The above question would most certainly get a resounding “yes” from people who regard themselves as Christians. The Holy Bible, the world’s biggest best-seller, is a book that covers many facets of life, hence its importance for people who adhere to its principles, directions, and edicts.
Many claim to follow the Bible in their Christian walk, but it would come as a surprise to see how many actually read it and do what it says. Can you then be “a good Christian,” if you devise your own rules and prescribe your way to salvation at the expense of the Holy Word of God? No! Yet many “Christians” live their lives that way without even being aware of it. Why? They don’t read the Bible!
Humans need the Bible! There’s no second-guessing that requirement. The Holy Bible is God’s manual for humanity, advising how we should live and why we are here on a planet called Earth.
The Bible tells us who is responsible for the creation and how we got here via that process (Genesis 1:1-2:25). It informs us we are here to glorify God (Isaiah 43:7); how to determine right from wrong by way of The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). The Bible tells us the consequences of sin (Genesis 2:17; Matthew 25:46; Romans 6:23; Revelation 20: 14-15). It relates to us who Jesus is (Hebrews 1: 8; John 1:1, 14; Colossians 2:9); how the death of Christ enables us to be saved from our sins (Isaiah 53:4-6; Colossians 2:14; 1 Peter 2:24); what we must do to obtain salvation (John 3:16; 6:40; 20: 31; Ephesians 2:8-9); what our future hope is (Rev. 5:10; Rev. 21-22). The Holy Bible also tells us the way to healthy eating; living productive lives, financial well-being, and how to live with one another.
The Bible can be described as a book of all things to all people. It holds the future of every human being ever born, and whether you believe in it or not, it doesn’t matter. While it has been ridiculed, doubted, and disregarded, it has, and will, stand the tests of time because it is “God-breathed,” and not the man-made manual you get with your new car.
However, the question asked is “Do we really need the Bible?” The reason behind this question is the scant regard people who claim to be Christians pay to the Word of God. In so doing, they follow blindly teachings that are not in it; instead, they accept beliefs that are not in there and would readily accept alien practices rather than adopt those that God requires us to do.
Here are some perfect examples of what I’m talking about. If at the very beginning of creation, God paused from His work and chose and sanctified one day to rest, not because He was tired, but He wanted to leave us an example, why choose another day of rest?
Some would readily claim the Sabbath is the Jewish day of worship, yet not one Jew was around when God instituted it as a memorial of creation. Some would go at great lengths to show God gave it to just Israel (and that was only because God was dealing with one nation at that time), ignoring Jesus own pronouncement “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath,” (Mark 2:27). Some people tend to forget conveniently “strangers,’ non-Jewish people also kept the Sabbath back in those days as well. If you are going to use the argument that the Sabbath is Jewish, then you had better use the same logic that “Thou shalt not murder… Thou shalt not steal etc., The Ten Commandments are also Jewish, because they were all given to Israel. Why pick on the Sabbath alone? Is it because the Sabbath is not a convenient day to worship, being the busiest commercial day of the week?
They would argue cleverly again God did not make the Sabbath for worship, contradicting the examples of Jesus and His followers. They went into the temple ever so often, and the fact that all nations, yes all nations, not just Israel or the Jews, will have to appear before God on the Sabbath to worship Him when His kingdom is established (Isa 66:23).
If the claim that Sunday replaced Saturday as the day of rest or worship, then prove in the scriptures where that is so. Jesus was on Earth for 40-days after his resurrection and never observed Sunday. The big question is: what is so bad about Saturday why God’s ordained and sanctified day should not be followed? As a Christian, if God ever desires a day to appear before Him although we worship Him every day, for me it would have to be the same day He intentionally established when he made the heavens and the Earth. If Sunday is the new day of worship, is it a biblically given edict or is it a man-made law? Aren’t we reading our bibles?
We turn to the seven annual festivals of God. In Lev. 23, He calls them “the feast of the LORD,” and “my feasts.” Nowhere did he described them as belonging to the Jews or Israel. Again, Christians say they are, and that is not true. God gave them to Israel because they were the only nation God was dealing with at the time. If JESUS CHRIST kept these festivals while He was on Earth, His followers and apostles kept them after the ascension and the Bible tells us in Zech. 14 all nations will have keep them when His kingdom reigns on the Earth, or they will be punished, why is the Christian churches not observing them now? Aren’t we reading our bibles?
If I am striving to serve the True and Living God, why would I want to abandon his festivals or feasts and embrace ones that are not biblically sanctioned such Easter and Christmas, and ones that I’m not sure about? Even if they are not pagan, and the intent is to gain converts, as some would argue, I would worry, as I see no justification to keep them and appalled at the absence of any such observance in the primitive church, the most authentic period in church history.
The big question again: what is so harmful in observing these festivals of God? Isn’t it interesting how many of us would readily embrace festivals that are alien to the Bible but spurn the ones that belong to God? What is the real reason for that? Most people overlook the weak scriptures used not to observe God’s feasts or they just don’t care at all. Again, are we reading our bibles? Perhaps we don’t need them!
Many will brand you a cult for observing the Sabbath and the God’s feasts, but when you celebrate the festivals with pagan roots you are true Christians. Isn’t that a paradox? You might be surprised that the Christian “sects” or people who follow “the Way” during the time of the primitive church met those same oppositions, too, from the religious order of the day. It is not much different today.
If the Holy Bible is not the final authority in your life as a Christian, then you don’t need it to direct and sustain you until the day of redemption. If you feel the man-made traditions, something which Jesus attacked (Matt. 15:9) can be equated with the Holy Word of God, you are making a huge mistake. Jesus said in John 14:15, “if you love me, obey my commandments.” He did not say obey the traditions of men. Are you reading your Bible or perhaps you really don’t need it as a Christian. The choice is yours! If you want a place to begin to know more about the bible, download our FREE booklet How To Study Your Bible.
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