What Is the Bible? What Is It For?

The Bible gives us a lot of instructions, guidance, and encouragement on many topics, and one of these is the topic of what, exactly, the Bible itself is and is for. There are several verses, some of which are probably very familiar to you, which address this topic.

I want to look at four of these today:

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness..."
-2 Timothy 3:16

"For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
-Romans 15:4

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."
-Psalm 119:105

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
-James 1:22

What Exactly is the Bible, Anyway?
The Bible, as we learn in 2 Timothy 3:16, is of God's making, "breathed out by Him". It was written by human authors, but another translation of this verse reads "All Scripture is inspired by God". He used humans to write it down, but told them what to say.

So what does this mean? This makes everything in the Bible true, right, and holy. It would have to be, otherwise what would that say about God?

How We Use It
The Bible has many purposes: it can be used for instruction, encouragement, and guidance.

• Instruction (2 Timothy 3:16; Romans 15:4) tells us how God wants us to live our lives and gives us the examples of Godly people of the past.
• Encouragement (Romans 15:4) gives us hope in the face of our daily struggles and temptations.
• Guidance (Psalm 119:105) helps us when we have hard decisions to make or don't know what to do.

Don't Be Passive!
James tells us that we are not to be "hearers" of the word only, but also "doers". In other words, it's not enough to listen to the passage at church and read your Bible at home, even if you are super-engaged with each passage and gain immediate understanding of everything being said.

Because the Bible isn't like that. Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword..." The Bible is ready to work in your life, but you have to be willing to let it make that change. It can't do anything if you listen to it passively and wait for something magical to happen.

So apply the Bible's teachings to your life; be a "doer" and not a "hearer"!

What do you think? Do you like these verses? What other topics would you like to see an article about?

P.S. Read Bible reading tips here.

As a reminder, all of the Bible verses in any of my posts come from the ESV version of the Bible.