Knowing God Means Knowing God's Word

I’m going to make a statement that may sound radical to you: The Scripture isn’t the same thing as the Word of God.

Christian Smith, a Christian scholar and sociologist, argues this point persuasively. In his book, The Bible Made Impossible, Smith writes, “It becomes easier than many would like to imagine to begin to cling to the Bible and forget about Christ—in fact, perhaps, sometimes to use the Bible precisely to avoid a real encounter with Christ. At worst, the Bible becomes an idol that literally confuses the scriptures with their rightful subject matter (Christ Jesus).”

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t study the Scriptures diligently, or that we shouldn’t be cautious of false teaching. Nor am I saying that the Scriptures are not inspired by God. They are; I believe that wholeheartedly. I love the Scriptures. They are important and weighty and good, containing truth for godly living.

However, look at what Jesus once said about the Scriptures: “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life” (John 5:39-40).

This is the danger of not drawing the distinction between the Bible and the Word of God. Doing so makes the Scripture itself to be life. But only Jesus is the life. Written words are not life. The Spirit speaking to our spirits through the written Scripture is life.

When we rely more on words on a page than on the Spirit’s revelation, we become blind just like the Jewish leaders during Jesus’ day. Jesus could be standing right in front of us, but we fail to recognize Him or what He’s really trying to say to us.

Listen to brother Brett talk about knowing God through His Word.