The Idea That the Bible Replaced God

There is a widespread teaching that God only speaks to us through the bible. It or similar teachings say, "the bible is the primary way God speaks to us" or that "the bible is God's chosen thing to speak to mankind." Does the bible itself actually back this idea up? Let's look to Jesus first.

Jesus

• While Jesus quoted scriptures & taught from them (Luke 24:27) Jesus never told anyone, including his disciples to read, study, or meditate on the scriptures. Obviously John was familiar with scriptures because in His gospel he often pointed out how Christ fulfilled scriptures. Still the absence of this command should really make us think.
• Jesus said the Holy Spirit would lead Christians to ALL truth. He made no mention of scripture leading people to truth.
• Jesus never told his disciples to teach or preach from the scriptures.
• In Matthew 26:54-56 Jesus said He fulfills the scriptures.
• In John 5:39 Jesus said that the scriptures themselves do not contain eternal life but they do testify of who can give us eternal life, Jesus Himself. This lets us know that eternal life is not something to be obtained by intellect or belief in scriptures but by encountering Jesus & trusting Him. In short the purpose of the scriptures are to point to the living God, not to replace Him & His voice as if He were dead or absent.
• Jesus nor anyone else ever prophesied that the New Testament would be collected.

Acts

• Paul only used the scriptures in evangelism with people (Jews) who already knew the scriptures because they valued the scriptures. Paul did this to the Berean Jews to convince them from the scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah (Acts 17:11).
• Paul, Apollos, & Phillip were described in Acts as only using the scriptures to prove that Jesus is the Messiah to Jews.
• The meeting of the Assembly in Jerusalem to address the Gentiles came up with 3 things for them to keep, with Paul saying later that one of those doesn't even matter. They did not say "give them a copy of the scriptures & have them read it."

Paul

• Most of the times Paul quotes old covenant scripture he does so pointing to Jesus as the Messiah or to show that we are made righteous by trust. Paul does quote scriptures a few times to make other points.
• Paul wrote, "All scripture inspired of God is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16).
• So scripture is a good & beneficial thing. He does not suggest however that all scripture is profitable to all people in all situations. Peter said of Paul's writings that people can & do twist his writings to their own destruction.

Peter

• Peter taught from scripture in 1 Peter 2.
• Peter said that, "no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation" speaking of how scripture prophesied about Jesus. He said the the prophecies of scripture were written by "men moved by the Holy Spirit speaking from God" (2 Peter 1:16-21)
• In 2 Peter 3:16 he said, "The untaught and unstable distort all of the Scriptures to their own destruction (referring to the Old Testament as well as Paul's writings)."
• Who teaches us? Jesus said it is the Holy Spirit
• Who makes us stable? God
• So the people Peter was talking about used the scriptures without trusting or learning from God. God will never teach you to destroy yourself. Satan is the one who seeks to destroy & Paul said in 1 Timothy 4:1 that there are indeed "doctrines of demons" out there.

Wait.. Who is Lord again?
Again & again we see scripture say that Jesus Christ is our Lord, yet again & again I hear Christians say that the bible is our final authority. What a contradiction! Those who take scripture as "final authority" contradict the scriptures themselves because the scriptures make it very clear that "Jesus is Lord." It is easier to lead someone into falsehood by saying, "the bible says.." than it is by saying, "God told me.." Even the scriptures tell us to "live & walk by the spirit." After the Spirit has come scripture doesn't say, "live & walk by the scriptures."

How can you have Christianity without Christ? You take a book that points to Christ & you make the book point back at itself. In short you call the bible the "word of God" as if the bible itself did not say "the Word of God is Jesus who came to earth in the flesh." When you claim the book speaks for God you can then use the book to play God. You can manipulate people with the book by pointing to what you claim "God said" & regardless of the context people will believe you. Jesus said he is our ONE leader, if you call yourself a Christian leader, whether you realize it or not, you are playing God, period.

Most churches are in fact "Satan's School for Christians." They teach you & lead you to believe more lies about God & yourself than you would ever believe if you sat at home your whole life & never picked up the bible once.

