THE CONTENT OF THE BIBLE BEING CHRIST
We all know that Christians take the Bible as the basis of their living and work. But what does the Bible really speak about? A chemistry book talks about chemistry, and a mathematics book talks about mathematics. The Bible, however, speaks concerning Christ. If we take Christ away from the Bible, there will be nothing left but skin and feathers without any content, because the Bible is a portrait of Christ. In John 1 Christ is called the Word of God. The Greek word for Word is logos. Christ is the living Word of God, and the Bible is the written word of God. The written word is a portrayal of the living Word. Hence, the content of the Bible is Christ.
Since the Bible is focused on Christ, if we see only patience but do not see Christ in our reading of the Bible, there is a problem with our reading. Why is it that when a person reads the Bible—a book on Christ—he cannot see Christ but can see only patience, humility, and meekness? The reason is that he has not dropped his religious concepts. Many people are filled in their religious mind with humility, meekness, and patience. Even before they read the Bible, all these things are already in them. Hence, when they read the Bible, they find that the Bible also talks about humility, meekness, and patience. This exactly matches the things in their religious mind. Hence, greatly astonished, they consider the Bible to be a wonderful book. Little do they know that the Bible says that if there is any encouragement, it is in Christ, and if there is any consolation, it is in Christ (Phil. 2:1). The crucial phrase is in Christ, yet it seems that Bible readers have not seen it.
CHRIST BEING EVERYTHING
The love referred to in the Bible is the love in Christ, the love in the Holy Spirit. The virtues mentioned in the Bible are all in Christ. When people come to read the Bible, however, all they see are the virtues it describes, such as patience, love, and humility; they miss Christ altogether. How can this be? This is because the thought of being “in Christ” does not exist in the human mind. Hence, it is not easy for us to see this. Therefore, I hope that we will disdain the concepts in our mind instead of regarding them highly. If we are willing to condemn and drop our religious concepts, then when we read the Bible, we will see that the most central and precious matter in the Bible is Christ Himself. Instead of merely seeing some fragmented teachings, we will see the revelation that Christ is all and in all (Col. 3:11). Without Christ, there are no virtues. Without Christ, there is no love, no patience, and no humility. Without Christ, there is no spiritual reality. With Him, there is everything. He is everything, and He is the content of the Bible.
Moreover, we can also say that we have the Bible without and the Spirit within. The Bible without portrays Christ, and the Spirit within reveals Christ. Regrettably, however, today many saved ones have the Spirit within them, but the Spirit has no ground in them and has no opportunity to reveal Christ to them. Why? Because they are full of religious concepts. Since they are filled with religious concepts, the Holy Spirit does not have any opportunity or ground to speak, to enlighten, or to reveal Christ to them. If they see that all religious things are replacements and enemies of Christ and are willing to condemn all of these religious concepts, the Holy Spirit will have the opportunity and ground to reveal Christ to them day by day. In brief, we cannot see the revelation of Christ when we read the Bible because we have religious concepts within us. The Holy Spirit is also unable to reveal Christ to us due to our religious concepts. Hence, we have to condemn our religious concepts. Like Paul, we have to suffer the loss of all these things and count them as refuse that we may gain Christ (Phil. 3:7-8).
(The Path of Our Growth in Life, Chapter 8, by Witness Lee)
