Microsoft Word - ChristianityNotReligionBkMSS.doc

(WallPaper) #1

creation, expressed in redemption, expressed in
sanctification, expressed in glorification.
The Bible is not the "Word of God" in an absolute
sense. It is a book comprised of a compilation of "words"
about the Word of God, Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself said,
"The Scriptures bear witness of Me" (John 5:39). The
written words point to the Living Word, Jesus Christ. In
fact, the Bible does not even "contain" the Word of God,
for such would be sacramentalism. The Living Word of
God, Jesus Christ, cannot be imprisoned in a book. He must
be free to express Himself as God in man, and that unto the
functionally free humanity through which God intends to
glorify Himself.
As Jesus thus expresses Himself in us, by His Spirit, He
will bear inner testimony in our spirit, and unto our minds,
of the value of the Book, the Bible, in our lives. Apart from
this illumination and enlightenment, the personal revelation
of the Spirit of Christ, the spiritual insights, the living
characterization factors that are to be gained from the
Biblical literature will never be appreciated anyway.
The Spirit of God uses the Scripture preserved for us by
God. The Living Word of God uses the written words of
God. Jesus Christ uses the Bible to reveal how it is that He

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