Sometimes people who visit our services or begin a Bible study with us are struck by our unwavering focus on the Scriptures for everything we believe, teach, and practice. We hear people say, “The Bible is important, but it’s not all there is to a relationship with God.”

It’s certainly true that our relationship with God cannot be limited exclusively to book knowledge, even if that book is the Bible. It’s imperative that we take what we read in the Scriptures and make those words the foundation and blueprint of an active life in Christ. The Bible itself says that it is the “implanted word” that is able to save the soul (James 1:21), not merely the “read and understood word.” The doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in the inspired Scriptures are intended to complete us as servants of God, and equip us for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Discipleship, therefore, is not merely an educational exercise — it is the process of allowing God’s word to transform us into the likeness of Christ (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18). It is infinitely more than studying as though for an academic exam — it is being recreated into a “new man who is renewed in knowledge,” by means of the instruction and direction of God’s word (Colossians 3:10).

Consider these words of David, recorded in 2 Samuel 22:31 and its parallel passage, Psalm 18:30: “As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.” Of whom else but God could it be said that “His way is perfect”?

We have all learned many valuable things from parents, teachers, and other persons of positive influence, but would we say of any of them that everything they taught was perfect? I am continually grateful for the many vital lessons I learned from my mother and father, but they — though usually right — were not always correct. I have benefited from the study of many learned brothers in Christ, both through their preaching and teaching and through their writings, but I have never met a gospel preacher who was right about everything — myself included. Many times I’ve been compelled to go back to the Bible and restudy some issue, once I realized that what I had previously believed and taught on the matter was wrong.

When we follow God’s word — unlike the frail, self-serving words of humankind — we can be 100% certain that what He says is so. “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). As Moses said, “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He” (Deuteronomy 32:4).

Moreover, God’s word has been proven: “The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Psalm 12:6). No one who ever relied on God’s word in humble faith and right understanding has ever been disappointed by it. Yes, many have suffered from unreal expectations and false interpretations, but the true word of God has been tested time after time and never been found wanting. The Bible withstands every onslaught of skeptics and infidels who’ve come and gone, while that which they assail remains steadfast long after they have turned to dust: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33).

We can choose to place our confidence in many things: our own feelings, which change from moment to moment; the theories and ideas of other people, who are as prone to error as we are; or God’s perfect, proven word, delivered through His Son: “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). It shouldn’t take us a great deal of thought to determine which way is wisest and best.