One of the most important Christian disciplines (think habits) is Bible study. As Christians we believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Think about that – “The Word of God” – wow! To correctly and effectively study the Bible we must start with a critical assumption – that the Bible is always correct.
If the Bible is indeed the Word of God, by its very nature it must be, always correct. If it is truly divinely inspired it cannot be wrong. Certainly if one does not believe in God or does not believe the Bible to be divinely inspired there is no logical requirement that it be without error. But if we believe in God and believe that the Word is his means of revelation, it must follow that the Bible is always correct. The only logical set of choices available are whether or not one believes in God and whether he reveals himself through the Word. If a person comes down on the side of belief in God and his choice of revelation through the Word, reasoning demands the acceptance that the Bible is without error.
It is not simply a matter of being error free. The message of the Bible must stand above all the ideas and opinions of man, including our own. God is never wrong, therefore His Word is never wrong. When we start deciding certain parts of the Bible are wrong we have placed ourselves above God – not a good place to be. As we study the Bible we may come across things that do not make sense or we do not understand. We may even come upon things that challenge our beliefs or our world view – sometimes even things we do not like. But we must accept that the Bible is correct, even if it means we are wrong. Our approach to studying God’s Word is to allow it to shape and direct our lives, not validate them. It starts by approaching it with the firm belief that the Bible is always right.