What is the Importance of the Bible?

The Bible is the most important book ever written. It continues to be the highest selling book of all time and even though many people have tried to destroy it for many centuries, the Bible remains indestructible and relevant for our modern times.

Below are 7 reasons why the Bible is important

1. The Bible was Inspired by God our Creator
Unlike other books, the Bible is unique in that its Scriptures were inspired and written by God even though He used men to physically write and compile the book. The Bible is God’s word.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 reads, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

The Bible is God’s written communication to mankind. The Scriptures tell us where we come from; who we are; how we must live in this world; why the world is the way it is and what God plans to do about it.
So if the Creator has written the Bible, then it is important for His human creation read it.
According to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 God wrote the Scriptures in order to teach us, rebuke us, correct us, train us and equip us to live a righteous and godly life.

 

2. The Bible is our source for Morality and Sound Doctrine
There are many general societal laws and principles in the world that are based on Biblical teachings. So the Bible is important because it provides moral guidance in a fallen and sinful world.
For Christians in particular, the Scriptures remain as the final authority on all matters related to moral living and orthodox Christian beliefs.
The Bible reveals what Christians believe and how we can use Scripture to discern between bad doctrine and good doctrine.
We can only know the difference between right and wrong, and good and evil by reading and correctly understanding the Bible.

2 Timothy 4:2-4 reads: Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Psalms 119:11 says:  I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

So in a world where immorality is increasing and cultures and doctrines are changing, the Bible remains the same and its instructions for moral living remain unchangeable because God’s word does not change.
The principles and words of God are so definitive that Jesus declared that “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Mark 13:31).

In Luke 16:17 Jesus said “But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void”

God’s teachings and principles found in His word are eternal. Therefore if His word is eternal, then His moral teachings cannot change.
So we are able to claim whether something is definitively good, moral, sinful or immoral based on the laws, teachings and principles written in the Bible.
The Bible is the final infallible and authoritative expression of God’s mind on many issues and topics that relate to the world and human character.

 

3. The Bible is a Spiritual Weapon
The Bible is described as a sword or “the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17).

Hebrews 4:12 says: For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

So the Bible is both a defensive and offensive weapon. In Matthew 4:1-11 Jesus was tempted by the devil, and with each temptation Jesus would respond with the Scriptures.
Therefore Christ clearly set an example of how to combat temptation and why it’s important for us to know the word of God. The Bible itself is God’s authoritative word which satan cannot defeat. So the Scriptures are necessary because every Christian believer is involved in spiritual warfare.

 

4. The Bible reveals the nature and character of God
We can only know what God is truly like when we read the Scriptures. Within His word we discover His personality, His nature, His power and His immutable qualities.

For example, the Scriptures reveal that God is holy (Leviticus 20:26); God is love (1 John 4:16); God is sinless (1 Peter 2:22); God is merciful, gracious, almighty, omniscient and omnipresent (Psalms 139:1-13).

The same Scriptures also reveal God’s hatred towards sin and wickedness (Proverbs 6:16-19). The Scriptures reveal God’s wrath towards evil and His desire to eventually establish goodness, justice and peace in the world.
So the Bible helps us to understand God’s eternal attributes and perfect nature.

 

5. The Bible reveals Man’s sinfulness and why God wrote the law
Since the sin of Adam in Genesis 3:1-24, humanity has been in rebellion against God. We are all born sinners because we inherited our sin nature from Adam (Romans 5:12).

Laws were made for sinners and lawbreakers of which we all stand guilty before a just and holy God. Therefore the Bible reveals God’s laws and commandments which communicate God’s expectations about how we ought to live our lives.

1 Timothy 1:8-11 says: Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 in accordance with the glorious gospel of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

 

6. The Bible reveals Humanity’s need for redemption through Jesus Christ
The Bible reveals the grace of God and His plan of salvation for humanity. As sinners we have failed to fulfill God’s perfect standard of righteous living (Romans 3:23). We cannot perfectly fulfill God’s demands set in His laws. If we do not repent the penalty for our sin is death or eternal punishment (Romans 6:23).

The Bible is important because its laws must eventually lead us to the Person of Jesus Christ and at the foot of the Cross where He paid the penalty for our sins (Galatians 3:24-25).

Jesus fulfilled the entire law on our behalf and became our Substitute by enduring the punishment that we deserved on the cross and He rose on the third day to prove His victory over sin and death.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says: For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

So because of His sacrifice and the shedding of His blood on the cross we receive forgiveness, redemption and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior (Ephesians 1:7).

 

7. The Bible reveals the eternal fate of people who reject God
In a fallen and sinful world there is a great demand for justice. Sin or wickedness cannot be allowed to remain unpunished.

By grace Jesus Christ fully paid for our sins on the cross so that through Christ alone we are declared righteous by God and we receive eternal life as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 5:1; Galatians 2:21).

However, for anyone who rejects Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, his/her fate will be eternal punishment because they have rejected salvation and rejected the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
John 3:36 says: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him”

1 John 5:12 reads, “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life”

Therefore people who reject the Gospel and reject Jesus Christ will face the full wrath of God in the form of eternal punishment in hell.

 

The Entire Bible Points us to Jesus Christ

The entire Bible directs mankind to focus on Jesus Christ who is the one and only true Savior for humanity (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).
Jesus Himself taught that the Scriptures including the Old Testament and the law of Moses speak about Him.

Luke 24:25-27 NLT reads: Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. 26 Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” 27 Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

Luke 24:44-45 NLT reads: Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about Me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

In John 5:39-40,46 Jesus said: “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life… If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me”

So Jesus Christ and the works He did for mankind are central to the whole theme and purpose of the Bible.
Ultimately the Bible reveals the Gospel of Jesus Christ: That man is a sinner who needs a forgiveness. Man cannot save himself from sin and nor can he fulfill God’s laws by his own merit. Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for our sins and rose on the third day. Therefore it is through Christ that we can become born again or a new creation that is declared righteous by God and is assured of the free gift of eternal life.