Why and how should we read our Bible? It is a question to which many know the answer in theory, but how do we really get something out of it, and why is it so important? Andreas Slot-Henriksen teaches here that Bible reading is not merely about filling our heads with stories, but about allowing God’s Word to transform our minds and character. In Romans chapter 12, verse 2, it is clearly stated that we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we may discern what is the will of God. Many Christians struggle with various things, and although some of these may be demonic, a huge part of it actually lies within our own minds. If we do not know what God’s Word says – that is, what God’s will is – then we do not know what we are to transform our minds into.
God’s Word is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, as it says in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12. It cuts through, separating soul from spirit and marrow from bone, and judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. When we seek God’s Word and allow it to be living and active, it begins to strip away a great many things. But we can also read God’s Word without experiencing anything living or active at all. Sometimes this may be because we are so entrenched in our own way of doing things, our own theology, that when God tries to reach us through His Spirit, we are already shut off. But if you truly break down all barriers and let God’s Word come right in, then it is sharper than any double-edged sword, and it is the only thing that can reach right into the innermost recesses of the heart.
In 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 16–17, it says that all Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, so that the person who belongs to God may be fully mature, equipped for every good work. God’s Word is therefore not merely for gaining knowledge, but so that we may grow and become fully mature, so that we no longer need baby food, but can eat solid food. The Bible is the foundation of our identity – the book that tells you who you are and who God has created you to be. It also tells you about your rights in Jesus Christ. The devil comes and accuses day and night, but when you know your rights, and when you know God’s Word, you know immediately that the accusations levelled against you are empty and must be thrown in the bin, for you have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus.
The Bible is not just one book among many, but it is the truth. There is no higher truth than that which is written in God’s Word. It is a book that reveals your heart, your motives, and brings God’s righteousness into your life. God’s Word is unchanging – the same yesterday, today and forever. This world will pass away, but God’s Word will endure for ever. There are countless testimonies of houses burning down, where the only thing to survive is the Bible. God’s Word is mighty and powerful, and God stands by His Word because it is truth. Historically and archaeologically speaking, the Bible is the most thoroughly documented collection of texts we have, and the more we excavate and discover ancient artefacts, the more evidence we find that the Bible is true.
The Bible is also a book that tells of God’s immense love for humanity. How God created us in His image and loves to be with us. The purpose of your life is to be with Him. The Bible reveals not only who God is, but also who we are in relation to Him and who we are without Him. It has a depth that we do not fully understand. Even in the very first verse of the Bible in Hebrew, Jesus is mentioned, and that He is to sacrifice His life and be the bread of mankind. Throughout the Bible, we see the most incredible things and messages for us. Many have tried to alter the Bible over the ages – spiritual people, Freemasons and many groups who have tried to remove the idea that Jesus is God, because they wish to degrade Him to being merely a prophet.
Those who wrote the Bible were there themselves and saw it with their own eyes. These are eyewitness accounts where it literally cost them blood, sweat and tears. They were flogged, reviled and mocked, and almost all the disciples died a martyr’s death. If it hadn’t been true, any logical thinking would say: let it go, if it isn’t true. But they held fast to Jesus because they knew it was true. That story is passed on to you through God’s Word, so that you can be the one to write the next chapter in the Bible about your walk with Jesus with the same passion and fire. The Bible is also a special book because the Bible reads you back. You read it, but it reads you. How often do you see your own heart, perspective and motive when reading the Bible?
Although the Bible is an enormously impressive work in every respect, it is not written to impress, but to transform. To transform you and build your character. It may be all very well that we believe in God, but if your character is rubbish, you cannot belong to God. God’s Word helps to change your character, so that your life becomes a sacrifice, a pleasing aroma to the living God. Many believe the Bible is a boring book, a museum piece meant to sit gathering dust. No, the Bible is a living sword. If you put your living sword away and leave it in its scabbard when the enemy comes, you are dead. But if you get to know your sword and practise with it, you will know how to use God’s Word.