Learning from Scripture
 Seeing one statement in a book that has been split into hundreds of verses and that book being only one book in the bible it is going to be hard to know what is going on. The bible was never meant to be used the way people use it. People are supposed to learn by the Spirit. When someone replaces the Spirit with the bible they won’t learn anything.

Some translations suck but Peter also said that Paul wrote in a way & about things that were hard to understand. The letters were only written to certain people & many people at the time couldn’t even read. So there is nothing wrong with not approaching or reading scripture, Jesus never commanded it & while scripture was upheld as profitable it is the truth of scripture that is important & impactful however you learn it.

To be part of relationships &/or a community where some gather insight from scriptures and others don't is ok because those who do can pass it on. The difference between this and a church where a pastor preaches is that it is never my job to pass things on, it is my joy. And no one is obligated to listen to me or submit to me. They are allowed to make assessments about what is true themselves with the guidance of God. They never have to give up their rights to think & relate to God themselves. A fruit of the Spirit is joy so God uses the joy of the truth you find to invite you to share it with others.

Some say, "the Spirit won't contradict the scriptures." I wholeheartedly believe that the Spirit will contradict your wrong interpretation of the scriptures. The challenge for us is to decide whether we've got it all figured out & interpreted correctly or that we could be wrong. That is one reason we ultimately must walk by the Spirit. Walking by the scriptures relies on our interpretation of the scriptures & has certainly kept countless people from truth & freedom. Walking by the Spirit relies on our living God Himself to teach us. And of course God can & almost certainly will use the teachings of others & the scriptures themselves to teach you. But the question is.. Who do you trust more, you, your interpretations, & what other people have taught you OR Jesus the living life-giving Spirit? The answer affects every aspect of your life. If you trust yourself & other people more than God your life will be overflowing with hatred, pride, shame, guilt, & unrest. If you trust Jesus more your life will be overflowing with love, peace, & joy.

"I will remember the works of the Lord. Yes, I will remember the amazing things you did long ago! I will think about all you have done; I will reflect upon your deeds! O God, your deeds are extraordinary! What god can compare to our great God?" (Psalm 77:11-13)

The Idea that We Should Read the Bible Every Day

I wonder how many of us are actually led by the Spirit to read the bible. Most of us think we are supposed to do it so we find a place to read & pray "God teach me what this scripture means." Since we prayed the prayer we assume that whatever we think when we are done reading must be what it means. We assume we have no bias in an unrenewed part of our mind that will block us from the truth. Jesus even said, "the traditions of men stop the word of God." So if you believe in those traditions or traditional doctrines how do you expect to learn from God? You've already stopped Him from teaching you with your presuppositions. Considering all these things why do we think we can randomly pick a place in scripture & God will show us the full truth of it?

Because I thought I was supposed to I read the bible every single day from February 1999 to November 2006 & I learned almost nothing. I read through the bible in a year based on one of those plans & all I remember was crowning Leviticus as the boringest book. We can be like a 2nd grader opening up a calculus book & pointing to a random page saying, "Teach me this." There is a lot to learn before you can get there. Yet with scripture we assume that any place is a good place to start & that we won't deceive ourselves in our ignorance while reading it. Churches pretty much tell us, "Forget about knowing the gospel or being rooted & grounded in God's loving grace for you, just start reading the bible somewhere & listening to sermons & everything will be ok." Life doesn't work like that!

I picture God answering our prayer like this, "How can I teach you that scripture? I didn't even tell you to read that. You need to learn 7 more things & unlearn 36 more things before you can be ready to learn what that says."

Legalistic bible reading (seeing it all as law or even reading it as an obligation because you think it is a law to do so) leads to self-condemnation more than anything else. Scripture hopping, chapter picking, or even reading along with a commentary often result in you believing falsehood even deeper than if you had never picked up the bible at all.

When God said, "My word will not return to me void" He wasn't talking about the reading of His scriptures, He was talking about the effectiveness of His promises. Maybe we should stop thinking "the scriptures will guide us into all truth" & believe what Jesus actually said, "The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth."

It is great to trust God to teach you the scriptures. But when is it a good idea for the student to say "teach me this" when the wise teacher knows the student is not ready to learn that yet? Jesus said "the Holy Spirit would guide you into all truth" not "you will guide yourself & the Holy Spirit will still get you to all truth." Sure you'll get some truth that way but life will end up being insanely harder & much more wasteful. I know I've been there.

