We’ve spent roughly the last two months establishing Scripture as God’s Words and therefore truthful and authoritative. Have you stopped to wonder what God’s purpose is in giving us the Bible? What need does the Bible meet that cannot be met elsewhere?

First we need the Bible to learn and understand the Gospel. Let’s consider two new terms: general revelation and special revelation.

Grudem defines general revelation as “the knowledge of God’s existence, character, and moral law, which comes through creation to all humanity” (122). In more simple terms, general revelation is the stuff that anyone can know generally about God without ever reading the Bible–by observing nature, history, and our inner being (Rom. 1: 19-21; 2:14-15) . This knowledge, however, cannot be held as certain because it is filtered through our faulty perceptions.

Grudem defines special revelation as “God’s words addressed to specific people, such as the words of the Bible, the words of the Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles, and the words of God spoken in personal address” (123). More plainly, special revelation is God’s Words sent directly to a group of people. Through special revelation we know for certain facts about God and salvation. In fact, it is only through special revelation that we can know the Gospel (Rom. 10:13-17).

Individuals from before Christ were saved by looking forward in faith towards the coming Messiah found in the Bible. Individuals from after Christ are saved by looking back in faith at what Christ has done according the Scripture.

Second, the Bible is a necessary tool for spiritual growth. Scripture is referred to as our daily bread (Mat. 4:4) our life (Deut. 32:47) and pure spiritual milk (1 Peter 2:2). The Bible is our true source for learning about God and growing in relationship with Him. We must study and learn from His words.

Finally, we need the Bible to understand God’s will for us. Through careful study of Scripture, we learn how God created us to function in relationships, families, and marriages. While we may know something of God’s moral law from our conscience outside of a study of Scripture, we learn specifics of God’s plan and can understand it more accurately directly from Scripture.

Why do we need the Bible? To know the Gospel, grow spiritually, and discern God’s will. <—Click to Tweet!

Application

We have established that the Bible is necessary for (1) salvation (2) spiritual growth and (3) understanding God’s will. Which of these areas needs to be your top priority of attention? I encourage to take some time right now and allow God to meet your need using Scripture. To read more about salvation click here or email me (button in top right corner).

How has Scripture met your need? Share in the comments.

If you are new to t{squared}, I am using Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine to guide this study! The numbers you see in parenthesis refer to page numbers in this text.

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This post is linked with thanks to:

Thought Provoking Thursday
Thoughtful Thursday
Thankful Thursday
Proverbs 31 Thursday
Life in Bloom
Thrive at Home Thursday

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Photo Credit: JeffreyW