Plenty of Christians love God, serve in church and carry a Bible every Sunday, and still rarely open it during the week. You can be with the Bible without the Bible being with you. If that describes you, there is no condemnation in it: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). But there is also no excuse to stay there, because the Bible is not just one good book among many. It is inspired, it is trustworthy, and it is powerful.
What It Means to Be Engaged in the Bible
Reading a verse of the day is a good habit, but it is not the same as being engaged with Scripture. A simple, measurable standard looks like this:
- Read the Bible at least four days a week. Research from the Center for Bible Engagement has been widely reported as showing that reading one to three days a week makes little measurable difference in spiritual growth, while reading four or more days a week makes a large one.
- Read through the whole Bible at least every 18 months. That takes roughly nine minutes a day.
- Repeat. When you finish, start again.
Very few Christians meet that standard. If you do not yet, you are in the majority. But the rest of this article is about why it is worth the effort.
The Bible Is Inspired
Paul writes, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). The Greek word behind “breathed out by God” is theopneustos, from theos, God, and pneō, to breathe. Older translations render it “given by inspiration of God.”
The same root runs through the New Testament words for breath, wind and spirit. At Pentecost “there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind” (Acts 2:2), and “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4). Scripture came the same way: the Holy Spirit moved on human writers, and they wrote. God is the author. The writers were His quill.
Scripture shows God breathing at decisive moments. He breathed into Adam, and man became a living being (Genesis 2:7). Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22), and the church was born. God breathed out Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16). And one day the Lord Jesus will return and defeat evil “with the breath of his mouth” (2 Thessalonians 2:8). If you belong to Jesus, you belong to the second breath, and you can hold the third breath in your hands.
Many churches, including Citylight, hold to what is called verbal plenary inspiration: not just the ideas of Scripture but every word is inspired by God. That is why the Bible is the final authority on everything it addresses.
The Bible Is Trustworthy
Peter, who saw the transfiguration with his own eyes, writes that “no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation” (2 Peter 1:20). Human writers were involved, but that does not make the Bible unreliable. Theologians use words like inerrant (without error), infallible (it does not fail) and immutable (it does not change). Two practical reasons stand behind them.
It is reliable. People sometimes say the Bible has been changed over the centuries. In fact, the New Testament is the best-attested book of the ancient world, with thousands of manuscripts and early copies to compare, some reaching back to the second century. The differences among them are mostly spelling and copying slips, and none of them overturns a central teaching of the Christian faith.
It produces results. Researchers at Harvard developed a measure of human flourishing in 2017 that looks at happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, and close relationships. Surveys using measures like it have found that people who regularly read the Bible tend to score higher. That matches what countless believers have experienced: the Word works.
How to Choose a Bible Translation
The Bible was written in Hebrew, Greek and a little Aramaic, so every English Bible is a translation. Translations fall along a spectrum:
- Formal equivalence (word for word): the New American Standard Bible, the English Standard Version and the New King James Version. These are best for close study. The King James Version is a fine translation, but its 1611 English can be hard for a new reader.
- Middle of the road: the New International Version and the Christian Standard Bible.
- Dynamic equivalence (thought for thought): the New Living Translation, which is very readable and a good choice if reading is a struggle.
Some books need more care. The Message is a paraphrase by one writer: insightful, but best read alongside a translation rather than instead of one. The New World Translation, published by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, alters the text in ways that change its meaning and should be avoided. The Passion Translation is also best avoided, because it was produced largely by one person rather than by the kind of accountable translation committee behind the major versions.
The Bible Is Powerful
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
A sword is only useful if you hold it by the handle. Grab the blade and you get hurt. So what is the handle of the Bible? “The sum of your word is truth” (Psalm 119:160). The sum is what you get when you add it all up. The handle of the Bible is the whole Bible.
That is why pulling a single verse out of context can leave people discouraged and confused. A promise like “no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed” (Isaiah 54:17) is true, but it is not a license to ignore the rest of what God says. The Bible is true in its context, and its most important context is itself. Scripture interprets Scripture, a principle the Reformers taught and the church has long held. Paul could tell the Ephesian elders, “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). The power is in the whole counsel of God.
Breakthrough Is Built on the Back of Revelation
Look through Scripture and you will notice that when God does something, there is usually a word attached to it. King Josiah reformed Judah after the Book of the Law was found (2 Kings 22). Jesus’ birth was announced by an angel (Luke 1). Creation itself came by a word: “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). Elijah was sustained, Jeremiah was affirmed, and Daniel prospered, each by a word from God.
Breakthrough is built on the back of revelation, and nothing gives you more access to that flow of revelation than being engaged in the Bible. You do not need to jump into the deep end today. Start where you are, pick a good translation, and open it more days than not. The God who breathed out Scripture still speaks through it.