April 19, 2025 • 14 mins
What would the world look like without the Bible? In this episode, we explore the reality of why Scripture is indispensable in a believer's life. We examine how general revelation through nature and moral law points us to God, supported by powerful insights from Psalms and Romans. Don’t’ miss this episode!!!
Do you want to learn how to study the Bible? Check out the YouTube channel Faithfullyliven youtube.com/@faithfullyliven
Do you want to read about how to live faithfully? Check out the blog http://lyfe102.org
Get a free Road Map to get started learning how to study the Bible https://mailchi.mp/88f9c9405da0/bible-study-road-map
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Faithfully Living, the Podcast, where we
learn how to live for Christ inour daily lives.
I am Dwan, your host, and Iwould like to invite you on a
journey with me to explore andlearn how to be a faithful
follower of Christ.
Hey everyone, welcome toFaithfully Living, the Podcast,
(00:24):
where we encourage you to striveto live for Christ faithfully
by offering guidance on how tostudy the Bible, how to
understand the Bible better andhow to remain faithful to
historic Christianity in acontemporary society.
So why do we need the Bible asbelievers?
(00:46):
Do we really need it?
What would the world be like ifwe didn't have a Bible?
In today's episode, we're goingto be talking about the
necessity of Scripture.
A Bible that's fallen apartusually belongs to someone who
isn't Charles Hatton Spurgeon.
All right, so I posed thisquestion earlier.
(01:10):
What would the world be like ifwe didn't have a Bible?
What if God had chosen not togive us his written word?
Now, if we didn't have a Bible,I think God would have given us
a way to know him.
Before we get into the doctrineof the necessity of scripture,
let's look at some ways we canknow God without the Bible.
(01:33):
So one would be knowing Godthrough general revelation and
then God's character and hismoral law.
So God has revealed certainthings through general
revelation.
General revelation is theknowledge god is given to people
, apart from scripture, usuallyis due observing nature, the
(01:57):
innocence of god's existence andour understanding of god's
moral requirements.
And our understanding of God'smoral requirements, psalms 19.1
says and we know that God existsthrough creation, the heavens
declare the glory of God and thesky proclaims his handiwork.
Romans 1.18-20 says and peopleknow something about God's
(02:19):
character and moral law, and itsaid Romans says that.
And moral law.
And it said romans says that,for the wrath of god is revealed
from heaven against allungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who by theirunrighteousness suppress the
truth.
But what can be known about godis plain to them because god
has shown it to them, for hisinvisible attributes, namely his
(02:43):
eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived
ever since the creation of theworld and the things that have
been made.
So they are without excuse.
So it tells us in Romans thatGod has given every person this
(03:04):
general revelation, whether theywant to acknowledge it or not.
The Word of God, well understoodand religiously obeyed, is the
shortest route to spiritualperfection.
We must not select a fewpassages to the exclusion of
(03:25):
others.
Nothing less than a whole Biblecan make a whole Christian, aw
Tozer.
So God did not just give usgeneral revelation for us to
know him, he gave us his writtenword.
So let's define the necessityof scripture.
(03:46):
And this is going to be fromWayne Grudem's systematic
theology.
He says the necessity ofscripture means that the bible
is necessary for knowing thegospel, for maintaining
spiritual life and for knowingGod's will.
But it's not necessary forknowing God God exists or for
knowing something about God'scharacter and moral law.
(04:06):
So let's kind of take thisdefinition apart to see why
scripture is necessary.
So first, gudum, in hisdefinition, says the Bible is
necessary for knowing the gospel.
Paul tells us in Romans.
(04:33):
Paul tells us in Romans, andthat's in Romans 10, 13 through
14.
And he also says in Romans 10,17,.
And faith comes from hearing,and hearing through the word of
Christ.
So saving faith comes byhearing the gospel message, and
this gospel message comesthrough the proclamation of
(04:56):
Christ from God's word.
We can read the gospel messagein the Bible and it reminds us
and tells us of the saving workof Christ.
