Thanks for the response. I appreciate where you're coming from. It's important to understand the intent behind a message in order not to misunderstand it. My responses:

What is transgression? We see in 1 John 3:4 that sin is the transgression of the law. And while I do agree, we aren't supposed to keep 613 of them (the ordinances) the 10 commandments are pretty important. I don't think 'do not kill' is a rule anyone would want the world to ignore.

The Bible does teach us what sin is. And the Law's sole purpose was to point it out for us so that we know what it is. But the Bible also teaches us that we can't keep it. It's not even that we don't or are unwilling. We are unable to, in our natural state. Faith in Christ is self-sufficient for defeating sin. Some people read the Bible as if it is a set of laws that must be observed in order to please God. That's legalism. Paul came down hard on the Galatians for that kind of thinking. He even asked them this rhetorical question: "I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?" (Galatians 3:2) So, the Bible isn't merely a book of laws to follow. It's much more than that!

I think that's taking away the incredible lessons the bible has on how to grow our character. All you need to do, is literally...Follow Proverbs lol It's pretty much THE only instruction manual on how to live.

Hmmm, not so much. Proverbs offers much wisdom, but if you read through them carefully, you'll find them contradicting each other. Each one was written for a specific type of situation. While the Bible does include many lessons for us to learn, and Paul even instructs his disciple Timothy to "study to show himself approved," (2 Timothy 2:15) those who read the Bible only to learn how to live a good life have missed the point. You can do that and totally miss that faith in Christ is the necessary ingredient (and he never promised a rose garden!). Miss that and it doesn't matter how good you are.

Sanctify them through the thy truth, thy word is truth. I mean.....lol It's pretty much as scriptural as it gets.

The Truth certainly is sanctifying. But we live in an age when many people, if not most, are searching for some cosmic truth to hang their hat on. And if you talk to enough people, you'll meet those who think that the Bible might be "true for you but not for me." I've even had people say, "That may be your personal truth, but it's not mine." If someone truly is searching for Truth, they'll find Jesus Christ ... who is the TRUTH! (John 14:6) I'd go so far as to say that if anyone reads the Bible looking for truth and comes away with anything other than "No one comes to the Father except through" Jesus, they weren't really searching for the truth. They were looking for a salvo.

It's the literally the history of humanity?

No. There is lots of history not recorded in the Bible. And much of the history that is recorded can't be found anywhere else. Some of the history makes for excellent supplemental material to real history textbooks. But the Bible is more than a history book. It was not intended to be a book about historical developments, even though those are included. Its purpose is to serve as a testament to Jesus Christ. From Genesis to Revelation, it is all about Jesus.

Wrote about that almost exclusively in my latest blog post about studying scripture. I don't think it's a big mystery (the Bible), but it's not meant to be read on a surface level. Deep study isn't a bad thing.

I agree. But Bible study is not the same as piecing together a puzzle. Many commentators approach scripture as if they're piecing together a puzzle. In fact, some theological systems go real far to stretch certain verses in order to fit them into their theological understanding. That's the wrong way to study the Bible.

I agree that reading scripture by itself isn't going to solve your problems, because....You need faith! You need prayer. It's got to be the combo....Just reading for the sake of reading, isn't going to help anyone.

Not only that, but some Bible teachers teach that you can go to the Bible to find a solution to every problem. That's a dangerous teaching. It sets people up for expectations of God that are unreasonable and destructive. People's lives are not problems to solve. In many cases, complex life issues have no solution other than trusting God for the outcome. Even then, we may not like the outcome. Expecting the Bible to have the solution to those issues often causes people to abandon their faith because they had unreasonable expectations to begin with, and those expectations were often directly related to what they were taught about the Bible.

But the bible teaches us about His character no? You say we shouldn't call it the word of God? I don't understand that one? Confused by that statement.

The Bible does teach us about God's character, but so does living by faith. Ask God for something in prayer and let Him respond. That also teaches us about His character.

The Word of God is a phrase the Bible itself uses for Jesus Christ. (John 1:1) Logos is the Greek word used in that context. Other texts use the Greek word Rhema, which refers to a divine utterance. When the Old Testament speaks of a word of the Lord, this is what it refers to. At certain times, God gave special messages to Israel but used a messenger to deliver that message. Those were referred to as the word of the Lord, but they were oral messages.

I'd encourage you to read about the history of the Bible and how it was put together. It didn't become the "word of God" until after the Reformation when ordinary people were able to read it for themselves. For most of history, the average Christian couldn't read. Calling the Bible the word of God is a Protestant tradition that gives false expectations to believers about what the Bible is supposed to do for them. It leads people to reading it as if it is a law book rather than a revelation of Jesus Christ. And, boy, what a revelation!

I hope you don't take this as a rebuke or a negative response. I appreciate your response and the gentleness and grace you've displayed in doing so. It's taken me more than 30 years of living as a Christian to come to these conclusions about the Bible. It's a great book. It should be read. But it very often is used incorrectly as a battering ram or bludgeoning tool to beat others into submission when it should be used instead as a tool for drawing Christians together in koinonia fellowship.

Thanks for reading.