See also:  The Meaning of "My Word shall not return to Me void"

Rant on Lies I've Been Told

When you know God's love, you will simply love the right way. Much of the New Testament was written to specific people with specific problems. We shouldn't impose their weaknesses upon ourselves. It is like a non-smoker taking advice on how to quit smoking. For someone who has never smoked chewing nicotine gum does no good. Sadly most approach the bible this way. Regardless of if they share the struggle mentioned in a scripture people condemn themselves as if they must have that struggle simply because scripture said people struggled with that. People are worse off trying to obey scriptures that have nothing to do with them than they are if they ignored those scriptures all together.

I remember many times in churches being told that you need to question your salvation..
if you're not in a trial or coming out of a trial
if God doesn't regularly “take you to the woodshed" to beat you

To put those in other words, you need to question your salvation..
if you don't get mega-stressed in life to where you see everything as a trial & life as utter suffering
if you don't feel guilt & shame regularly (also called being “broken")

How are such lies justified? Like this..
When you don't feel guilty you must be especially guilty because you don't even recognize it.
If God isn't beating you it is because he has put you on the shelf (As if life were all about being ”used by God” as a tool, we aren't tools, don't let someone call you a tool).

I'm still told things like this today,
“Saying you don't struggle with the flesh is like saying you don't breathe.” Really? The bible says, “we wrestle not against FLESH & blood" thus if we struggle with the flesh something is wrong with our mindset. I have a victorious spirit. The bible teaches self control (spirit control over the flesh) it does not teach “death to self" or self degradation.

“God gets greatly offended at you for your behavior." Really? Offend means, ”to make angry.” ON THE BLOOD OF HIS OWN SON God promised to never be angry with me again (Isaiah 54:9-10, Matthew 26:28, Colossians 1:20). That takes care of the whole woodshed non-sense too. When ever I heard ”God whoops you or you aren't his kid” I thought to myself, “God doesn't do that to me maybe I'm not a Christian." Then I had to remind myself of how He saved me by grace & lovingly proved Himself to me over the years.

I've heard other people talk about being told the lie, “if things go wrong you must be in sin & God is punishing you." I believed that to some extent but I was also told the lie, “if things are going right for too long you need to question your salvation.“ What kind of sick messed up religious garbage is that? “If anything goes wrong it is your fault & God is punishing you for what you've done. But if things go right.. you need to question your salvation because you should ALWAYS be going through trials.“ That may sound “double minded" but in fact it is single minded, it is 100% condemnation! My heart never wanted to believe these lies but my mind felt like it should. Thank God for His truth which leads to freedom!

I typically hold back from speaking from personal experience & opinion but I don't care right now because I hate the bondage of lies so much. I've never told someone not to go to church because they need to listen to God & not to me. But deep inside I honestly believe that you cannot go to an institutional church service without being poisoned in some way every single time. As time goes on I become more & more convinced of that.

Grace is God's Love for You

When I think of the word "grace" I get a vague idea of some positive power & goodness that comes from God. Personally I think grace is a religious word because the unsaved & most saved can't quite define it. The word grace is best translated as "favor." Grace is God's love for you. I challenge you to look at scriptures and exchange the word grace with the phrase "God's love for you" & see how scripture explodes with God's love. I have done so below.

