A textual critic once said, “the Bible would have no power if it wasn’t for the incarnation. What gives the Bible its power is that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.” When I heard this statement it shook me. I began to realize I had inadvertently come close to the sin of Bibliolatry. Worshiping the Bible. I had forgotten that the goal of the Bible is to bring us to Christ. The Bible isn’t meant to be an end in and of itself.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love the Bible and I believe every word in it is God breathed, 2 Timothy 3:16. But the goal of the scriptures is to bring us to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The scriptures are able to lead us to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Tim 3:15. Do we read the Bible just to attain knowledge? Or do we get lost in our books of theology and forget about Jesus? Studying is a great passion of mine, I spend hours doing it, but our times in study should really be devotional times spent on being with Jesus.
There will come a day when we see Jesus face to face and we will no longer need our Bibles. But for now they are indispensable if we are going to get to know Jesus just how He is, and not how we wish or imagine Him to be.