R.J. Rushdoony on Reading Scripture

At the beginning of a new year, many people set out with a new plan to read the Bible. This is a good practice, since Scripture was given not only for the conversion of the unbeliever, but also for the continual discipleship of the believer. Christians should be ready, though, to be personally challenged by the Bible. Reading is important, but how we read is also important. We must read it as the word of God, with faith and submission, ready to obey it. In "The Use of Scriptures in the Reformed Faith," R.J. Rushdoony helpfully comments on how we should prepare to receive Scripture when we read or hear it.

"The offense of Scripture to the unregenerate is that it tells him that he is not a god but a sinner under the judgement of God. To the regenerate, the Bible is the good news of his salvation, but, to the extent that he is unsanctified, to that extent the offense of Scripture remains. This side of heaven, therefore, the believer must contend with an unwillingness in himself to read and to submit to God's Word. Behind this fact of offense is our reluctance to keep on growing; we tend to be satisfied with a few drops of faith in the ocean of our sin. We are unwilling to change, to see our faults, to forgive as we have been forgiven, to hate only what God hates, and to love as we have been loved. Hence the necessity of Scripture: we need the open and sure Word of God as a corrective, a guide, and as commandment." (R.J. Rushdoony, Faith and Action: The Collected Articles of R.J. Rushdoony, p. 1160)