|
THE BIBLE IS NOT ENOUGH
We hold the Bible in highest esteem. It is the
Word of God. It tells us all that we need to know about salvation and how to
live a life that is pleasing to God. But a mere head-knowledge of the Bible will
not save. The Bible says that “knowledge
puffeth up,” (1 Corinthians 8:1). We fear
there are a great many professing Christians who have only the kind of
head-knowledge that results in pride and confidence in their ability to obey the
Bible.
Other than the Bible, what is needed for a
sinner to be saved? The Lord Jesus said, “That
which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again,”
(John 3:6, 7). While the Bible is the Word of God, the Bible is not the Holy
Spirit. Jesus said that a birth brought about by the Spirit is necessary for
salvation. That is why we say that the Bible is not enough. We note that the
Greek word for “born again” found in the original language of the Bible is more
often translated “from above.” The King James Bible – if you have a complete one
–
bears this out. It has a note in the margin that
says, “again – from above”.
There is not a verse in the Bible that says do
this or that and you will be born again.
Jesus said,
“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but
canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is
born of the Spirit,” (John 3:8). No man
controls the wind. And no one controls whether or not he or she is born from
above. Since a lost man – a natural man – cannot do anything to please God, no
act of obedience can induce God to birth a sinner into God's family.
“What? Someone cries out – a natural man
cannot please God?” That is what the Bible says in Romans 8:8:
“So then they that are in the flesh cannot please
God.” It is a mistaken idea that praying the
sinner's prayer (whatever that is), going forward in a religious meeting, being
baptized, making a decision for Christ, or doing any other thing will cause God
to look favorably upon a lost sinner. How can a sinner please God? The next
verse, Romans 8:9 tells us, “But ye are not in
the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now
if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”
The Holy Spirit of God must of His own will move into
a lost person in the new birth before a person can please God. Lost person, you
are entirely dependent upon God. Have no confidence in the flesh.
“Ye must be born again.”
|
