When you consider the phrase “relationship with God” what comes to your mind? For the majority of Christians I’ve spoken with, they think of things such as, going to church, reading their bible, or other religious activities. All of these things are good, but can a relationship with Jesus be reduced to a list of tasks?

The scriptures speak in detail about our relationship with Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, and where exactly we fit in this spiritual dynamic. The scriptures also show us what this relationship looks like in practical application. And spoiler alert— it goes far deeper than a list of things to do.

So join me today as we explore the finer points of our relationship with God through the finished work and atonement of Jesus Christ.

More Than Words on a Page

As I mentioned in the opening, many of the believers I’ve spoken with over the years equate a relationship with God with diligent bible reading and church attendance, with the occasional conference and extra devotional thrown in for good measure.

While there’s nothing wrong with these things in and of themselves, it does a great disservice to God if we reduce a relationship with him to these things.

To explore this further, we must first understand what the Bible even is, and it may surprise you just how many get this fundamental detail wrong.

How many times have you heard pastors, leaders and other people in church refer to the Bible as “the Word of God” — most of them use this phrase with the best of intentions, but there’s an issue, a disconnect with this phrase that can create confusion, especially when we have some today who claim that the Bible is itself God… I’ve even heard people say that the Bible is Jesus, or that the Bible contains the mind of God. These are real statements that I’ve heard people say over the years, and these statements expose the lack of knowledge, understanding, and basic logic.

The Bible Is Not Jesus

So, a good place to start is to understand what the Bible is, and what it is not. And to that end, we need to make a differentiate between the Bible, and Jesus himself. And I know that this right here is already making some people uncomfortable, because they’ve been taught and believed for a long time that the Bible is nearly synonymous with Jesus, and calling the Bible “the word of God” is automatic Christian vernacular these days. Yet, it’s critical to understand that Jesus made a clear distinction between the written scriptures and Himself in John 5:39, where He says “you search the scriptures, because in them, you think you have eternal life; but these are they that speak of me, and you will not come to me that you might have life.”

So Jesus clearly tells the pharisees (and us) that scripture is not the source of eternal life, but rather scripture is a road-sign pointing to Jesus. The scriptures speak of Him— that is, who He is, His character, His nature, His purpose for coming, and what He has accomplished by His sacrifice; this includes our new nature and life in Him. 

The scriptures point us to Christ. What a pitiful follow-up statement by Jesus it is then when He says “and you will not come to me that you might have life.”

The same indictment against the pharisees can be levied against us today, and for the same reason… desiring to hold to religion, tradition,  and rules rather than Jesus.

This is the danger of elevating scripture beyond the one it’s pointing to.

Jesus Is The Word of God

Many Christians today call the Bible the Word of God, but the scripture never calls itself the Word of God. That title is reserved solely for Jesus, and Him alone, in Revelation 19:13. But there’s an even more important reason for not conflating the Bible and Jesus, idolatry.

 To understand this better, let’s look at four things:

A : the Bible
B : Jesus
C : the Word
D : God

John 1:1 says that the Word is God, (so C = D). And we know and believe that Jesus is God, (B = D).

So if we’re prepared to call the Bible “the Word of God” (if A also equals C), then  that would mean that A = D, meaning the Bible is itself God, and that is idolatry and blasphemy.

A book is not God. There is no fourth person of the divine trinity. 

Jesus is God and He is the Word made flesh, not a book or a collection of books.

The Bible without inspiration and light of the Holy Spirit is just letters. It’s the Spirit that makes the words alive. Lest we forget the words of evil men and even Satan are also recorded in the Bible.

I’m not dismissing or discounting the Bible… the scriptures are Inspired by God and breathed by Him (theopneustos, God “breathed” divine knowledge into the writer), but the Bible is not Jesus Himself. The Bible is not your God. Jesus said that the scripture cannot save.

My dear friends, this is a critical distinction for us to make, because it puts things (and Jesus) in their respective places and roles. Roles which Jesus Himself defined as we’ve read today. Jesus is the savior and King, and He should not and cannot be dethroned, or placed beside anything else— as good as that thing may be. (Luke 9:33)

We’ll be continuing our exploration of our relationship with God in the coming weeks. For now I encourage you to meditate on what we’ve seen today. And I look forward to thriving with you again.

Be blessed.