Anything that contradicts Jesus, whether in the bible
or not, must be rejected out of hand.
Jesus says: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but
by every word that comes from the mouth of
God.” (Matthew 4:4). Many take this to mean there is
life in the scriptures. But Jesus says different. He
tells the Jews: “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.” (John
5:39-40).
Life can never be in a book, not even a book as
essential as the bible. Life can only be found in God
and in his son Jesus Christ. John says of Jesus: “In
him was life, and the life was the light of
men.” (John 1:4). “As the Father has life in himself,
so he has granted the Son to have life in
himself.” (John 5:26).
The Pharisees crammed the scriptures, nevertheless,
they did not receive life. This is because they rejected
Jesus. John testifies: “Whoever has the Son has life;
whoever does not have the Son of God does not have
life.” (1 John 5:14).
The angel asked those looking for Jesus’ body on
resurrection morning: “Why do you seek the living
among the dead?” (Luke 24:5). We seek life in all the
wrong places. We seek life in dead things including
religious books. We look for life in money, in material
possessions, in marriage, and in children. As a result,
like the Samaritan woman Jesus met by the well, we
drink and drink but continue to thirst. We fail to come
to the Lord to receive the living waters whereby we
would thirst no more.
Wheat and tares
The bible is, like the kingdom of God, a book of wheat
and tares. (Matthew 13:24-25). While men slept, the
enemy sowed tares in the bible. Thus, Jeremiah asks
the Jews: “How can you say, 'We are wise, and the
law of the LORD is with us'? But behold, the lying
pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.” (Jeremiah
8:
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.
Jesus maintains that Moses, the giver of the Law,
gave the Israelites false bread to eat. (John
6:32-33). His so-called manna from heaven killed all
those who ate it in the wilderness. (John 6:49). But
Jesus is: “The living bread that came down from
heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live
forever.” (John 6:51).
Indeed, Jesus corrects several misconceptions of
Moses still found in the bible. For example, while
Moses instituted divorce, Jesus reveals it is not of
God. (Matthew 19:7-
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. While Moses says God
created the world in six days and rested on the
seventh (Genesis 2:2-3); Jesus insists God has never
stopped working. (John 5:17). While Moses says a
man is defiled by what he eats (Leviticus 11:
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;
Jesus corrects him by saying a man is only defiled
by what is in his heart. (Matthew 15:11).
Living word
Today, the bible of the New Testament is not written
on tablets of stone or in a book. It is written in the
hearts of believers. God says: “I will put my law
within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I
will be their God, and they shall be my
people.” (Jeremiah 31:33).
To receive the word of God today, we don’t need a
bible. We only need the Holy Spirit. Isaiah says:
“Your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This
is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21). This ensures
the word of God can come even to the deaf and the
blind. It can come to the illiterate who cannot read.
Therefore, Jesus says: “He who has ears to hear, let
him hear!” (Matthew 11:15).
As a matter of fact, Jesus put more reliance on his
own parables than he did on the scriptures. Matthew
says: “Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and
without a parable he did not speak to
them.” (Matthew 13:34). In Jesus’ core sayings,
scriptures are conspicuous by their absence.
When Jesus’ disciples used the scriptures as their
exclusive terms of reference, they wanted Jesus to
destroy a village that refused them free passage, just
as Elijah did. But Jesus rebuked them, affirming the
saliency of spiritual revelation to the letter of the
scriptures. He asks elsewhere: “Why don’t you judge
for yourselves what is right?” (Luke 12:57).
Some people spoke against the institution of slavery
in the United States. Others threw the bible at them,
after all even the bible legitimises slavery. But the
opponents of slavery insisted slavery contradicts the
spirit of Jesus.
New Living Bible
God, the Father sent his Son Jesus as the sole
authority on the scriptures. According to John, Jesus
and not the Torah, is the word of God. (John 1:1/4).
Black provides suitable contrast to white. Other parts
of the bible remain useful but only to the extent that
they serve to conform to, or contrast with, Jesus’
pure words.
Therefore, on the Mount of Transfiguration, the Father
counselled that, henceforth, we should only listen to
Jesus. He put this to dramatic effect by having
Moses and Elijah, representing the law and the
prophets, appear to speak to Jesus. A bright cloud
overshadowed them and when it cleared, only Jesus
remained. Then a voice came from heaven, saying:
“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” (Mark 9:7).
Let me take the liberty to paraphrase what God
declares in this live parable. He says: “Jesus is my
Son: Moses and Elijah are not my sons. Listen to my
Son. Don’t bother to listen to Moses and Elijah
anymore.” Do you get it? Jesus, the Son, is the only
true and faithful witness of God. (John 1:17;
Revelation 1:5). Listen only to him.
Jesus says: “No one knows the Son, except the
Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except
the Son, and he to whom the Son desires to reveal
him.” (Matthew 11:27). He says furthermore: “The
servant does not know what his master is
doing.” (John 15:15). Moses and Elijah are only
servants of God.
Final authority
Therefore, we are not to preach the law and the
prophets anymore. Neither are we to rely any longer
on the bible as the authority on things of God. Jesus
says: “All authority has been given to me in heaven
and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all
the nations, …teaching them to observe all things
that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20).
Jesus is now the final authority. We are now to make
men into disciples of Jesus and not those of Moses
or anyone else. No longer are we to teach men to
observe the commandments of men. Instead, we
must teach them to observe the commandments of
Jesus.
Jesus says: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know
them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27). “A stranger
they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for
they do not know the voice of strangers.” (John
10:5). Only Jesus’ words lead to eternal life. (John
6:68). Jesus’ words now constitute the entirety of the
New Testament bible. Anything that contradicts
Jesus, whether in the bible or not, must be rejected
out of hand.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/jesus-is-the-new-testament-bible/