Should We Worship the Word?

The Meaning of Scripture and the Difference Between Reverence and Idolatry

It's one of the things MacArthur always says, the meaning of the scripture is the scripture, so in that way, you know, that word, like those words are a revelation of God to me, right? So they're a revelation of God to me, but then that's a very different thing from bowing down and worshipping the unique, you know, historical binding.

Tim, the question for today's episode is, should we worship the word?

One of the answers to that kind of question depends on what you're talking about. So when people ask this kind of question or people make this kind of statement, most often what they're actually saying is they're accusing a Christian of being too committed to obeying the Bible in some way.

That's funny, man. That's like, hey, that's kind of weird that you've got to breathe so much. You should figure that out.

Right, right. So a lot of people, you know, a lot of liberal minded Christians, if you put too much importance on obeying the Bible, then inevitably they're going to make some sarcastic, you know, smart aleck comment about you making an idol out of the Bible or something ridiculous like that.

Or, you know, you're just, you know, you have four members of the Holy Trinity. You have, you know, God, the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Spirit and God, the Holy Bible or something like that. So they'll make a certain, the Holy, the Holy SV.

And yeah, so, I mean, you know, it kind of depends on what we're saying. Like if we're, like if that's being used as a pejorative against the kind of person who wants to obey the Bible or thinks that we should read the Bible or, you know, read the Bible daily even and not miss it, then in that kind of case, then yeah, I mean, obviously, if that's what you're saying, we should worship means, then yes, we should worship the word at that point.

But that really isn't a fair description of what's happening now. In the literal sense, there are some Messianic Jews who kind of go this direction where they'll, like you can see them like in the services where they're literally like bowing down and worshiping like a book or something like that.

So there's a Greek word for that, proskuneo, essentially. And, you know, if that's what you're talking about, falling down and bowing down to worship, like a book, right? I mean, it is a book whose words are of divine origin, but then, you know, we shouldn't be worshiping the creation in that kind of way.

And so there is a possibility, perhaps, and I think some Messianic Jews are falling into this possibility that you can deify the literal book, like the binding, the pages or something like that in your Bible.

The physical copy that you have.

Yes, yes. So if that's what we're talking about, no, you should not do that, okay? And so that's a very real thing that you shouldn't do now. I mean, like in a mild sense, treating that book with respect or something like that, right?

So, you know, you have a Bible here, right? So treating it with respect, not throwing it on the ground or, you know, that kind of stuff or stepping on it or putting your drinks on it. I mean, I think that that would be showing respect to God and that's something you should, that's fine, right?

So, but that, you know, that, I guess there is some line you could transgress where you're worshiping the literal Bible in that way. Like the literal, you know, book that was produced by Crossway or whatever corporation is.

That's a possibility, but I don't think anyone is really talking about that when they're having a discussion along these lines. So I don't think most people, when they're accusing people of worshiping the word, that that's the kind of thing that they actually have in mind.

The Bible’s Commands, Priorities, and the Problem of Legalism

So when people, you know, when people accuse someone of being too committed to following the Bible, you know, like seeing the commands there and basically saying like, hey, you are taking all of these commands way too seriously.

Is there any sort of legitimacy to that claim in any way whatsoever, or is it just a total, like, just completely ignore that sort of critique, I guess?

Yeah. Well, I mean, there's Bible verses that talk about this kind of thing that whoever relaxes one of the least of these commands and teaches others will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. So, you know, there's, you know, there are these categories that many people struggle with, which you have like primary categories, which are primary issues.

So however you want to word this, there are matters of lesser importance. There's matters of greater importance. There are, you know, issues where if you get these issues wrong, you're going to be, you know, formally labeled a heretic in the Bible.

So you have a category for false teaching. You have a category of primary issues and matters of first importance that Christ died according to the scriptures. He was buried and he was raised according to the scriptures.

And, you know, Paul basically will say that if anyone gets these things wrong, let them be accursed. So you do have like a categorization of different types of issues in the Bible, meaning you have this primary gospel issues.

You have secondary issues. And most of the time when people hear secondary, all of a sudden in their mind, they think or they're hearing not important or something like that. And then when you get to tertiary issues, they think really not important.

