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<chapter id="h2-importance"><title>Importance of God's Word</title>
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<para>Understanding God's word is of great importance to all who call on
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God's name. Study of the Bible is one of the primary ways that we learn to
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communicate with God.</para>
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<sect1 id="h2-importance-unique"><title>A Book that is Unique</title>
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<para>The Bible stands alone in many ways. It is unique in:</para>
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popularity. Bible sales in North America: more than $500 million per
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year. The Bible is both the the all-time and year-to-year best seller!
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authorship. It was written over a period of 1600 years by 40 different
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authors from different backgrounds, yet reads as if written by one.
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preservation. F. F. Bruce in <emphasis>Are New Testament Documents Reliable?</emphasis>
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compares New Testament manuscripts with other ancient texts:
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<title>Comparison of New Testament manuscripts with other ancient texts.</title>
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<entry>When Written</entry>
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<entry>Earliest Copy</entry>
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<entry>Time Lapse</entry><entry>Number of Copies</entry>
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<entry>Herodotus</entry>
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<entry>448-428 B.C.</entry><entry>900 A.D.</entry>
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<entry>1300 years</entry><entry>8
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<entry>Tacitus</entry>
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<entry>100 A.D.</entry><entry>1100 A.D.</entry>
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<entry>1000 years</entry><entry>20
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<entry>Caesar's <emphasis>Gallic War</emphasis></entry>
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<entry>50-58 B.C.</entry><entry>900 A.D.</entry>
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<entry>950 years</entry><entry>10
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<entry>Livy's <emphasis>Roman History</emphasis></entry>
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<entry>59 B.C. - 17 A.D.</entry><entry>900 A.D.</entry>
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<entry>900 years</entry><entry>20
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<entry>New Testament</entry>
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<entry>40 A.D. - 100 A.D.</entry><entry>130 A.D. Partial manuscripts 350
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A.D. Full manuscripts</entry> <entry>30 - 310 years</entry><entry>5000 Greek & 10,000 Latin
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</tbody></tgroup></table>
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<para>Ten copies of Caesar's <emphasis>Gallic War</emphasis> exist, the earliest of which was copied
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900 years after Caesar wrote the original, etc. For the New Testament we have
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full manuscripts dating to 350 A. D., papyri containing most of the New
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Testament from the 200s, and a fragment of John's gospel from 130 A. D. How
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many manuscripts do we have to compare to each other? 5,000 in Greek and 10,000
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<blockquote><attribution>Textual critic F. J. A. Hort, "The New Testament in the
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Original Greek", vol. 1 p561, Macmillan Co., quoted in <emphasis>Questions of Life</emphasis> p.
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25-26</attribution><para>"In the verity and fullness of the evidence on which
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it rests, the text of the New Testament stands absolutely and unapproachably
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alone among other ancient prose writings." </para></blockquote>
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<sect1 id="h2-importance-breathed"><title>A Book that God Breathed</title>
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<para><emphasis>Heb.4:12 </emphasis>"<emphasis>For the word of God is living and active...
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</emphasis>" Jesus said <emphasis>(Mt.4:4),</emphasis>
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"<emphasis>It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that
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proceeds [lit., is proceeding] from the mouth of God.</emphasis>"
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As we read the Bible, God's Spirit is there to speak it to our hearts in a continually-fresh way.
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<para>2 Tim.3:16 declares, "<emphasis>All scripture is inspired by God [lit.,
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God-breathed].</emphasis>" Do you believe this? Before you answer, consider Jesus' attitude
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toward the Scriptures. </para>
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<blockquote><attribution>John R.W. Stott, <emphasis>Christ the Controversialist</emphasis>,
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InterVarsity Press 1978, pp.93-95 </attribution><para>He referred to the human authors, but took it for
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granted that behind them all was a single divine Author. He could equally say
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'Moses said' or 'God said' (Mk.7:10). He could quote a comment of the narrator in
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Genesis 2:24 as an utterance of the Creator Himself (Mt.19:4-5). Similarly He
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said, 'Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written', when what He
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went on to quote is the direct speech of the Lord God (Mk.7:6 & Is.29:13). It
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is from Jesus Himself that the New Testament authors have gained their
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conviction of the dual authorship of Scripture. For them it was just as true to
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say that 'God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets' (Heb.1:1) as it was to
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say that 'men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God' (2 Pe.1:21). God did not
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speak in such a way as to obliterate the personality of the human authors, nor
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did men speak in such a way as to corrupt the Word of the divine Author. God
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spoke. Men spoke. Neither truth must be allowed to detract from the other. ...
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This, then, was Christ's view of the Scriptures. Their witness was God's
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witness. The testimony of the Bible is the testimony of God. And the chief
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reason why the Christian believes in the divine origin of the Bible is that
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Jesus Christ Himself taught it. </para></blockquote>
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<para>2 Tim.3:16 goes on, "<emphasis>and profitable for teaching, for
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correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be adequate,
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equipped for every good work.</emphasis>" If we accept that the Bible really is God
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speaking to us, it follows that it will be our authority in all matters of faith
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<sect1 id="h2-importance-works"><title>A Book that Works</title>
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What will studying the Bible do for you? 1 Thess.2:13 says that the Bible
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"<emphasis>performs its work in you
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who believe.</emphasis>" Beside each scripture, write down the work the Word
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<title>What does Bible study do for Christians?</title>
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<entry>Reference</entry>
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<entry>Action</entry>
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<entry>cleanses -- "...having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word."
