The Scriptures: A Means to an End, Not the End Itself

📖 Day by Day by Grace – Bob Hoekstra
📸 Photo Credit: Unsplash

Many sincere believers treasure God's Word, recognizing it as the means through which His grace works in their lives. The Bible speaks of itself as life-giving, faith-building, and fruit-producing. Yet, Jesus issued a strong correction to the religious leaders of His day, warning them that searching the Scriptures alone would not give them eternal life. This raises an important question: How do we reconcile the role of God's Word in our spiritual growth with Jesus' rebuke to those who treated it as an end in itself? The answer lies in understanding that the Scriptures are not the source of life, but they testify of the One who is—Jesus Christ.

That’s an excellent question, and it brings a crucial distinction into focus—one that is vital in understanding how we approach God’s Word. Jesus' rebuke in John 5:39-40 was directed at the Jewish leaders who were diligently searching the Scriptures, yet missing the very One to whom the Scriptures pointed.

"You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life."
(John 5:39-40)

At first glance, this might seem to contradict the idea that God’s Word is central to our growth in grace, but it actually complements it. The key issue Jesus confronted was their misuse of the Scriptures—treating them as an end in themselves rather than allowing them to lead them into relationship with Him. They had knowledge of the Scriptures, but their hearts remained closed to the Life to which those Scriptures bore witness.

How This Reconciles with Today’s Devotional

1. God’s Word is the Means, Not the Source of Life
   Scripture is vital because it reveals Christ, but life itself is only found in Him. The Pharisees approached the Word academically and legalistically, missing that it was meant to lead them into fellowship with the Living Word, Jesus Christ. Similarly, today’s devotional reminds us that Scripture is the means by which God’s grace impacts us—but it is always His grace and life in Christ that transforms, not mere knowledge of the text.

2. Faith Comes by Hearing the Word—But the Word Points to Christ
   Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, but faith is not in the Bible itself—it is in the Person of Christ whom the Bible reveals. If we approach the Word rightly, it will stir faith in Him, not in our ability to memorize or analyze Scripture.

3. The Pharisees Had Scripture Without Relationship
   The leaders Jesus addressed knew the words on the page but did not have a heart of trust and surrender to the One those words described. Contrast that with Job’s attitude in Job 23:12, where he treasured God’s words not as mere information, but as the very means of relationship with the Lord.

4. True Spiritual Growth Comes from Yielding to the Word by the Spirit
   The Thessalonians (1 Thess. 2:13) received the Word not as mere doctrine but as the very truth of God that effectively worked in them. The Pharisees had knowledge without transformation because they relied on their intellect and traditions rather than humbly yielding to Christ.

Application: Receiving the Word as a Pathway to Christ Himself

The Bible is not a textbook for theological mastery—it is a living testimony of Jesus Christ. We are to immerse ourselves in Scripture, not as an end in itself, but as the means through which we behold Christ and yield to His indwelling life. When we engage the Word this way, we are built up, faith is strengthened, and spiritual fruit is borne—not because of the text alone, but because we are encountering the Living Word, Christ Himself, through it.