Question: “What is the purpose of the Bible?”
Answer: The Bible is great literature and the all-
time number-one best-seller. It contains history,
entertaining stories, poetry, philosophy, and
personal letters. But, more than that, the Bible
is God’s Word. If we have to speak of a single
purpose of the Bible, it would be to reveal God
to us. There are many things that we could
never know about God unless He told them to
us. The Bible is God’s self-revelation to
humanity. The Bible also tells us who we are. It
tells us of our sin and of God’s plan of salvation
in Jesus Christ.
Second Timothy 3:15–17 may be one of the
most comprehensive purpose statements found
in the Bible. The apostle Paul writes to his
young assistant Timothy, “From infancy you
have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able
to make you wise for salvation through faith in
Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and
is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness, so that the servant of
God may be thoroughly equipped for every good
work.” Some of the Bible is spoken directly by
God Himself, and other parts are spoken by men
that He guided—but all of it is His Word, and all
of it is beneficial and authoritative. Scripture
shows us the way of salvation. Furthermore, it
will teach us, rebuke us when we are wrong,
and train us how to do right so that we may be
ready to do God’s work.
Here are a few other verses from the Bible that
speak of its own purpose in our lives:
Following it will keep us from sin: “How can a
young person stay on the path of purity? By
living according to your word” ( Psalm 119:9 ).
It gives us spiritual guidance: “Your word is a
lamp for my feet, a light on my path” ( Psalm
119:105 ).
Some of the Bible was written specifically to
give us an accurate account of Jesus so that
we might believe on Him and have eternal life:
“Jesus performed many other signs in the
presence of his disciples, which are not
recorded in this book. But these are written that
you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the
Son of God, and that by believing you may have
life in his name” ( John 20:30–31 ).
It assures the believer of his salvation: “I write
these things to you who believe in the name of
the Son of God so that you may know that you
have eternal life” ( 1 John 5:13 )
David delights in the Word of God and its
purpose in his life:
“The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
and all of them are righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward” ( Psalm
19:7–11 ).
When Jesus was tempted by Satan to turn
stones into bread, He responded, “It is written:
‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every
word that comes from the mouth of
God’” ( Matthew 4:4 ). Not only does Jesus
profess that the Word of God is more important
than physical food, but He also refutes Satan’s
temptation by quoting from God’s Word. One of
the Bible’s purposes, then, is to provide all-
important spiritual sustenance and help us
defeat temptation.
The Bible can help us see ourselves in
perspective and cut through the distractions of
pop culture that would lead us away from God.
“The word of God is alive and active. Sharper
than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even
to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it
judges the thoughts and attitudes of the
heart” ( Hebrews 4:12 ).
It is not human cleverness or will-power that
will change lives. God accomplishes His
purposes when His Word (the Bible) is faithfully
proclaimed. He will take care of the result:
“As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread
for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent
it” ( Isaiah 55:10–11 ).
The Bible is not just a list of wise sayings that
can be pulled out as if from a fortune cookie.
Although we can benefit from all of the Bible,
not all of it is written directly to us. The Bible is
a unified work and must be carefully read and
studied in context .
Christians who want to please God in their lives
need to have a regular spiritual diet of God’s
Word. Those who are not believers but who may
be interested or even skeptical should read the
Bible for themselves and see what it is all
about.