If No One Had A Bible

Try to imagine it: No Bibles anywhere. No King James. No NIV. Not even a paperback copy of "The Message".

What would that be like?

Regardless of how such a thing might happen, try to imagine what it would be like to never have access to the Bible - ever again.

In some ways, I think our world might actually be a better place if no one had a Bible anymore. 

Maybe if we didn't depend on a book for everything we'd start to discover an inner desperation and a hunger for a deeper experience of Jesus.

Not only that, if there were no Bibles, we just might start to value listening to one another share testimonies of Jesus. Especially if there was no more need to hear from the resident Bible expert or scholar talk for an hour every weekend.

Imagine sitting around your living room with friends and listening to people share what Jesus was saying or doing in their lives that week. Imagine someone closing their eyes and quoting verses about how nothing can separate us from the love of God, or about how Jesus died for us while we were still enemies of God?

Don't you think this might help us to connect with one another - and with Jesus - more directly?

Maybe I'm the only one, but the more I think about this the more convinced I am that we might just be better off without our Bibles.

Now, I get it. I'm talking about what it would be like to first learn what the Bible says and study it and memorize it before experiencing those words in a deeper and more intimate way.

But, what if we only had our memories of scripture to sustain us? What if we could only pass on to our children the verses that really spoke deeply to us? What verses would we choose?

Probably verses where Jesus says, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do" and "Love one another as I have loved you" would dominate your memory.

Perhaps you'd want your children to remember certain Parables that Jesus shared, like the Prodigal Son, or the Treasure in the Field or the Sower of Seeds.

Chances are you probably wouldn't find it all that crucial to memorize verses where God commanded His people to slaughter every man, woman and child and warned them not to show any compassion while doing so. You might leave behind the verses about how blessed those people are who dash infants against the rocks.

That, to me, would be a very good thing.

If all we had left was Jesus and our memories of scriptures that really touched us and profoundly changed us, that wouldn't be so bad.

What do you think?

-kg

The Schizophrenic God of Inerrancy

For those who embrace – even insist – on the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible, there emerges a very odd version of a God who simply cannot make up His mind about things.

As an example, the infallible Scriptures are 100 percent clear about the fact that God causes evil and creates disasters:

“When disaster [literally “evil”] comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?” [Amos 3:6]

“I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster [“evil”]; I the Lord, do all these things.” [Isaiah 45:7]

“The LORD said to him, "Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD?” [Exodus 4:11]

These verses, and several others like them, affirm without any doubt that God is the one who brings disaster, creates evil and makes people deaf and blind.

This is an inerrant and infallible statement of fact supported by an equally infallible and inerrant Holy Bible.

However, there are other scriptures that contradict these ideas and instead say:

"God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all"  [1 John 1:5]

“His works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he” [Deut. 32:4]

Jesus also affirmed that it was Satan who came to “steal, kill and destroy,” not God.

So, taking all of these infallible and inerrant verses together, we know without a doubt that God does no wrong, and doesn’t destroy or kill, but that He most certainly brings evil, creates darkness and hands out birth defects.

We also know that God was the one who commanded David to take a census and then punished 70,000 people by killing them with a plague when David obeyed. [See 2 Sam.24:1]

At the same time, we clearly see that it was Satan who incited David to take a census, not God. [See 1 Chronicles 21:1]

We also know that God never tempts anyone to do evil [See James 1:13].

So clearly these inerrant and infallible verses tell us that God, and Satan, both commanded David to take a census and then God punished David and his people for giving in to the temptation which God never tempted him with.

Does that make sense to you?

Try this one.

“Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please Him to ruin and destroy you.” [Deut. 28:63]

“As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked!” [Ezekiel 33:11]

So, God is pleased to destroy His people, but He takes no pleasure in their death.

One more.

“I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the fathers.” [Exodus 20:5; Deut. 5:9]

“As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel…he will not die for his father’s sin; he will surely live, but his father will die for his own sin…the son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son.” [Ezekiel 18:3;17-19]

Clearly, according to these inerrant and infallible verses of scripture, God punishes children for the sins of their fathers, but a son will not die for his father’s sins, nor share the guilt of his father, nor will the father share the guilt of his son.

