Why Should I Study the Bible?

I grew up attending church almost every Sunday.  I’ve sat through hundreds, if not thousands, of Sunday school lessons, sermons, and Bible studies.  For much of my life I depended on the teaching of others to understand the Bible. 

About four years ago I began to study, not just read through, the Bible on my own.  What I’ve realized in the last four years is that many things that were taught when I was young are not in Scripture or contrary to the plain teaching of Scripture.  There are several examples I could cite, but for the sake of brevity I’ll choose one: alcohol.

In the environment where I grew up alcohol was pretty much the ultimate sin.  Everyone knew that it was sin to have even a taste of alcohol.  There was no wine at weddings, no Christian ever had a beer with friends.  After all, the Bible says it’s sin right?   

Well, no.  The Bible never says it’s a sin to have a drink.  In fact, Jesus’ first miracle recorded in Scripture is turning water into wine (John 2:1-11) and Paul told Timothy to drink a little wine for his stomach (1 Timothy 5:23).  The Bible does speak against drunkenness, but never states that having a drink is sin.

My point in this is not the issue of alcohol but that preachers and teachers, whether intentionally or not, do not always teach correctly.  Many misuse the Scripture for their own purposes.  Many preachers honestly believe they’re preaching the truth but don’t realize how much they’ve been influenced by their culture.  (I don’t deny that my interpretation of Scripture is influenced by my culture, but I am trying as much as possible to study the Bible without my cultural lenses.)

The question I want you to ask is this: if you’re depending on a preacher or teacher to guide you to salvation, what happens if he’s not teaching the truth?  No teacher gets every detail of theology right, but some have completely missed the central truth of Scripture that salvation is by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8, 2 Timothy 3:15).

We will all be judged by Jesus after death (Revelation 20:11-15, 2 Timothy 4:1, Acts 10:42, John 5:26-27).  On that day there will be no excuses for being led astray by false teaching or anything else (Romans 1:18-20).

Who do you trust: human teachers or God’s Word?