Do We Really Need To Read The Bible?

Wouldn't it be great of we didn't need to do all that reading? Really! As believers in Christ, we all have the Holy Spirit inside of us...don't we? He is the One who will reveal truth to us...isn't He? He speaks to us today...doesn't He? So...all we should have to do is listen to Him...and we can skip all this emphasis on this book...right?

Wrong!

We do have the indwelling Holy Spirit. He does indeed speak to us. He will help us with Scripture. But, the Holy spirit is not our problem. Our problem is us. We have an amazing tendency to interpret what we think the Holy spirit is saying to us through the filters of our own desires and pride. We have an equally amazing tendency to justify our own desires and biases by believing, with all our heart, the the Holy Spirit is telling us something that tantalizes us and satisfies our need for self-elevation (prov 14:12). The next thing you know, we're flying off in the wrong direction fully convinced God is leading us down that path to more power, money, signs, wonders, miracles, health, prophecy, whatever...you name it!

Yes, God does all those things and can give us any of those gifts any time He desires. But Scripture is very clear that we are to "test the spirits" (1 John 4:1) before we buy into any of this and attribute it to Him. How do we test the spirits? Well, we can't just ask a question in our minds and hope to get an accurate answer (Luke 21:8). We can't feel it in our hearts and hope we're right (Jer 17:9).

What we we can do and should do, is compare the things we hear with Scripture. This is the ultimate test of voracity and the only objective criteria we have for measuring whether we are hearing from God or not.

2 Timothy 3:¹⁶All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

¹⁷so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

This is a familiar verse. What doesn't get a lot of exposure in this verse is the word for "adequate" which has a connotation of being complete or sufficient. The indication of these two verses is that without Scripture, there is something missing, something we need to complete us if we are going to do the good works God intends for us to do.

This is why God has breathed out His word for us and given us the Bible. With the Holy spirit in us, speaking to us, guiding us, empowering us and sustaining us...the Scriptures complete us, providing the real world check we need in order to carry on and grow in Him, verifying what we hear and enabling us to sort the good from the bad (Heb 5:13-14). As such, we are prepared and equipped to walk the walk of a godly people.

Yes, we do really need to read the Book. But it's not a chore, it a blessing, one graciously given us by a loving Father who wants to see us complete (Col 1:28).