Revelation: How does our view of Scripture affect our life?
God speaks to us through the Scriptures as a perfectly loving Father. Christians worship God, not the Bible. But the Bible informs us of who God is and how we are to live in His love as worshippers. As a result, we come to the Bible for transformation, not just for information.
We agree with Luther, “When the Scripture speaks, God speaks.” Because Scripture is God speaking to us, we memorize, meditate, study, teach, and share His truth. Everything in life and ministry is guided by the truth of Scripture. Everything good is a result of the truth of biblical revelation being used by God the Holy Spirit to change our character to be more like Christ.
Sooner or later we all have to settle what we think about the Bible. We shouldn’t make that decision based on hearsay or speculation, but on what the Bible actually is, what it says, and does. Other people can’t determine our opinion. We each must make a decision. Scholar and friend Wayne Grudem has spent his life studying and teaching the Bible, and watching people wake up to what the Bible is all about. He describes how that happens in an interview I conducted:
“Hundreds of millions of people throughout history have begun to read the Bible with an open mind and then said, ‘Wow, this book speaks to my heart like no other book I have ever read. This is unlike any other book. These are the very words of God.’” The Bible itself claims to be God’s words in written form. And that is our starting point. “Am I going to believe that claim?” Grudem asks. “I think the only way for people to evaluate that is to give some serious time to reading the Bible and studying it and seeing if it rings true as being the word of God. Do I hear the voice of my Creator speaking in it when I read it?” [ENDNOTE #1]
When the Bible says that the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers [FOOTNOTE: 2 Cor. 4:4], it means that they really can’t see what we see. We might nag them. We might talk down to them. We might holler at them. But that’s like yelling at a colorblind guy about what’s on a painting. Yelling will not make him see. The ability to see the truth of the Bible is not an intelligence issue. It’s a condition issue. We should bring the same compassion and respect we would show anyone who is physically blind. If you know someone who is spiritually blind, buy them a nice Bible. Put the person’s name on it and give it to them like Grace did for me. Then pray that the Holy Spirit opens their understanding as they read it. Why? Because we need God to get involved in this. It takes a miracle as big as Jesus healing a blind guy. The good news? He still heals the blind.
- Driscoll, M (2019). Christians Might Be Crazy: Answering the Top 7 Objections to Christianity. Dunham & Company, 153]