Word of God (the Bible)

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Permalink Reply by Colby on August 3, 2013 at 1:33pm

I came across this short YouTube video clip, which segues nicely into this discussion:
"Jesus is the Word, the Bible is God, the Bible is Jesus."
Pastor Steven L. Anderson, Faithful Word Baptist Church, Phoenix, Arizona.

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on August 3, 2013 at 3:28pm

Colby,

I decided to change what I said earlier and simply ask the following:

 

I am curious, what did you see in this that led you to post it?

 

Lord Bless,

LT

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Permalink Reply by Colby on August 3, 2013 at 3:32pm

LT,

You asked, "is the Bible Jesus or Jesus the Bible?  

Some people may answer yes.  Take Pastor Steve, for example.  He claims that "Jesus is the Word, the Bible is God, the Bible is Jesus."

In my opinion, he is conflating Jesus the third person (or Logos) of the Trinity with the Bible, which is the written revelation of God.

Jesus (the Logos and God incarnate) and the Bible (sacred scripture--God's written word) are not one in the same.  I do not say this to demean in any way the Bible.

Make no mistake: The Bible is a unique collection of sacred writings written by men inspired by the Holy Spirit.  It is partial revelation of the will of God that contains everything we need to know concerning God's plan for salvation.  All Scripture is God-breathed, meaning it originated from God, but the Bible is not God.  It is a reliable and trustworthy witness and a testimony to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The fullness of the Word of God is found only in the person of Jesus Christ who is without beginning or end.  The object of our faith and worship is not a book, but rather our Lord.

Faith, hope and love,

Colby

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on August 3, 2013 at 3:39pm

Colby,

Thanks. I was confident that was your position and reasoning for posting, but did not want to put words in your mouth or have people assume you were in agreement with the video posting as a sort of proof text.

 

You said above, Jesus (the Logos and God incarnate) and the Bible (sacred scripture--God's written word) are not one in the same.  I do not say this to demean in any way the Bible. We are in agreement.

 

Lord Bless,

LT

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Permalink Reply by Colby on August 3, 2013 at 4:28pm

LT,

Thanks for the reality check :-).  Absent my clarification for posting that amusing but theologically off-base video, people might have wrongly assumed that I had gone off the deep end.

 

Your question brings to mind discussions I've had with my Catholic and Orthodox friends.  I've raised concerns with their veneration of Mary and the saints, questioning whether or not this is borderline worship, hoping that they could clear this up for me.  They have responded by asking me if evangelical Christians (me included) are guilty of biblioaltry, or bible worship (because of our emphatic assistance on the Bible alone as our rule of faith), to which I respond "absolutely not."

 

Also germane to this discussion about the role of the Bible--which I believe is of central importance as a witness and testimony to the person of Jesus Christ, and unique in the world as the written revelation of God--is some historical context.

 

In much of the world today, the Bible is ubiquitous.  It's found in pews of churches, homes of Christians, and bookstores as well as on the Internet.  The Bible is more accessible in today than at any other time in history.  And more people are literate too.  Paradoxically, although the Bible is more accessible than ever before, biblical illiteracy is at an all-time high.  This, though, is the subject of another discussion.

 

As you are aware,  while the Apostles were among us evangelizing, gaining converts and planting churches, the only Bible in existence were the Jewish books of the Old Testament.  The New Testament would not become canonized as scripture for a few hundred years after the death of Christ.  Thus, the earliest Christians did not have access to the complete body of writings known collectively as the New Testament, although various letters, such as those of Paul, were circulating. Even so, despite this handicap, it is clear that the gospel message was imparted to people who came to faith in Jesus Christ and were saved.

 

Until about 500 years ago, the Bible was closely guarded by the early church fathers and not made available to the people.  All copies had to be made by the hand of scribes as there were no printing presses or duplicating machines.  Copies of the Bible were, therefore, few and precious, as they were tedious and time consuming to compile.  Moreover, they were translated from the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts into Latin only, which was the official language of the church, but which was no longer used by the people.  Until relatively recently in history, most people were unable to read and write.   Only a handful of the most learned scholars were literate.   For the masses, their exposure to the Bible came not from owning and reading Bibles and participating in weekly study groups, but from readings and sermons delivered to them on Sundays by priests.

 

Yet somehow, in these first 1,500+ years of Christianity, despite the practical obstacles and limitations placed in their way, not to mention attempts by the authorities to suppress the fledgling church, people heard the gospel and came to know Jesus Christ.  The church grew rapidly from the First Century forward, spreading from a narrow strip along the Mediterranean Sea to adjacent areas of Asia, Africa, Europe and beyond.

 

It was the Catholic Church's tight reign on the Bible (as well as its extra-biblical teachings and traditions) that in large part what led Luther and others to challenge the authority of the Catholic Church, resulting in the Reformation of the 16th century.  And when the forces of reform broke lose in Europe, shaking up the church and questioning the authority of Rome, it was the beginning of a new era.  

 

Luther and others translated the Latin Bible into the language of the people.  For the first time, it was possible to read a Bible in the language of the people, such as English or German, as scholars began to translate the biblical text.  Coinciding with this remarkable turn of events was the introduction of the printing press, which made it possible to mass produce and distribute the Bible in the language of the people.

 

So my point here is that while those of living today (especially) and in the past couple of hundred years take it for granted that the Bible has been made readily available to us for personal study, this is a fairly recent development in that for the first 15 centuries or so of Christianity this was not the case.

