Bible Basics: Progressive Revelation
We didn’t get the Bible in one complete piece. God gave us His Word progressively, over the span of about 1,500 years. Progressive revelation is a movement from one truth to another.
In his second letter to Timothy, Paul wrote that “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” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Christians from the apostles until now have, like Paul, regarded Scripture as central to the life and growth of the Church.
But even though we know its importance to our lives, too often our knowledge and application of Scripture remain minimal. Why? Perhaps sitting down to study the Bible might seem intimidating, or it could just be difficult to carve out some devotional time. Maybe you have questions about the Bible, but you aren’t sure where to look for answers.
Let these tools, articles, audio sermons, and resources help you incorporate the Scriptures more fully into your life.
We didn’t get the Bible in one complete piece. God gave us His Word progressively, over the span of about 1,500 years. Progressive revelation is a movement from one truth to another.
What about our mentoring, counselling, and discipleship? If we believe Scripture is powerful, we ought to make it central to any solution we offer. Is our confidence in methods, systems, theories, and philosophies, or is our confidence in God’s Word?
When you embrace the written Word of God as your guide, you start thinking differently. And best of all, you live better. I urge you to make this New Year a year when you and the written Word of God get much better acquainted.
Sometimes the “light at the end of the tunnel” is seen when we choose to examine what Scripture reveals about life rather than how quickly we can remove our pain. The New Testament book of James is a great place to begin.
When you hear something nearly true, or partly true, it’s easy to accept it as true. That’s the thing about deception: sometimes it’s hard to spot, as small as uneasiness or something not sitting quite right.
While intercessory prayer is certainly biblical, I wonder whether some of our assumptions and motivations behind this kind of prayer are unbiblical.
Several principles are worth remembering. First, no one person has all the truth. Second, no single church owns exclusive rights to your mind. Third, no specific interpretation is correct just because a gifted teacher says so.
The greatest communicator of all time, Jesus Christ, used stories to communicate the truth about God, our lives, and our world. He often chose to employ stories when faced with a diverse crowd of people, hungry for His teaching.
After you’ve gotten to know this biblical person in their world, you can see your own experience mirrored in the character’s tests of faith and discover universal principles and applications for your life today.
One reason we might not see Scripture’s relevance is because we focus on the discontinuity between the world of the Bible and our world and conclude Scripture’s irrelevant. Instead, we need to look at the points of continuity.