The Purpose of the Bible

1. Read: 2 Timothy 3:15 – “and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus”

2. About the Text:

1) The Holy Scriptures are the Bible.

2) The Old Testament (Genesis through Malachi) is inspired of God.

3) The New Testament (Matthew through Revelation) is inspired of God.

4) The purpose of the Bible is to make a person wise for salvation through faith in Christ.

5) Let’s think about that purpose this morning as it relates to …

a. The Old Testament

b. The New Testament

c. How it applies to us today.

3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.

1. To prevent transgressions and nurture the seed.

1) “What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made…” (Galatians 3:19).

2) “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20).

2. Genesis 3:15

1) “?And I will put enmity ??Between you and the woman, ??And between your seed and her Seed; ??He shall bruise your head, ??And you shall bruise His heel.”

2) The serpent in the garden was not just any serpent – this was Satan, the devil.

3) This prophecy is not just prophecy about a snake.

4) It is prophecy about man’s eventual triumph over Satan.

5) This prophecy would be fulfilled through the seed of woman.

6) Ultimately, this happened in the Messiah.

3. How would the Messiah come into the world?

1) God needed a people, a land, a nation, and a law to bring the Messiah into the world.

2) Through Abraham – Genesis 12:1-3, “Now the LORD had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, ??From your family ??And from your father’s house, ??To a land that I will show you. ??I will make you a great nation; ??I will bless you ??And make your name great; ??And you shall be a blessing. ?I will bless those who bless you, ??And I will curse him who curses you; ??And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’”

3) Through Judah – Genesis 49:10, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, ??Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, ??Until Shiloh comes; ??And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.”

4) Through David – “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:12-13).

5) Through a virgin – “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).

6) “For unto us a Child is born, ??Unto us a Son is given; ??And the government will be upon His shoulder. ??And His name will be called ??Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, ??Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ??Of the increase of His government and peace ??There will be no end, ??Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, ??To order it and establish it with judgment and justice ??From that time forward, even forever. ??The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:6-7).

7) Born in Bethlehem – “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting” (Micah 5:2).

4. Jesus and the Apostles affirmed this purpose.

1) “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17).

2) “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24).

5. Every book of the Old Testament contributes to this one central purpose.

1) Consider Deuteronomy 30:19 – the law was to give physical life.

2) Leviticus 18:5 – “You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.”

3) It was important to preserve the seed line so that Christ could come into the world.

1. To reveal the gospel of Jesus Christ.

1) “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1).

2) Matthew 4:23, Mark 1:14 – “Preaching the gospel of the kingdom.”

3) “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

4) “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen” (Romans 16:25-27).

2. To reveal salvation through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

1) John 3:16-17

2) “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

3. To reveal God’s righteousness through the gospel.

1) Romans 1:16-17

2) “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference” (Romans 3:21-22).

4. To reveal the teaching of the gospel through the apostle and prophets.

1) “if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power” (Ephesians 3:2-7).

5. To reveal the mind of God.

1) “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10).

2) “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Hebrews 8:10).

1. We preach Jesus.

1) “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:28).

2) “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-39).

3) “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25).

2. We preach the plan of salvation that Jesus gave us.

1) Matthew 28:18-20

2) Mark 16:15-16

3) “Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’” (Luke 24:46-47).

3. We teach the doctrine as taught by Jesus and the apostles.

1) “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42).

2) “if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister” (Colossians 1:23).

4. We must walk in the light, be faithful.

1) “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

2) “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

1. What is the purpose of the Bible? – to make a person wise unto salvation through Jesus.

1) What is the purpose of the Old Testament? – To bring us to Christ.

2) What is the purpose of the New Testament? – To reveal the gospel.

3) How does the purpose of the Bible apply today?

2. Invitation