Is the Bible Relevant for Today?

How important is Bible study to the average person? What does the bible mean to most Christians? Most Christians have a Bible and even many non-Christians have a Bible in their home. How often does a Christian read or study the Bible? I wonder if Christians truly believe that God wrote the Bible. Do Christians take Bible truth seriously by living according to all that it states? If the Bible was truly written by God then you would think that All Christians would want to live by a standard that came from a perfect being. I would expect non-Christians to live by their own code of life but you would think that Christians would live by the words of their God that save them and gave them eternal life in heaven.

Is the Bible a book that Christians hold dear to themselves hanging on every word or a book that provides suggestions for particular problems one may be having? How often does someone use a bible commentary to better understand the Bible showing to God that the Bible is something that holds value to him or her? Is the Bible a book that holds ALL of the answers to life? Do Christians have the right to call themselves Christians and live contrary to the Bible? Some may consider the book as a guide to life picking and choosing what they want to live by. Wouldn’t that make them a god to themselves?

What if the Bible is the very Word of God and God requires all who are in His family to live by every principle and even by every word written. bible study would be very important to the one who treasures God. Do we really love God or are we just people who want to be like everybody else? Maybe we just don’t like the way the world does things or how the world looks and we just want to be in another category? Maybe many people who call themselves Christians are just masquerading as a Christian because Bible truth is not important. The world is becoming way too evil and people who want to be good for the most part are looking for a new life that they can call good. A good Bible commentary would help us to understand the standards that God requires for mankind to be like.

Many so-called Christians will not make a total commitment to Christ and His Word because the way is very extreme from the life in the world system. Are we as Christians to take the wisdom of the Bible when it comes to the right living?

If the Bible were not actually important to you then maybe it would be a good idea to just get rid of it and be who you really are. At least if your honest before God maybe you’ll have a chance to be saved instead of just pretending that you are a Christian.

I think God wants a real family who truly loves Him and obeys what He says. If you really have an appreciation for God and all He has done for you then you would automatically return your love towards God and not think of yourself but think about what God wants. The Bible is the standard for a true Christian and the ones who are really saved by the blood of Christ have an uncompressing devotion to live by every word written in this holy book and the rest of mankind are lost or are just masquerading as Christians. Maybe we need a campaign to get the so-called Christians saved starting with many of the Pastors in our churches. Put the Bible on the shelf of your heart!

Gen Wright
http://www.articlesbase.com/metaphysics-articles/is-the-bible-relevant-for-today-727570.html

Difficult Verses in the Bible

Can anyone deny that there are passages in the Bible that are very hard to understand and sometimes hard to accept? The question is of course, rhetorical. Certainly no one could make such a claim. Those who would deny that there are difficult scriptures either do not spend much time in the Word or they are simply dishonest. I am not sure which of the two is worse.

From simple questions about where Cain’s wife came from, to more complex issues such as the apparent misquote in Matthew 27:9-10; there are literally scores of passages where there seems to be confusion. In some instances it is seems almost impossible to reconcile what is being said with other portions of scripture.

In ministry, it would be relatively easy to avoid the difficulties and not bring attention to them at all. Who would know? And if the Bible was just a book written by men, Biblicists such as me might be inclined to do just that. But the Bible is not just a book. It is the transmitted thoughts and will of Almighty God. It is the Word (and words) of God. It is the final and only authority on truth and fact.

Many have attacked it. Many have tried to prove it false, and in so doing, have been converted by its awesome power and authority. Men will claim that it is full of contradictions, but are not able to point out a single example to support their argument.

Knowing there are those who would jump at the chance to find problems in scripture should not make believers apprehensive or shy in declaring it the plenary word of the Living God. Nor should we refrain from using those portions we feel might pose difficulties to explain. Too often Bible teachers will avoid passages in their sermons and lessons because they imagine there is conflict in what the scripture says.

Difficulty in understanding a passage does not discredit what is being said. Rather it reflects on the knowledge level of the one who sees it as difficult. The fact that we cannot immediately understand or explain the difficulty away does not mean it cannot be solved with proper research and prayer. Sometimes that research takes a long time, but this is the case with almost anything that one wants to learn. I may not understand what the mechanic is telling me about needed vehicle repairs, but I could learn mechanics myself and gain that understanding if I was willing to make the effort.

In my formative years as a Christian, I came across many difficult or hard to understand passages in my studies. Indeed, some of what I read seemed illogical, perhaps even impossible and they tested my faith. Yet I trusted the authority of scripture and accepted it as truth. Years later, with a more sound knowledge of scripture, those same passages posed absolutely no difficulty to me whatsoever. With experience and broader familiarity with scripture, the once difficult passages became very easy to understand.

The Apostle Paul spoke of the “milk” and “meat” of the word. Christians must start out with the milk or easier-to-digest things of God before they are ready to consume the meatier things. It is the superficial or inexperienced reader who adds calamity to a difficult verse. They read something they do not understand and panic. Too often young Christians get bogged down trying to understand something that they simply are not capable of grasping at their present knowledge level. Sometimes spiritual anxiety over such small issues completely consumes them and they run around like Chicken Little declaring that their faith is falling.

The seasoned, faithful reader of the Bible knows that understanding will come in time after appropriate effort is invested in researching the perceived difficulty. They have been down this road before. They have come up against seemingly unexplainable passages that subsequent studies explained. There is always an explanation. God’s Word is always correct and without conflict or contradiction.

I am not trying to diminish the fact that there are very difficult passages of scripture that are problematic to the student of scripture. II Peter 3:16 confirms this. We are told:

“As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which

are some things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned

and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures…”

God openly tells us through the Apostle Peter that some of the things written in the Bible are hard to be understood and we wrestle with them. Why are they hard? Is it because God purposely wanted to hide something from us? Is it because God wants to play a game of cat and mouse with his higher knowledge? No. God does not play games. He wants us to understand, but that understanding must come when we are ready for strong meat. Believers must go through a growing process. Verse 18 of this chapter confirms this:

“But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ.”

In keeping with all the other passages that tell us to “study”, “prepare” or “learn”, we are told to “grow in grace”. The only way to grow in grace is to read the manual (the bible) faithfully and consistently, building ourselves up in knowledge and understanding.

Increasing our knowledge in the Bible is like any other thing we learn – we must study and learn in order to grow and excel. That is precisely why it is important to not shy away from difficult passages. We need to learn what they mean. If we shy away from them, our confidence in the word will wane and our regimen for study will eventually wane as well.

There really are no difficult passages. There is just a lack of understanding of those passages. This can be remedied through faithful study. The wisest advice I ever received from a man of God I would like to pass on here. He said “Put your nose in the book and keep your eyes on Jesus.” The meaning is clear; study and trust the Lord to bring you to a place of understanding.

Gary Kurz
http://www.articlesbase.com/religion-articles/difficult-verses-in-the-bible-127424.html