The Path of Truth Forum

WORSHIPING THE BIBLE

While the Bible is inspired by God, the Bible is not God. Many gather together, however, in worship of the Bible, justifying what they do based on the Bible's divine inspiration, as if that makes the interpreters infallible. They take the position that the Bible is the ultimate authority, and, therefore, if they agree with what it says, or what they say it says, they must be right. About this we can say several things:

One, God is the Ultimate Authority, and unless He opens the eyes, a person will not see the Lord Jesus Christ - the Way, the Truth and the Life - in the Bible, His Record Book. Two, beliefs about God, even true ones such as “Jesus is Lord,” are empty and in vain unless they come from a personal knowledge of Him through the gift of repentance and the faith of Christ, Who is the Author of Scripture and by Whose Spirit we receive understanding. Three, men have no right to interpret the Bible, in other words, to add to or subtract from its words. Men's thoughts are not God's thoughts. The interpretation comes from the One Who inspired the words:

“Being conscious in the first place that no man by himself may give a special sense to the words of the prophets. For these words did not ever come through the impulse of men: but the prophets had them from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21 BBE).

There is no place in the congregation of the Lord, which has the true worship of God, for setting up an altar to the Bible and bowing down to it as though godly power and abilities reside in it, or, more to the point, in the one handling it. Jesus' greatest enemies were those who did this very thing, professing to follow God yet worshipping the Bible and justifying what they did because they believed in it and requiring others to honor them on this account. Jesus addressed them as follows:

“You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you'll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about Me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren't willing to receive from Me the life you say you want” (John 5:39-40 MSG).

So how can you tell if those presumably gathered together in the Name of the Lord are looking to Him, or if they are gathered as a cult around the Bible, using it to justify doing their own thing even unbeknownst to themselves? How do you differentiate between the false and the true, since both may hold to the divine inspiration of Scripture?

The one thing you can know for sure, aside from revelation from God, is that if you see other of the marks of a cult listed here, you may know for certain that the falsehoods of the group or teacher in question are not nullified because those exhibiting the marks claim to “follow the Bible as the inspired Word of God.” In fact, making such a statement only serves to confirm that those marks tell the truth. Satan comes as an angel of light, and what qualifies him better for that position than to declare the Scriptures divine, giving him the stamp of godly authenticity? Those groups claiming to use the Bible as their God-given guide, yet walking contrary to the ways of God recorded in it, are using the authority of Scriptures in order to cover themselves in darkness, where the prince of darkness- the prince of this world - resides, and where the simple and ignorant cannot discern them or their errors. Even if they are exposed, those hiding behind the Bible claim immunity from prosecution, as with the Catholic priests who molested children.

Often these religious groups or organizations make formalized doctrinal statements of belief, with the Bible prominently accredited as the basis for their gathering together and the authority they presume to exert over their members. Here is one such example, the first point of twelve beliefs stated by The Evangelical Free Church of America:

“We believe: The Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men and the Divine and final authority for Christian faith and life.”

Jesus and the apostles never spoke of the Bible holding the preeminent place in the life and faith of a believer. That place is found in God and Christ alone. Those sent by God quote the Bible and use it as proof and confirmation of what they preach and do, but they never attribute to it the power to arbitrate “faith and life” because they know Him in Whom such power resides.

Men exalt the Bible to lift themselves over others, but the Bible exalts Jesus Christ to the glory of God and edification of all men.

Victor Hafichuk wrote: Are these the fruits of a patient, loving, grateful, humble, and respectful believer in the Lord Jesus Christ or the words of the accuser? You decide.