That’s Really Precious!
Good News – July/August 2009 – Grace & Truth Magazine
That’s Really Precious!
Waltham Abbey is a small town 16 miles north of London. A Latin Bible bound in white deerskin and dating from the 1200s was kept in the town until 1540 when the abbey was dissolved and the Bible sold by decree of King Henry VIII. Recently the town council bought back the Bible from a London museum for #25,000. By contrast, you can buy a Bible for a few pounds today and find it just as precious, not because of its age or binding but because of its contents.
Let me draw your attention to a statement in the Bible by the apostle Peter: “Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver and gold ... but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:18-19 KJV). We all need to be redeemed (bought back and set free) because we are lost sinners, unable to please God.
The apostle Paul made this very clear when he wrote: “All have sinned and have come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). We cannot redeem ourselves by our own efforts, which Peter called “corruptible things.” But thanks be to God, His Son, the Lord Jesus, redeemed us when He suffered and died on Calvary’s cross. Peter called this one of God’s “exceedingly great and precious promises” (2 Pet. 1:4).
The apostle John wrote of another promise from God: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life” (Jn. 3:36). On what basis can this precious promise be made good for us? There’s no other basis for the eternal blessing of God than having what Peter referred to as “precious faith” in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus (2 Pet. 1:1-11). Our faith (or trust) is precious because it rests on the value of His precious blood, and enables us to receive God’s precious promises.
So buy a Bible, or take yours off the shelf. Don’t look at its cover or how old it is, but look inside to discover something really precious – the Word of God. Reading it can save your life for eternity. And that’s really precious! We can tell you more.
By Ernie Bartlett