For those escaping religion desiring to know the presence of God.
The Bible: A Means to an End (Charisma)
The Bible: A Means to an End
Today's message is from James Ryle.
The Bible is not an end in itself; rather it is the God-given means to an end. Indeed, we have been "born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living word of God" (1 Pet. 1:23, NIV). Yet the goal of this new birth is not that we might have a relationship with the Bible, but that we might have relationship with God—its Author! In other words, the written Word was given to lead us into relationship with the living Word.
We must not assume that academic knowledge of Scripture is the same as a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Otherwise we ourselves would become a new breed of Pharisees, presuming that we have life through searching the Scriptures, while never coming to know the Lord.
Jesus said, "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life" (John 5:39–40, NIV). Even in the time of Christ, the most ardent, God-fearing men reasoned that their understanding of Scripture was equivalent to knowing God, and they therefore settled into the false security of their religious knowledge.
How tragic it is that people have taken the very Book that should lead them to God and used it as a means of functioning apart from Him in self-righteousness!
TODAY'S PRAYER:
Lord, when I open Your Word, let me always depend on You to reveal Jesus Christ in a deeper way to my spirit.
Today's message is from James Ryle.
The Bible is not an end in itself; rather it is the God-given means to an end. Indeed, we have been "born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living word of God" (1 Pet. 1:23, NIV). Yet the goal of this new birth is not that we might have a relationship with the Bible, but that we might have relationship with God—its Author! In other words, the written Word was given to lead us into relationship with the living Word.
We must not assume that academic knowledge of Scripture is the same as a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Otherwise we ourselves would become a new breed of Pharisees, presuming that we have life through searching the Scriptures, while never coming to know the Lord.
Jesus said, "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life" (John 5:39–40, NIV). Even in the time of Christ, the most ardent, God-fearing men reasoned that their understanding of Scripture was equivalent to knowing God, and they therefore settled into the false security of their religious knowledge.
How tragic it is that people have taken the very Book that should lead them to God and used it as a means of functioning apart from Him in self-righteousness!
TODAY'S PRAYER:
Lord, when I open Your Word, let me always depend on You to reveal Jesus Christ in a deeper way to my spirit.
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DAILY SPURGEON
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