What the Book Says

There is much division in what the Bible is! We, in fairness, must ask, "What does the Bible claim to be?"

2 Timothy 3:14 "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

•  Scripture is the contents of the Bible.
• The Bible is "holy scripture". It's sacred and divine. It's the actual word of God and speaks his truth and what he wills for us. It's his "plan A" and he has no "plan B".
• The Bible imparts wisdom.
• The wisdom imparted is of utmost importance: It's instructions for "salvation". It reveals how to save ourselves, through Jesus Christ, from eternal damnation. As such it tells of this world and the two post-mortem choices: heaven and hell. In that "salvation" is the purpose of scripture, we must ask "Saved from what?", and the answer is "saved from hell"! (We actually save ourselves from our "Selfs"!) Therefore, sacred scripture imparts the reality of hell. Likewise, because of our salvation, there must be an alternate destination. It's heaven. Hence, sacred scripture imparts that heaven is for real!
• The Bible tells how to to obtain salvation. It's through faith. "Faith" is belief in and the trust of something. In scripture the ONLY way to salvation is through the blood atonement of Jesus Christ. The Bible imparts the wisdom that Jesus is the only way to be saved. On the flip-side, there is no other way. Hence, the Bible is about the grace of Jesus from cover to cover.  Jesus is there on the first page of the Bible and the last!
• Scripture is transcribed by men, but men of special qualities. They were chosen by God, and have divine inspiration, to dictate to man the word and will of God. Inspiration from God was given three ways: 1) By Jesus himself through the four gospels, 2) by "The Word" (Jesus) in the Old Testament, and 3) by the Holy Ghost after Christ's ascension into heaven where he now resides. Writers actually wrote the word of God, not opinions of what God meant. It's not commentary about God, but writings on what God "said" and what God "wills".
• The Bible has a purpose. That overall purpose is God's plan is to save mankind from ourselves. Satan deceives each person, according to scripture, but it's not other tangible gods we worship; it's each our own ""Self". Satan enlists dark principalities to provide each our pleasure, thus tempting every person to "live in the flesh"; essentially pleasuring the "Self".
• God's purpose is achieved by reading and hearing what he says. He tells what he "wills". God's will is "doctrine". By reading the Bible, we learn what God wants each of us to do. Wisdom is applying the word in the Bible to our own lives; living and believing God's doctrine.
• The Bible is for "reproof". It's to reprimand us when we deviate from what God wills. The Bible says that we all deviate from God's will. That's called "sin". The Bible allows the Holy Ghost to speak to us. He does his job well. The Holy Ghost, although he comforts us as he does it, imparts guilt on the sinner, so that we'll do what? Change! If we haven't changed as a result of reading the Bible, we're not listening to God!
• The Bible is for correction. After we feel guilt for sinning, the Bible has instructions for correction. We have the opportunity to change, and scripture tells us how! We don't have to do it on our own, but we do it in tandem with God if we have enough of the "faith" it teaches. Acquiring that faith for correction is obtained by reading the word. The "change" is from an "old creature" to a "new creature". The old creation has unforgiven sin, and the new creation has been pardoned from all past sins.
• The Bible is for instruction. It tells us how to make the change as an answer for correction.  The most important instruction is how to be righteous. Being "right" is doing the will of God! What is his will? That we love him enough that we love our fellow man! If we love to that degree we show it by obeying! What is it that we are to obey? It's written in stone! It's the Ten Commandments! They tell us how to love God and others, the Greatest Commandment and the One Like Unto It. And how do we become "right" with God? We are "born again". That is the moment in time that we've had enough of doing what pleasures us, and decide to do what pleases God!  The Bible instructs us on whom to believe, on whom to accept, why we are redeemed, who redeemed us, and that we subsequently have the hope of living forever. The Bible tells us that we're not alone; the Holy Ghost is there to help! We lean on God by listening to his spirit. The entire plan is and always has been through God in the flesh, Jesus Christ!

Why would we want to obey the will of God? Not only to save our own lousy skin from eternal hell-fire, but to be perfect in the eyes of God. When we become a "new creation" all our wrongs are made right and we are perfect because Jesus died for all our imperfections. After that, are we perfect? No! We still sin, but as we sin, we continue to ask for forgiveness, and as such, we daily strive for perfection; it's not obtainable, for each wrong we do is a poor choice. We limit our poor choices because we want to please God! To please God, we love him and others! That's the good works we are to do.

Now you know "What the Book Says" about itself. Tomorrow we'll look at "What Others Say About the Book".