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Every book has a purpose. Whether it’s a cookbook, history book, novel, science book, biography, or even a comic book, every book has a reason. So what is the purpose of the best-selling book in the world, the Bible, and how did it come to be?
The Bible is the true word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit. This means that God breathed into the writers the exact thoughts and words they were to write. As a result, every statement in the Bible is the truth. One part of the Bible explains another part.
It’s purpose? The Bible imparts wisdom, and has been used in many lands during various ages as a key educational textbook. While this is useful, it is not the real purpose of the Bible.
The Bible proclaims the Creator’s natural law for his creatures. Guided by its directives, people can live productive and happy lives, caring about others. While this is very beneficial, it is not the real purpose of the Bible.
Many claim the Bible teaches us how to live according to God’s commands so we can gain his favor. This common misunderstanding is certainly not the purpose of the Bible. Rather, the Bible clearly proclaims and demonstrates that we cannot keep God’s commands to gain his favor for salvation.
God’s answer to this dilemma is the REAL purpose of the Bible. According to his eternal plan God sent his own perfect Son, Jesus, to live in obedience to all of God’s commands, and to suffer the punishment for our wrongs against God’s commands by his death on the cross. Jesus gained God’s favor for all of us!
The apostle Paul wrote, “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)
Just before this verse, Paul quoted from what was written in the past, about a thousand years before Jesus was born: “The insults of those who insult you fall on me” (Psalm 69:9). Paul described how that Psalm verse speaks of Jesus Christ, who did not come to please himself, but came to do the Father’s will. In his suffering and death Jesus voluntarily bore all people’s hostility toward God.
This is the amazing purpose of the Bible. It points to Jesus Christ and describes in detail his work of salvation. It is God’s word. It is his eternal plan of salvation for sinners. This is what truly teaches us, encourages us, grants us endurance and hope! This is THE purpose of the Bible—to show sinners their salvation in Jesus Christ alone. So great is God’s love for us!
“Because the Bible is the Word of God, and God never lies.” If you don’t find that answer satisfying, we understand. The ticket agent at the airport or the driver licensing agency doesn’t believe that I am who I say I am just because I say so. They want proof, and the proof has to come from somebody other than me.
It’s understandable that people expect the same from the Bible. Especially since, throughout the centuries, lots of people have claimed to have spoken or written words that came straight from God. They can’t all be telling the truth. How do I know that the Bible is?
First, there is much more evidence that the Bible is true than most people think. For instance, the Bible was written over a period of 1,400 years by more than 40 authors. And yet, this book tells one story and has one message–one that people of all times, places, and cultures have found meaningful. Notice also what a “survivor” the Bible has been. Not only has it survived thousands of years of history, it has also been the most violently attacked book of all time. And yet, every year it tops the best-seller list by a wide margin.
Then there are the Bible’s fulfilled prophecies. In the Old Testament you have a large number of predictions about what the Messiah would do. In the New Testament you find them all fulfilled in the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. Read, for example, Isaiah 53 (written in the 8th century before Christ) or Psalm 22 (tenth century before Christ). You can’t help but be amazed at how these prophecies tell the whole story of the death of Jesus centuries before it happened.
Finally, not even this will convince somebody who wants corroboration from an outside source. And that’s really the problem. When we ask for an outside source to vouch for the Bible, we’re really looking for a higher authority than the Word of God. And there is no higher authority. For instance, who could corroborate the God’s account of how the world began? Nobody else was there!
That’s why, ultimately, the reason we believe the Bible isn’t because we can use objective, external evidence to prove that it’s true. It’s because the Bible’s message has conquered our hearts. In the Bible, we’ve found a book by people we’ve never met, but who somehow seem to know us better than we know ourselves. And we find a message that meets our deepest need: the need for a Savior from our failings and guilt.
That’s why we say that the Bible is “self-authenticating.” Read it for yourself, and we think you’ll see what we mean.,,
Break the entire Bible down to its barest minimum and you end up with two basic messages: The Law and the Gospel. 1) The Law tells us that we have rebelled against God and as a result deserve God’s punishment, and 2) The Gospel tells us that God has saved us from the punishment of our rebellion through his Son, Jesus Christ and as a result we can live forever in heaven.
The Bible is full of passages that make demands of us. The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) or Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) are some of the more familiar parts of the Bible that explain the kind of perfect life God demands. When we fail in any way (either in what we say, think or do) – even just once – then we are no longer perfect. We are rebels and sinners. God says clearly in the Bible, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). That is the Law.
The Bible is also full of good news – the Gospel. One of those passages of good news is known by its familiar reference, John 3:16. It reads, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” That’s good news! God’s act of love trumps our sins. Jesus has forgiven all our sins. Heaven will be home for all who believe this! Or, to quote the rest of Romans 6:23, “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God presents these two messages in many different ways in the Bible. Most of those ways are through the real life events of real people – people you and I can identify with because they were rebels just like us. And Jesus saved them just like us. Read it and you’ll find out for yourself.
