THE BIBLE IS NOT IMPORTANT - I CAN FOLLOW GOD WITHOUT IT

Even without the Bible, we can know God, or at least a part of Him.  We can experience God in our daily lives through His creation (Romans 1:20). We also have a sense of God's love and will because, as part of His creation, we can find His fingerprint in our hearts - God's DNA, if you will (Romans 2:14-15).  However, there is a big difference between having a "sense of God" and having a personal relationship with God. This personal relationship is what distinguishes the Christian faith from other religious or spiritual belief systems.

As a seeker, I had trouble accepting the Bible as "the infallible word of God". On the one hand, I thought the Bible was written by the Catholic Church, and on the other hand, the fact that the "Word of God" was written by fallible humans didn't sit well with me.  Also, the fact that the Bible wasn't written all at once, but is a collection of manuscripts and writings written and collected over a period of about 1600 years, made it very difficult for me to accept it as a trustworthy "Word of God".

As I learned more about the history of the Bible, I began to believe that it must have been an act of God to put all the pieces of this immense puzzle together so that we could see the big picture. But what finally convinced me to accept the Bible as a whole, as the Word of God and absolute truth, was that Jesus himself approved of the Old Testament, confirmed its authority, quoted from it, proclaimed its power, and described himself as its fulfillment.  As I read and studied the Bible more and more, I was stunned to realize that the Old Testament revelations authorized by Jesus pointed to this same Jesus of Nazareth, the coming and long-awaited Messiah.

Just a few examples: The prophet Micah referring to the birthplace of Jesus 700 years before Jesus was born (Micah 5:2).  The prophet Isaiah describing the virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14). Or the prophecies in Psalm 22:16 and Isaiah 53:3-6 describing the crucifixion of Jesus 800 years before crucifixions even existed.  And these are just a few of the obvious revelations for "Bible beginners". So far, more than 300 prophecies have been fulfilled in and by Jesus.

All of this gave me the confidence to open this book and study it. Not with the intention of "exposing" its fallibility, but to listen to what it has to say to me. I've been reading, meditating and studying the Bible for more than 14 years now, and I can say with conviction that this book is God's supernatural legacy to mankind. It is a fountain of living water (Jeremiah 2:13, John 7:38).

Through the Bible, we come to know God and can develop a personal relationship with Him through His Word. God becomes a father, a wise friend, and a living, constant companion.

 

When we make the decision of our own free will to trust God wholeheartedly, we will find in His Word a map and a compass to guide us safely through the labyrinth of this life. A plan laid out for us to protect us from an eternity without God.
The Bible shows us who we are, who God is, and that He still loves us even though we have not returned that love.