• The Law was given through Moses; but God's love for us and God's truth were made evident through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)
• Stephen, full of power and the knowledge of God's love for him, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. (Acts 6:8)
• When Barnabas witnessed God's love for the assembly in Antioch he rejoiced. (Acts 11:23)
• The people were urged to continue to recognize God's love for them. (Acts 13:43)
• We trust that we are saved & made whole through the love the Lord Jesus has for us. (Acts 15:11)
• I sincerely testify of the good news of God's love for mankind. (Acts 20:24)
• We have been made righteous by trusting God. We have unending peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through trusting Him we have obtained our access into God's love for us. In His love is where we stand. We rejoice with the expectancy of experiencing God's magnificent love throughout our lives. (Romans 5:1-2)
• Those who receive the abundance of God's love and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:17)
• Sin shall have no power over you because you are not under law but under God's love for you. (Romans 6:14)
• If salvation is by God's love for us then salvation is not based on our works. If it were based on our works then His love would not really be love. (Romans 11:6)
• It is because of God's love for me that I am who I am. (1 Corinthians 15:10)
• It is not I who labor but the love of God accompanying me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)
• You know the love of our Lord Jesus Christ for you. Though He was rich He became poor for your sake. Through His poverty you have become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)
• God is able to make all of His love superabound to you. His love gives you everything you need & is more than enough for you to do every kind of good work. He simply makes you rich in everything and produces countless reasons for thanksgiving. The love of God in you is transcendent, it is beyond everything else. Thank you God for Your indescribable gift! (from 2 Corinthians 9:8-15)
• The Lord said to me, "My love is all you need. My power brings an end to weakness." I will gladly rejoice about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may move in & take control of my weaknesses. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
• You who are seeking to be justified by law have made Christ useless to you; you have fallen from the awareness of God's love for you. (Galatians 5:4)
• In Christ Jesus we have salvation through His blood, the removal of our sins, according to the riches of the love which He has lavished upon us. (Ephesians 1:7-8)
• God is so rich in mercy He made us alive together with Christ while we were still dead in our sins. He did this because of the great love that He has for us. You are saved by God’s love for you! God has raised us up and seated us in heavenly places with Christ Jesus so He can forever show us the surpassing riches of His love for us & His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. It is by His love for you that you have been saved through trust. This salvation is God’s gift to you. It is not a result of any good deeds you've done, so there is no reason for anyone to brag about how good they are because it is all about God's goodness. He gives us enough value through loving us that we don't even feel like boasting in our deeds because we are so busy basking in His unconditional love. We are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to join Him in doing the loving things He has decided for us to do. (Ephesians 2:4-10)
•  God has given me the honor of dispensing to you His love for you. (Ephesians 3:2)
• Don't speak bad things but only things that are good for building people up according to the need of the moment. In short, remind people of God's great & giving love for them. (Ephesians 4:29)
• We all partake of God's love for us. (Philippians 1:7)
• The love of the Lord Jesus Christ for you is with your spirit. (Philippians 4:23)
• You truly understood the love of God for us all. (Colossians 1:6)
• Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of every opportunity. Always speak of or with God's love towards mankind so that you will know how you should respond to each person. His love is like a fine seasoning that draws people to Him for more. (Colossians 4:5-6)
• Please recognize & remember that our Father always has love towards you & that the love of our Lord Jesus Christ is always with you. (1 Thessalonians 5:28)
• The name of our Lord Jesus is glorified in you, and you are glorified in Him when you confidently live knowing that He loves you. (2 Thessalonians 1:12)
• Allow the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father to comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word because He has loved us and given us eternal comfort & good hope by His gracious love for us. (2 Thessalonians 2:16)
• God has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and His love for us which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the good news. (2 Timothy 1:9-10)
• Be strong in the love that Christ Jesus has for you. (2 Timothy 2:1)
• The love of God for mankind has appeared, bringing salvation to all men. His love for us trains us to reject godless ways & worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. His love for us makes us eager to do what is good. He gave Himself for us to restore us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people who belong to Him as His very own dearly loved children. (Titus 2:11-12,14)
• Listen to what I am about to say because it is reliable. "When the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of good deeds we have done, but according to His compassion. We have been made whole by the Holy Spirit's washing which restored us to who we were uniquely meant to be and changed us into children of God. He richly poured out His Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior and we have been made righteous by His love for us. We are now heirs with Christ to everything God has as we are holding onto the expectancy of continuing our eternal life with Him." When people who come to trust in God understand this they will seek to do good with eagerness & wisdom. (Titus 3:4-8)
• Because of God’s love for us, Jesus tasted death on behalf of everyone. (Hebrews 2:9)
• Let us confidently draw near to the throne of God's gracious love for us so that we may receive kindness and find His love for us which helps us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)
• See to it that no one comes short in their understanding of how much God loves them. No root of bitterness will spring up & cause trouble if we understand His love for us. No immoral or godless person can stand the pure love of God without being sucked into it & freed or angrily walking away from it. (Hebrews 12:15-16)
• It is good for your heart to be strengthened by God's love for you. The love of Jesus Christ for you is the same yesterday and today and forever. He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” so that we could confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?” The more you recognize God's love for you the less you will be carried away by various teachings. (Hebrews 13:5-6,8-9)
• God loves all of you and His love is with you all. (Hebrews 13:25)
• If you humble yourself, resist the devil, & engage God you will experience His love for you in greater & greater ways. (James 4:6-8)
• May you experience God's love for you & His peace to the furthest extent possible! (1 Peter 1:2)
• Fix your hope completely on the love that God has for you. (1 Peter 1:13)
• Show your wife that you value her as an equal partner in the life God loves to give you both. (1 Peter 3:7)
• Use the special gifts our Father has lovingly given you to serve one another. Be good at directing the beautifully multi-colored love of God for us to the right people at the right time. (1 Peter 4:10)
• If you value yourself & others as God does you will see God's love for us everywhere. (1 Peter 5:5)
• Though you suffer for a little while, the God of all gracious love has called you to His eternal glory in Christ and He will Himself completely mend you, make you stable, strengthen you, and settle you. (1 Peter 5:10)
• Stand firm in the true love of God! He loves you! (1 Peter 5:12)
• Your experience of God's peace & His love for you multiplies through your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. Know this, the Lord, by His divine power, has already given us everything we need for life and godliness. We can only take advantage of what He has given us by having knowledge of Him. (2 Peter 1:2-3)
• Keep on growing in your knowing that God loves you. Learn of Him from Him & you will not be carried away by the error of those who seek the flesh, instead your mind will stand firm in the knowledge & love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18)
• God's gracious love for us, His compassionate kindness, & His indescribable peace will certainly be with us forever in the truth & love of the Son & the Father. (2 John 1:2-3)
• May all have God’s loving-favor. Trust and let it be so. (Revelation 22:21)

