You Can Miss Christ with the Scriptures
lead toward the inheritance promised in Christ, and that does not promote holiness has missed the purpose of the word of His grace.
Paul was equally clear to his son in the faith, Timothy, about the intended outcome of instruction. Doctrine has a target, and that target is not merely mental agreement.
"But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." 1 Timothy 1:5
If our doctrine does not produce love, it is defective. If it does not arise from a pure heart, it is corrupted. If it does not result in a good conscience and a sincere faith, it has failed the test of soundness. The measure of teaching is not its sophistication but its fruit. Christ is the end. Love is the evidence. Everything else is scaffolding.
You Can Miss Christ with the Scriptures It is possible to be devoted to the text and miss the Lord of the text. It is possible to search the Scriptures diligently and still refuse to come to the One of whom they testify. Jesus confronted this very tragedy among the
religious leaders of His day. They were experts in the law, guardians of the prophetic writings, yet they resisted the Prophet Himself.
"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life." John 5:39-40
The danger is not in searching the Scriptures. The danger is in stopping there. The Scriptures are infallible, but they are not the Savior. They reveal
Him, point to Him, and define Him, but they are not to be worshipped in
place of Him. Bibliolatry is a subtle form of idolatry. We love the Bible because through it we meet the living Word.
"He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God." Revelation 19:13
When study becomes an end in itself, it produces people who are ever exposed to truth but never transformed by it. Paul warned Timothy of those who are "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." 2
Timothy 3:7
Knowledge about God must become knowledge of God. Information must lead to intimacy. Doctrine must lead to devotion. If we accumulate teaching the way a collector accumulates coins—for the sake of possession and pride