelation is transmitted to us in the Bible.
- Both the Old and New Testaments point directly towards Jesus Christ. Consequently, we miss the mark when we refer to the Bible as simply a “good book,” or when we use it for something it was not intended to be (i.e. as a book to calculate the end times or to prove political points). In fact, we see how the revelation of God progressively points to Jesus through the wide arc of the biblical story. For instance, God chose Abraham and his “seed” (who is Christ) to be a blessing to all the nations (Genesis 12:1-3). The Exodus and Levitical sacrificial system laid the groundwork for our understanding of Jesus’ mission and purpose. Jesus himself said that he came to fulfill this revelation (Matthew 5:17ff).
- The Bible was inspired by God and written by people. Some critics of the Bible assert that people were incapable of participating in the creation of the Bible since they are limited beings. Others assume that God somehow took over the free will of people and forced them to write the Bible. Still other critics look at divine inspiration as somewhat farcical, and the Bible is supposedly a strand of popular human mythology. Paul counters all these arguments by stating that the Bible is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17). This means that God inspired people to write of their own free will a life-giving message of hope and redemption. The power and vitality of God poured into each writer, who had his/her own way of writing. God therefore didn’t suspend their personalities.
- The Bible is authoritative because it is God-breathed. If someone is searching for spiritual help, he/she will find it in God’s word. The Bible is not simply advice or some new kind of philosophy among all others. The Bible is not another way “up the spiritual mountain.” It is a whole other mountain! Because the Bible is centered on Christ, one can find his/her true self—a sinner saved by grace.
Next week, let’s focus on how to read the Bible and gain great insights into daily life.