Have you ever heard anyone say,
“I believe the Bible from cover to cover?” Have you
ever said that? I have. If
we really do believe the Bible from cover to cover, does it show in our lives?
I find myself coming up short so many times. Do you?
The Bible is not just a
history lesson from Moses or a group of letters from Paul. It is not only biographies
or a list of commands and prophetic sayings. Neither is it only a songbook or a
long list of wise sayings. The Bible is so much more. It is the very Word of
God.
“Above all, you must
understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own
interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will,
but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the
Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)
“In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)
“Bear in mind that our Lord’s
patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the
wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking
in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to
understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other
Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:15-16)
“He said to them, “How
foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did
not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And
beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said
in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” (Luke 24:25-27)
The Bible, God’s Word, says
we are saved by grace through faith plus nothing. Yet, entire denominations
teach that something must be added to be saved. God says, “…that if ye be
circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.” (Galatians 5:2) Circumcision is
just one example among a long list of works that “profit you nothing.”
The Bible, God’s Word, says
we are to love the brethren. (Consider 1 John) How much honest-to-goodness,
real, selfless agape love is actually
demonstrated in most churches?
The Bible, God’s Word, says
that Jesus will soon return and remove His Church before He pours out His wrath
on this world, but you would never know it by observing most Christians. Is
there anyone in the Church looking for the soon return of Jesus for His bride?
Oh yes, there are many earnestly looking for that day while they serve Him on
this earth, but how many? I cannot provide a number and would even be hesitant
to guess at a percentage. However, I believe I would be safe in saying that
most Christians don’t give it much thought.
If we really believed the
Bible from cover to cover, don’t you think most of us would be living much
differently than we do at present? By the way, I most certainly am not
excluding myself from these soul searching questions.
The Bible tells us how to be
saved and how we are kept by the power of God. It tells us how to live a life
for Jesus Christ. It tells us about God and the eternal state. The Bible has
been 100% accurate on hundreds of prophesies, of which some are being fulfilled
today, in our lifetime. Over 7,000 promises are within its pages, and God
always keeps His word.
Where is the sleeping Church?
Where is the Bride, who should be looking daily for her Bridegroom’s return?
In my opinion, the worst
thing that could happen to the Church is to live in an affluent society. We, in
the United States of America, are cursed with this malady, because it has made
so many of us lazy and apathetic.
There is nothing wrong in
being affluent. There is nothing wrong with money. We can like and enjoy living
in an affluent society and we can enjoy money, but let us as Christians never love either. The “niceties” of life are
fine, but have they replaced the time we once spent with Christ in His Word? Our
priority should always be Jesus, our Savior and Lord, over any and everything
else. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case with many folks. How do I know that?
Their lives broadcast it.
The churches throughout this
great country of ours are spiritually sick. Many are spiritually dead. How many
of our churches actually emphasize the Bible in all they teach and do? How many
are just “playing church” as a little girl would play with her doll house? In too
many of our churches the Bible has been replaced with man’s opinions and the
social hour.
If all true believers really
believe the Bible from cover to cover, then why do we sit back and not stand up
for the Truth? Why do we rely on just a few to carry the load? Why have we
allowed the filth of our society to worm its way into our homes, our lives and
our churches? Why have we become comfortable with that which is not of God? Why
do we give more credence to what Oprah has to say than Almighty God? How much
time do we spend in the Bible and prayer?
No true Christian is perfect
(mature), but we should always be maturing as Christians. We should be growing,
but yet there is so much immaturity displayed among Christians. If we are
growing in the Word, there will be more love for others, and less criticizing, jealousy
and pride. Sad but true is the fact that
gossip is just as prevalent in the local church as it is over the neighborhood
fence. Why? There is no knowledge and acceptance of the Word.
The Bible is the holy Word of
God, every page, from cover to cover. Ignorance of what is between those covers
is a major problem with those who are called Christians. Since it takes a great
deal of work to study the Bible, laziness has encouraged many to take the word
of man and form their own opinions.
We know more about sports and
celebrities than what is contained in the Bible. Now why is that? The answer is
obvious. There is no interest in the Bible by many Christians. We want someone
else to feed us our baby food while we pretend we are eating a steak.
If we really do believe the
Bible, from cover to cover no less, maybe it is time we actually read it to
verify what we say we believe.
Every true Christian should be a full-time disciple of Jesus.
The first thing we reach for should be our Bible, not the remote or smart phone.
The fruit of our lips should be, “Have you heard about Jesus?” The desire of
our heart should be to know and follow Him above and beyond anything else.
Until this is the case, I doubt we truly believe the Bible from cover to cover.
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
Rapture Ready: http://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html
