Is the Bible the Word of God?

Conclusion

Who would say that the Bible is the Word of God if “the Word was in the beginning with God, and was God” (Jn. 1:1)? To believe that would be to make an idol of what is only a tool of righteousness, a true, written record of the Word of God that came in the past to holy men and women. In comparison to the Word of God, the Bible is a dead letter that kills every soul that looks to it for life (2Cor. 3:6).

The Word of God is what God is saying right now, at this moment, not necessarily what He said two thousand years ago, or even what He said last year, or perhaps not even what He said an hour ago. God told Moses to take his rod and strike a rock on Mount Horeb (Ex. 17), but later when Moses hit another rock with his rod in Kadesh-barnea, God was provoked because His commandment that time had been for Moses simply to speak to the rock (Num. 20). Doing to the second rock what God had commanded to be done to do to the first one cost Moses dearly. It is true that God does not change; still, the Bible bears witness to the truth that His instructions to man have changed many times. God accepted Abraham’s worship in the high places of Canaan, but later sent His Word by the prophets and forbade Abraham’s descendants to worship in those same high places, and chose Jerusalem as the one place to make sacrifices to Him. Then, when Jesus came, God commanded that all people worship Him in neither the high places nor at Jerusalem, but “in spirit and in truth” (Jn. 4:23).

If the Bible were the Word, then men exercise a certain degree of control over it, such as to whom it is given, or where it may be found, and even what form it comes. And since there are numerous (and often conflicting) versions of the Bible published, man himself determines in those cases the very content of the Word of God. This, of course, would mean that man himself is “like the Most High”, for the only source of the Word is God. And while we all know that no one who teaches that the Bible is the Word of God would actually claim to be God, the original inspiration for that doctrine must have come from a spirit whose desire is “to be like the Most High” (Isa. 14:14).

John wrote, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1Jn.1:7). What a precious promise from God, that we may be cleansed from all sin if we but walk together in the light!

I am certain that the Enemy of our souls understands this better than we have understood it. And because that is true, he has worked harder to prevent fellowship among us than we have labored to attain to it. He has promoted more diligently the idea that the Bible is the Word of God than we have prayed fervently to receive the true and living Word. He has stood more firmly for his error than we have striven to come to the knowledge of the truth. He has condemned the light of the Spirit when it shined more earnestly than we have rejoiced at its shining. He has hated us more than we have loved one another, and that has been the key to his success.

As a result, in his incredibly cunning way, our Adversary has persuaded us to relegate to a lower position our communion with God through the holy Ghost, and to look to the Bible for guidance instead. Jesus said, “When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.” He did not say, “I will have a book written, and it will guide you into all truth.” The Bible is a precious gift to us all from God, but it cannot save us. Our access to God is only through the holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18).

Though he certainly is doomed to lose the war he is waging against those who love Christ, to this point in history, our Enemy has won the battle, for he has succeeded in dividing us.

God’s true ministers lead people into fellowship with God, for they have that fellowship themselves. They teach others to listen to God, to learn of God, and to know God’s voice because they have listened, and learned, and know. They promote nothing that would divide the saints from God and from one another.

If you had just hours to live, what would you talk to God about? In the last hours of his life on earth, Jesus earnestly pleaded with God to create among us who believe the same harmony that he and the Father enjoyed. Doesn’t that tell us how important that issue was to our Savior? He prayed for this unity among us so that the world might be able to believe that he truly was sent from God (Jn. 17). The world cannot be expected to believe that Jesus is God’s answer for sin and death if believers are divided into a thousand sects. A divided body of Christ is the poorest witness to the glory of Christ. And rather than boast of the sect or denomination he has joined, a wise man would be ashamed to admit that he belongs to any sect at all. Division by any other name is still division. And divisions among us are irrefutable evidence of profound spiritual error.

A body “perfectly joined together” is what Jesus prayed for, and what he suffered and died to create. But fellowship with the Father and the Son, and with one another, will be attained only as we walk together in the Spirit. Reading the Bible will not do it. There must be a real communication with God in order for fellowship to develop and thrive.

God can speak, and has often spoken to us as we read our Bible, but who persuaded some of us to think that we have heard from God just because we have read our Bible? And if our Adversary thought he could convince us that God no longer speaks to us except through a book, don’t you think that he would try? Not only has he tried, but he has, in some quarters, succeeded very well. But though many be persuaded to deny the reality of God’s Word coming to man today, the Word of God will prevail, and all who hear and obey His Word are destined to prevail with it.