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...the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the
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inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
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encourages -- "that through perseverance and the
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encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
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"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of
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"Now these things happened to them for an example,
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and they were written for our instruction"
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"But He answered and said, 'It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone,
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but on every word that proceeds out of the
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<sect1 id="h2-importance-liberates"><title>A Book that Liberates</title>
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Jn.8:32 "<emphasis>and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
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free.</emphasis>"This is usually quoted by
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itself. Is this a conditional or unconditional promise? Would it apply to
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all kinds of knowledge? Find the answers by examining the first half of the
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sentence, in v.31. "<emphasis>If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of
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Mine... </emphasis>"</para>
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<para>We see that this is a conditional promice, specifically speaking of the truth of God's word.</para>
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<para>The Greek word for "wind" used in Eph.4:14 means a <emphasis>violent wind.</emphasis>
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"<emphasis>As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by
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waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine...</emphasis>"One
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thing studying the Bible does for us is to ground us in the truth, with the
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result that we won't be easily "blown away."</para>
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<para><emphasis>But Jesus answered and said to them, </emphasis>"<emphasis>You are mistaken [KJV Ye do err], not
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understanding the Scriptures, or the power of God.</emphasis>"Mt.22:29</para>
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<para>What 2 things do we need to know to be kept from error?</para>
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<listitem><para>God's word</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>God's power </para></listitem>
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<sect1 id="h2-importance-wars"><title>A Book that Wars</title>
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Eph.6:10-18 is one picture of our spiritual armament.</para>
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<title>Spiritual Armor</title>
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<entry>Question</entry>
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<entry>Answer</entry>
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<row><entry>How many of the weapons listed here are defensive weapons?</entry><entry>5</entry></row>
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<row><entry>How many are offensive?</entry><entry>One</entry></row>
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<row><entry>Which one(s)? </entry><entry>the word - <foreignphrase>rhema</foreignphrase></entry></row>
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</tbody></tgroup></table>
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<sect1 id="h2-importance-exhortations"><title>Exhortations</title>
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2 Tim.2:15 (KJV) "<emphasis>Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly
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dividing the word of truth.</emphasis>"
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Col.3:16 "<emphasis>Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you; with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another
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with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.</emphasis>"
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<para>If you're rich in something, how much of it do you
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Eccl.12:11-12 "<emphasis>The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these
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collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. But
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beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and
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excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.</emphasis>"
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<sect1 id="h2-importance-once"><title>Appendix: "Once for
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<attribution>John R. W. Stott, <emphasis>Christ the Controversialist,</emphasis>
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InterVarsity Press 1978, pp.106-107</attribution> <para>The truth regarding the
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finality of God's initiative in Christ is conveyed by one word of the Greek
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Testament, namely the adverb <foreignphrase>hapax</foreignphrase> and
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<foreignphrase>ephapax</foreignphrase>. It is usually translated in the
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Authorized Version once, meaning once for all. It is used of what is so done as
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to be of perpetual validity and never need repetition, and is applied in the NT
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to both revelation and redemption. Thus, Jude refers to the faith which was
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once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3), and Romans says,
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"<emphasis>Christ also died for sins once for all</emphasis>"
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(Rom.6:10, see also 1 Pe.3:18; Heb.9:26-28). </para> <para>
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Thus we may say that God has spoken once
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for all and Christ has suffered once for all. This means that the Christian
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revelation and the Christian redemption are both alike in Christ complete.
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Nothing can be added to either without being derogatory to Christ... These are
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the two rocks on which the Protestant Reformation was built -- Gods revealed
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word without the addition of human traditions and Christ's finished work without
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the addition of human merits. The Reformers great watchwords were <foreignphrase>sola
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scriptura</foreignphrase> for our authority and <foreignphrase>sola gratia</foreignphrase> for our salvation.</para>
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<sect1 id="h2-importance-supplement"><title>Supplement: Bible Reading
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Programs</title> <para> Here are some easy programs to systematically read your
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Bible. You can do more than one at a time if you like, for instance #1 with #4,
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or #2 with #5. Vary the program from year to year to keep it fresh!
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<orderedlist numeration="arabic">
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<listitem><para>New Testament in a Year: read one chapter each day, 5 days a
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week.</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>Proverbs in a Month: read one chapter of Proverbs each day,
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corresponding to the day of the month.</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>Psalms in a Month: read 5 Psalms at intervals of 30 each day,
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for instance on the 20th you read Ps.20, 50, 80, 110, & 140.</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>Psalms & Proverbs in 6 months: read through Psalms and Proverbs
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one chapter per day.</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>Old Testament without Psalms & Proverbs in 2 years: if
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you read one chapter a day of the Old Testament, skipping over Psalms & Proverbs, you will read the Old Testament in 2 years and 2 weeks.
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docs/howto/unicode/how2-importance.docbook
