Thank you for the application question on the Bible, “How does the Bible relate to you?”
On a personal level, the Scriptures are the foundation for my beliefs and values in my vertical relationship toward God and my horizontal relationship with other believers and non-believers.
Even without the Bible, I would still believe in a Creator God of the Universe and of Earth. Genesis 1–2 tells me of God’s existence and his plan for the earth including mankind. I wouldn’t know that this Creator God loves me and is interested in my redemption. I have grateful for the Word of God which tells me that Jesus Christ came and died for my sin and that he is returning for me and for all the other believers in Christ Jesus. I am grateful to know that when I die, I have no fear of condemnation before God. I have peace even though there are times I have encountered violent storms in my life.
The Scriptures have transformed my values from eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow I will died to seeking laying up treasures in heaven than on earth. The Bible tells me that one day I will stand before the Bema Seat of Christ to give an account of my service to God on earth. I am not working for my salvation, but I am living to please my Heavenly Father. The assets that God has blessed me with has caused me to be a good steward of what God has entrusted to me. I seek to use the funds to help others whether a Christian or not. The earned income is not just asset preservation for retirement for I do not want to become like the Rich Fool or the Servant who just sat on his asset. The Apostle Paul speaks of the Bema Seat of Christ in I Cor. 3.
The Scriptures remind me that every person is made in the image and likeness of God regardless of their nationality, racial, or appearance. (Gen. 1–2). Each person has value regardless of their social or economic status in life. Because all humans are made in the image of God, we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. This love for others should enable society to care for the orphans and widows, the individuals who are in need. Life is precious including the unborn and the aged (Psalm 139).
The Scriptures enables me to have a moral compass of right and wrong. God desires justice on the Earth with rulers or governmental officials upholding and carry forth justice. Rulers are to grant justice against evil doers and to punish them (Rom. 13). I am to respect law enforcements to the President of the United States of America. As a Christian, I am to pray for the governmental leaders that God will give them wisdom in making just laws and policies.
As a citizen of this country, I am given the right by the government to vote on matters. Thus, I am to vote according to my conscience and my values just as any other person has the same right to vote according to their conscience. I am not seeking to bring in the Kingdom of God on Earth, but I am seeking to bring individuals to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. I am to proclaim the Good News of redemption in Jesus Christ, not force individuals to believe it. Salvation is a free gift to those who wish or want to accept the forgiveness of sins and the hope of being with the Savior forever (Eph. 2:8–9).
I realize that I am not living in a theocracy but in a republic or democracy. The beliefs and values that I hold to is not to be imposed on non-believers. It is faulty to expect non-believers to uphold Christian values. They may adhere to the practices without believing in God or in the biblical values. The authority of Scripture is for believers.
Finally, I believe that a believer can experience God in his or her life. Jesus declared that he stands and knocks. If anyone hears his voice or knocking and opens the door of his/her life to him, Jesus will come in and dine with that believer. God has given me and other believers his Holy Spirit to enable us to fellowship with God and to do God’s will. I believe Jesus’s words that if I abide in him and his words abide in me that God will grant my petitions as I discern the will of God (Rom. 12:1–2).
It is my desire to be more submissive to the Holy Spirit so that I may do more of God’s will than my own will on earth.
Summary: It is one thing to know the biblical truths and another thing to apply or live out the biblical truths. God looks at the heart and it is from our hearts that everything flows from it.
-Kingston