For two thousand years, the religious world has relied on what Paul said about the Bible being inspired by God and always believed that "The Bible is God's words," and "The Bible represents the Lord." Are these ideas correct? This video will reveal the answers to you!
Read more： Many believe that the Bible represents the Lord, represents God and that belief in the Lord means belief in the Bible, belief in the Bible is the same as belief in the Lord. People afford the same status to the Bible as they do to God. There are even those who acknowledge the Bible without acknowledging God. They think of the Bible as the supreme, and even endeavor to replace God with the Bible. There are even religious leaders who acknowledge the Bible without acknowledging Christ, and claim that those who preach the second coming of the Lord are heretics. Exactly what is the issue here? It’s obvious, the religious world has sunk to the point where they only acknowledge the Bible and fail to believe in the Lord’s return—there’s no saving them. From this it is clear, the religious world has become a group of antichrists, resisting God and taking God as their enemy. It is undeniable that many religious leaders are hypocritical Pharisees. Especially those claiming that “those who preach the second coming of the Lord are heretics,” they are all antichrists and unbelievers. It seems many people don’t know what exactly faith in the Lord is. They call their belief in this vague God the orthodox faith and even believe in the Bible in place of God. They even deny and condemn Christ incarnate of the last days. They ignore and neglect any truth which Christ expresses. What is the problem here? It’s quite a deep question! Back in the days when Jesus did His work, did the Jews not act in just the same way? Before Christ appeared to perform His work, man all based their faith in God on the Bible. No one could tell whose faith was real and whose was false, and certainly no one could tell who was truly obeying God and who was opposing Him. Why was it that when the Lord Jesus Christ became flesh and performed His work, each kind of man was revealed? This is where God’s almightiness and wisdom lie. When Almighty God, Christ of the last days, appears and performs His work, the wise virgins hear His voice and see the footprints of God; thus, naturally, they are brought before God’s throne. As for those foolish virgins, because they insist on the Bible and fail to recognize that Almighty God, Christ of the last days is indeed God, they are thus revealed and cast off. For now they still hold firm to their so-called faith, but when the disasters come, they will end up with wailing and gnashing of teeth. From this we can see, those that only cling to the Bible and fail to accept the truth, those that only believe in God in heaven but fail to accept the incarnate Christ are all unbelievers and will surely be eliminated by God. This is the truth! Let’s see what Almighty God says about this.
Almighty God says, “From the time when there was the Bible, people’s belief in the Lord has been the belief in the Bible. Instead of saying people believe in the Lord, it is better to say they believe in the Bible; rather than saying they have begun reading the Bible, it is better to say they have begun believing in the Bible; and rather than saying they have returned before the Lord, it would be better to say they have returned before the Bible. In this way, people worship the Bible as if it were God, as if it were their lifeblood and losing it would be the same as losing their life. People see the Bible as being as high as God, and there are even those who see it as higher than God. If people are without the work of the Holy Spirit, if they cannot feel God, they can carry on living— but as soon as they lose the Bible, or lose the famous chapters and sayings from the Bible, then it is as if they have lost their life” (“Concerning the Bible (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
“They believe in My existence only within the scope of the Bible. For them, I am the same as the Bible; without the Bible there is no Me, and without Me there is no Bible. They pay no heed to My existence or actions, but instead devote extreme and special attention to each and every word of Scripture, and many of them even believe that I should not do anything I wish to do unless it is foretold by Scripture. They attach too much importance to Scripture. It can be said that they see words and expressions as too important, to the extent that they use verses from the Bible to measure every word I say, and to condemn Me. What they seek is not the way of compatibility with Me, or the way of compatibility with the truth, but the way of compatibility with the words of the Bible, and they believe that anything that does not conform to the Bible is, without exception, not My work. Are such people not the dutiful descendants of the Pharisees? The Jewish Pharisees used the law of Moses to condemn Jesus. They did not seek compatibility with the Jesus of that time, but diligently followed the law to the letter, to the extent that they ultimately nailed the innocent Jesus to the cross, having charged Him with not following the law of the Old Testament and not being the Messiah. What was their essence? Was it not that they didn’t seek the way of compatibility with the truth? They obsessed over each and every word of the Scripture, while paying no heed to My will and the steps and methods of My work. They were not people who sought the truth, but people who rigidly followed the words of Scripture; they were not people who believed in God, but people who believed in the Bible. Essentially, they were watchdogs of the Bible. In order to safeguard the interests of the Bible, and uphold the dignity of the Bible, and protect the reputation of the Bible, they went so far as to nail the merciful Jesus onto the cross. This they did merely for the sake of defending the Bible, and for the sake of maintaining the status of each and every word of the Bible in people’s hearts. So they preferred to forsake their future and the sin offering to condemn Jesus, who did not conform to the doctrine of Scripture, to death. Were they not lackeys to each and every word of Scripture?
