Study your Bible to realize its power in your life

BY ALAN F. COLLIER
PASTOR’S CORNER

First in series

Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.”

Why are we, Christians, so ashamed of the Gospel? Could it be because we don’t know the Bible well enough? Could it possibly be because we have let our enemy the devil put so much fear into us about sharing the Gospel?

Could it even be possible that we have picked up on the neo-orthodoxy belief that teaches the Bible was only a comment in its day and a new comment on our day is needed? Or, could it be that you are a lost person and need to know Jesus Christ as your Savior?

If the last one is the reason, then you can change that right now. The Bible tells us that Jesus came to dwell among His creation for one reason, to die on the cross for our sins.

What you need to do is believe that Jesus was and is the only begotten Son of God and that He died on the cross for your sins. Then confess to Him that you are a sinner and you need His forgiveness and want Him to come into your life and be your Savior and Lord. If you have done this, please let me know.

I believe it is because we, believers, have not recognized the power of the Word in our lives. Why is that? Because we don’t study God’s Word, the Bible, enough or not at all. Because of not knowing the Word we don’t recognize the authority of God’s Word and how that changes our boldness about the Gospel.

Walter Scott, a British novelist and poet and a great Christian, was on his deathbed when he asked his secretary to “bring me the book.” She looked at the great volumes of books that he had in his library and said, “Dr. Scott, which book?”

He replied, “The Book, the Bible, the only book for a dying man.” Let me say that the Bible is just not the only book for a dying man, it is the only book for a living man because it is the Word of life as well as the hope in death.

I want to take some time over the next several weeks to share with you how to study the Bible. But, before I do that I must tell you about the authority of God’s Word which is the Bible.

The first thing I want us to see is the attributes of the Bible.

The first attribute is “The Bible is infallible.” The Bible, in its entirety, has no mistakes. Specifically in its original autographs it is without errors. The Bible says of itself in Psalm 19:7, “The law of the Lord is perfect.”

Why is it flawless? Because God wrote it and He is flawless. That means if God wrote the Bible and if He is the ultimate authority and if His character is flawless that means the Bible is flawless and is the ultimate authority. It is the only book that never makes a mistake. Everything it says is the truth.

The second attribute is “The Bible is Inerrant.” The Bible is not only infallible as a whole but it is inerrant in all of its parts. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, “Every word of God is pure…. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you and you be found a liar.” All of God’s word is pure, true and perfect.

The third attribute is “The Bible is Complete.” There is not one thing that needs to be added to the Bible. As I stated before, there are those who believe that we need a new Bible for today. Not another translation, but one that speaks of the things of this day and time, not of the time when it was written.

J. Rodman Williams in his book The Era of the Spirit has gone as far as to say that if Fred or Sally stand up in church and say, “Thus says the Lord,” they are just as inspired as Isaiah, Jeremiah, or any of the other prophets.

In other words, those that believe this way are saying that the Bible is not complete. The Book of Revelation tells us, “If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (22:18b-19).

That is a strong, stern warning to man not to take away or add anything to the entire book. That is a testimony of the Bible’s completeness.

Next week we will look at the fourth through the seventh attributes of the Bible. Remember to study the Word, pray, and seek God’s will for your life,, and may God richly bless you until next time.

The Rev. Alan Collier is the founder of From the Bible Ministries. You may contact him by email at alancollierministries@gmail.com or by writing to him at P.O. Box 36, Big Stone Gap, Va. 24219.