Why Bible Studying

Reading the Bible is not like reading any other book. The words of the Bible are the very words of God. The Scriptures are described as a two-edged sword which “reads us” while we read it. As the Psalmist says, the Word of God is more important than food, more precious than honey, more valuable than gold.

The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. (Psalm 119:72)

Eight reasons to read the Bible

1. Scripture saves.

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Timothy 4:16)

“God saves us daily by Scripture.”

Salvation has happened to God’s people, salvation is — at this moment — happening to God’s people, and salvation will happen completely at the resurrection of God’s people, and it is happening now by means of God’s Word. Paul says to hold fast to the teaching and thereby save yourself. God saves us daily by our reading of Scripture.

2. Scripture frees.

You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:32)

When Jesus said this, he was showing the Jewish leaders that, though they think they are not slaves, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires” (John 8:44). They were deceived and in need of the Messiah to set them free. That deception was so tragically deep that they couldn’t see the Messiah they needed in order to truly see. Satan is our enemy, and he is strong. We need the Holy Spirit to see and recognize Christ in our lives. As St. John wrote,

I write to you, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. (1 John 2:14)

Every time Jesus was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13), he struck back with “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). The weapon Jesus chose to confront and overcome the Devil were the words from Isaiah and Hebrew Scriptures, in which he was well-versed. This is what he taught us to do. 

3. Scripture imparts grace and peace.

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 1:2)

Knowledge of God gained through Scripture is not identical with grace, but Peter says it is a means of grace. If we want to be made peaceful and powerful through divine grace, Peter says, it happens “in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” That knowledge is found in one place: Scripture. (2 Peter 3:18)

4. Scripture sanctifies.

Jesus prayed,

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17)

Sanctification is the process of becoming holy — that is, becoming more like Christ and like God, who is perfectly holy. This is not optional. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Strive . . . for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”

We don’t become perfect in this life, but we do become holy. God sanctifies his people. And Jesus prays to his Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” It couldn’t be more plain, or more important.

5. Scripture gives joy.

You received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 1:6)

His delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:2)

Life without joy is unbearable. The Christian life, like every life, is a life of many afflictions. It is God’s promise, though, that we will be sustained in Him and even know joy in the midst of our troubles. God sustains joy, and he does so through the Scriptures.

6. Scripture protects us from destructive error.

Until we all attain the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God . . . so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine. (Ephesians 4:13–14)

How do Christians stop being leaves blown around by cultural and theological winds and opinions? Answer: “the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God” — knowledge that we experience, not as the opinion of man, but as the Word of God. That’s found in one place: the Holy Scriptures.

7. Scripture is the hope of Heaven.

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

The knowledge of God—all the fullness that a created being can properly comprehend and enjoy—will not be withheld from us indefinitely. The frustrations of our present limitations of understanding and enjoyment will be removed. How fitting it is, then, that we be ever growing now in what will be our final joy in the age to come.

8. Scripture gives and sustains life.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.     (Matthew 4:4)

Spiritual life—eternal life—as with physical life, must be fed, not by bread, but by the Word of God. Reading the Bible to grow in understanding has the effect of expanding our spirit and opening us to the work and comfort of the Holy Spirit. Communion and fellowship with God is the answer to all things, and our “roadmap” to God is Holy Scripture.

This Thursday night, we are gathering by ZOOM at 7:00 to choose our next book of the Bible. Come be a part of the decision process that will put you into a deeper relationship with God.


Reading my Bible,
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Fr. Bill+ ​