Bleed the Bible

Do you see the progression? We believe on Jesus Christ, hold fiercely to his Word, learn more about him, and find greater freedom and victory over sin in our lives. This is true freedom.

True freedom is not the liberty to do anything we please, but the liberty to do what we ought; and it is genuine liberty because doing what we ought now pleases us. (Carson, John, 350)

We can be free from sin through Jesus Christ. Charles Wesley describes this freedom beautifully in his great hymn “And Can It Be?”

Long my imprisoned spirit lay

fast bound in sin and nature’s night;

Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—

I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;

My chains fell off, my heart was free,

I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Genuine freedom comes from submission to the Word of God. We think freedom is throwing off all social restraints and doing whatever we want, but that’s not freedom. That’s slavery—slavery to our passions and lusts, slavery to sin. Real freedom is the ability to say no to the fleeting pleasures of sin and hold out for the fulfilling joy that comes in Christ. Those who are mature understand that genuine freedom is the ability to say no to anything that’s going to hinder their enjoyment of Christ. The Word of God, the Bible, the truth of Jesus, sets us free from sin to enjoy God. It removes the chains of sin and gives us the freedom of a Son! As we persevere in the Word of God, we will—Jesus promises—understand more about him, and we will be increasingly liberated from the sin that shackles us to joylessness.

Part of this text is sad and scary. These religious men think they’re doing just fine spiritually, but they’ve been deceived. They see themselves as free men (v. 33), sons of Abraham (v. 39), and children of God (v. 41). But here’s what Jesus says about them: they’re enslaved to sin (vv. 34-35), they’re intolerant of truth (vv. 40, 45), and they’re the offspring of Satan (vv. 44-45).

If we’re not careful, an emphasis on reading and studying the Bible could push us to legalism. We could think, I’m a failure if I miss a single devotional time, or If I don’t do my Bible study today, God is not going to be happy with me, or A real Christian wouldn’t struggle with having to read her Bible. That’s not at all what Jesus is teaching in this passage. Verse 47 helps us see the gospel—what Jesus did for us—in relation to these truths.

Our hope is not found in ourselves and in our ability to perfectly fulfill a list of Bible-reading requirements. Our position in Christ is not rooted in our capacity to mark off boxes on a spiritual-discipline checklist. If we’ve turned from our sin and turned to Christ, then God will do that work in us. He will create in us a growing desire for his Word. He will give us the strength to say no to our lazy flesh and be diligent in our study of the Scripture. That doesn’t mean we will never have dry spells and difficulty, but it does mean that over the long haul God will work in us, giving us the desire to hold to his Word, the ability to see Christ in it, and the freedom that comes from it.

John Bunyan—the wonderful, Puritan pastor and author of Pilgrim’s Progress, the man whom Charles Spurgeon said bled the Bible—described the Bible this way:

I tell thee, friend, there are some promises that the Lord hath helped me to lay hold of Jesus Christ through, . . . that I would not have [these promises taken] out of the Bible for as much gold and silver as can lie between York and London piled up to the stars. (Bunyan, Sighs from Hell, 3:721)

Like Bunyan, read the Book, treasure it, immerse yourself in it, and do so for the long haul. Spend as much time as possible in the Bible so that it becomes a part of you, and then maybe one day you will cut your finger and bleed the Bible.