The Bible is not a theory book. Many people think it is a theory book, but it is a book you must go out and put into practice afterwards. It is only out there that you learn it. It is no longer theory; now it becomes practice, and then many questions arise afterwards. How does this work? What about that? Then you must go back and read God’s Word, for it becomes your instruction manual for life. What is written in God’s Word is not a suggestion for how you might live your life, but it is simply the way it is. It is not up for discussion. They are not suggestions, but God’s will and God’s promises, and those cannot be negotiated. The Bible is our foundation, the light in the darkness, your compass when you are lost.
The world today is trying to change the Bible so that it fits into ‘woke’ culture, so that it fits the spirit of the age, so that we are not offended. That is how they try to remove all these words from the Bible, so that there is equality, so that we do not do anything we are not allowed to do according to what society says. But the Bible was never written to conform to society, because society is turning into a second Sodom and Gomorrah. God’s Word is designed to transform culture. God’s Word also lays bare your heart, for that is where your innermost thoughts are revealed. That is where you stand before your living God. That is where we may sometimes feel shame and a guilty conscience, and it is okay to feel that way if you have done something wrong. God has placed that within us so that we know we must turn back.
The Bible is also the battleground of truth. The devil knows the whole Bible better than you do, and he can use the truth against you. That is why it is important to know your Bible, so that you know when the Bible is being used in God’s way according to God’s will, and when the Bible is being misused to bring you down. Many different branches of Christianity try to remove the supernatural, healing, speaking in tongues and casting out demons from God’s Word. But it all fits together. The Bible is a complete package, not a pick-and-mix religion. You can’t just say, ‘I like that verse, but I don’t quite agree with that one.’ Either you take the whole Bible and believe in it, or you say no thanks.
So how can you read the Bible in a practical way? You can follow a reading plan, which can be really good for some people to get the history and context. But if you really want to find out what it says, read it slowly. Don’t just read a bit here and a bit there; pick a topic and delve into it. Everyone should do a Bible study on God’s identity in me – who am I in God? Who am I in Christ? You can Google ‘identity in Christ’ and find loads of Scripture passages that others have compiled. Start reading them slowly, pause, meditate on them, reflect on what they actually say. Read them aloud to yourself. Bring them into prayer and make it personal: Thank you, Jesus, for creating me in your image.
Use websites such as Blue Letter Bible (blb.org) or Biblehub, where you can look up Bible verses and see the original Greek or Hebrew words and their meanings. A word that in English might mean just one thing may have five synonyms in Greek. Suddenly, the text can open up: was that what it said? When you read about repentance, you may discover that the Greek word ‘metanoia’ does not mean a feeling of guilt, but that you are being called to take a new direction. Repentance means you have been going in the wrong direction in your life, and you must turn back. Read the context before and after, look up key words, and suddenly you have a text where you think: my goodness, I’d never seen the depth of this before.
It is important that you do not just hear God’s word chewed up by other people, but that you yourself begin to eat. When you hear God’s Word chewed up by others, it is often just milk. But when you start to delve into it yourself, you experience the Logos being transformed into a Rhema – a word that is revealed, which takes on an enormous place in your life, in your heart, in your mind. When it becomes a Rhema for you, that is when your mind is transformed. Read God’s Word to meet God, not just to learn about Him. Read God’s Word to be shaped in God’s image, to understand reality as God sees it, and to live a life of wisdom. Once you have truly allowed the Bible to read you and know your God, you do not need God to shout instructions into your head at every decision. God guides you in the sweetest, gentlest, most delicate way.
Read God’s Word, because it says that the truth will set you free. God’s Word is truth, and Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. The most important thing God’s Word can set you free from is yourself. We have all been born into a sinful world, and God wants to transform us so that we are set free from ourselves, from our old life, from the world. For we are in the world, but we are not of the world. Sit down and pray: God, I want to read this; will you make it come alive for me, so that it doesn’t just become dry doctrine? Let it become life. Sometimes you gain more from reading two verses and reflecting on them than from reading three chapters. Weave them into your prayers, pray over them, start praying them over others whom God reminds you of.
Quote from the teaching: The Bible was not written to impress, but the Bible was actually written to transform. To transform you, to transform me.
Relevant keywords: Bible reading – God’s Word – renewal of the mind – identity in Christ – Bible study – understanding the Bible – personal growth – spiritual maturity – God’s will – Bible interpretation – living Word – daily devotions – Christian growth – Bible meditation – Bible methods