 

Grace, peace and love,

 

Colby 

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on August 3, 2013 at 4:54pm

Colby,

An excellent reminder. As I ponder what you have written what comes to mind is for us to remember as we look back over the course of time, recognizing that people got saved when exposure to the written Word of God was limited and that people are still getting saved where the written Word of God is available like never before, that Jesus instructed the trained disciples to not go forth as His witnesses until the Holy Spirit came with power on the day of Pentecost. Thus, when the disciples went forward they did not carry tracts or a well marked Bible (though these are not bad in of themselves) they went forth with the gospel message empowered by the Holy Spirit. 

 

Lord Bless,

LT

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Permalink Reply by Colby on August 3, 2013 at 5:08pm

LT,

You nailed it!  Christ made provision for the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and he had a life-changing encounter with Paul on the road to Damascus.  A small, motley group of fearful men was transformed by the Holy Spirit into an emboldened and thriving worldwide church that continues to fulfill the Great Commission.

Grace, peace and love,

Colby

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on August 3, 2013 at 6:14pm

Grace,

I am not discounting or demeaning the Bible, the written Word of God. One of the points being made is to distinguish between the Living Word, our Savior, and the written Word, given to reveal our Savior (among other revelations), both of which we need. I believe you answer the question in your own comments when you said: Do we worship the Bible, no, we worship the Creator of the Bible who purposely gifted us with His written Word that He calls Holy and personally spoke those Words to us. He resides and exists over the Bible as He is the Creator of the Bible.

 

Lord Bless,

LT

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Amanda on August 3, 2013 at 6:23pm

I know the Spirit indwells me and His job is to teach me truth. I can read and study the bible forever but without spiritual discernment, I will be forever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. There are many atheists who read the bible in order to argue against it. The words do nothing for them, or so it seems. I believe the ground that the seed falls upon is very, very important, and I often wonder if there is anything we can do about the ground before we sow the seed. I guess not.

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Permalink Reply by JB on August 3, 2013 at 10:33pm

 

I believe the ground that the seed falls upon is very, very important, and I often wonder if there is anything we can do about the ground before we sow the seed. I guess not.

I wonder why you would not think so. What does a farmer do to prepare a field for planting?

First he clears the land should there be trees, rocks and other obstacles in the ground that would hinder him sowing seed, or to till the ground. All of that is cleared off before he starts to plow the ground for seeding. Preparing the soil.

The same way we prepare our hearts for receiving the Word “Seed” The seed is sown in the heart of a believer, Those that won’t “prepare their hearts“ will be as the seed that falls among the thorns, or by the wayside, and on stony ground; they start to grow, but the thorns, “cares of the world come up and choke out the Words “seeds” that were sown.” Same as renewing the mind to the Word of God. We take the advice or words of a doctor, lawyer, preachers and teachers, before, or over the Word of God. All Jesus said was “it is written!”  Why don’t we give the Word first place? Because, sensually we can’t perceive it.

Jer.4:3-4 says, “break up the fallow ground and sow not among thorns,…Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskin “uncleanliness” of your heart…. ”

2 Tim. 2:19-21  “…let everyone that claims, or professes, the Name of the Lord depart from iniquity” “Paraphrased” “But in a great house; “you are a great house” there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, “moral and ethical attitudes etc.” but also wood and of earth; “unhealthy activity etc.” some unto honor, and some unto dishonor, if a man would therefore purge himself from these, he shall become a vessel unto honor, “pleasing in the sight of God” sanctified, meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” In other words your conscience won’t be defiled when you minister to others. A defiled conscience negates your faith.

JB
 

 

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Permalink Reply by Amanda on August 4, 2013 at 10:52am

Hmmm ...

Thanks for the verse from Jeremiah 4:3-4.

The word "negates" means nullify, make ineffective. Is that really true?

Permalink Reply by JB on August 4, 2013 at 6:30pm

Amanda,

Hmmm ...

Thanks for the verse from Jeremiah 4:3-4.

The word "negates" means nullify, make ineffective. Is that really true?

Yes!! It would be the same as a wavering faith, doesn’t mean you don’t have faith; you have faith, but you also have a wavering faith, doubts, fears, and unbelief’s, not really sure that God will keep His promises concerning “if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you might say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”  

Ja.1. says, let not that man think he shall receive anything of the Lord with a wavering faith.

 So can you speak to a mountain, “sickness or disease” with an unfeigned faith? [unaffected by circumstances that surround you, and that God’s Word is the only evidence you need for assurance of answered prayer]? You can’t have faith for anything that God hasn’t already provided or made provision for.

We have the mind of Christ! With that in mind, will a new creation man/woman be asking for anything other than God’s will?

2Pet.1 Says “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord; according as His Divine power has given unto you all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the “knowledge”  “epig-nosis”  [Full discernment, or acknowledgment] of Him that has called you unto glory and virtue; whereby are given to us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine Nature, having escaped the corruption of this world that was through lust.” So is it God’s will for us to have all things that pertains unto life and godliness?  Paul’s prayer in Phile.6, was that the communication of your faith may become effectual, by the acknowledging of every good thing that is in you in Christ Jesus. Sometime when we pray for others, or anything, we sometimes forget that it is God in us that does the work. Col.1:27…. God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory!

In Matt.17:16….why couldn’t the disciples cure the boy? Though Jesus called them faithless, they had the faith that many have today, but their unbelief negated their faith.

So much more could be said about this, but another day.

JB

 

 

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