See Also
God's Love in The Old Testament
God's Love in The New Testament

Sola-Scriptura is Idolatry

Sola-Scriptura (scripture alone) is idolatry. We should never disregard scripture but disregarding the living God is much worse. Jesus didn't promise the scriptures as our teacher but the Spirit. Following the Spirit is not "going beyond what is written." It is written in John 16:13 "The Spirit will guide you into ALL truth."

While the scripture is good and true and useful Jesus didn't make a promise that scripture would guide us to truth. Notice how many people know the scripture but don't know truth (see 2 Timothy 3:7). When you ignore the living God, who lives in you, in favor of the scriptures and/or various preachers & teachers you will be led into lies that twist the scriptures into a lifeless religious prison.

Don't trust the bible more than you trust the living God. If you do then you will end up only being certain about your interpretation of scripture. When you are certain yet wrong your life will be miserable. This misplaced or imbalanced trust closes your heart to God bringing you the truth. Being sure is not the same thing as being assured by God.

"You don't need anyone to teach you what is true. The Spirit teaches you everything you need to know" (1 John 2:27).

God's Love in The New Testament

The Son of Man was lifted up on a cross so that whoever trusts in Him will know God. God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever trusts in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but to save and cure the world through Him. (John 3:14-17, Post-Cross Paraphrase)

Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him. (Mark 10:21)

Jesus said, "Don't disregard the love of God." (Luke 11:42)

“Lord, behold, Lazarus whom You love is sick." Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, “See how Jesus loved Lazarus!”  (John 11:3,5,35-36)

Jesus loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. (John 13:1)

The disciple whom Jesus loved was reclining on Jesus’ chest. (John 13:23)

Jesus said, "Love one another as I have loved you. I have loved you so that you may also love one another." (John 13:34)

Jesus said, "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have loved you; rest in My love." (John 15:9)

Jesus said, "No one has greater love than a person who lays down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)

Jesus said, "The Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have trusted that I came forth from the Father." (John 16:27)

Jesus said, "Father You sent Me, and loved my followers just as much as You have loved Me." (John 17:23)

Jesus said, "Father I have made who You are known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them." (John 17:26)

When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” (John 19:26)

Hope does not bring shame because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:5)

Christ made His love towards us obvious by dying for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8)