Next is scripture is necessaryfor living and maintaining a
holy and spiritual life.
So during his temptation in thewilderness, jesus told the
(05:18):
devil it is written man shouldnot live by bread alone, but by
every word that comes from themouth of God, and that's Matthew
4.4.
So the Bible is to be a sourceof daily nourishment for
believers.
It instructs us how to live alife that is pleasing to God.
So that's why it's importantfor us to at least try to dig
(05:40):
into God's word or read God'sword every day.
So, from the greatestcommandment of loving God and
loving others to the 10commandments on how to love God
and others, the Bible has muchto say about how we are to live
as follows, for Christ right,and then also scripture is
(06:03):
necessary for knowing God's word, and I think this is something
that we all struggle with, withknowing God's word for our lives
.
But there there's anoverarching will that all
believers are called to.
And I'm not talking about justlike your individual, you know
niche of where you're to serveGod, like whether that is to be,
(06:25):
you know, a doctor, or to beelectrician, to be a carpenter,
to be a missionary.
We're just talking about theoverarching will for believers.
The Bible provides us with aclear statement about God's will
In Deuteronomy 29, 29, it saysthe secret things belong to the
(06:47):
Lord, to the Lord, our God, butthe things that are revealed
belong to us and to our childrenforever.
That we may do all the words ofhis law.
Psalms 119.1 states To beblameless in God's sight is to
walk in the law of the Lord.
Psalms 1.1-2 says who does notfollow the will of wicked people
(07:09):
but delights in the law of theLord and meditates on it day and
night.
We also have to love God, isacting in a way that's pleasing
to him, and to keep hiscommandments.
1 John 5, 3.
So you can see some of thescriptures that tells us God's
will.
For us, as a believer, it'smultifaceted because the Bible
(07:34):
is our guidebook.
So God's will for us is to knowhis law, to be blameless, to
love him first and then to loveothers.
The Bible will keep you fromsin.
Our sin will keep you from theBible.
Dwight L Moody.
(07:58):
Alright, so we looked in detailabout the definition that Wayne
Goodham gave about the necessityof Scripture.
So let's look at some morereasons why the bible is our and
should be necessary andindispensable in our lives.
First, I just want to say thatwe all know that the world is
(08:21):
overflowing with opinions,ideologies and philosophies and
the bible is to be our anchor,to hold us steadfast to a
standard, and it's going to.
It needs to be our, our guideand our light as we we live in,
(08:41):
we live in this world.
So, first off, the bible is animmutable truth, it's unchanging
truth.
It's it's not merely acollection of ancient texts, but
it is a reservoir of unchangingtruth.
Its word has resonatedthroughout the ages, providing
(09:03):
wisdom, guidance and thencomfort for those who seek
comfort, for those who seekcomfort.
And you know the world isalways going to be shifting back
and forth on various opinions,but the Bible is one thing that
stands firm.
It stands true because it'sGod's divine revelation to us.
(09:25):
And then that kind of leads usinto the Bible, is a lamp for us
, our feet, to guide us on thispath called life.
(09:49):
So when we are confused, we havedoubts, answers for our answers
.
But we also can find couragethrough the lives of the people
that are illustrated andnarrated in the Bible.
Also, the Bible can be a mirrorto our souls.
Even though we have fears anddoubts, it can help, steer us to
(10:12):
be in right relationship withGod.
It helps us to be introspective, looking at the things that the
Bible offers us, and not for usjust to go on how we feel even
though we should acknowledge howwe feel but also place that
acknowledgement into faith andtrust in the God of the Bible.
(10:36):
And then that also leads us tounderstanding the character of
God.
When we have fears, doubts andwe despair, if we can lean on
the character of God, we knowthat he's a creator, redeemer,
(10:56):
he sustains us.
And when we read through theBible, the Old Testament and the
New Testament, those narrativesbear witness to his unchanging
love, his unfailing mercy, hisjustice and then fulfillment of
his promises.
And then fulfillment of hispromises, especially the Old
(11:18):
Testament reveals to us thatJesus Christ is coming.
