“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
What would the Christian church be without the word of God? Certainly, much of the religious world proceeds as if the Bible did not exist. Now imagine how chaotic the church of Christ would appear to the outside world if, “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”-Judges 21:25.
How could we know the way of salvation? Who could say what actions were sinful? Would we even know the name of Jesus? What would our worship look like? How would we ever achieved much less, “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”-Ephesians 4:3?
Jesus addressed this very issue with his disciples on the night of his betrayal. He would be leaving them soon, but he promised the Holy Spirit would come to comfort and aide them, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”-John 14:18. Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as himself because, “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”-John 14:26. The Spirit was not sent just to be a comfort but guide. The Spirit taught the apostles the entire truth needed for faith in Jesus and worship of God. These men preserved the truth of God’s word in the 27-books which make up our New Testament.
One of the best places in the Bible to study this issue is John 16:14-15, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” Notice where the teaching relayed by the Holy Spirit comes from: “he (the Spirit) will take what is mine (Jesus);” “All that the Father has is mine (Jesus).” What Jesus has comes from God the Father. When the Spirit declares what is from Jesus, he simply is relaying what comes from Jehovah God.
The Holy Spirit can rightly be said to be the author of the Bible. “All Scripture is breathed out by God”-II Timothy 3:16. “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”-II Peter 1:21. The men who wrote the Bible were inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. When we read our Bibles we literally are receiving the word of God.
When Jesus tells his disciples he will not leave them as orphans, he is describing how the inspired word will meet their needs. Our Bibles give us the bread of life to keep us from hunger (John 6:35, 63) and the water of life to alleviate our thirst (John 4:14). The word of God gives us, “all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,”-II Peter 1:3. We are not left to fend for ourselves. We are not alone in this world. We are children of God and our Father has given us protection, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,”-Ephesians 6:17.”
Our God does not leave his children in the wilderness nor without instruction, “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.”-I Corinthians 14:33. We don’t have to guess at what we need to know about Jesus (Romans 1:1-5; I Corinthians 15:5). We don’t have to argue over what we need to do to be saved (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; I Peter 3:21). Praise God he left his children with teaching to convict us of and correct us from our sin, while lighting the path of righteousness by his word!
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