God has given us right standing with himself. Who or what then will condemn us? No one, nothing, for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us. He is sitting at God’s right hand, participating in our lives and interceding for us. Who or what then can separate us from the love of Christ? There is no such thing! We overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor demons, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:33-35,37-39)

Pray by the love of the spirit. (Romans 15:30)

The love of Christ surrounds us & completely holds us. He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live to themselves, but to Him who died for them and rose again. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

God loves the one who is happy to give. (2 Corinthians 9:7)

The God of love and peace is with you. (2 Corinthians 13:11)

The favor & grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the companionship of the Holy Spirit is with you all! (2 Corinthians 13:14)

I live by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20)

The fruit of the spirit is love. (Galatians 5:22)

Let us praise the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has blessed us in Christ giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to make us pure and holy and blameless in spirit before Him. In His love and with kind intentions He predestined us through Jesus Christ to be adopted as His sons & daughters. He did this to show the magnificence of His favor which has been freely bestowed on us in the Beloved Jesus. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the removal of our sins. We have this because of the riches of His favor & grace which He lavished upon us. (Ephesians 1:3-8)

God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, made us alive together with Christ, and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His favor in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. By God's favor you have been made whole. By God's favor you have been saved through trust; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:4-8)

May you know by experience the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask, think, or imagine, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:19-21)

Be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Christ loves His people and gave Himself up for them. (Ephesians 5:25)

God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give the family of God peace and love with trust. (Ephesians 6:23)

You yourselves are taught by God to love one another. (1 Thessalonians 4:9)

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father have loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by Their gracious favor. They comfort and strengthen our hearts in every good work and word. (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)

The Lord directs hearts into the love of God and into the patient endurance of Christ. (2 Thessalonians 3:5)

God's love filled opinion of us is too wonderful for us to ever fully handle. It brings the trust and love which are found in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 1:14)

God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but of strength and love and competence. (2 Timothy 1:7)

When God our Savior made His kindness and love for humanity appear, He saved us & made us whole, not on the basis of good things we had done but because of His merciful kindness and good will towards us. He made us whole by the washing of new birth and renewing by the Holy Spirit. He richly poured His Spirit out on us through Jesus Christ our Savior. We are made righteous & guiltless by His favor & grace. We have become heirs and we are confident that we have everlasting life. (Titus 3:4-7)

My son, do not lightly regard the guidance of the Lord, nor be irritated or grieved when He  refutes you attempting to lead you out of false beliefs. For the Lord nurtures the one He loves like a father nurtures a son he is pleased with. (Hebrews 12:5-6)

The love of God has truly been perfected in the person that treasures God's words, trusts Him, & loves others. (1 John 2:5)

The Father loves us so much that He calls us His very own children (1 John 3:1)

We know love by this, that Jesus laid down His life for us (1 John 3:16)

All love is from God. God is love. (1 John 4:7-8)

Love does not come from our love for God but God's love for us. God defined love by making His love known to us by sending His only begotten Son into the world for our sins thus overcoming our distrust so that we can live through Him. (1 John 4:9-10)

If we love one another God is living in us and God's love is accomplished in us. (1 John 4:12)

We have come to know, rely on, and have put our trust in the love God has for us. God is love (1 John 4:16).

God's perfect love removes fear because God will not punish those who trust Him. Their standing in the world is identical with Christ's. If you fear punishment or judgment from God you do not understand God's perfect love for you. (1 John 4:18)

We love because God first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Jesus, the truth, lives in us and will be with us forever. Truly from His love comes grace, favor, mercy and peace which will be with us from God the Father and from Him, Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father. (2 John 1:2-3)

Keep yourself aware of God's love for you by building yourself up in pure trust and praying in the Holy Spirit (Jude 20-21)

Jesus gives us grace and peace. He loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood. (Revelation 1:4-5)

Jesus says, "I lead those I love out of false beliefs and cause them to learn the truth. Let my love motivate you to the eager sincerity to change your mind." (Revelation 3:19)

“I have loved you,” says Jesus. (Revelation 3:9)

