The Bible's True Purpose

"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Matt 3: 4).

Many people act as if after the Bible was completed, God stopped speaking. This is because a lot of people misunderstand the Bible's true purpose. And this, in turn, has led many people to lose faith in the Bible.

The Bible was never meant to be a substitute for a personal relationship with God. The Bible is to point you to a relationship with God. But most evangelicals have a relationship with the Bible and know nothing of God.

The Bible is not God's word to you. God can speak through the Bible, but the Bible is not God's word to you. Yes, it's for you, but not to you.

God is not telling you to sacrifice your son Isaac. Be careful about applying specific directions to your own life, not everyone should quote, go and sell all you have and give to the poor.

The Bible is not a message from God, it's a message about God. It records people's experience of God speaking and working in their lives.

The Bible is never supposed to be a substitute for your own relationship with God. God wants to speak to you and work in your life. Not second hand knowledge, but first hand personal encounter with him.

God has not become mute or lame. God still speaks and works in people's lives. The true purpose of the Bible is to help you learn to listen to God for yourself. It helps you discern whether it is God, cell, or the devil talking. But the Bible was never meant to be a substitute for hearing from God for yourself.

The Bible is not God's answer book. It is not an operator's manual. It is an account of other people's relationship with God, and primarily from their perspective, not God's perspective.

Jesus Christ is the real word of God. He is God's message to the whole humanity. By knowing Jesus as revealed in the Gospels, we can ask ourselves, "what would Jesus do" in our situation.

And the Bible is not one book by one author. Rather, it is a library of books by over 40 different authors. Each author has their own perspective, their own point of view. They have their own flaws, biases, and blind spots.

Let me conclude with the words of Paul Enns, "Rather than providing us with information to be downloaded, the Bible holds out for us an invitation to join an ancient, well-traveled, and sacred quest to know God, the world we live in, and our place in it. Not arbitrarily, but intimately and experientially."