ByYou may have asked, “Why does the Bible exist?”, “Why do we Christians preach from the Bible and not just any book?”, “What are the uses of scripture?” Well, all the answers are in the same Bible.
With everything God creates, allows to happen or persists, He has a purpose for it. God knew that He had to create something that would keep people connected to Him physically, especially when Jesus had left the world. So He inspired different authors, some of which have never met before, to write various books in the scriptures and later carnalised them into one big Bible. But why all these things? God wants to use both His Word and His Spirit to make His children connected to Him in fellowship.
Scripture has several uses. And today, I’m going to elaborate on four of them from 2 Timothy 3:16. But before that, let’s read the entire scripture.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
2 Timothy 3:16 (NKJV)
1. Doctrine
A doctrine means a teaching. So one of the principal uses of scripture is for indoctrination of the ways of God in the children of God. Without sound doctrine, people won’t understand how God does His things. People won’t know God if they don’t have exposure to the word of God. Check the lives of people who are living hostile to the purposes of God. Most of them don’t know God’s Word for themselves.
God can use the Holy Spirit or His anointed ministers to teach you the Word. However, whichever way He uses, you must listen to Him because if you do, you’ll understand Him better.
2. Reproof
Reproof, as used in 2 Timothy 3:16, means conviction or evidence. So that means that God’s Word exists for us to prove its reality in our lives and for those who don’t know Jesus to see Him.
God is faithful to His Word. When He says something, He watches over it and does it according to His timetable. So as a Christian, if you’ve read something from the Word, and had believed God to do it in your life, then the presence of the scripture is meant to enable you to have the conviction or evidence that God will perform His counsel.
God does not change. His Word doesn’t change. Prove all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21) by being convicted of what God has spoken over your life.
3. Correction
Another use of the scripture is that it provides correction. That is, it straightens us up in the path of God when we falter in any area of our lives.
Sometimes, we don’t see that some things we are doing are wrong until we see a scripture that speaks against it. For example, some drivers see bribes as a norm. Meanwhile, the scripture speaks against it in Ecclesiastes 7:7.
Extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
Ecclesiastes 7:7 (NIV)
So a Christian may think giving a bribe to a police officer for breaking a road regulation will solve the issue. Indirectly, it corrupts the person’s heart. And if the person doesn’t take care, that child of God will normalise this evil in his life without recognising it. For this cause, scripture exists to make us convicted and conscious about living out The Truth unto God, even in the face of much opposition.
4. Instruction In Righteousness
Lastly, the scripture exists to instruct us in righteousness. That means that it’s existent to give us guidance on what is right to do in order to please God. Now, this is a little different from correction because, for correction, it’s about straightening up something wrongly done by us. But for instruction, God teaches us new things we never knew of in the Word.
There are still revelations in the Word of God that you’ve not gotten exposure to. Spend time with the Bible, and God will show you many things.
In conclusion, I would say these uses of scripture are all summed up in one purpose, which is in 2 Timothy 3:17.
… that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
As a child of God, the Bible is there for you. Be not over-reliant on people’s teachings of the Word, although listening to sermons is good. Learn to do consistent Bible study for yourself without external supervision.
