A new concept I am wrestling with is to know and obey Christ, not know and obey the bible. From his book The Only One author Curtis Sergeant writes: “Scripture provides the first test in discerning the voice of the Spirit, but it serves as the beginning rather than the end of God’s conversation with us.”
Knowing Scripture is important and necessary, but it is knowing Christ and obeying him that is the ultimate objective. Not to earn our salvation, but as a result of it.
Jesus points to this in John 5:39,40 when he chastises the religious “know it alls”: “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”
We all must study the Word of God but we must know and obey “the Word”, Jesus (John1:1).
This can be tricky but it is essential that we not miss the forest for the trees. Jesus is our objective, our King, our Master who is to be worshiped, obeyed, imitated. The bible is the all important source to THE source of life and the one to whom we are to be like. We are to study, learn from, and spend time in the bible. But we are to imitate, obey, be like and spend time with Jesus.
“This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” (1 Jn:2:6)
Barnabas Man 