Christian Crosstalk "Going Outside the Bible" | Can We Gain Eternal Life by Keeping to the Bible?

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Singing such a happy tune with a smile on your face!
Brother Zhang, I'm curious,
what good news has you so excited, singing and dancing?
It's fantastic news!
Oh?
Our long-awaited Lord Jesus has returned!
He has returned?
He is Almighty God incarnate!
Almighty God has expressed many truths,
and is doing the work of judgment beginning with God's house—(Hey …)
Hold on, hold on.
You're saying Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus,
and that He's speaking new words and doing new work?
Yeah, yeah, yeah …
No, can't be.
That goes beyond the Bible!
All God's words and work are—(Hang on.)
Calm down.
Were you about to say that
all of God's words and work are in the Bible,
that none of His words and work can be found outside the Bible,
and that anything beyond it is heresy?
Yes, yes, yes, right, that's precisely it.
Then I'd like to ask you
where did you get that idea from.
The pastors and elders tell us that all the time,
and those are the words we keep.
Did the Lord Jesus ever say this?
Well, no, He did not.
Did the Holy Spirit say it?
Not once.
Is it even in the Bible?
I guess not.
And despite all this,
the church pastors and elders dare to say,
"God's work and words don't exist outside the Bible,
and anything outside of it is heresy."
Does that fit with the truth?
Does it fit with the facts?
I'd like to hear exactly
how what the pastors and elders say doesn't fit with the facts.
Then I ask you,
do you remember how John 21:25 goes?
That makes it pretty clear, right?
The Lord Jesus lived on earth for over 33 years,
and preached for 3.5 years.
In all those years,
how much do you think He spoke and did?
Surely a lot!
But if you read all the Lord Jesus' words from the Bible,
you could recite them in just a few hours.
What does that prove?
It proves that …
it proves that God's work and words
aren't recorded entirely in the Bible. (Yes!)
Also,
when the Bible was being compiled,
due to human omissions,
a portion of Jehovah God's words as conveyed by the prophets
was not included into the Old Testament.
And what does that prove?
It proves that …
it proves that God's words and work can be found outside the Bible.
Right, and in John 16:12–13,
what did the Lord Jesus say?
Yeah, and in Revelation, we see it prophesied,
Revelation also prophesies
the scroll that can only be opened by the Lamb.
So then, what does all of that prove?
It … it proves that …
Maybe you should just tell me.
It proves that, in the last days,
the Lord will return to speak.
Do you think the words of the returned Lord Jesus
would be written in the Bible in advance?
Then that means,
when the pastors and elders say,
"God's words and work don't exist outside the Bible,"
it doesn't fit the facts,
so that means it's wrong!
What was that? I didn't hear you.
Ha! I said,
the idea that "God's words and work don't exist outside the Bible"
doesn't fit with the facts.
Absolutely right.
God is the Lord of creation,
the ever-flowing source of the living water,
so how could His words be limited to just that tiny, little bit in the Bible?
So then,
when pastors and elders say,
"God's words and work do not exist outside the Bible,"
that idea is completely wrong,
and it comes from people's imaginations!
Hey, I admit
that the "God's words and work don't exist outside the Bible" concept
does have some problems.
Yeah.
But still,
the pastors and elders always stress that
"God's work doesn't exist outside the Bible,
and anything outside the Bible is heresy."
There's not a problem with that idea, right?
I have an answer for that:
There's a big problem!
Tell me, is God's work required to be based on the Bible?
Is God unable to work without the Bible?
I don't see what's so questionable about that.
Think about it.
When God created the heavens, earth, and all things,
did He do so based on the Bible?
Well, no.
When Jehovah God led the Israelites out of Egypt and issued His laws,
did He do so based on the Bible?
They didn't have the Bible back then.
If they had it then, you think God would have done His work based on it?
Of course He would have!
When the Lord Jesus preached repentance, forgave mankind's sins,
cured the sick, cast out demons, revealed miracles, bestowed grace upon mankind,
and was crucified as the sin offering,
were all those words and work based on the Bible?
Well those …
No, I guess they weren't.
That's right!
The Lord Jesus' words and work weren't based on the Bible,
nor were they limited by it.
In fact, they went entirely outside the Bible.
That's actually true.
Don't you think we're denying the work done by God Himself
if we go by the pastors' and elders' theory that
"Anything outside the Bible is heresy"?
You know, I just realized this is a big problem!
