The Life-Changing Power of the Bible. And What that Means for You.

Earlier this summer I took some time and worked through John S. Feinberg's helpful (and thorough -  799 pages!) ​Light in a  Dark Place: The Doctrine of Scripture. Among so many other things I enjoyed about the book, I benefited from how we approached something called "the animation of Scripture" - the belief that Scripture has life-giving, life-changing power that no other book shares.

This life-giving, life changing power of the Bible is WHY the Brookside Institute champions biblical literacy and Bible engagement in all the ways it does. Not because Bible engagement is an end-in-itself, but because the Bible is the primary means by which God introduces Himself, a primary way the Spirit works to grow us, and the clearest presentation of the all-satisfying Person and work of Christ.

Toward the end of this chapter on the animating power of the Bible, Feinberg draws several practical implications from this belief. Let me quote one of the implications he highlights (from pp. 678-69), in hopes that this will encourage all of us to keep coming back to the Bible, that we might experience the life-changing, life-giving power it offers in all the ways it offers it:

God's word has power like no other words ever spoken. Thus, it should be the focus of our study and of our everyday living. Whatever we are called to do, and whatever challenges confront us, our first response should always be to ask what Scripture says about the subject and the deeds in question. Needless to say, that can't happen if we don't read and ponder Scripture. Sadly, even Christians committed to verbal plenary inspiration, the fully inerrancy of Scripture, and the power of God's word find little time in the course of a week to read even a little of it. Believers know the message of Psalm 1 as it compares the happy and blessed man with the man who is unhappy and heading for disaster. The key to both is what they do with Scripture. They happy man grounds his life in God's word. He does not merely take a 'small taste' of it for a half-hour each Sunday morning when his pastor preaches. He meditates on God's word both day and night. As a result, when the storms of life confront him, he survives and even flourishes. The unhappy man, whose life is grounded in pleasure, money-making, self-aggrandizement and / or any of the many philosophies that leave out God and his word, is not ready for life's challenges. At some time in his life there will likely be disaster and ruin, and even if not in this life, he is headed for a horrific eternity. 

" Evangelicals know the message and meaning of this psalm, and yet we all too often find relatively little time for God's word in the course of a week. But Scripture is our life source, our spiritual food. You wouldn't limit yourself to just one regular meal a week. If you did, you would eventually starve. Why, then, can't we see that there will be dire consequences if we limit our intake of God's word to once or twice a week -  and some weeks to nothing?" 

- John Feinberg, Light in a Dark Place: The Doctrine of Scripture, pp. 678-79; bold emphasis added.

If you liked this post, you might also like...

• How to Study the Bible on Your Own
• Come Hungry to the Bible
• How Can I Keep My Bible Reading Fresh? 
• When You're Digging for Gold, Bring a Shovel (and Not a Rake)
• Let's Never Tire of Emphasizing the Bible