Don't even talk about them. And this like these like they're basically not even commands at that point. Right. Suggestions. Well, most I think the vast majority of American Christians think that the entire Bible is a list of suggestions, not commands.

And that if you can treat them as if they're commands and somehow you're a raging legalist who is still sacrificing, you know, goats or something, turtle dove offerings and whatever else. So there are the Bible does contain real commands.

And God says, if you love me, you'll keep his commands. And there is a way to prioritize them in terms of primary, secondary matters of more greater importance and matters of less importance. Weightier matters of the law.

There's a prior prioritization scheme in the Bible. But just because there's a prioritization scheme, the Bible still will tell you that whoever relaxes one of the least of these commands and teaches others will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

So that tells you that God takes his word seriously and we should treat it seriously. And you're never going to be able to obey too much. So the problem, the Pharisees was not that they were too intent on obeying.

Their problem was essentially they in order to keep from disobeying, they erected hundreds and hundreds of Sabbath laws in particular that they made up. And they became more focused on their Sabbath laws.

They elevated those to the same level of scripture and then they policed those and then that caused them to lose the actual law. So they would neglect the actual words of the Bible by their tradition.

So there's no way to try to obey too much. We should care about everything that God says. We should love everything that he says. We should try to do everything that he has said. And the kind of person who shows utter contempt for obedience is going to be the kind of person in the last day who's self-deceived.

So there'll be many who will say in the last day, Lord, Lord, and he'll say, depart from me, you workers and lawlesses, I never knew you. So there isn't a possibility of trying to obey too hard. Now there may be, you know, if you elevate your extra biblical rules above the commands of scripture, that may be a problem, but we should all take God's word very seriously and treat his commands as commands, not just suggestions.

Christ the Word and the Revelation of the Father

So what should we do with the fact that the Bible calls Jesus the word? I mean, is he saying, so is he saying like Jesus is the Bible? So Jesus is my ESV, you know, translation of the original text or, or, or what, what is being said with something?

Because we know we need to worship Jesus. So if you're using, yeah, if you're using, should we worship the word, i .e. the second person of the Trinity, you know, as he's revealed himself in the scripture, yes, we should.

But then, you know, that there's a very difference from saying we should worship the word, i .e. second person of the Trinity, Jesus over and against, we should worship the word, i .e. the pages of my ESV Bible or whatever, whatever Bible, like the actual binding, the actual, you know, leather or fake leather or cardboard or whatever, you know, like there's a very different, the very big difference between saying I'm, you know, in holding a Bible, I'm, you know, and bowing down to a Bible.

That I have, which contains the very word of God. Like I'm worshiping, I'm not worshiping the Bible. I'm worshiping like as a, you know, I'm worshiping the Bible, um, as the words, right?

Like as, yeah, like as what's communicated.

Yes. Yes. So the meaning of the, you know, as one of the things MacArthur always says, the meaning of the scripture is the scripture. So in that way, you know, that word, like those words are revelation of God to me, right?

So they're a revelation of God to me. But then that's a very different thing from bowing down and worshiping the unique, you know, historical binding, you know, in that way. So Jesus has come, he's, he's come to reveal the father.

So, you know, no one has seen God at any time, Jesus Christ, uh, he's exegeted the father. He's come to make him known. And he, and he's made him known through words, which we have recorded, right? So those words are making the invisible God visible.

So that's what that metaphor is meaning. So when Jesus came, he put on flesh, he dwelt among us, we have a revelation of him and he's revealing the father to us. So in that way, he is the word, right?

He is the word that's come from God to reveal who God actually is. So in that way, if you want to know God, you look to the word, um, the word, which is a revelation of Christ who is revealing God to us in that way.

So, you know, it's, it's, um, you know, it's largely a metaphor, you're not supposed to take that metaphor and then turn it into a, like, um, Jesus is literally the ink on these pages, but no one's doing that.

I mean, no one's, no one's tempted, no one who's making this accusation except for maybe some messianic Jews. No, one's doing that. And so, um, so, uh, and, and even them, they would probably make it very clear that they're not.

They're not intending to do that as weird as it actually looks. Okay. All right. Fair enough.

Thank you for your time.