But why didn't I ever see it before?
Hey, what are you mumbling on about?
I said,
it … it's just that you've changed a lot in the last few days!
If not for Almighty God expressing the truth,
no one could see these problems clearly.
Oh?
What does Almighty God say about it?
Which is greater: God or the Bible?
Which came first, God or the Bible?
Right.
I got it! Of course God is greater!
Of course God came first, then the Bible!
That's right.
God is the source of life for all things.
Mankind could never fathom the greatness of God.
But the truth is,
man only began to record God's words,
and compiled the Bible
after God had finished His previous work.
The Bible is nothing but a historical account of God's work from the past.
So how could it be compared to God at all?
Right, right, right …
If we use the Bible to limit God and define His words and work,
that's … that's completely ridiculous!
Right!
God works according to His management plan
and the needs of mankind to lead them and to save them.
God's work is always moving forward and always new.
God never repeats His old work.
So, do you think God's work in the last days
is really based on something as limited as the Bible?
Oh my!
So when the pastors and elders say
"God's words and work don't exist outside the Bible,
and anything outside the Bible is heresy,"
that's such a deceiving fallacy!
It's much worse than that!
It's using the Bible to delimit all God's words and work,
which is resisting God's appearance and work in the last days,
as well as preventing us from hearing the Lord's voice.
It's one of Satan's tricks!
Oh no!
That's like fugu prepared by a pastry chef!
That's a big problem!
Now he's getting it.
Now let me ask you—
Hey, bup, bup, bup …
I was trying to ask you a question,
and you're cutting in
and asking me a whole pile of them!
It's only because I'm worried about you.
Then let me ask you something.
Go ahead.
So, our Pastor Jia always says,
"The Bible was given by inspiration of God,
and it is all His word.
So the Bible represents God."
"Believing in the Bible means believing in the Lord,
and believing in the Lord means believing in the Bible.
No matter when or where,
we can't depart from the Bible.
By keeping the Bible,
we will enter the kingdom of heaven!"
Hey! He does a pretty good impression!
That's the question I want to ask.
Then we'll just have to ask Pastor Jia
his basis for the claim that the entire Bible was inspired by God.
Did the Lord Jesus ever say that?
The Lord Jesus never said that,
but Paul very clearly said,
Is there a problem with that?
I have an answer for that:
There's a big problem!
Does Paul represent the Lord Jesus?
Most certainly not.
Then Paul's claim that
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God"
has no basis in the Lord's words, and no testimony by the Holy Spirit.
Does that fit with the truth?
Does it fit with the facts?
So that means that Paul's claim was mistaken?
The truth is that
only a small minority of the words in the Bible were inspired by God.
Most of the Bible is historical records or people's letters,
none of which can be said to be inspired by God.
That makes sense.
Anything directly inspired by God in the Bible
is clearly marked as such.
It's marked?
Yeah.
Now you remember!
In the books of the prophets, things inspired by God are clear,
such as
Right.
Also that,
not only does it contain God's words,
the Bible also contains the words of Satan, the ancient serpent,
Moses, the apostles, Pharaoh,
not to mention robbers, and the words of Pontius Pilate,
even the words of the Pharisees, and high priest—(Hey …)
I think I get it.
If we say that all the Bible's words are the words of God alone,
that's … that's not right either.
We need to be able to discern which words are God's,
and which come from man.
You can tell that by taking a look at who is speaking.
Oh?
If it's God, then those words are God's words.
Anyone else means it's the words of man.
Even if they accord with the truth, they're still the words of man.
And Satan's words?
Obviously the words of demons!
Right, right, right …
The words of God, of man, and of Satan
cannot be mixed into the same pool. (Right.)
If we say that all the words in the Bible are all inspired by God,
that it's all God's word,
that's … that's twisting the facts and confusing right and wrong.
It's belittling and blaspheming God.
Oh no.
So when the pastors and elders say,
"Everything in the Bible was inspired by God,
it's all God's word,"
it seems like such an absurd fallacy!
Exactly.
Let's keep it going.
"The Bible represents the Lord,
believing in the Lord means believing in the Bible,
believing in the Bible means believing in the Lord."
There's a—(There's a problem with that too?)
I have an answer for that:
There's a big problem!
Hey, you learned to say it!
I'll tell you what,
the Bible is the canon of Christianity.
It's the foundation of Christian faith.
I know that.
For two thousand years,
people have believed in the Lord based on the Bible.
