The Bible is a tool, a road sign, a confirmation of prophecy, but it is not the true Word of God unless the Spirit of God is upon it. The true Word of God for Christians is Jesus Christ Himself, and nothing less will do. To prove this very point, Jesus quoted a Scripture that tells us that we are to live “by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God!!!” Remember, the letter alone kills!! It is the Spirit that gives life.
“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Cor. 3:6)
The Bible apart from the Spirit of God can kill (and usually does). The letter of the word can cause a person to actually go contrary to God. This passage of Scripture proves that. God allowed Satan to tempt Jesus again by quoting two Scriptures. These Scriptures said that if Jesus was truly the Son of God, He could jump off the pinnacle of the Temple and not be harmed. Since the temptation was phrased in the form of Scripture, why didn’t Jesus prove that Scripture right- that angels would in fact have caught him before He hit the street? Because Jesus lived by the “word which proceeded from the mouth of God”, and not some words out of the “correct” version of the Bible.
Yes, Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies spoken of Him from Genesis to Malachi. Remember, they were put there to identify the True Messiah of Israel when He came. The Holy Spirit through the prophets laid out many conditions that the True Messiah of Israel must meet so that the people could recognize Him when he came. Jesus fulfilled and met all the requirements of these prophecies. He did not quote Scriptures just to show people how much of the Bible He had memorized. Far too often, we, Christians, use Scriptures as Satan uses them, leaving the spirit and will of God out of them. Often we take passages out of a Covenant that are no longer valid (Old Covenant), and then try to force others to live by them. This is wrong, wrong, wrong!
You are “living epistles” to be read by men. If you are a real Christian, there is a Living Word hidden in the center of your being. He did not engrave the Ten Commandments, or 613 Commandments on your heart. Moses’ Law started falling apart before it was even given to the children of Israel. Remember when Moses broke the first set? Then when the system went into effect, Moses spent all his days sitting in judgment over the thousands of situations that came along which the Law of Moses did not clearly address. Written codes, whether they be Mosaic, English Common Law, Roman Catholic Canon, or any other system like that will always fall short.
When one is under the New Commandment which is the only Law of the New Covenant, then one is able to judge righteously. “As I have loved you, love one another.” Jesus died for His enemies and told us to do the same thing. Moses is dead. Believe it! Now go get the Life found in the Law of the Life in Christ Jesus. It will not be found in the land of Israel, or physical Jerusalem, or on stone tablets or sheep-skin scrolls. It will also not be found on the pages of your Bibles. It is found in the Living Person of Jesus Christ who resides in you!
There are thousands of different denominations of Christianity that separate from one another due to interpretation of Scriptures. If the Bible is the “Word of God,” then the “Word” divides Christians. It does not unite them. The Bible is not the Word of God. It is a very valuable tool, clearly the most valuable book ever written, but it is not perfect and therefore not the Word of God. There is no sin (error) in the true Word of God. There are errors in every translation of the Bible and in every Greek or Hebrew text we have. The fact that the Christian Bible contains sixty-six books in its present form should tell one something. Jesus Christ, the True Bread from Heaven, is the True Word of God. Anyone who has ever compared ten or more translations of the Bible carefully will find many differences them between them, some differences clearly dealing with key doctrinal issues.
“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” (John 5:39,40)
The Bread of Life, the Word of God, is “He Who comes down from heaven” (John 6:32,33). In this very passage Jesus referred to Moses, the Law-giver, the one who was given the “letter of the law” written by the finger of God. Jesus said that Moses did not give the true bread! How often have you heard someone quote the Law to kill someone through condemnation? I have done it on many occasions myself. One of the reasons (not the only reason) God gave the Mosaic Law to Israel was because they were unwilling to let the Living Word come into their midst:
“Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.ʼ” (Deut. 20:18,19)
Surely this condition remains with us to this day. Many Christians would rather have a pastor speak to them than God Himself. We can always choose a different pastor if we do not like what we hear or we can discard what he says. However, when we truly hear from God, there is no bucking the issue. Israel did not want the all-consuming fire in their midst lest they be consumed by it. They (like many Christians) want the fire of God to consume their enemies, not themselves. Unfortunately, we have not yet discovered that the greatest enemy of God and ourselves is ourselves!
We feel very comfortable locking God up between two layers of pig, sheep, or cow skins (leather). There is no difference between the Hebrew letters the finger of God carved on Moses’ stone tablets and the black ink or red ink penned words in the “authorized” King James Bible. Both, apart from the Holy Spirit, are designed to kill the transgressor. We need a Living Word, not words on stones with which we condemn our enemies. If the Holy Spirit is on the words, even the words coming from a jackass can become the words of God (Num. 22:30).
I believe the Bible to many Christians, has become just another idol to add to their large idol collection. The fact there are virtually thousands of different denominations that separate from each other due to differing interpretations of the Bible, proves the point that the letter kills, indeed! A body divided against itself cannot stand. (Matt. 12:25) Christendom has mutilated itself! It is torn asunder and the Bible has been the cutting instrument. Even the most basic concepts of the Bible have caused major divisions among those who espouse the name Christian. Most Christians still live under some remnants of the Law of Moses, and so are never able to enter into the Promises of the Holy Spirit.
Mixing portions of the Mosaic Law with the Law of the Life in Christ Jesus is like living under the first portion of the curse. One will receive blessings and cursings, eating their bread by the sweat of their brow, and also producing thorns and thistles in their lives. Much of their toil and work will be vain and empty of life. Christ came to give us joyful work, not grievous, religious work. He came that our lives might be full. Most Christian lives are a mixture of thorns and thistles with just enough wheat produced to barely hang on. What a miserable life!! And we wonder why the world is not interested in the kingdom of God!
Remember, the Mosaic Law was given to a specific people for a specific purpose. It was not given to the whole world as some deluded Christians try to make us believe. That very Law which Paul and the other New Testament writers said was coming to an end even as they were writing, came to a devastating end when God chose to send the Roman army to destroy Jerusalem on Passover in A.D. 70. All was destroyed!! The Levitical priesthood could no longer minister because the genealogical records of the priests were destroyed. Thousands of Jewish women were raped by Roman soldiers making it impossible to trace lineage. The temple was destroyed and the city was demolished. A few years later, Jews were forbidden to visit the land that once was the city of Jerusalem. The sentence for violating that law was death! The sacrifices of the Mosaic Law could only be offered by proven descendants of Aaron in Jerusalem. After A.D. 70, this was no longer possible. The Old Covenant was and is finished!! Oh, please hear me!