The Bible teaches that God judged all sinners righteous in his sight when Jesus Christ died on the cross for us. God declared everyone free from the guilt and punishment owed for our sins. The sinner receives this free gift of forgiveness, not by doing good deeds, but only by faith. A person is justified when he or she believes in Christ and his redemptive work. It is a gift from God.
Read the Bible: Ephesians 2:8,9; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Romans 3:22-24; Romans 3:28; Romans 4:5; Mark 16:16
Named after Martin Luther (the originator of the Reformation), a Lutheran recognizes three ancient creeds as accurate expressions of Bible teaching: the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. Martin Luther and others authored the six Lutheran confessions—to which we as WELS Lutherans still subscribe today because we believe they are a correct explanation of biblical truth. The Creeds and the six Lutheran confessions were brought together into the Book of Concord, published in 1580.
Lutherans get their name from Martin Luther, a man born in Germany in 1483. Luther was baptized and grew up as a member of the Catholic church. His leaders in the church gave Luther an assignment. He was to study and teach the Bible.
The Bible showed Luther that the church was not teaching God’s pure truth. The church was not teaching the Bible’s answer to this life-and-death question: How can I know that God loves me and forgives my sins?
Luther taught God’s answer to this question as he learned it from the Bible. As a result, he was put out of the Catholic church. Those who believed and confessed as Luther did were called “Lutherans” by their enemies. Christians who accept and teach what those 15th century “Lutherans” taught still call themselves “Lutheran” today. Note, however, that there are some Lutheran denominations today that no longer accept everything that Luther taught but still call themselves “Lutheran.”
The main topic Luther found in the Bible is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the eternal Son of God. He is also the sinless son of the virgin Mary. Jesus lived a perfect life. He earned God’s love for the whole human race—for you, too. Jesus died a criminal’s death, nailed to a cross. He bore the whole punishment for the sins of the whole human race—for your sins, too. Jesus came out of the grave on the third day after he was crucified. He proved he’s God’s Son, the living Savior of the world—your Savior, too. He invites everyone to trust him.
Lutherans confess, as Luther did: we are saved by God’s grace alone. Forgiveness and eternal life are entirely a gift of God’s grace—or, undeserved love—earned by Jesus. We are saved through faith alone, not by anything we do. Faith—trusting Jesus—is God’s free gift, too. How can we know all this is true? From the Bible, God’s word; alone, not on the authority of any church or human teacher.
The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Nearly 500 years ago, the Christian church was corrupted by many false teachings. A man named Martin Luther led people back to the teachings of the Bible. His work, and that of his friends, is called the Reformation. Through Luther God restored the church to purity of doctrine and a new life of faith in Christ.
The doctrines of the Lutheran Church are not new. They are the teachings of the Bible. Thus the Lutheran Church is not a new church. It is not a sect or cult. It is a church whose teaching is based on the words written by the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New Testament. The Bible tells us about Jesus Christ.
The teachings of the Lutheran Church are those of the original, ancient church of the apostles and early Christians.
The apostle John wrote: “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness” ( I John 3:4). The apostle directs us to the law of God, not man-made rules and traditions, and teaches that whoever fails to do what God commands or does what God forbids is guilty of sin.
But what does God say in his law? What does he command? What does he forbid? We might look at a list such as: honor your father and mother, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony … the Bible, of course, does this in the 10 Commandments.
Jesus, however, summed up God’s law this way: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart … and … love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37f.). Jesus’ reminder that God demands love reminds us that God’s law deals not just with outward actions like murder, adultery or stealing, but also condemns as sinful matters of the heart like hatred, lust and greed.
If even impure desires and unclean thoughts are sinful in God’s eyes, it’s no wonder that the apostle Paul heaps up all people on one big pile and says: “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:22,23). Paul means that there is no one who has ever achieved the perfection God demands inside and out, and so no one can expect God on the day he judges all people to say: “Way to go, you did everything I required you to do and you did it perfectly.” Instead, we can only expect to hear God say: “Depart from me you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). For the Bible says, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
So far the news about sin is only bad. But there is good news for sinners. The good news is that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (I Timothy 1:15). God knew we couldn’t save ourselves by living a sinless life—so he sent his Son to do that for us and credits his obedience to us (Romans 5:19). And because God in his love didn’t want us die eternally in hell for our sins, he sent Jesus to die for us on the cross and suffer the punishment for sin we deserved. When God raised Jesus from the dead, he proclaimed that his work was complete and our sins were forgiven.
What wonderful news for people who know their sins and the punishment they deserve for their sins to have the Bible point us to Jesus and hear the Bible say: “Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life!” (John 3:16).