 
See Also
God's Love in The Old Testament & Grace is God's Love for You

God's Love in The Old Testament

Lord, in Your lovingkindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed; In Your strength You have guided them to Your holy abiding place. (Exodus 15:13)

The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with Moses as he called upon the name of the Lord. Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness, mercy, and truth; who keeps lovingkindness and mercy for thousands of generations, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; He forgives the guilty and limits the consequences of their actions to the third and fourth generations.” (Exodus 34:5-7)

The Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the stranger by giving him food and clothing. (Deuteronomy 10:17-19)

The Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves you. (Deuteronomy 23:5)

Indeed, the Lord loves the people. All His holy ones (saints) are in His hand. (Deuteronomy 33:3)

May the Lord show lovingkindness and truth to you. (2 Samuel 2:6)

The Lord makes salvation and deliverance evident and shows lovingkindness to all His people forever. (2 Samuel 22:51)

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His love endures forever. (1 Chronicles 16:34)

The Lord's lovingkindness is everlasting. (1 Chronicles 16:41, 2 Chronicles 5:13, 7:3, 7:6, 20:21)

Our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, You are a gracious and compassionate God who keeps lovingkindness and in Your great compassion does not forsake. (Nehemiah 9:31-32)

You God have granted me life, mercy, and lovingkindness; And Your care has preserved my spirit. (Job 10:12)

All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth (Psalm 25:10)

I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness, Because You have seen my affliction; You have known the troubles of my soul (Psalm 31:7)

Lovingkindness surrounds those who trust in the Lord (Psalm 32:10)

The Lord loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord. (Psalm 33:5)

Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. (Psalm 36:5)

The Lord loves justice and does not forsake His godly ones; They are preserved forever. (Psalm 37:28)

You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me. (Psalm 40:11)

The lovingkindness of God lasts all day long. (Psalm 52:1)

God accomplishes all things for me. He will send from heaven and save me. God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth. (Psalm 57:2-3)

You love is so great it reaches the heavens; your trustworthy faithfulness reaches to the clouds. (Psalm 57:10)

Your love O Lord is better than life (Psalm 63:3)

In Jesus lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. (Psalm 85:10, New Covenant Paraphrase)

For You, Lord, are good, and eager to put your forgiveness on display. You are abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You. (Psalm 86:5)

You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, patient and abundant in lovingkindness and truth. (Psalm 86:15)

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You. (Psalm 89:14)

If I should say, “My foot has slipped,” Your lovingkindness, O Lord, will hold me up. (Psalm 94:18)

The Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His loyal trustworthiness extends to all generations. (Psalm 100:5)

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; He pardons all your sins, He heals all your diseases; He redeems your life from the pit, He crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; He satisfies your years with good things. (Psalm 103:2-5)

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, patient and abounding in lovingkindness. He no longer strives with us, Nor does He retain His anger towards us. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our faults. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who trust His Son. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our sins from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord, our Father, has compassion on those who trust Him. (Psalm 103:8-13, New Covenant Paraphrase)

Consider the lovingkindnesses of the Lord. (Psalm 107:43)

The Lord's lovingkindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord is everlasting. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 117:2)

Put your hope in the Lord Jesus. He has lovingkindness and has abundantly paid for our debt with His blood. He has delivered all His people from all their guilt. (Psalm 130:7-8, New Covenant Paraphrase)

Give thanks to the God of gods, the Lord of lords, for He is good. He gives food to all beings. He alone does great wonders. The Lord has remembered us in our low estate and has rescued us from the adversary. Give thanks to the God of heaven, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. (from Psalm 136)

The Lord is gracious and merciful; Patient and great in lovingkindness. The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works. (Psalm 145:8-9)

The Lord executes justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry, sets the prisoners free. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind & raises up those who are bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous. The Lord protects the strangers, He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked. (Psalm 146:7-9)

My son, do not lightly regard the guidance of the Lord, nor be irritated or grieved when refuted by him. For the Lord teaches the one he loves like a father instructs a son he is pleased with. (Proverbs 3:11-12)

By lovingkindness and truth guilt is removed. (Proverbs 16:6)

