What Does the Bible Say?

It happened again recently. It happens often. During a conversation, the question was asked, “What does the Bible say?” This time, the question grew out of the current controversy in The UMC: “What does the Bible say about homosexuality?”

The question always stirs a deep sigh within me, an expression of the grief I feel.

I acknowledge the commitment reflected in the question. It reflects the questioner’s desire to know God’s will and, I assume, to do God’s will. In their desire to know the will of God, they naturally turn to the Bible. What does the Bible say? On the other hand, the question may not be as sincere as it appears. The question could simply be an attempt to use the Bible to support what the questioner already believed.

The question is the wrong question – particularly if we want to know the will of God. Hence, my sigh and grief.

The question is based on a wrong assumption. The question assumes the Bible is the final authority regarding the will of God. If the Bible says it, then it is true. Thus, the question assumes, we can know the will of God by reading/studying the Bible. What does the Bible say?

The question treats the Bible as though it is the fullest expression and the final expression of the will of God.

Ironically, the Bible itself counters this way of viewing the Bible. In fact, it points us beyond itself in our effort to know the will of God.

The witness of the New Testament writers is clear. Jesus is the fullest expression of the nature of God. Thus, he is the clearest, the fullest, and the final expression of the will of God. Consider the witness of these writers.

The writer of the book of Hebrews: “He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being,” Hebrews 1:3.

The writer of Colossians: “He is the (visible) image of the invisible God,” Colossians 1:15. “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,” Colossians 1:19. “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,” Colossians 2:9.

The writer of the gospel of John: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth,” John 1:14. “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known,” John 1:18. Jesus said to Philip, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father,” John 14:9.

Jesus is the fullest revelation of God, of the nature of God, of the ways of God, of the will of God. If we want to know the will of God, we look to Jesus, not the Bible. Jesus is our guide to knowing and doing the will of God.

One of the mistakes being made in Western Christianity today is looking to what the Bible says rather than looking to Jesus and to what Jesus revealed about God. This tendency leads us astray. It allows us to use the Bible to support what we already think. It keeps us stuck in our old ways of thinking and living. It blocks the renewing of the mind that is the foundation to spiritual growth and a transformed life. It causes us to miss the will of God.

In our desire to know the will of God, let’s learn to ask a better question. Instead of asking, “What does the Bible say?” let’s ask “What did Jesus say? What did Jesus do? What did Jesus reveal about God, the nature of God, and the ways of God?” That’s where we’ll find the will of God.

(For more thinking about discerning the will of God, see my book God's Plumb Line: A Tool for Discerning the Will of God (revised edition) - available at pastorstevelangford.com or trafford.com/stevelangford or at any online book retailer.