A common question many young people ask these days is “is the Bible still relevant today?” The reasoning goes something like this: The Bible is at least 2000 years old. It was written in ancient times, to people in the middle-east. It is a book full of stories that supposedly happened in ages past. How is this antique book of any relevance to me? Why should I read this book?
The short response is, Yes!
I’d like to present a few arguments for why this antique book full of stories, written to people in middle-eastern region, is still relevant to each and every one of us today.
1. It is God’s word
The Bible claims to be God’s word. The Bible is a collection 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. These books are written by more than 40 different authors at various times. One of the universal claims made in all these books is that these writings are either direct instructions from God or are inspired writings from God.
If Bible is indeed God’s word, then it is worth reading, is it not? Moreover, the God of the Bible makes these claims about his character and his law:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8
For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Matthew 5:18
Therefore, If the Bible is God’s word and God never changes, then, everything he said is still true and valid today. All of it will remain true and valid forever.
2. It is the only way to know God
The Bible claims that God created the whole universe and everything in it, including you and me. It goes on to say that no one has ever seen God in his fullness (John 1:18, 1 John 4:12). God’s wisdom and thoughts are so far above us that no one can not comprehend them (Romans 11:33-34). No one can approach God on their own or reach to his dwelling place (Hebrews 12:14, Romans 3:10, Psalm 14:1-3, Proverbs 30:4, John 3:13).
If it is true that no one can know God on their own and God himself has spoken to us through the writers of the Bible (Hebrews 1:1), then by logic we can not know God through any other means but the Bible. The Bible is the only way you can know bout who God is, what his character is like, what he has done, what he is doing now, what he will do in the future and what he has to say about you.
3. It is written for all people
It is true that the books of the Bible are written to people in the middle eastern regions, who lived thousands of years ago. However, the Bible says that all of it was written for us.
Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.
1 Corinthians 10:11
This verse is saying that the stories that were recorded in the Bible about what happened to the people of Israel thousands of years before Christ, were written down for our instruction. Also, consider the following verse:
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17
This verse makes it clear that the Bible is God’s word and that it is written for everyone who desires to obey God. The Bible is useful, according to this verse, for teaching, correcting, and training us in righteousness.
4. It offers Salvation and more
The Bible claims that it is sufficient to make people “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15). In addition to making us wise for salvation, the Bible offers us hope when we feel hopeless, it offers comfort it our suffering, peace when we are anxious, rest when we are weary, and corrects us when we go astray.
I hope this helps you see why the Bible is relevant to us today too although it was written thousands of years ago. Please note, I kept referring to the Bible to back-up my arguments. Which means, all of these arguments will only be valid if the claims of the Bible are true. Therefore, pick up a Bible and start reading. Investigate it to see if the claims of the Bible are true.