Thus says the Lord, your Creator, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! I am the Lord your God, The Holy One, your Savior. You are precious in My sight. You are honored and I love you. Do not fear, for I am with you. You are My witnesses and My servants whom I have chosen, So that you may know and trust Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, and there is no savior besides Me. It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, and I am God. Even from eternity I am He, and there is no one who can deliver you out of My hand; I act and no one can reverse it." (from Isaiah 43)

"With everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you” says the Lord your Redeemer. "I have sworn that I will not be angry with you nor will I reject you. For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” says the Lord who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:8-10)

God has given us great things and done many great things for us by His compassion and from the abundance of His lovingkindnesses. (Isaiah 63:7)

In God's love and in His mercy He redeemed us. (Isaiah 63:9)

Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth because I delight in these things,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

The Lord appeared saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness." (Jeremiah 31:3)

The Lord’s lovingkindnesses certainly never cease because His compassions never fail. His love, kindness, and compassion are new every morning. Great is Your loyal trustworthiness O Lord. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Where there is sorrow & grief the Lord will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness. (Lamentations 3:32)

In that day I, the Lord will make a new covenant, “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and in compassion, and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, and I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ and they will say, ‘You are my God!’” (Hosea 2:18-20,23)

I will heal your backsliding. I will cure you from turning away. I love you freely. I have no anger towards you. (Hosea 14:4, New Covenant Paraphrase)

There is no God like you. You pardon guilt and do not hold rebellious acts against us. You did not retain anger against us beyond the cross of your Son. You delight in unchanging love. You have compassion on us. You crushed our sinful deeds under foot. Yes, You cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You have given truth and unchanging love to us with your Son. (From Micah 7:14-20, New Covenant Paraphrase)

The Lord your God is gracious and compassionate, patient, abounding in lovingkindness. (Joel 2:13)

You are a gracious and compassionate God, patient and overflowing with lovingkindness. (Jonah 4:2)

“I have loved you,” says the Lord. (Malachai 1:2)


Continued in..
God's Love in The New Testament & Grace is God's Love for You

Get truth from The Truth

Jesus said the Holy Spirit would lead us to ALL truth. That means there is no truth that we are lead to that doesn't have His involvement. It also means anywhere we think we've gotten truth where we can't recognize the involvement of the Spirit is worth calling into question. Preachers, teachers, authors, and even scripture we've learned from are worth our time taking to God to be taught by Him.

There is an untold amount of false & ignorant teachings & interpretations out there. Just because you are reading the bible doesn't mean it isn't being distorted through the lens you unwittingly look through. Turn to the Spirit of God before turning to the scriptures because it is unwise to wholly trust your interpretation of scripture. The Spirit may point you to the scriptures to teach you the truth and He may not. God is living and living inside of you. Trust Him more than what you've heard and speak with Him.

Growth in Christ Through Relationships

Jesus said, "You search the scriptures they testify of me" The living Word is greater than the written word. We search the scriptures looking for doctrines, commands, plans, etc. What we are looking for are its. We need to be looking for He, Jesus Christ.

First century followers of Christ did not always have Old Testament scriptures. They certainly didn't have the New Testament scriptures because those were still being written. On top of that many people were illiterate. With the emphasis we currently put on personal study of scripture how then were these people such an impactful generation for Christ? The answer is relationships.

These followers of Christ were taught by those who were in Christ before them. Acts 2:42 says, "They were devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." The apostles' teaching was Jesus Christ. Jesus was taught as a living, personal, and interactive being. The apostles' teaching style was personal and interactive, like that of Jesus.

Their fellowship wasn't in name only like much of today's so called fellowship is. Biblical fellowship is friendship and companionship that involves participation and contribution. That is what they were devoted to. These weren't people listening to stale non-participatory sermons. They were filled with joys that brought on questions. They ate together and they prayed together. At this point the Judaizers weren't interfering and they had no systems or traditions to blind & deafen them. They purely got to enjoy Jesus Christ and each other with no bonds or barriers. That is the beauty of how the Christian life ought to be lived.

God's plan for growth in Jesus Christ was never for an individual to just study scripture by himself. God's plan is that we are built together through mutual participation and sharing of His truth (see Ephesians 4:25 & 1 Corinthians 14). His plan is for those who came before us to teach us how Jesus loves so we can "love as Jesus loved."