The Point of Reading the Bible

     "The point of Bible reading is not merely to learn about God, to see how we should behave, or to gain principles for successful living, though the Bible does communicate such things. To read the Bible as a spiritual venture is to be confronted, in the most personal terms, with God Himself. This confrontation is terrifying. An honest reading of God's absolute requirements, His furious judgment against the smallest infraction, can only fill the reader with guilt, panic, and despair. This confrontation can also be rejuvenating -- the reader comes to realize that this God of wrath is also the God of grace, that from the beginning He provided for sacrificial blood to cover His people's sins, that He came in Jesus, that His wrath is wallowed up in the cross. As we read the history and precepts, the poetry and the narratives and the apostolic letters, we encounter the Law and the Gospel, through which the Spirit works to change our hearts and bind us to Christ."

     -- Gene Edward Veith, "The Spirituality of the Cross"