The Holy Bible is not just a book. It is not simply a religious book. In fact, it is not really about religion at all. The Bible is a faithful and enduring revelation of God's will for human beings. It is about human failure and God's willingness to forgive, to rescue, restore and renew.

The Bible was not only given to us by the Spirit of God, it has also been kept — preserved by the will of God — down through the centuries as a faithful record of God's message to human beings. It is powerful to transform all who are willing to know and trust God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Through the prophet Isaiah God says, regarding the message we have in Scripture,

"...as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

(Isaiah 55: 10,11 NKJV)


Whoever truly knows Christ as Savior already knows (by the Holy Spirit within) that the Bible is God's message to all people. It is a faithful guide to God's spiritual children and a witness and invitation to anyone looking for the true and living God.

The people who do not know God sometimes wonder why we believe that the Bible is the very Word of God. A great many "religious" people do not understand why we take such a strong stand on this. They struggle in confusion because the Holy Spirit of God is not living inside them.

Paul explains some of this in his first letter to the Christian believers in the ancient city of Corinth (the New Testament book of 1 Corinthians). He writes that the person who is flesh and blood alone (not spiritually alive in Christ) cannot understand or accept the things of God. They spiritually void of the eyes and ears required to see and grasp what God is doing. They are relying completely on the ideas and understanding of mortal flesh.

This does not mean that true Christians should become arrogant. We cannot boast in our understanding of the things of God. Our behavior as a group — and as individuals — shows that we often make silly choices and do foolish things. We are still growing in God's wisdom by His grace. Our wisdom comes from the Spirit of God, and only as we yield to Him.

We can brag about how good and kind and powerful God is, and about our Savior Jesus Christ. But we are still weak in many ways. And we are also prone to walk in the flesh, just as unbelievers do.

If we do not devote ourselves to the Lord Jesus, and to spending time in His Presence, we can become so spiritually cold that we will fall back into our old ways of thinking and acting.

God has been kind enough to give us His very Word. We need that message and the power it imparts to our minds and hearts. We must partake of what the Lord has provided if we want to remain strong in Him. His Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth, but the Lord will not force us to partake and grow. That is a choice we must make each day.

Jim             Go to Main Page