Deeper Life #205

While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

—Matthew 17:5

WE MUST NOT SUPPOSE THAT we are left with the great revelation of our Lord and the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit, without any interpretation of what they mean for our lives. The Bible is the interpretation, and our Lord’s work is never understood apart from the Bible.

A final court of appeal, in matters of the spirit, is given us in the Bible. It is not a question of the infallibility of the Bible; that is a side issue. What matters is the finality of the Bible.

Just as our Lord is the final revelation of God incarnate, so the Bible is the final revelation that interprets the meaning of God incarnate. I can understand the two by the gift of the Holy Spirit, who identifies me with both.

Such a revelation as our Lord Jesus Christ ought to have a corresponding revelation to interpret Him. In the Bible we have that corresponding revelation, and it is final.

Prayer Thought: I affirm my belief in the Bible as the Word of God.

SUGGESTED READING: Matthew 17:1–13