I wish to discuss something that will probably cause offence to quite a few. Ordinarily, I would go out of my way NOT to deliberately cause offence. Some see my absolute standing for the truth of the Gospel as offensive....when I attack false teaching. That will never change. But, it is never the person I am against...but it is always the misquoting, misusing of scripture. We are told to rebuke, reprove and correct false teaching.... and I will do that with my dying breath. This post WILL cause offense to some....but I will make no apologies for it. 30 years ago I became aware of a movement , back home in New Zealand , that was already well established....around the world. When this movement started I do not exactly know....but I can absolutely tell you that is it not Godly, not Holy and certainly not scriptural....yet SO many, within Christendom , belong to it, endorse it, believe it and preach it. What is it ? It is the belief IN and faith IN a certain bible ....that ONLY this bible is the true Word of God. The inference is that unless THIS version of the Bible is read....then we are not saved. Now....which scripture, in which book , did God EVER say HOW His Word would be spread abroad ? Did He EVER mention a particular version of His Word, did He EVER endorse ONE version ( or indeed ANY version) of His Word ....or did He just say to PREACH it ....in Spirit and in Truth...to all the Nations ? What version of the Word did the Apostles read ? The Greek septuagint, actually ( Old Testament). The Word had been translated into Koine Greek 200 years before Christ walked the earth. Prior to that it was written in Hebrew and Aramaic ...the languages that Jesus spoke. To be told that I am obviously on a different path because I do NOT read the King James version of the Bible...a mere translation of the original Word of God, written 1611 years AFTER the death of Jesus, in a language He never spoke or had NOT been invented at the time of His Ministry....is to tell me that I am not on the narrow road....I am on a different path...therefore I am NOT saved. There is a name for this. It is Biblio Idolatry. It is the placing of our faith in a BOOK rather than in Jesus. YES, Jesus IS the Word ...but He is NOT one single book....He is not any book....He is the walking, breathing Word of God...which is alive and living. What version of the Word did the thief on the cross read ? NONE. His FAITH (in Christ) saved ...yet he never read ONE Word of any bible. John 5:39 These things were written about me- yet you refuse to come to me to have life Jesus here proclaims that having a good grasp of the scriptures and knowing the law and the scriptures can still lead to Error. Do not think the Pharisees have disappeared ... They are very much alive in our midst: in our study and our arguments on whose interpretation, whose theology and doctrine is right. There is only one issue at hand - a real relationship with Jesus Christ -a real one. What is biblio idolatry? It is when we make an idol of the Bible. Most of us in our minds would imagine this looking perhaps like someone placing a Bible on a pedestal and praying to it. But it almost never takes that form. It is much more dangerous and subtle than that. Most commonly it takes the form of thinking the power for living comes from following biblical principles. In doing so, we have replaced the role that only belongs to Jesus, the Word, with concepts from the written word. The power is not in the Bible, it is in Jesus. It is not in the written word, it is in the Living Word. Why do we do this? I think there are a number of reasons. First, if we don’t actually have to follow Jesus but only “biblical principles” we are still in control. We chose which principles we are going to apply. We chose how we understand those principles. And, even more fun, if someone doesn’t apply a biblical principle the way we do, we get to judge them. But, if we understand how thenew covenant works, it isn’t the written word that guides us. It is Jesus, the Lord, who is the Word who became flesh. He speaks his laws into our heart and mind, but not as some written code (Heb. 8:10). Living by a written code is living in the old covenant, not the new. We obey Him, not “it.” A second reason we are so intent on actually living by the written word instead of obeying the Word is because our culture is obsessed with ideas. We’d rather talk about doctrine than actually put it in practice. We usually don’t do this intentionally; it is built into our cultural habits. Think about school from grade school to university. How were we taught? Wasn’t it usually by hearing someone talk about an idea, a fact, or a concept? We usually try to teach our faith this way, by preaching and giving classes instead of walking with each other along the way (Deut. 11:19) It isn’t very ineffective. That’s the difference between teaching our faith like it is a school subject and actual life on life discipleship. Discipleship has more in common with teaching someone how to change a spark plug than it does a seminary class. I say all of this to point out we have been trained by our culture to think in concepts instead of living life in the power of God. And the result is that we often put more confidence in doctrine (facts from the Bible) than in Jesus himself. That’s biblioidolatry. Another reason we tend to be biblioidolaters is that it is easier to be judged by what we say, or believe to be true, than what we do. This, most likely, is subconscious. This is actually just an outgrowth of the other two reasons mentioned above. But Jesus isn’t going to judge us by how correct our doctrinal ideas were. When he separates the sheep from the goats he is going to judge us by our works (and no, that isn’t works salvation) Just read Matt 25:31-46. How can that be? It’s simple. If we are the real thing we will live like it. Talk is cheap. We can easily be judged by our works because if Jesus is truly living in us, His Spirit will flow out of us like rivers of living water (Jn. 7-38-39). All Jesus has to do is judge how we lived, to see if there was evidence of the Holy Spirit within. What good then is the Bible? It is wonderful in every way. While in itself it has no power to change us, it can point to Someone who can. It can’t save us, but He can. It can be a beautiful mirror which shows us how we are living, but the power to live the Christian life still comes from Jesus himself. The Bible just helps us see if we are on track. We don’t need to worship the Bible. We shouldn’t expect it to give us principles to live by. Rather, it gives us access to the Person who wrote those principles. The Bible expresses those principles to help us make sure we are living in the Spirit and not in the power of the flesh. So let’s be filled with the Spirit of Jesus. Let’s walk in the power of Jesus. Let’s worship and honor Jesus, the Living Word, who became flesh and dwelt among us. Let’s be grateful for the written word and deeply appreciate it. We should read it until it saturates our soul. But the power for life still comes from Jesus. He himself said I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (Jn. 14:6). That cannot be said of the Bible. The 1st Century Christians didn’t have the New Testament, yet they often lived powerful, spiritual lives. How did they do that without the New Testament....written in the KJV ? Do you think it could have anything to do with actually living according to the new covenant, in the power of Jesus? Ever wonder why the 1st and 2nd Century Christians turned the world upside down and we are losing ground? Could it be that we are looking for our source of power coming from the Bible rather than Jesus?
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 11:32:07 +0000