And what of people today? Christ has come to release the truth, yet they would rather expel Him from among man in order to gain entry into heaven and receive grace. They would rather completely deny the coming of the truth in order to safeguard the interests of the Bible, and would rather nail the Christ returning to flesh to the cross again in order to ensure the everlasting existence of the Bible. How can man receive My salvation, when his heart is so malicious, and his nature so antagonistic toward Me?” (“You Should Seek the Way of Compatibility With Christ” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
Having read Almighty God’s words, let us ponder together: What does it mean to believe in the Lord? What does it mean to believe in the Bible? What is the relationship between the Bible and the Lord? Which came first, the Bible or the Lord? Then who is it that does the work of salvation? Then, can the Bible stand in for the Lord in doing His work? Can the Bible represent the Lord? If people put blind faith in the Bible and worship the Bible, does this mean that they believe in and worship God? Is holding onto the Bible tantamount to practicing and experiencing God’s word? Does holding onto the Bible necessarily mean that one is following the Lord’s way? So if people place the Bible before everything else, does this mean that they are worshiping the Lord as great, that they are reverent of and obedient to the Lord? No one sees the truth of these issues. For thousands of years, people have been blindly worshiping the Bible and affording the same status to the Bible as they do to the Lord. Some even use the Bible to substitute for the Lord and His work, but no one truly knows the Lord and is obedient to Him. The Pharisees held onto the Bible, yet nailed the Lord Jesus to the cross. What was the issue? Does understanding the Bible mean knowing God? Does holding onto the Bible mean following the Lord’s way? The Pharisees were experts of biblical exegesis, but they didn’t know God. Instead, they nailed the Lord Jesus who expressed the truth and did the redemptive work, to the cross. Have we actually forgotten this? Exactly what does it mean to really know God? Does just being able to interpret the Bible and understanding the Bible knowledge qualify as knowing God? If that’s the case, then why would the Pharisees condemn and oppose the Lord Jesus even as they interpreted the Bible? The key of whether one is able to truly know and obey God is whether or not he knows and obeys the incarnate Christ. God incarnate reveals all of mankind, this is what most people fail to realize. The Lord Jesus’ curse on the Pharisees is testament to the fact that God treats everyone with righteousness. As is clear, if one does not obey and worship the Lord but only blindly believes in and worships the Bible, he will not receive God’s approval. If man’s faith consists solely in abiding by the Bible and their heart has no place for the Lord, if they cannot worship the Lord as great and practice His words, if they are incapable of accepting and obeying God’s work and guidance, then, everyone, wouldn’t you say that such a man is a hypocritical Pharisee? Is such a man not an antichrist, a man who has made Christ his enemy? For sure! Thus, if man only clings to the Bible, this certainly does not mean that he has gained truth and life. It is wrong to worship and blindly follow the Bible, by doing so one certainly will not receive the Lord’s approval. God has become flesh and expressed the truth to purify and save man, and to rescue him from Satan’s influence so that he may obey God, worship God and be gained by God in the end. This is the purpose and meaning of God incarnate doing His work. The key to our faith is seeking the truth, and practicing and experiencing the Lord’s word. Only in this way will we receive the work of the Holy Spirit and come to know the Lord. Then, we will be able to fear the Lord, and magnify the Lord in our heart. Also, we will have true faith and obedience in Him. This is the true meaning of our faith in the Lord. Only by practicing faith in this way will we receive the Lord’s approval. From this, everyone can plainly see that belief in the Bible is not tantamount to belief in God.
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