Preventing Bibliolatry: A Strange Kind Of Idolatry

IDOLS: Fake And False Gods Of Our Making
Theme For November 2009

Preventing Bibliolatry: A Strange Kind Of Idolatry
November 1, 2009
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Gen 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great." 2 And Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what wilt Thou give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"
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3 And Abram said, "Since Thou hast given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir." 4 Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir; but one who shall come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir."
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5 And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."6 Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
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Distinguishing between:
FAKE GOD- A fake claim is one that has no truth of any kind at all. A fake prophet is one who neither a prophet of God or of Satan. God has His prophets and Satan has his Prophets but the one who is neither God’s prophet nor Satan’s prophet is a fake prophet. History has known of many fake gods, human beings who claimed to have divinity but they were purely humans.
FALSE GOD A false claim is a claim that says he is someone when he is not that someone. A false prophet is one who claims to be a prophet of God when he is not.
Satan is, technically , neither a false god (he is the god of this world), nor a fake god (because he has spiritual and supernatural powers).
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IDOLATRY:
EIDOLON (idol)- anything carved by hand or by the mind and given an importance that only God should have.
LATREIA (service- worship)-
IDOLATRY: We make our gods to worship or to serve, either as carved images or ideas and concepts in our minds.
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BIBLIOLATRY:
Biblos (Book). Latreia (service or worship). Worshiping the book.
BIBLIOLATRY: (not Bibliophile- which is a good term)
Making the Bible what it is not: equal with God or God’s rival. Example: bible as pillow, as Anting-anting, as quotations in Oraciones. Pasting verses on windows to ward off evil. Wrapping the dead body with blankets printed with verses.

We take our joy in learning the Word but not relating with God. The joy of discovery of the Word’s teachings replaces the Joy of personally fellowshipping with God.

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Bibliolatry Is Preventable. How?
Understand What the Bible Is Meant To Do In Our Lives:
Which is?
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I- The Word Of God Points Out The Wonderful Reality Of Our Relationship With God. (Gen. 15:1)
He is our God
He is our Shield
He is our Great Reward
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II- The Word Of God Points Out The Right Response To God And His Word: Conversation With God. (Gen. 15:1-6)
God spoke
Abraham Spoke
God spoke Again
Abraham spoke again
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III- The Word Of God Points Out Our Zero Ability And God’s Absolute Ability In Our Favor. (Gen. 15:2-6)
Abram was childless
Abram would be gifted with countless covenantal children
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What have we learned? (Summary)
I- The Word Of God Points Out The Wonderful Reality Of Our Relationship With God.
II- The Word Of God Points Out The Right Response To God And His Word: Conversation With God.
III- The Word Of God Points Out Our Zero Ability And God’s Absolute Ability In Our Favor.
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How is this related with us? (Application)
Idolatry is in our heart as sinners.
We can easily make the Bible a substitute for God in our lives.
We all need to deal with Bibliolatry- enjoying the word without the corresponding holiness. Mastering the word without mastering the holy life.
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How Should we respond? (Challenge)
Read the Bible to know who God is and how He wants us to relate with Him. Read the Bible and find out who he is to us and who we are to Him. Study the Bible to increase our knowledge of God’s identity, instructions and intentions. Get to know Him through the Bible.
Converse with Him for prayer with bible-reading stifles and defeats Bibliolatry. Prayer as a consequence of Bible-reading is not only proper, it is also powerful to ward off the old nature.
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How Should We Respond Right Now? (Altar Call)
We ask God to forgive us for neglecting the Word or making the Word another god in our life
We will express gratitude to God for the Word He has given us.