What’s the Point of Reading Your Bible?

Written by Joel Suárez, published December 2020.

I grew up in a Christian home. My dad is a Spanish pastor and has been my whole life. In other words, I was pretty much born in the church. My memories from growing up consist of two primary things: fútbol and church. From friends to daily rhythms, everything revolved around the church.

I remember doing devotions with my family, going to church camps, and winning a Bible at the age of 14 because I had read through the whole canon of scripture in one year. I mean, I excelled at this “Christian” stuff! 

Then I got into my mid/late-teen years, and I had no idea what the point of reading the Bible was; I had no idea why I was going to church, or even if God was real! There are many reasons why I got to that point in my life, but I would argue that a primary reason for all of that would be my Bible reading. Let me explain...

Scripture can be read in two different ways… first, as a book of law, things you need to do and become. This is the way that I was reading it. The other way it can be read is as a book of promise, a book that is pointing from the very first words of Genesis to the coming of a Savior. A Prince of Peace, Immanuel—God with us, who ultimately defeats sin, and makes everything new.

Even if you didn't grow up as I did, the questions remain the same, “Why should I read my bible? What‘s the point?!” If you consider yourself a believer, someone whose life is shaped by the idea of a middle-eastern man who came to live a life you couldn’t and pay a debt that you couldn’t pay, then I would invite you to read the words from that same middle-eastern man to our Father as He prays for us in the upper room on the week of His crucifixion. He said: This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3).

If you consider yourself an apprentice, disciple of Jesus, then hear his heart for you. His heart and desire for you and me is that you might know Him! But this prayer is not only for those of us who would consider ourselves to be apprentices of Jesus. That’s for you, agnostic, non-believer, and atheist who is trying to figure out what this whole world of Christianity is about. His desire above everything else is for you to know Him. His heart is for you to ask the questions that are necessary to know someone. Don’t be afraid to ask those questions.

Growing up, I read the Old Testament and the New Testament, and honestly, I really didn’t like the Old Testament. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me when compared to the New Testament. You had some crazy stories in the Old Testament, and I didn’t know what to do with them. You had people being burned by fire and brimstone. You had a ton, and I mean a ton — whole books — dedicated to things you shouldn’t do, practice, or say.

I had no idea how to reconcile all of this with the reality of this Savior who describes himself in the New Testament as “gentle and lowly” towards me (Mat. 11:29). So I go back to what I said earlier, there are two ways to read the Bible — as a book of law or as a book of promise. Our natural religious psychology wants to read the Bible as law: “God is explaining here how I can win his favor.”  And this is how I read the bible for the longest time. I brought a law-based interpretation and understanding to my Bible reading.

But in Galatians 3, Paul explains that he reads the Bible as a book of promise, and he wants us to as well. He sees every page of the Bible as a gracious promise from God to undeserving sinners. Is there law in the Bible? Yes. But it was “added” (v. 19). Law was inserted after the promises to Abraham were established. It is a promise that comes first (Genesis 12), then law comes later (Exodus 20). It is promise, therefore, that defines the all-encompassing framework within which we are to read everything else in the Bible. The promise is of a coming King who will ultimately make everything new (Lam. 3:22-24, Rev. 21:1-3). That’s reading through the lens of the coming promise!

You and I can confidently read the Bible with an interpretation of promise. Every page, including narrative, law, wisdom, praise, lament, prophecy — every page, most deeply understood, shines forth as a promise of grace to sinners in Christ. That means that the story of the coming of Jesus starts in Genesis, and everything else we read is just pointing to Jesus. That means that Jesus is a better Moses, a better David, a better Elijah, a better Abraham. Why? Because they are all pointing to a coming promise. They are just foreshadowing a coming Redeemer.

So why should you read your bible? Because you get to know Him more. You get to see the narrative of Scripture ultimately accomplished in Jesus! Whenever you read of someone failing, you remember that there is a coming Savior that this is pointing to, and you then get to see your life in light of the goodness, grace, and mercy of Jesus towards you! I encourage you to pick up your Bible and read with this in mind. And as you read, your life will slowly be transformed and molded more into His image as you behold His glory as 2 Corinthians 3:18 says: But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory…

As we get ready to go into 2021, I want to encourage you to follow along with PRDX 365, pick up a journal, or just use our app. Join us as we read through the narrative of the Scriptures and see how it points to the New Testament promises! This year, as we read, you will find verses of certain passages that point to the New Testament. We want you to see how both testaments are connected! We want you to rejoice as you read through the lens of the coming promise. A savior who desires for you to know Him more.