Got it?

If you do, please explain it to the rest of us.

All I can see is that there are competing voices in the scriptures. Some prophets see God one way – causing evil, creating birth defects and punishing sons for the sins of their fathers – and other prophets see God a different way – not causing evil or tempting people, or punishing sons for their father’s sins and taking no pleasure in the death of anyone.

Those who insist on an inerrant scripture ignore these discrepancies, or turn somersaults to make each contradictory statement true while ignoring the very obvious fact: The voices we hear in scripture are not infallible, nor inerrant.

So, what can we do about these verses? How can we discern which ones speak truthfully about God’s character and which verses miss the mark?

According to Paul, “The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things” [1 Cor. 2:15]  and while quoting Isaiah’s rhetorical question “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct Him!?” [Isa. 4:13] responds shockingly: “But we have the mind of Christ!” [v. 17]

So, who dares to challenge and question the scriptures?

We do!

Why? 

Because we have the mind of Christ.

Paul even reminds us that we will judge angels [1 Cor. 6:3]; and who are “angels” but “messengers from God”? [The word "angel" in scripture is literally translated as "messenger of God"]

Do we have an obligation to read the Scriptures through the lens of Jesus and with the mind of Christ? 

Absolutely!

Otherwise we are left with a schizophrenic God who is both good and evil, who is both tempting and never-tempting, who both creates birth defects and heals them, who delights in destruction and takes no pleasure in it, etc.

Is God the author of confusion? 

No.

Is God the one who is confused about who He is and what He does, or could it be that those who wrote about Him prior to Christ couldn’t see Him as clearly as we do now?

If you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father. There is no clearer picture of Him than this.

The only way to know God any better is to know Jesus. The more you come to know Him, the more you can clearly see through the mind of Christ what God is like.

-kg

Yes, the Bible is full of contradictions (But I love it anyway)

If we're going to talk about the Bible, we have to be honest; there are more than a few errors in the Scriptures. In fact, there are errors, mistakes and contradictions all through it.

This is the truth.

Before I list a few of those contradictions and errors, let me first say this:

I love the Bible.

I not only love the Bible, I also study it, treasure it, and thank God for it.

Why? Because even though it's not perfect, it does point us to Christ. It is also chock full of incredible wisdom, insight and profound truth.

But, no, the Bible is not perfect.

However, God is and we can know a lot about Him through the Scriptures.

Thankfully, we don't need a perfect, inerrant, infallible Bible to know and worship a perfect, inerrant and infallible God.

So, the sooner we just admit that the Bible has a few mistakes and errors and contradictions, the sooner we can move on to discover the truth, wisdom and insight it still holds for everyone.

Now, here are a few errors, mistakes and contradictions in the Bible:

God does NOT command burnt offerings to be sacrificed:

"For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices." (Jeremiah 7:22)

God DOES command burnt offerings to be sacrificed:
"You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you." (Exodus 20:24)

The Earth remains forever:
"A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever." (Ecclesiastes 1:4)

The Earth will be destroyed by fire:
"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up." (2 Peter 3:10)

Elijah ascended into Heaven:
"As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven." (2 Kings 2:11)

No one except Jesus ever ascended into Heaven:

"No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man." (John 3:13)

Israel had 800,000 men and Judah had 500,000 men:
"And Joab gave the number of the registration of the people to the king; and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men." (2 Sam. 24:9)

Israel had 1,100,000 men and Judah had 470,000 men:
"Joab gave the number of the census of all the people to David. And all Israel were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword; and Judah was 470,000 men who drew the sword." (1 Chron. 21:5)

David captured 1,700 horsemen:
"David captured from him 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers; and David hamstrung the chariot horses, but reserved enough of them for 100 chariots." (2 Samuel 8:4)

David captured 7,000 horsemen:
"David took from him 1,000 chariots and 7,000 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers, and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but reserved enough of them for 100 chariots." (1 Chronicles 18:4)

So, this is just a quick list of contradictions and errors in the Bible. A lot of them are just numbering mistakes. Others are historical inaccuracies about who did or said this or that. Honestly, nothing too "out there" except perhaps for the question of whether God required sacrifice or not. (That's another blog article for another day).

