The Foundations of a Proper Heart Attitude

We want something bigger and better. Don’t settle for last year’s blessings, or even the disciplines of the previous centuries of believers. We fear missing out on greater and better spirituality, and the ever-coveted closer relationship with God available to us if we only tried harder like other Christians. If it truly is possible to move mountains, we want to do it.

In such striving, we don’t want to accept the “old and tired methods of the past” for spiritual growth. We want contemporary and exciting methods that give us great promises.

What if those ground-breaking, never-seen-before models of change for spiritual growth aren’t what you need? They promise a better and higher Christian life, yet they cannot come close to delivering that. We need what God has already given us: The Bible, the church, prayer, fellow saints, and the Holy Spirit.

In this series, I want to focus in on the life-giving Word of God. Before we begin learning how to study the Bible though, we need to set our foundations. It’s critical that we understand the purpose and characteristics of the Bible if we want to study it well; if we’re to rightly delight in the Word of God, we must begin with a knowledge of it. And, ultimately, if we want to delight in the triune God, we must begin with Scripture. The Bible is where God reveals himself fully, and to neglect the Bible is to neglect knowing him.

To begin, let’s look at some of the basic characteristics of the Bible: It’s inspired, inerrant, authoritative, and sufficient.

The Bible Is Inspired

According to the doctrine of inspiration, the Bible was written by God through man. it’s not that God dictated every exact word he wanted the writers to write, but rather that the Holy Spirit inspired them to write. 2 Peter 1:20–21 explains: “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (NASB). Zechariah explains it similarly: “They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts” (7:12 NASB, emphasis mine).

God didn’t dictate every word of Scripture, but influenced the writers’ thoughts and protected them human errors. God sovereignly allowed each writer’s personality and circumstances to come through while also keeping them from slipping in their own man-made ideas or sinful desires. God then guarded this Word throughout the ages so that the Word we still have today is just as much from him as it was then. We can trust that though man played an important part in the writing of Scripture, it still remains God’s Words, not man’s.

The Bible Is Inerrant

The word inerrant literally means, “without error,” therefore the doctrine of inerrancy claims that the Bible is without error. This doctrine applies directly to the original manuscripts written by the original human authors; since then, people have transcribed the manuscripts thousands of times in order to persevere them. Not only that, they have translated the Bible from its original languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek) to today’s languages. Though this is an amazing thing (it’s the only reason we have Bibles today) this left the original manuscripts open to human mistakes. So how does this doctrine still apply today?

It can be trusted that God has preserved his Word to keep it without error (Ps. 119:89, 152; Is. 40:8), which is evident through the collection and discoveries of many manuscripts. Researchers have found countless manuscripts of the books of the Bible from different places and times, and are then able to compare them for accuracy when writing today’s manuscripts. Through this process, translators are able to create Bibles that accurately convey the original words and message of the Bible.

The Bible Is Authoritative

Scripture carries the same authority as God because it’s literally the Word of God. Though the Bible was written through man by inspiration, God’s authority still remains because it’s not man’s words but God’s, as Scripture itself claims (1 Thes. 2:13; Ps. 19:7). Due to this authority, Scripture must not only have a high standing among Christians, but we must submit to it and trust it. The Bible isn’t a book that we can pick what we like from and leave the rest; the Bible is our authority for life and godliness, and we must uphold it as such.

The Bible Is Sufficient

Scripture is sufficient for the believer. Everything we need to live a godly life is available to us in the Word of God. 2 Timothy 3:16–17 declares this: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (NASB). Moreover, Psalm 19 says that Scripture revives our souls, makes wise the simple, rejoices the heart, enlightens the eyes, and warns believers. It encourages us when we are down and exhorts us when we are in sin. It gives us discernment in making choices and warns us of error (vv. 7–11). Because Scripture is sufficient, we don’t need to add to it. In fact, we’re commanded to add nothing to God’s Word (Revelation 22:18; Deuteronomy 12:32; Proverbs 30:6).

The Foundation for a Proper Posture

All of this theology may seem unnecessary for studying the Bible, yet it’s these very truths that are foundational to the Christian life. Our faith stand on the declarations of Scripture; if we aren’t convinced that they are inerrant, authoritative, and sufficient, how will our faith stand the test? How will we confidently defend what we believe? How can we trust the hope God offers us in the gospel? We need these building blocks to study God’s Word. Without them, our faith may become like a newborn babe trying stand: wobbly and easily swayed.

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