Bible Authority

To many people, religion is their identity and the Bible is their authority, instead of Jesus. 

Yet they claim Jesus is their Lord!

If we fail to understand the bible through voice and example of Jesus our view of God will be distorted and we will interpret the bible in a way that will fashion God to be what we want Him to be. The religious image of God was formed by taking the bible and dissecting it to make it say what they wanted it to say rather that what Jesus says.

If in our quoting of the bible we interject our distorted understanding and slant it to our preconceive ideologies and mis-apply its context we have distracted from its truth and made the bible out to be a lie.  Mouthing scripture is not a magic formula to dispel sickness or the devil. The scripture has great power, but unless we know the Living Word the power in the written word is the letter of the law and of no value to us. The bible needs the light and life of Christ to empower it.

Michael Horton wrote and I quote; “To preach the Bible as 'the handbook for life,' or as the answer to every question, rather than as the revelation of Christ, is to turn the Bible into an entirely different book. This is how the Pharisees approached Scripture, as we can see clearly from the questions they asked Jesus. For the Pharisees, the Scriptures were a source of trivia for life's dilemmas.” (end quote)

Richard Wurmbrand wrote, and I quote; “The Bible in itself is not the Word of God. The Word of God is a person (John 1:1). Neither does the Bible have life, power or light in itself any more than did the Jewish Torach. These attributes may be ascribed to the Bible only by virtue of its relationship to Him who is Word, Life, Power and Light. Life is not in the book, as the Pharisees supposed, but only in the Man of the book.”

“The Bible is a wonderful book. It is the truth about the Truth. It is not the Truth. A sermon taken from the Bible can be a wonderful thing to hear. It is the truth about the truth about the truth. But it is not the truth. There have been many books written about the things contained in the Bible. I have written some myself. They can be quite wonderful to read. They are the truth about the truth about truth about the Truth. But they are NOT the Truth. Only Jesus Christ is the Truth. Sometimes the Truth can be drowned in a multitude of words.” (end quote)

A. W. Tozer wrote and I quote; “The Bible is the written word of God, and because it is written it is confined and limited by the necessities of ink and paper and leather. The Voice of God, however, is alive and free as the sovereign God is free. 'The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.' The life is in the speaking words. God's word in the Bible can have power only because it corresponds to God's Word in the universe. It is the present Voice which makes the written word powerful. Otherwise it would lie locked in slumber within the covers of a book.” 

“The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.” (end quote)

Jesus is the Word of God. The Word of God is not the written word as valuable as it is; it is in the Word, (Jesus) through which the true understanding and manifestation of God is revealed to us.”

If the defenders of the bible as the “Word of God” were more persistent at understanding its true meaning through the lens of Jesus, there would be more loving and forgiving and less judging and condemning by the defenders. 

The WORD of God is a "WHO" (JESUS), not a "WHAT" the (bible).

So to answer your question, the answer is NO, because when we religiously read the Bible we read it to justify our traditional religious beliefs rather than reading it to formulate our beliefs.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. 

The written word of God...the bible...points to the Living Word of God...Jesus Christ.

The Word of God became flesh...the bible, the written word of God did not become flesh?

The Word was with God and the Word was God... the bible was not with God nor is the bible God?

The heavens and the earth were created by the Word of God...the heavens and the earth were not created by the bible the written word about God?

The bible is not a member of the Godhead...Jesus "The Word" is a member of the Godhead.

Jesus the Living Word is to be worshipped...to worship the bible is to make an idol out of it.

The bible tells us that Jesus is perfect...Jesus does not tell us that the bible is perfect.

The bible tells us that Jesus is the only mediator between God and man…Jesus does not tell us  the Bible is the mediator between God and man.

The bible is a witness to the Living Word of God...Jesus Christ is the Living Word of God.

The the Scripture inspired by God was given to witness to Jesus the light of the world, so that people would see the light. Though the Scriptures originally given by God were given in inspiration, the copies that were translated into the bible were not thus, the bible is not the infallible, inerrant Word of God.

The Light of the world, the express image of God, not only came into the world, the world came into being by Him the Word, not through the bible the written word. Believing in the bible does not make one a son of God, believing in Jesus the Word does make one a son of God. Jesus is the Word of God that became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth. The bible testifies to the fact that because of Jesus the Word...we have received truth upon truth and grace upon grace

Grace and Truth came Through Jesus the Word not through the bible the written word that points to the Living word. God's purpose for the bible is to point us to Jesus the Light of the world...the living Word of God.

John 5:39-40 tells us…You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; but it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

The supreme value of the treasure that is the Scripture, is that it is the divine witness to people that the Word of God is Christ.

Biblicists who elevate the bible to be the Word of God are making the bible into a idol and in opposition to the purpose and plan of God, not only for the community of the redeemed, but also for the community of humanity. 

Does that mean we are not to have a high view of Scripture , of course not…but Jesus is Lord! It is Christ who is the Light of the world…not the bible, the bible is a light unto my path that leads me to Jesus the Word of God...it is not in itself the Word of God. 

It is the misuse and the abuse of the bible by man that does not deserve respect or given the honor as being the written word of God, let alone the Living Word of God.

Satan's deception of biblicism is a way of avoiding the supremacy of Christ regarding His community of the redeemed in order to keep them under the control of religion and in order to maintain the religious status quo.

"Indeed, the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one with whom we must render account." It is clear the writer is speaking of Christ in this passage in Hebrews...not the Bible.

Respect, honor and read the bible as the written word that is a witness of Jesus the Living Word of God...don't make an idol out of the bible by elevating it the position that ONLY CHRIST holds...The Living Word of God!

There is only ONE INFALLIBLE WORD of God...His name is not BIBLE...His name is JESUS.