My point is not to weaken your faith in the God of the Bible. My point is to speak the truth and admit that there are a few errors in the Scriptures which we should simply admit to and move on.

The Bible is not perfect. The Scriptures are not error-free. 

But God is perfect, and Jesus perfectly reveals the Father to us, and we can know Him directly by the indwelling Holy Spirit who abides within us.

If we run around claiming that there are no errors in the Bible and no contradictions, then we look foolish. What's worse, we also set our weaker brothers and sisters in Christ up for a fall. Whenever someone points out one of these errors to them they will no doubt lose all faith in the "inerrant and infallible" Scriptures and possibly even in the Lord Himself.

But, if we are honest with one another and admit that our Scriptures are "mostly" reliable (at least about the things that matter), then we're at least dealing with reality and being realistic about the Bible. 

As my friend Brian Zahnd says, "What the Bible does inerrantly and infallibly is point us to Christ."

Now that we have Christ, we also have the Holy Spirit which lives within us and leads us into all Truth so we can recognize error and walk in the light as He is in the light.

The Bible points us to the Truth, even if it (sometimes) does so inconsistently.

Being "God-breathed" does not necessitate perfection. Humans are also "God-breathed" and we are prone to all sorts of mistakes. Thankfully, that doesn't mean God abandons us, or refuses to abide within us. 

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing greatness of this power is from God and not from ourselves" (2 Cor. 4:7)

-kg

FOR FURTHER READING:

*NO, I DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING IN THE BIBLE [AND NEITHER DO YOU]

*THE SCRIPTURES ARE CLEAR: THE BIBLE IS NOT THE ONLY WAY TO KNOW GOD

*FIVE TIMES JESUS CONTRADICTED THE OLD TESTAMENT

*WHY I LOVE THE WORD OF GOD

*THE WORD OF GOD AND THE BIBLE

*Did this article challenge you or bless you? If so, why not share it with your friends on social media?

5 TIMES JESUS CONTRADICTED THE OLD TESTAMENT

A friend recently told me that Jesus would never contradict the Old Testament scriptures.

In response to that statement, I'd like to offer this list of specific contradictions that Jesus made against teachings found in the Old Testament:

1) According to Deuteronomy, God commands His people to swear in His name:

Old Testament: "You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name." - Deuteronomy 6:13

But Jesus says that to swear by anything is "from the evil one":

Jesus: "But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one." - Matthew 5:37

2) The Old Testament says that God's people should show no mercy and practice an eye for eye form of justice:

Old Testament: "Show no pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." - Deuteronomy 19:21

But Jesus contradicts this directly:

Jesus: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also." - Matthew 5:38–39

"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven." - Matthew 5:43-48

3) The Old Testament teaches that adulterers should be put to death without exception:

Old Testament: ‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death." - Leviticus 20:10

Jesus famously ignored this command when they brought the woman caught in adultery to him: 

Jesus: “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground...."Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.'" - John 8:3-11

4) The Old Testament commands that no one do any work on the Sabbath:

Old Testament: "But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do." - Deuteronomy 5:14

Truth be told, no one breaks the Sabbath more than Jesus does. There are dozens of examples but here's just one:

Jesus: "Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath" - John 5:8–9

5) Right after healing this man on the Sabbath, Jesus goes one step further and He commands this man to break the Sabbath, too!

In Jeremiah 17:21–22 it says that no one should carry any burden on the Sabbath:

The Old Testament: "This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors." - Jeremiah 17:21-22

Truthfully, the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day understood that this was in direct defiance of the specific OT command:

"...and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” - John 5:10

So, does Jesus ever contradict the Old Testament Scripture? Yes! He most certainly does.

What does this mean? It means that:

*Jesus is the "Word of God" made flesh 

*Jesus as the Living Word of God has the authority to correct the written Word as-needed

*The Old Testament Scriptures are modified by Christ because Jesus is the reality these were pointing to

*Jesus - His life, His teaching, His example - are the standard which everyone, and everything [including the Bible] must measure up to and align with [not the other way around]

This also means that the Old Testament Scriptures, which were written by men, were sometimes "inspired" and sometimes not so much.