And we see in the New Testamentthat Jesus came and fulfilled
the prophecies and the promisethat God had promised Adam long
ago.
So we see that Christ is afulfillment of that promise.
So we see that Christ is afulfillment of that promise.
And then we read about God'sgrace and love through Christ,
(11:41):
through his teachings, and howhe came to die for us, to save
us of our sins, to help usrealize what love is, is and how
that we can be more like himand living our lives to be more
like Christ.
(12:01):
The Bible gives us a lot tothink about, but it also gives
us a call to action, like I saidthat probably in another
episode that we not only need toread and study the bible, but
(12:22):
the bible also calls us to act,to live in a certain way, to
believe certain truths becausethey are true there.
The bible has timelessprinciples and it challenges us,
you know, not only to love ourneighbors, but it also calls us
to love our enemies, that toshow mercy, to walk humble, to
(12:43):
repent of our sins, to lay downour lives, to be strong in the
midst of a world that tells uslies, and for us to remain true
and steadfast even in the midstof those struggles.
You can see that the Bible isour source of truth.
(13:05):
It's going to guide us, it'sgoing to inspire us as we seek
to know more about God and tofind wisdom in his words.
So, as we journey through life,it's important for us to hold
fast to the teachings of theBible, to allow it to shape our
minds, mold our hearts,transform our lives, that we may
(13:27):
bring glory to God and toworship and honor him through
the things that we do, toworship and honor him through
the things that we do.
Nobody ever outgrows scripture.
The book widens and deepenswith our years, charles
(13:47):
Hattensburg, all right.
So during this episode we havelearned that the Bible should be
an important part of our livesbecause it's necessary for us,
as believers, to be more likeChrist, to know God in his
character and to know his wordthat he has given to us.
(14:07):
So you know, from the start ofour life in Christ, when we
yielded our life to him, to theliving of our lives, lives and
to the future that we anticipate, we know that we need God's
word.
It's necessary for us to live alife that's pleasing and
honoring him.
So I hope this episode washelpful and you learned why we,
(14:32):
as believers, need the Bible.
So until next time, rememberGod is always good and he's
always faithful.
Thank you for listening to thepodcast.
Do me a favor by following thepodcast and leaving a review to
help spread the word.
I look forward to hearing fromyou.
Welcome to Faithfully Living, the Podcast, where we
learn how to live for Christ inour daily lives.
I am Dwan, your host, and Iwould like to invite you on a
journey with me to explore andlearn how to be a faithful
follower of Christ.
Hey everyone, welcome toFaithfully Living, the Podcast,
(00:24):
where we encourage you to striveto live for Christ faithfully
by offering guidance on how tostudy the Bible, how to
understand the Bible better andhow to remain faithful to
historic Christianity in acontemporary society.
So why do we need the Bible asbelievers?
(00:46):
Do we really need it?
What would the world be like ifwe didn't have a Bible?
In today's episode, we're goingto be talking about the
necessity of Scripture.
A Bible that's fallen apartusually belongs to someone who
isn't Charles Hatton Spurgeon.
All right, so I posed thisquestion earlier.
(01:10):
What would the world be like ifwe didn't have a Bible?
What if God had chosen not togive us his written word?
Now, if we didn't have a Bible,I think God would have given us
a way to know him.
Before we get into the doctrineof the necessity of scripture,
let's look at some ways we canknow God without the Bible.
(01:33):
So one would be knowing Godthrough general revelation and
then God's character and hismoral law.
So God has revealed certainthings through general
revelation.
General revelation is theknowledge god is given to people
, apart from scripture, usuallyis due observing nature, the
(01:57):
innocence of god's existence andour understanding of god's
moral requirements.
And our understanding of God'smoral requirements, psalms 19.1
says and we know that God existsthrough creation, the heavens
declare the glory of God and thesky proclaims his handiwork.
Romans 1.18-20 says and peopleknow something about God's
(02:19):
character and moral law, and itsaid Romans says that.
And moral law.
