Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
This is a simple but powerful statement of the purpose of the Bible. Paul claims here that Scripture was not simply written for ancient times but still has power for readers today. This goes along with what he says in 2 Timothy 3:15-17. There is something we can learn from the Bible, but it will require careful listening. To instruct means to teach. To learn requires listening and action. The Bible is meaningless to us unless we act on what it says. The end goal in studying the Bible is to develop hope. Hope is what strengthens our faith to live as God’s holy and loving people in a world full of pain, sorrow, and sin. This verse mentions two things that bring us hope: endurance and the encouragement of Scriptures. Endurance will require that we put our focus on God for the strength to make it through the trials and temptations we will face. This idea builds on what Paul earlier wrote in Romans 5:3-5. Endurance is a necessary step for our character to develop and our hope to grow. If we give up, we are stopping God’s grace from doing all that God wants to do in us. The best way to endure is to commit our lives into the care of God. God’s Spirit will renew our strength and freshen our vision through our suffering (Romans 8:15-17). The Holy Spirit will also take the Scriptures and make them alive for us. The Bible becomes the source of encouragement because they express the source of hope in Jesus Christ. The Bible points the way to eternal hope which can sustain us through earthly struggles. If we fail to read the Bible, we are cutting ourselves off from the source of information and guidance for eternal life. We will end up struggling on our own understanding, which may be good but will not be sufficient for many of the struggles we face.
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