We (Josh and Sean) hope you have gleaned some insights through these chapters that will help you better explore the depths of God’s Word. We have come a long way in such a short time. To summarize:
We have examined how the Bible has a doctrinal purpose. It gives us rational truths that we can understand with the mind. It instructs us on what we should believe about God, ourselves, and all of life. It enables us to see life as God sees it and that is the very basis of our biblical worldview.
We also explored how the Bible has a behavioral purpose. We saw how God’s laws and instructions act as boundaries to tell us what is right and wrong. We discovered how living out God’s ways is in our best interest. God gave us his Word so we could live out his truth correctly. And as we do we live happy, fulfilled lives that honor him.
But we discussed how we can miss the central purpose of God’s Word unless we understand that all of it has been given to us within a relational context. God gave us the Bible because he wants an intimate loving relationship with us and wants us to enjoy intimate loving relationships with one another. And because he is a relational God who made us in his relational image, he wants us to experience him through his Word. He wants us to experience his Word with others. Our hope of this book is that it will encourage you to go beyond mere study and experience your Bible.
Our hope too is that your journey through these pages will go beyond you benefiting personally. We hope you will share it with others. So we encourage you to get together with your Christian friends and make studying the Bible a consistent experience. So many small groups today center around fellowship and the sharing of people’s lives with each other. And that is important. But what is needed is the additional fellowshipping around God’s Word. When you make God’s Word the central focus of your time together you can truly experience God and experience his Word with one another. That is when the Body of Christ grows together and his truth begins to be demonstrated to the world around us as truly relevant to life.
Our prayer for you is that you will never again see doctrine or God’s commands as simply truths to believe and apply to life. For as important as they are, and they are critically important, God’s truths are a means to deepen our relationship with him. Perhaps a fitting close to our journey together is a quotation from King David’s prayer. David was a man after God’s own heart. And he saw all of God’s commands within the context of his relationship with his loving Lord.
Teach me your decrees, O LORD;
I will keep them to the end.
Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions;
I will put them into practice with all my heart.
Make me walk along the path of your commands,
for that is where my happiness is found.
Give me an eagerness for your laws
rather than a love for money!
Turn my eyes from worthless things,
and give me life through your word.
Reassure me of your promise,
made to those who fear you.
Help me abandon my shameful ways;
for your regulations are good.
I long to obey your commandments!
Renew my life with your goodness.
Psalm 119:33–40