How do we know the difference?

Simple: Whenever those Old Testament Scriptures accurately point us to Christ [as in prophecies about Jesus and His incarnation, ministry, identity, etc.] we know that those are truly inspired.

But, whenever we see verses that conflict with Jesus, or His teachings, or His character, or that don't align with His revelation of the Father, etc., we can safely say that  Jesus was right and those men who write the Old Testament were wrong [at least in those cases]. 

Does this mean we can just make the Bible say anything we want?

No. Sorry. That's not what it means. [Unless what you want the Bible to say is exactly in line with Jesus and His teachings and life, then, yes].

Please note: This is not an arbitrary realignment of truth in the Scriptures. It's a Christ-centric alignment of truth, which sees Jesus as the standard. 

Why? 

Because Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Because Jesus is the exact representation of the Father. 

Because no one has ever seen God at any time except for Jesus. [Which means that those other people who wrote the Old Testament did not see God clearly, and certainly not as clearly as Jesus does because He is God in the flesh].

For example: In the Old Testament Scriptures it was said that God commanded His people to kill innocent women and children and even warned them not to hold back or to show any compassion on the infants or the toddlers. 

"[God Almighty says] Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'" - 1 Sam. 15:2-3

"But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall devote them to complete destruction..." - Deut. 20:16-18

Can you imagine Jesus turning to you and commanding you to go next door and kill every man, woman, child, and even the pets of your neighbors? Does that sound like something Jesus would say? Does that sound like something that the "Abba" revealed by Jesus would command His children to do?

Of course not. Therefore, we can conclude that verses like these are projections of God's character made by men who sometimes heard from God prophetically and at other times [like these] did not. 

How can we know this? Because we know that the God revealed to us by Jesus would not command this sort of violence against women or children, nor would He condemn someone for showing mercy and compassion on the weak and the helpless.

Jesus has shown us the Father. He is like the Father and the Father is like Jesus. 

The Father that Jesus reveals to us does not command us to kill our enemies, or their infants. Instead, He commands us to love our enemies, to bless them, to do good to them, and to pray for them.

He even tells us that when we do those things, we are also doing exactly what the Father does!

We have not yet fully embraced the idea that Jesus was the only one who has ever seen God. 

We have not yet fully accepted the idea that Jesus reveals the Father to us better than anyone else does.

We have not yet completely believed Jesus when He tells us that God loves and even blesses His enemies and that's why we should do it, too.

But, I have very high hopes that we might get it soon. That is my prayer.

-kg

Note: This article was modified from a guest post by Chuck McKnight "Jesus and Torah"

Why I Love The Word of God

I love to read. Ever since I was very young, my parents would read to me. I think that’s why I love stories, and why I, eventually, became a writer.

When I was in Elementary school, I read anything and everything I could put my hands on. My earliest favorites were Sherwood Anderson, Ambrose Bierce, and Isaac Asimov. But soon I moved on to Ian Fleming, Alistair MacLean, Alan Dean Foster and Ray Bradbury.

One day, while visiting our pastor’s house, his wife noticed I was carrying a satchel of books with me and asked me an interesting question: “Have you ever read the World’s Best-Selling book?”

I stopped to consider her question and then said, “No, probably not. What is it?”

She replied: “It’s an amazing old book full of adventure, danger, love, betrayal, war and redemption.”

“Sounds cool,” I said. “What’s the title?”

Of course, she was talking about the Bible, and based on her challenge I started to read it every night before going to bed.

My routine was to lay in bed and read whatever adventure novel I was devouring at the moment and then setting that down to read at least one chapter from the Bible before I went to sleep each night.

In just over a year and a half, I had read through most of the entire Bible.

Why so quickly? Because, first of all, I often read more than just one chapter, and second of all, I skipped most of Leviticus because it was just too boring.

But that was the first time I read the Bible.

