The Bible is more than a book, or a collection of 66 books from around 40 authors.  No; the Holy Spirit personally instructed the Bible’s authors so that what they wrote is certified as God’s Word (2 Peter 1:21).  And that applies to ‘all Scripture’ … that is - every part of the Bible.  Peter recognised that Paul’s writings had the same divine inspiration as the Old Testament (2 Peter 3:16).  We are not at liberty to choose some parts which we like and discard others.

God has not left us to work out the best way for ourselves, or abandoned us to the ideas of human philosophers.  God’s purpose in causing Scripture to be written is that His people might know how to be right with Him through faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice (1 John 4:10), and learn to please Him (Ephesians 5:10).  The Bible is a literary masterpiece, but it is not intended to be admired in a museum.  It is contemporary to every age, full of detail about how to be saved and live a life which pleases God.  It is God’s essential tool for turning a sinful human being into a man or woman of God.

The Bible’s fourfold purpose provides a complete package of instruction.  Teaching tells us what is right, and why.  Rebuking tells us where we are wrong, and why.  Correcting tells us how to move from being wrong to being right, and how to do it.  Training tells us what is needed to live in a way which will serve God and others, and how to do it.  We may not know specifically how God wants us to serve Him each day, but the man or woman whose character has been moulded by obeying God’s Word will be prepared for anything He asks.  

All four elements should be contained in Christian teaching.  So, do pray for all preachers and study leaders that they will not be slow to teach and train, nor frightened to rebuke and correct.  Learning from the Bible not only provides us with essential information, but the Holy Spirit also speaks into our hearts to convince us where we are wrong and need to change.  So we also need to be willing to accept God’s teaching and rebuke; but we cannot progress if we refuse to be corrected and resist obeying what He says.  We can choose to ignore Him; but that is grossly foolish.  As God graciously speaks to us as we read the Bible, and helps us to obey, should we not take the Bible much more seriously?  Should we not repent of our personal self-motivated philosophy of life?  It is time to read and obey, repent and change, and get ready to be useful to the Lord.