Jesus challenged the Pharisees and the Jewish teachers by telling them: “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” (John 5:39) He was telling them that the Scriptures are not enough. God never intended for people to exchange a relationship with Him for a love for the Bible. God intended for the Scriptures to lead people to Jesus.
Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God! Jesus is the One who saves us. God did not become a book. He came to us in the Person of Jesus.
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” Hebrews 1:1-4
Jesus is God. The Son took on human flesh to show us the Father. Yes, this is one of the most marvelous mysteries of our faith, so full of wonder that we may never be able to fully comprehend it. We may not understand, but we must believe.
Nowhere does the Scripture claim for itself the place of Jesus. If our faith is only focused on the Bible, and we think that through it we will have life, we will miss the truth of the One who gave the Bible to us. It is Jesus, and Him alone, who deserves our worship and our hearts. “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
The goal of the Christian life is not memorizing or studying Scripture. The goal of the Christian life is to know Jesus. To walk with Him and know His love. To live in Him and with Him and for Him. To enjoy Him and glorify Him.
Now, I understand that what I have written will be rejected by some people and others will have some difficulty in letting go of the inappropriate place they have given to the Bible. All our lives we were told that the Bible is the center. But that is not true. Jesus is the center. The Bible points to Him.
I truly appreciate your comments!
(I am traveling these days. This series of posts was quite popular a couple of years ago. I hope you find them helpful. Please feel free to comment as usual. See you on the other side! – Dave)
Grace for my Heart 
Wow, talk about an “aha” moment. This takes some time to ponder.
“The goal of the Christian life is not memorizing or studying Scripture.”
Hmmmmm……that’s an interesting thought! Coming from a family that puts great emphasis on both, this requires some pondering.
“The goal of the Christian life is to know Jesus.”
Completely agree!! However, how is one supposed to know Jesus without studying Scripture?
To be honest, in my family we place a great emphasis on both as well. My boys have gone through the entire AWANA program and have a considerable amount of Scripture memorized. We highly valued the teachings of the Bible.
In fact, I believe that one of the most important ways for us to learn about Jesus is through the Bible. I would never suggest that anyone who has access to Scripture should try to learn about or form a conception of Jesus apart from it. Those who have little or no access to Scripture may still learn of Him, but are at a sad disadvantage.
So, if anything I said would open the door to someone thinking that I would recommend not studying Scripture in normal circumstances, I apologize and recant. All I meant to say is that is not the goal, the primary purpose, of the Christian life. It is a means to the goal of knowing and loving Jesus. It is only one means that God has provided for us, but it is a very important one.
Next week I have a couple of blog entries on hearing the voice of God that may help in this (or may muddy the water even further!)
Thanks for your reply and explanation.
Amen! The Bible does point to Him!!!
Thank you – I can’t tell you how many people I know who put the Bible above Christ, above people, above all.
“The goal of the Christian life is not memorizing or studying Scripture. The goal of the Christian life is to know Jesus. ” Completely true!!!!
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Amen to all these comments..If Scripture was the all in all, then where would that leave those who have no access to a Bible, or have disabilities, or are too young, or too old, or too sick, or too wounded to read and comprehend…
It is Jesus who reaches down and touches and heals all. If the Bible was superior to the person it points to, Christianity would be like so many other religions that tell people they have to earn and reach up to God (impossible and back to legality), instead of Him reaching down to us.