Later, as a Junior High student I started to read the Bible because I was helping our youth pastor to lead Bible Studies. As a High School student I was leading book studies in the Gospel of Luke [which I immediately regretted because each chapter was just a marathon to get through each week], and Isaiah [because things in the Middle East were heating up and everyone – including me – was convinced that the End Times were upon us].

In college I read through the Bible because I discovered a renewed love for Jesus at a Baptist Retreat Center in Glorietta, New Mexico. Some of the seminars and workshops I attended got me interested in Spiritual Warfare so I started studying that topic on my own.

Of course, as a college student with a minor in Philosophy I quickly encountered opposition to my dearly-held faith. A few of my professors really attacked Christianity and that sent me back to my Bible to find out if what they were saying about Jesus and the Scriptures was true or not. Because of this I started really getting into Apologetics, and Young Earth/Old Earth evidences and even put together a little 4 part series of lectures about Evolution and Creation.

But all through this I read and re-read my Bible. I underlined. I circled. I made notes in the margins. I stuck notes all through the Bible on folded slips of paper. I wrote references to important verses in every blank page and white space I could find.

Eventually that Disciples Study Bible I bought in college started to fall part. First the cover began to come lose. I wrapped the spine in duct tape and kept on reading it and studying it.

About five years ago I was leading a Men’s Bible Study for some guys from Saddleback Church. They took up a collection and bought me a brand new ESV Study Bible to replace my raggedy duct tape Bible, but I honestly still use that one more often because it has all my notes and I know where to find everything in it.

I love my Bible. I really do. If you tried to come over to my house and take my Bible away from me, you’d have to cut my arms off to get it out of my hands.

But, as much as I love my Bible, I love Jesus even more. A hundred thousand million times more.

See, that book told me all about this magnificent person named Jesus who loved me and gave Himself for me. It pointed me to a God who would rather die than live without me. I fell in love – not with the Book which told me about Him – but with Jesus, Himself!

I’ve told you about my relationship with that Book, but I haven’t mentioned my incredible relationship with Jesus: I haven’t told you about how He revealed Himself to me; how He called me by His Spirit; how He answered my prayers; how He worked miracles in my life; how He whispered in my ear to stop me from getting shot dead by a prison sniper while performing with my band at a minimum security prison; about how He healed my Dad’s shattered spine and re-formed his vertebrae so he wouldn’t be paralyzed; about how He provided for my family financially while I was out of work for over a year and a half [the first time] and another year the time after that; about how He fulfilled His specific promises to me during that time in ways I could have never imagined; and about how He called us to start a church where 100 percent of the offering would go to help the poor in our community; and so much more.

But if I told you about those things here in this blog article and your response was only to say, “Wow! What a glorious article!” you would have missed my entire point, wouldn’t you?

Because what’s really glorious and awesome isn’t the blog or the article about what Jesus did for me. No, what’s amazing and awesome is Jesus and the article only informs you of how awesome He is.

The Bible is wonderful. I do love and appreciate my Bible so very much. But my love for Jesus is so far and away greater and more precious to me than anything else in the universe, that I can’t even begin to compare it to anything else.

Does this mean my Bible is useless? Hardly. I will use it today and tomorrow and every day for the rest of my life here on this earth. It is very useful to me.

But my relationship isn’t with a book about Jesus – it’s with Jesus, whom the book is about!

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” – Hebrews 1:1-3

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” [John 1:1-3]

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth….” [v.14]

God’s Word, at one time, was only written down on a page and bound in a book or wrapped in a scroll.

But when Jesus arrived that Word took on flesh and blood; laughed and cried; breathed and sang; taught and healed like never before.

There were some men who wrote down what they saw this Living Word do and say, but those words about that Word are not the Word. They are still words about Him, and our worship belongs to the God who is the Word – and to Him alone.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the Bible which tells of your excellent greatness. But thank you, even more, for your living presence within us that testifies day and night of your enduring love for us and causes us to cry out “Abba! Father!” and listen for your answer in the still, small voice of the Good Shepherd that every one of your sheep knows so well.

-kg
**

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life." - Jesus [John 5:39-40]

The Word of God and the Bible

Over the last week or so I have been engaged in numerous online debates [mostly on Facebook] about Jesus being the “Word of God” [as opposed to the Bible], and Jesus being greater than the Scriptures.

