The Bottom Line
Biblical Christianity includes many ideas and many truths. It is reckless to ignore any part of what God has deemed it wise to reveal. All Scripture is breathed out by the Holy Spirit and is profitable. There is a wholeness to God’s Word. There is a purpose in each segment which serves the whole. If we miss that, we are the poorer and the weaker for it.
However, the ultimate benefit of the Bible for us is that it alone instructs us on how survive this world of dangerous sin and dangerous death so that we live in God’s perfect world forever. The great dangers of this ruined world extend far beyond the chaos and pain inflicted upon our temporal condition. The great dangers belonging to present sin and present death relate to hardening us beyond recovery. Sin hardens against our only hope and death finally cuts us off from all hope. The realm of fixed and everlasting judgment is real. Sin and unbelief push us hard toward that state, which is beyond redemption. The Bible’s ultimate benefit for us is that it leads us to the grace of God. God’s grace (His undeserved activity toward mankind) which operates in and through the living Person of Jesus Christ, delivers us from the hardening, damning power of sin and the finality of despair. Jesus Christ saves us from sin, from ourselves, from Satan, from the world, from the just judgment of God, from the destruction of sin and from the final estrangement of death. Jesus Christ is the life itself and He is the way to life in final perfection. The best and greatest thing about the Bible is that the Bible leads us to Jesus Christ.
Study all of the Bible. Learn the greatness and glory of God. Learn the dangers of sin and evil. Learn the freedom of righteousness. But above all else, learn Jesus Christ.
The testimony linked below bears clear witness to the “bottom line” of Biblical religion. Read it thoughtfully.
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/between-a-rabbi-and-two-imams
