Why do we need the Bible? (Olivier Favre)

This article is taken from the book Le bon fondement by Olivier Favre

According to Romans 1: 18ff, every man knows by general revelation from God that God exists. According to Romans 2:12, every man, by the conscience that God has placed in him, knows that this God requires of him an obedience to laws, a certain behavior. According to Ecclesiastes 3:11, every man knows in his heart that there is an eternity, a life that will never end. But all of this is not enough to know the message of salvation. There is enough light for every human being to be condemned by God, but not enough for him to be able to save himself, for him to come to the knowledge of salvation, without a special intervention of God. So God had to come and meet us in our slavery to sin, a special revelation * from God was needed because he dwells in a light inaccessible to man.

This is why we still need the Bible today. By our own efforts, we cannot reach this unapproachable light of God. Man needs a book which will make known to him: that he is in sin, who is God, what is the salvation of God; what God requires of him in matters of faith and obedience.

And that's exactly what God provided by giving the Bible. Let’s read 2 Timothy 3: 14-17. Paul is speaking here to Timothy, calling him a man of God (that is, one who has a responsibility in the Church of God). He told him that the Scripture is useful for all his ministry: to teach, to convince, to straighten out, to educate in righteousness and even for every good work.

Scripture, the inspired Word of God, is therefore fully sufficient for everything you need in your Christian life. Nothing is lacking in Scripture, both for children and every member of the Church, and for those responsible for leading and nurturing the Church of God. Scripture is all sufficient for every man. This statement flies in the face of many current thinking. Indeed there is no longer a need for new revelation, as many churches claim today; there is no need either, for a Tradition with a capital T, as the Roman Catholic Church claims. No, we insist on it: the Word of God is quite sufficient for every man.

But you have to understand this expression. This does not mean that the Word of God says everything on all matters, but rather that it is sufficient to direct your whole life, your actions and your thoughts so that you glorify God; so that you know everything you have to know about God and about salvation; to give a correct basis for all other sciences.

For example, Scripture will not tell a student of mechanics what is the best alloy for making ball bearings. On the other hand, it will be fully sufficient to make him understand that he must structure his study days by making time for the Lord; she will tell him that his reason and his intelligence come to him from God and that he should not be proud of it; it will give him a precise teaching on creation, on salvation, on the attitude to develop towards his comrades, his teachers; she will urge him to remain humble in the face of all the knowledge he can acquire; to fight against sin in his life; and if the classes he attends contradict what Scripture says, then he must reject them. Also imagine a housewife. Scripture will not, of course, give her the recipe she needs for her next meal.On the other hand, it will be quite sufficient to bring him to bow his knee before Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, to confess his sin; to urge him to exercise hospitality; to teach him what attitude to show towards his neighbors; how to fulfill her role of wife and mother down to precise and concrete details

Scripture is therefore quite sufficient because it gives us the basis of all science and the correct way of thinking in each of these sciences. Unfortunately today, many people tend to devalue Scripture because, they say, it is a written word and as such is frozen, while the Spirit of God speaks of it. oral way and is therefore not limited and fixed. These people contrast the written Word of God with the direct action of the Holy Spirit. Thus, they expect new revelations, miracles, for a Christian growth which they call higher. But Jesus Christ says in Luke 16 that if people do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be more receptive to the sight of miracles and even the resurrection of the dead. So let's have confidence in the written Word of God. She is powerful and active even today, more powerful than any miracles that could be wrought among us.

So why do we need the written Word of God? Because our hearts are crooked and forgetful. If God had not preserved His Word with ink on paper, we would quickly have twisted the Scriptures and passed it wrongly or incomplete to the next generation, so that we would no longer have just a poor little piece of the Gospel message. While, thank God, we still have before our eyes the very Word of God.