“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” – 2 Timothy 4:3-4
If there was ever a time period where people looked for teaching that suited their own passions instead of what the Bible actually teaches, that time is now. You can trace back into generations and actually find them doing the same thing, but if you look into today’s culture you’ll notice how many people not only disregard the Bible, but twist it to justify their way of living.
How else can we determine what is right and wrong? Have you ever actually thought about that? How do we know?
Without anything being our guide to show us what is right or wrong, we will just make up the answers ourselves based on whatever we “feel” is right. The result? Everyone will live for themselves and answer only to themselves on what they can or cannot do….does that sound familiar?
I personally have experienced this because that is exactly what I did before I became a follower of Christ. Honestly, at the end of the day, it was depressing. I justified the way I wanted to live, but was never really satisfied. In fact, the more I did things for myself, the more I was really empty in the end. It’s a sobering thought and most of us won’t admit it if we are living that same way, but I know I experienced that and I believe that you will be empty too if you are doing the same thing.
Even today, if I don’t spend consistent time with The Lord reading the Bible and praying, I’ll sway off and do the same thing as I did before. I need Jesus just the same today as I did when I was rescued.
Don Carson, Tim Keller, and John Piper discuss the Bible in this video and why it’s imperative to read and study it seriously.
[vimeo id=”24635066″]
Let me encourage you that the Bible is the ultimate authority at the end of the day. It’s perfect. It’s never wrong. It’s God’s Word.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12
It teaches us, equips us, and completes us. It is actually living and active in our lives…not just a history book. The Bible shows us how to live, shows us everything we need to know about Jesus, and shows us just how good God is to us and to everyone by making salvation available to all by making a way to Him through Jesus Christ.
There is absolute truth and we can know what is really right and what is really wrong…and we learn that through the Bible.
I respectfully disagree. The Bible cannot be our ultimate authority, at least not for the Christian. It is the Holy Trinity that must be the Christ follower’s Ultimate authority. By definition you can only have one ultimate authority, and I would be hard pressed to find a Christian who would choose a book (even a God breathed collection of books) over the living God. It is from the Father in which the divine commands are originated , through the Word of God (made flesh) in which the divine law is taught by example, and the Helper that speaks to us… Read more »
Hey Mike, thanks for sharing. Appreciate the thoughts! I think for the most part we are saying the same thing because the Word is living and active and there are multiple areas of scripture that talk about the Word and Jesus being the same. I agree with you that “a book” isn’t going to be more important than God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, but I believe “a book” is not a sufficient way to describe the living and active Word of God. So while the Bible is more than a book, I agree with you that we should not… Read more »
It’s hard for me to believe it’s the “ultimate authority” because the historicity of the bible is widely debated and is not proven to be completely accurate… so a lot of what’s in the bible could be hear-say and story’s that were just made up in the imaginations of ancient men. I don’t know, it’s just hard for me to understand why God would allow that to be the case, if he wanted it to be so important for governing how we should live.
I’m disappointed there’s no reply to this comment. Seems a bit one-sided and undermining not to address criticism of what one holds above all else in life. That’s the ultimate supposition and yet many are not willing to think critically or accept criticism for others. I’ll be checking my email for a reply.
Hey there, our apologies we didn’t see the comment. Must have missed it. We try to answer all of them and the best way we can (with how best a blog comment can be). Thanks so much.
Hey Luke, thanks for reading and sharing. Sorry somehow we missed this comment. What has not been proven from what you’ve studied? Have you studied the Bible for yourself and looked into it historically with the translations and copies over time? I’d encourage you to look into this and there’s some great Josh McDowell resources out there such as Evidence That Demands a Verdict. I think you’d see just how accurate it really is and would make more sense of what God says about the Bible and how that’s backed up. Thanks again for reading and for sharing!
Glad to see this post, Michael. I’ll highlight it on the Christian Poets & Writers blog. May God draw all communicators for Christ to read, read, read God’s word.
Thanks so much Mary!