And it said romans says that,for the wrath of god is revealed
from heaven against allungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who by theirunrighteousness suppress the
truth.
But what can be known about godis plain to them because god
has shown it to them, for hisinvisible attributes, namely his
(02:43):
eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived
ever since the creation of theworld and the things that have
been made.
So they are without excuse.
So it tells us in Romans thatGod has given every person this
(03:04):
general revelation, whether theywant to acknowledge it or not.
The Word of God, well understoodand religiously obeyed, is the
shortest route to spiritualperfection.
We must not select a fewpassages to the exclusion of
(03:25):
others.
Nothing less than a whole Biblecan make a whole Christian, aw
Tozer.
So God did not just give usgeneral revelation for us to
know him, he gave us his writtenword.
So let's define the necessityof scripture.
(03:46):
And this is going to be fromWayne Grudem's systematic
theology.
He says the necessity ofscripture means that the bible
is necessary for knowing thegospel, for maintaining
spiritual life and for knowingGod's will.
But it's not necessary forknowing God God exists or for
knowing something about God'scharacter and moral law.
(04:06):
So let's kind of take thisdefinition apart to see why
scripture is necessary.
So first, gudum, in hisdefinition, says the Bible is
necessary for knowing the gospel.
Paul tells us in Romans.
(04:33):
Paul tells us in Romans, andthat's in Romans 10, 13 through
14.
And he also says in Romans 10,17,.
And faith comes from hearing,and hearing through the word of
Christ.
So saving faith comes byhearing the gospel message, and
this gospel message comesthrough the proclamation of
(04:56):
Christ from God's word.
We can read the gospel messagein the Bible and it reminds us
and tells us of the saving workof Christ.
Next is scripture is necessaryfor living and maintaining a
holy and spiritual life.
So during his temptation in thewilderness, jesus told the
(05:18):
devil it is written man shouldnot live by bread alone, but by
every word that comes from themouth of God, and that's Matthew
4.4.
So the Bible is to be a sourceof daily nourishment for
believers.
It instructs us how to live alife that is pleasing to God.
So that's why it's importantfor us to at least try to dig
(05:40):
into God's word or read God'sword every day.
So, from the greatestcommandment of loving God and
loving others to the 10commandments on how to love God
and others, the Bible has muchto say about how we are to live
as follows, for Christ right,and then also scripture is
(06:03):
necessary for knowing God's word, and I think this is something
that we all struggle with, withknowing God's word for our lives
.
But there there's anoverarching will that all
believers are called to.
And I'm not talking about justlike your individual, you know
niche of where you're to serveGod, like whether that is to be,
(06:25):
you know, a doctor, or to beelectrician, to be a carpenter,
to be a missionary.
We're just talking about theoverarching will for believers.
The Bible provides us with aclear statement about God's will
In Deuteronomy 29, 29, it saysthe secret things belong to the
(06:47):
Lord, to the Lord, our God, butthe things that are revealed
belong to us and to our childrenforever.
That we may do all the words ofhis law.
Psalms 119.1 states To beblameless in God's sight is to
walk in the law of the Lord.
Psalms 1.1-2 says who does notfollow the will of wicked people
(07:09):
but delights in the law of theLord and meditates on it day and
night.
We also have to love God, isacting in a way that's pleasing
to him, and to keep hiscommandments.
1 John 5, 3.
So you can see some of thescriptures that tells us God's
will.
For us, as a believer, it'smultifaceted because the Bible
(07:34):
is our guidebook.
So God's will for us is to knowhis law, to be blameless, to
love him first and then to loveothers.
The Bible will keep you fromsin.
Our sin will keep you from theBible.
Dwight L Moody.
(07:58):
Alright, so we looked in detailabout the definition that Wayne
Goodham gave about the necessityof Scripture.
So let's look at some morereasons why the bible is our and
should be necessary andindispensable in our lives.
First, I just want to say thatwe all know that the world is
(08:21):
overflowing with opinions,ideologies and philosophies and
the bible is to be our anchor,to hold us steadfast to a
standard, and it's going to.
