When talking about the Bible, what is :
Effective,
Beneficial,
Critical,
Crucial,
Decisive;
to Deepen,
Edifying,
Educational,
Forceful,
Gainful,
to Grow,
Impactful,
Impressive,
Instructional,
to Intensify,
Positive,
Potent,
Productive,
Striking,
Useful ?
This page looks at the meaning of terms that describe the ability of the Bible to bring about change, action, and repentance. Also, it defines words that describe how it teaches us and helps us have greater impact on us as the Spirit imapacts us through it.
Effective [ < Latin effectus, ppart. of efficere (to accomplish)]. It can bring about the desired result.
The Bible succeeds in doing what it is created to do. Through the Spirit's work, it shows God, God's vision, God's purposes, and God's good news to us. Our collective openness to the Bible seems to be shrinking, but the Spirit is still using it to pry us open to God.
Other words in this same field of meaning include :
You can also check the
dictionary.
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Decisive : When something is called the decisive factor, it means that it is what causes things to be the way they will become; it sets the path, tips the scales. When someone is a decisive leader, that person is someone who leads without blind impulse but also without waffling. Such a leader is focused, direct, and purposeful; any differing thoughts in that leader's mind are harnessed to make the decision wiser, better, clearer and fuller. A decisive moment is a turning or tipping point, when the changes stop being potential and start taking effect.
And so it is with the Bible. When you're waffling on how to live your life, or even on knowing what a Godly life is, Scripture is decisive. It shows the way to go; it is what is given to you by God to set your path and tip your scales. And it is bypassed only at great spiritual cost.
Other words in this same field of meaning include :
Another word in this same field of meaning is convincing.
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Potent : [ < Latin potens, pres. part. of posse (to be able) < potis (able) + esse (to be) < assumed Indo-European poti- (a root word indicating ability or power to accomplish)] Strong, vigorous; able to get a task done; exerting strong influence, control, or authority; able to cause reproduction.
The Holy Spirit, as God, has the power to touch people through the Spirit's tool of choice, the Scriptures. Touch, heck -- often the Spirit really lays the hammer down, smashing to pieces your strongest resistances and shaking your worldview at its foundations. That's what being 'potent' is about. Through the Bible, the Spirit has moved many people at roughly the same time, with ideas whose time has come or a new awareness of what's really at stake. Even after thousands of years, the Bible still causes its readers to give birth to new ideas, expressions, and angles on the challenges of life. It exerts an influence over each Christian's life.
Other words in this same field of meaning include :
Another like term is 'striking' (as an adjective). One of the most common occurences people have when reading the Bible is when they're busily reading, plugging ahead with nothing happens, and then they come across something that hits them like a baseball bat. They get stunned, can't get it out of their mind, and are caught in a eureka moment where they see things differently. This is done by the Spirit. Not that all the Spirit does through the Bible has "pow!"; most of what happens is gradual, adding up, accreting. But "pow!" happens quite a bit, and lives get shook by it.
You can also check the dictionary.
Useful (adj.) [ < Old French user < Latin uti (to use, utilise)]Having a beneficial or practical application; able to be put into service for a purpose..
Most terms for describing the Bible are not words that the Bible's inspired writers used. (They were too busy living it to spend much time thinking about how to describe it.) However, in 2 Timothy 3:16, it says that the Scriptures are God-breathed (inspired) and useful (for teaching, training, and correction). The Greek word there is ophelimos; the root meaning has to do with using something in order to progress, gain, or profit.
Other words in this same field of meaning include :
Two other such words, 'progress' and 'profit', are best avoided in the context of the Bible's usefulness. These words carry too much partisan baggage in philosophy ('progress of humankind'), politics ('progressivism') and economics ('profits'). Not that these are themselves evil things; they may even be good at times. But their sharply partisan meanings would give a false impression about the Bible, and should not be used.
Instructional is another of the words like 'useful' which spring from 2 Timothy. The Bible teaches us what God most wants us to know. It enlightens or illuminates the way forward in a world of shadows. The Bible itself has two key things to say about this : Matthew 22:29 and
2 Timothy 3:16. In the Matthew verse, Jesus tells us that if we come to understand Scripture, we will not spend our time on working out the technical details as these Sadducees did. Instead, we'd focus on what God is revealing in Scripture -- in this case, that there is a resurrection, and that resurrecting and restoring is the way God does things. In 2 Timothy, he is being told that through the Scriptures he has known from childhood, he has been given the tools he needs for the task he's about to be given in Chapter 4. Timothy is told that Scripture's really good at such teaching and training. "Reproof" and "correction" refers to the work of Scripture as the 'norm' for instruction. "Teaching" and "training in righteousness" refer to this instructional work of Scripture, so that the believer can tell the difference between the insight given by God and the ear-tickling stuff.
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Other words in this same field of meaning include :
You can check the definition of 'instruction' in the dictionary.
It may also be edifying to check in the dictionary for 'useful'.
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