The Bible may be a book, but it is a book unlike any other. The Bible is inspired—breathed out by God and in that way perfectly reflects the mind and will of God. The Bible is also complete, sufficient, inerrant, and infallible. Because the Bible is all these things and so many more, it is powerful and effective. Because it is God’s Word, it comes with all the power and authority of God—power and authority sufficient to change us from the outside in.
Michael Horton says, “God’s word does not merely impart information; it actually creates life. It’s not only descriptive; it’s effective too. God speaking is God acting.” Thus, as we read the Bible, the Bible reads us. As we study the Bible, the Bible studies us. As we examine its every word, it examines our every thought, our every action, our every desire, our every inclination. It identifies our shortcomings; it calls us to change. But more than that, it provokes and promotes and causes that change.
How do we know? Because “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). As God speaks through the Bible, God acts through the Bible, for “God speaking is God acting.”