It needs to be our, our guideand our light as we we live in,
(08:41):
we live in this world.
So, first off, the bible is animmutable truth, it's unchanging
truth.
It's it's not merely acollection of ancient texts, but
it is a reservoir of unchangingtruth.
Its word has resonatedthroughout the ages, providing
(09:03):
wisdom, guidance and thencomfort for those who seek
comfort, for those who seekcomfort.
And you know the world isalways going to be shifting back
and forth on various opinions,but the Bible is one thing that
stands firm.
It stands true because it'sGod's divine revelation to us.
(09:25):
And then that kind of leads usinto the Bible, is a lamp for us
, our feet, to guide us on thispath called life.
(09:49):
So when we are confused, we havedoubts, answers for our answers
.
But we also can find couragethrough the lives of the people
that are illustrated andnarrated in the Bible.
Also, the Bible can be a mirrorto our souls.
Even though we have fears anddoubts, it can help, steer us to
(10:12):
be in right relationship withGod.
It helps us to be introspective, looking at the things that the
Bible offers us, and not for usjust to go on how we feel even
though we should acknowledge howwe feel but also place that
acknowledgement into faith andtrust in the God of the Bible.
(10:36):
And then that also leads us tounderstanding the character of
God.
When we have fears, doubts andwe despair, if we can lean on
the character of God, we knowthat he's a creator, redeemer,
(10:56):
he sustains us.
And when we read through theBible, the Old Testament and the
New Testament, those narrativesbear witness to his unchanging
love, his unfailing mercy, hisjustice and then fulfillment of
his promises.
And then fulfillment of hispromises, especially the Old
(11:18):
Testament reveals to us thatJesus Christ is coming.
And we see in the New Testamentthat Jesus came and fulfilled
the prophecies and the promisethat God had promised Adam long
ago.
So we see that Christ is afulfillment of that promise.
So we see that Christ is afulfillment of that promise.
And then we read about God'sgrace and love through Christ,
(11:41):
through his teachings, and howhe came to die for us, to save
us of our sins, to help usrealize what love is, is and how
that we can be more like himand living our lives to be more
like Christ.
(12:01):
The Bible gives us a lot tothink about, but it also gives
us a call to action, like I saidthat probably in another
episode that we not only need toread and study the bible, but
(12:22):
the bible also calls us to act,to live in a certain way, to
believe certain truths becausethey are true there.
The bible has timelessprinciples and it challenges us,
you know, not only to love ourneighbors, but it also calls us
to love our enemies, that toshow mercy, to walk humble, to
(12:43):
repent of our sins, to lay downour lives, to be strong in the
midst of a world that tells uslies, and for us to remain true
and steadfast even in the midstof those struggles.
You can see that the Bible isour source of truth.
(13:05):
It's going to guide us, it'sgoing to inspire us as we seek
to know more about God and tofind wisdom in his words.
So, as we journey through life,it's important for us to hold
fast to the teachings of theBible, to allow it to shape our
minds, mold our hearts,transform our lives, that we may
(13:27):
bring glory to God and toworship and honor him through
the things that we do, toworship and honor him through
the things that we do.
Nobody ever outgrows scripture.
The book widens and deepenswith our years, charles
(13:47):
Hattensburg, all right.
So during this episode we havelearned that the Bible should be
an important part of our livesbecause it's necessary for us,
as believers, to be more likeChrist, to know God in his
character and to know his wordthat he has given to us.
(14:07):
So you know, from the start ofour life in Christ, when we
yielded our life to him, to theliving of our lives, lives and
to the future that we anticipate, we know that we need God's
word.
It's necessary for us to live alife that's pleasing and
honoring him.
So I hope this episode washelpful and you learned why we,
(14:32):
as believers, need the Bible.
So until next time, rememberGod is always good and he's
always faithful.
Thank you for listening to thepodcast.
Do me a favor by following thepodcast and leaving a review to
help spread the word.
I look forward to hearing fromyou.
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