The Bible and...: Part 12: Conclusion

The Bible and...: Part 12: Conclusion
Tuesday, September 3, 2024 by Dr. James W. Walraven

“The Bible and…”: Starting in the end of March, albeit with a few shorter series mixed in, we’ve been looking at “The Bible and…,” other things in our lives that we make equal to Scripture. As we’ve seen, the things we start out making equal to the Bible end up becoming the lens that we use to interpret the Bible. Thus, the “and” ends up having first place.

Among the topics we’ve covered have been: placing other “Holy Books” such as the Book of Mormon above the Bible; interpreting the Bible through our preconceptions; elevating a pastor over Scripture; forcing the Bible to conform to our theological systems; along with placing church traditions—both liturgical and otherwise—over the text of Scripture.

We discussed placing our own self-love, or love of a particular sin over the Bible, or using our personal experiences as our interpretive lens. Other common things placed over Scripture include philosophy, politics, and the occult.

Anything that takes the place of Scripture, any of the “ands” that come to have first place in our Bible reading—and the ones covered in the series does not form an exhaustive list—even our families, or lack of having a family, can become an interpretive idol—gets us into trouble.

One of the hallmarks of Satan’s methods is to take something that God has declared to be good, and then push that “thing” to a place outside of God’s boundaries, to a place where it becomes harmful. The current cultural views on sex is probably the classic example.

The intent is to get our focus off of the Scripture, off of what God has said, and to focus on something else, literally anything else. God’s Word alone is timeless and unchanging. God’s Word alone is without error. Pastorally, even the best of us sometimes make inadvertent mistakes. We are still human. We still sin. We are fallible. God’s Word is perfect, and perfectly true.

If Satan can get us distracted, to focus on something else, he can use that thing to influence us away from God. How many people do you know, even among Christians, who spend most all of their time playing either computer or roll-playing games? How many spend the bulk of their time on social media? In the Fall of the year, how many spend their weekends dedicated to college and professional football?

On top of that, if what time we spend reading Scripture is done through a distorted interpretive lens, what is the result? Weak Christians, who are easily swayed by culture’s mores, who know very little about their faith, and often reject what the Bible—to them, an outdated book—has to say.

The truth:

Psalm 119:11 (NAU): Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.

Psalm 119:105 (NAU): Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

May we read God’s Word, the Bible, as it is: God’s unchanging true Word.

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