Letting Christ Transform You From The Inside Out

Foundations: Introduction to the Bible

The Holy Scriptures are the WORD of GOD - the WRITTEN WORD

The Bible is God's personal letter to us. He wrote it to communicate with us. It tells us about God and His plan for our lives. Jesus is God's personal example of himself as a man. Jesus shows us God's character and shows us how to relate to God. Getting to know God and having a healthy, fulfilling relationship with Him is the main purpose of studying the Bible.

Understanding God through the Bible is a process. God does not exasperate people with more detail than they need. He patiently and thoughtfully builds on a foundation. All of these studies in the Foundations section will skim the surface of biblical teaching. Thus, they will teach the "basics". At times there will be a link to a more in depth teaching of the subject for advanced students of the Bible. If you are a beginner, I recommend that you refrain from linking to these more advanced studies until you have completed all of the "basic" foundational studies.

Even if you don't yet believe that the Bible is written by God (through the hands of men) or that Jesus is God in the form of a man, I ask you to consider these foundational studies before making a final judgment.

The scriptures are written by God through the hands of men and reflect the various personalities of the men they were written through.

1. Scripture itself means "breathed of God". God did not choose to give us an exhaustive account of the creation in Genesis, nor does He qualify everything that is written. However, God must have felt that the Scriptures(as written) were sufficient for their purpose. Anyone who tries to add to or take away from what is written is warned.
2. The primary purpose of the Bible is to teach us about God's heart & character, about ourselves (why God created us, what our purpose and value is), about right and wrong, and finally (and most significantly) to point us to JESUS (the Messiah) as the means by which we can be released from Satan's oppression, bought back by God, and have access to the Tree of Life (and live forever in His Presence).

The Old Testament is inspired by God but it is an "incomplete/immature" picture. Only together with the New Testament can completeness/maturity come. This doesn't take away from the fact that the Old Testament is inspired by God, however, it does give us a framework from which our discernment of the purpose of the scriptures should come from. I don't believe the prophets' depictions of God in the Old Testament are absolutely correct; however, I do believe that God felt they were "sufficient" for His purposes. I believe His ultimate purpose was for us to look to Jesus for the missing pieces so that together with Christ we will understand the correct image of God and reflect Him to the world.