Do you want a good reason to teach a Bible class? Do you need motivation to prepare a Bible lesson? Do you feel there’s little difference between teaching from the Bible and teaching from any other text? If you answer any of these questions with a “yes”, consider how God’s Word is the ultimate text. No other book or teaching compares.
How God’s Word is the Ultimate Text
1) No other book comes with the same level of authority.
Scripture claims to be “God-breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). By definition, God is the One of whom there’s none greater. If the Bible makes an erroneous claim about its own origin, none of it can be trusted. If true, however, Scripture must have supreme authority since it was inspired by the One of whom there’s none greater. This reality greatly affects how we teach it. We can’t pick and choose what we want to believe.
2) God’s Word has a power unlike any other.
Because an all-knowing, all-wise, and all-powerful, eternal God authored Scripture, it is “alive and active” (Heb. 4:12). It’s as useful now as it was when He first moved people to write down His words. It has the power to penetrate “even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). It’s “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). And, “truth will set you free” (Jn. 8:32). What other book can do all that?
3) The Author backs up His Word with promised results.
Some authors may promise results but can’t guarantee them. God, on the other hand, says, “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isa. 55:10-11)
4) The Bible holds its teachers accountable.
We’re exhorted, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). Because it’s the Word of our Almighty, Sovereign God, it matters how we teach it. Authors of other textbooks can hope we stay true to what they’ve written but undoubtedly will never know if we do. The Author of the Bible knows all and sees all. We must stay true to what He’s written, knowing that “we who teach will be judged more strictly” (James 3:1).
Also read: A Teacher’s View of the Bible Matters
Get further help from this teacher training resource: A Lesson Worth Teaching Workbook