Most of those arguing against these ideas are assuming [wrongly] that I take a low view of scripture. But that’s not at all what I’m saying.

My single aim is this: To point people to Jesus. If anything gets in the way of people knowing Jesus and following Jesus, then I am going to do my best to point it out and help people turn their faces and their hearts back to Jesus. 

For some Christians – not all of them – their Bible actually does get in their way. It takes the place in their hearts that should belong to Christ alone. 

But, more and more I am encountering brothers and sisters in Christ who cannot separate the book from the person that book points to.

Some have even flat-out argued that Jesus and the Bible are the same. Others have asked if there is more of God to know outside of the Bible, as if He could be bound in a book.

In response I have tried to point out that the Father gave Jesus a name that is above every name, [see Phil. 2:1-11]. If so, then wouldn't that also mean His name is above the Bible?

Now, I realize that if I simply wrote about how awesome Jesus was, most Christians would have no problem with any of that. The problem comes only when I dare to suggest that Jesus' awesomeness eclipses the Bible.

And that’s the problem, isn’t it?

Because Jesus affirms that He is greater than Solomon, and that He is greater than the Temple, and Jonah, Moses, Elijah, Jacob and Abraham.

All of that is presumably ok. [At least no one has challenged me on those claims yet].

But once I suggest that Jesus is greater than the book which was written by those guys and that points to Jesus, that, apparently, is going too far?

“Does this mean we should just throw out our Bibles?”

[I hear this all the time]

Short answer: No.

Longer answer: I think I've said this a few dozen times, and I am more than happy to say it again now: I will not, would not, could not, and do not suggest throwing out the scriptures.

I love the scriptures. I read them. I teach from them. I study them. I memorize them. I turn to them for guidance.

I value the scriptures. 

If you tried to come over to my house and take away my Bibles you would have to cut off my arms to get them away from me. 

Nowhere - not in this post, or in any of my blog articles, or in my books - never do I suggest that the Bible is worthless, or irrelevant, or that we should not read it or study it. 

That is not what I am saying.

Maybe that is part of our ongoing misunderstanding? When I say that Jesus is greater than the book, or that the Word of God became flesh and not paper and ink, what some keep hearing me say is: “The Bible is useless”.

For the record: I love, love, love, LOVE the scriptures because they point me to Jesus.

But I love Jesus a bazillion times more!

My relationship is not with a book. Even an amazing book like the Bible. 

My relationship is with Jesus. 

Yes, I would not know about Jesus if it wasn't for what I have read in scripture about Him. For that I am sincerely grateful. Very, very grateful.

But now that I DO know Jesus, I have a relationship with Him that is greater than my relationship with the book. 

That does not mean I do not continue to read or study the book. Because I do. All the time.

What it does mean is that Jesus is more amazing and mysterious and astounding than any book - even the Bible - can ever fully describe. 

Jesus is not the Bible. The Bible is not Jesus. 

Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. He came to dwell among us, and now He lives within us by His Spirit. 

I can hear His voice because He is the Good Shepherd and I am one of His sheep.

Does that mean I don't hear His voice through the Scriptures?

No, I do still hear His voice through the Scriptures.

But, I also hear His voice through the Holy Spirit.

I also hear His voice through other people, and sometimes through dreams, or through circumstances and events, and sometimes even music and art. 

Does any of that devalue the Bible?

No. I still value the Bible very much. [see above]

But none of that eclipses Christ Himself. He is not limited by any of those things but magnified.

-kg

5 MINUTE VIDEO: Why We Don't Worship The Bible

Why do some Christians act as if the Word of God is a Book and not the Son of God who was made flesh [as it says in the Gospel of John]?

How can anyone read the Scriptures [which all testify to Jesus] and  exclaim "What a great book!" rather than saying, "What a wonderful Savior! What a beautiful Abba we have!" ?

Take five minutes and listen as author Keith Giles talks about the problem with worshiping the Bible rather than entering into a deeper relationship with Jesus.

Click the video above or watch on YouTube at this link>

UNFAIR COMPARISONS