“The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life,” (Jn 6:63)
God’s story came to earth twice. First it came through real events. Then it came through the pen. Because the events cannot be repeated, God has granted future generations access to the story through the Bible. The Bible is the record of God’s story. Originally, the Bible was grounded in the story, but for us today you might say that the story is grounded in the Bible, for today, we cannot get at the story except through Scripture. Because the Scriptures give God’s message to the human race, our attitude toward them says much about our relationship with God. If I say I trust my wife but disbelieve half of what she says, who am I kidding? Yet some people do this very thing. They say they follow God, but they won’t believe what Scripture says.
Those who love God love the Bible. This love for Scripture is one of the most basic characteristics of a follower of Jesus. God’s people hunger for God’s truth. They desire His words more than their necessary food (Job 23:12), more than gold (Ps 19:10), and the Bible is sweeter to them than honey (Ps 19:10). They want to know God’s story and message. But they want more. They want God’s heart and Spirit and not just His words, and they understand that they cannot have a heart for God if they do not care about His words.
This fact should make us wary of those who say, “I would rather have Jesus than the Bible.” To some they sound noble, but if their attitude keeps them from knowing the Bible, then it also keeps them from knowing Jesus. The purpose of the Bible is to point to Jesus. It is our main source of information about Him. If you truly want Jesus, I’m afraid you shall have to travel the Bible to get Him. There is no other way.
Now the Bible is more than words. “The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life,” Jesus said (Jn 6:63). Human intellect alone cannot understand the Spirit. “No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (I Cor 2:11). Spiritual words must be understood through spiritual means. “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot accept them, because they are spiritually discerned” (I Cor 2:14). The Holy Spirit is the key to understanding Scripture. Human intellect can grasp facts and doctrines, but without the Spirit, it can never grasp the significance of those doctrines.
It is like this. A woman browses at a garage sale. She comes to a table selling a mixture of items — knives, jewels, old trinkets. A coin catches her eye. She picks it up to look at it. On the front is a woman seated. A banner is in her left hand and a small shield in her right. The shield has the word “Liberty” written on it. Stars encircle the coin, and at the bottom the date reads 1870. On the back is an eagle with a striped shield on its chest and arrows in its talons. Above the eagle around the circumference are the words “United States of America.” Below the eagle is a small letter “s.” Below the letter are the words “One Dol.” The price on the coin reads $200. The woman puts the coin back on the table and moves on. She has read the coin, seen what it looks like and can describe it accurately. What she does not understand, however, is that the coin she held is worth nearly a million dollars. She knows certain facts about the coin, but she does not understand their significance. Consequently, she does not understand the coin.
Many people know the Bible as that woman knows the coin. They are ever seeing but never perceiving. Only the Holy Spirit can give understanding, for the words themselves are spirit.
