Is the Bible irrelevant?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

The Bible is not relevant because culture approves of it; it is relevant because it comes from the eternal, unchanging Creator who has authority over all people in every generation (Genesis 1:1; Exodus 3:14). Scripture is God-breathed, carrying the very words of God as they were written by men moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21). While human opinions, values, and trends constantly change, God's truth does not, nor can His standards be redefined by human wisdom (Isaiah 40:13–14; Proverbs 14:12). Jesus Himself declared that God's Word would remain until all is accomplished, making it relevant until the end of time (Matthew 5:17–18). Scripture continues to be sufficient for teaching, correcting, and equipping God's people for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16–17). More importantly, it reveals humanity's greatest and unchanging problem—sin—and God's solution through Jesus Christ, who died for sinners and promises salvation to all who trust in Him (Romans 6:23; John 6:37; Romans 10:9–10). The Bible is not a relic of the past but the living Word of God that still speaks with authority and offers hope today for those who turn to Him for the forgiveness of sins.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• God is the Creator (Genesis 1). Everything that exists only exists because God created it. Therefore, everything is under His authority. He created humans, in particular, with specific functions and roles for their flourishing and for His glory. As such, He has the right to define how humans are to live for all time.
• God is unchanging (Exodus 3:14). Being the great “I AM” refers to the fact that He has always been and is self-sufficient. He doesn’t rely on anyone or anything outside of Himself, and thus neither needs nor accepts the counsel of humans (Isaiah 40:13–14). Rather, He does and commands whatever He wills (Psalm 115:3) and requires His creatures to obey or face judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:13–14).
• Scripture, and the Proverbs in particular, teach that human flourishing comes when humans obey God, while human disaster and destruction come when humans follow their own ways. For example, Proverbs 14:12 teaches that “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” God, being eternal and the Creator, remains relevant regardless of whether His created beings obey. When they don’t, He will judge them according to His unchanging standard.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• Paul refers to Scripture as “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16), meaning that it’s as if God spoke so closely to the page that the words are the moisture of God’s breath. They are God speaking to humanity. While He used men through their individual personalities to write, we learn that “no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). That is, every word in the original manuscripts said exactly what God wanted to say.
• This is why Jesus could confidently say that “until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17). Jesus was saying that God’s Word would never stop being relevant.
• Paul also said that all Scripture is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Scripture is always relevant and effective.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

Society would love the Bible to be irrelevant. We live in a “progressive” world where one’s feelings override truth and where sin is good if it feels good or makes one happy. As the world imagines itself growing in sophistication, whether that’s relationally, politically, or biologically, the Bible looks archaic.

However, it was written by the eternal Creator. Right and wrong are defined by His nature and, as the unchanging God, He doesn’t “progress” since He’s always been perfect. The Bible is based on His nature and thus also is perfect. Therefore, He and His Word are never irrelevant.

This means we are not free to treat Scripture as an outdated voice competing with modern opinion but as the living speech of the eternal Creator who defines reality itself. The same God who spoke the universe into existence is the One who still speaks to us through His Word, revealing what is true, what is good, and what leads to life.

To ignore Scripture is not to outgrow it but to step away from the very design of the One who made us. Living wisely means yielding our thoughts, desires, and decisions to what God has already spoken. His Word is not restrictive but rightly ordered for human flourishing. In a world that constantly shifts its definition of truth, we are called to anchor our lives in the unchanging voice of God.

UNDERSTAND

• The Bible's relevance is grounded in the nature of God Himself as the eternal, unchanging Creator.
• The Bible's authority is inseparable from God's own eternal, unchanging character.
• Because God is eternal and His Word reflects His unchanging nature, the Bible is still just as relevant today as it was when it was given.

REFLECT

• In what areas of your life are you most tempted to treat Scripture as dated or less applicable to your specific situation, and how is the reality of God's unchanging nature a challenge to that?
• How does understanding Scripture as God's direct words change the weight you give to what it says compared to the opinions and counsel of the surrounding culture?
• How does Jesus' declaration that not one iota or dot of God's word would pass away affect the confidence with which you read, trust, and apply Scripture to the specific challenges of your life today?

ENGAGE

• What does God's independence from human counsel reveal about the futility of attempting to revise or update Scripture to fit contemporary cultural expectations?
• How should we engage with those who argue that Scripture is outdated and needs to be reinterpreted in light of modern values?
• If the Bible is truly the unchanging Word of an unchanging God, what does that mean for how we decide what is “true” in a culture where truth is constantly shifting?