Beholding the Word of God

When I approach the Bible, I am profoundly aware that this is truly the Word of God. I am overpowered with the sense that God Himself is in the living, breathing words in front of me. He lives there. He breathed life into those words. He inspired the prophets, disciples, and others who penned them to transcribe His thoughts, His love, His commands, and His plans for us. He called His Son “the Word” in John 1:14:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son[d] from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

There is a holiness and a power in the Word of God that is beyond what a human can understand or explain. Whenever I teach, I often feel powerless and weak, but I know that if I am obedient to share the Scriptures the Lord has put on my heart, that is all the power needed. I am just a conveyor belt to carry the Word to his people. Almost from the beginning of my teaching and writing about the Lord, this is what He has spoken to me time after time: “The Word will do the work.”

The undiluted Word of God has life-changing power. I have heard stories of criminals stopped in the middle of a robbery or assault by someone quoting the Word of God. You may know people like I do whose lives were changed radically when they decided to read the Bible or just the Gospel of John or some other Scripture. I am one of those people. The Word will do the work.

I wish I could define the transforming, awesome power of God’s Word, but that is one of the mysteries He holds that makes His ways so much higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9.) If you love Him, you know how a book written thousands of years ago can speak into your heart in such a personal way that it seems written just for you this morning. It astonishes you at times at how it can address that hurt in your heart or that yearning that no human has been able to reach. Only God can inspire a document like that. His word is breathtaking, awesome, and unlike anything I have ever read.

Anything less than giving the Word of God the honor it deserves is not acceptable. If we are not approaching the Bible with deep, deep reverence, we are in a terrifying position. That is unholy and we should not approach the Holy Book with any attitude that is less than holy. We cannot approach the Word of God with an eye to criticizing it, critiquing it, passing judgment on it, or evaluating its timeliness. Passages from this book have influenced law, culture, history, and relationships more than any other communication for thousands of years. This book has changed lives that others thought could not be changed. No mortal has a mind that can compare to the eternal knowledge, infinite wisdom, and sovereignty over the future that God has; therefore, no mortal can recommend with any credibility changes or omissions to the Bible.

Besides, God tells us not to mess with the Bible in Matthew 5: 19-20:

  Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

And if that is not enough to sober you, consider Mark 9:42. This verse is often used to prepare those who would take on the responsibility of teaching or preaching the Word of God. Most scholars interpret this verse to mean that if Jesus, the Living Word, says something is sin, then it is sin; and if the Bible says something is sin, it is sin. Making people feel comfortable with their sin to the point that they do not feel compelled to repent and turn to Jesus for forgiveness carries a heavy penalty:

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,[g] it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.“

Look closely. This verse is not about nonbelievers but believers who can be confused by a teacher or leader.

If you have a friend or pastor who is not approaching the Word of God with the reverence for its holiness and infallibility that God says it has, your love for him should move your heart with great urgency to reach out and help. Be Biblical about how you deal with the situation. In prayer, the Holy Spirit may guide you to do one of several things. In most cases, the Biblical example is to go to the person you are having a difference with and share in love your concerns. Sometimes Christians stay in a church that is “relaxing the commandments” in an attempt to testify and influence from within. In other cases, especially if you are a new Christian or are vulnerable for some reason, you may need to go somewhere you can be taught by a teacher who acknowledges and professes that God is sovereign and that His Word is sovereign. But staying and supporting in any way teaching that does not respect the holiness and sovereignty of God’s word puts you in rebellion against your Father and the Book He gave you. Only through prayer and reading the Bible will you know what your response should be.