If you can't explain this one clearly,
I won't be convinced.
Don't worry,
I promise you'll understand.
Now then, when you go to pray,
do you ever say,
"Oh Bible, please give me enlightenment!"?
Never!
Only the Holy Spirit can enlighten people.
How about,
"Holy Bible, grant me your salvation!"?
Of course not!
Only God can grant salvation.
Then maybe, "Bible, please forgive me my sins!"?
No, no, no, no, no!
Only the Lord Jesus can forgive people's sins.
God made all of creation.
Can the Bible do that?
No.
God can observe people's hearts.
Can the Bible do that? (Well, no!)
God can lead and save mankind.
Can the Bible do that? (No way!)
God can do the work of judgment in the last days.
Can the Bible do that?
No, no, no …
Trying to drop a beat?
He's not understanding my implication.
Implication?
What I'm saying is that
I understand the idea
"the Bible represents the Lord" doesn't hold up!
Yes.
The Bible can't save people in God's stead,
nor can it represent God's work in the last days.
The Bible is the Bible, and God is God.
We believe in God, not in the Bible.
That's right.
The Bible is only testimony of God's work,
a historical record of His past work.
But now,
the Lord has returned as the incarnate Almighty God
to express the truth and do the work of judgment and purifying in the last days,
so if we still keep to the Bible
and to God's work in the Age of Law and the Age of Grace,
if we refuse to accept God's appearance in the last days,
then we're failing to follow the Lamb's footsteps,
which means we aren't following God as true believers.
Only keeping to the Bible
and not accepting Almighty God's work of the last days
means we don't believe in God?
I'll give you an example.
Go ahead, I'm listening.
When the Lord Jesus appeared and worked on Earth,
the Pharisees of Judaism kept only to their Scriptures.
They refused to accept the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and they even nailed Him to the cross.
Would you say these were people who believed in and followed God?
No they weren't!
They were the people who resisted the Lord!
That's right.
As His followers,
if we see God and the Bible equally,
or put the Bible above God Himself,
if we only accept the Bible, but not God's work,
are we really people who believe in and follow God?
Oh!
Like when the Israelites kept only to their Scriptures,
yet didn't accept the work of the Lord Jesus,
they resisted Him.
Now, in the last days,
the Lord has returned,
but if we only keep to the Bible
and don't accept God's last days' work,
then we're also resisting the Lord!
That's right.
I guess when the pastors and elders say,
"Only by keeping to the Bible
can we enter the kingdom of heaven,"
they're like a broken bicycle—
without a handle!
We can see if they have a handle or not
through the words of the Lord. (Oh?)
What is the Lord say?
John 5:39–40.
Hey, I know this one!
Also, John 14:6.
The Lord's words are very clear.
The Bible is only a testimony of God,
the Bible is not God,
and there's no eternal life in it. (Right.)
Only Christ is the truth, the way, and the life.
Right!
The Bible can't guide people into the kingdom of heaven.
We need to accept the Lord's return
and experience Almighty God's judgment in the last days (Right.)
before we can enter the kingdom of heaven and gain eternal life.
The main point of all we've said
is that if we only keep to the Bible
and don't accept the Lord's appearance in the last days,
then it's impossible to enter the kingdom of heaven
or to gain eternal life.
Listen to what Almighty God says,
and you'll understand even more.
Oh yes! I'd love to hear more about it!
That's right!
Almighty God has expressed millions of words,
which are truths we must possess
to know God, to be saved by God, and to achieve purification.
Come on! Tell me more about it!
Almighty God has revealed the mystery of God's management plan,
the mystery of incarnation, and inside stories of the Bible.
Through His judgment,
He reveals the truth of man's corruption and the root of their resistance.
He tells mankind how Satan corrupts people and how God saves people,
and what it means to truly believe in God,
how to know, obey, and love God,
the final destination and end for each kind of person,
and so on, and so on.
Almighty God has expressed so many truths!
When we accept Almighty God's work of the last days
and gain all these truths,
we can gain the way of eternal life.
That's great!
Now I finally have hope of entering the kingdom of heaven!
Thanks be to God!
Hey, what's wrong?
I was thinking about all my years of belief.
I believed in the absurd fallacies spread by the pastors and elders,
went from believing in the Lord to only the Bible,
and followed them in keeping to the Bible,
rejecting Almighty God's work of the last days,
making me someone who resisted the Lord.
I almost lost my chance to be raptured and enter into the kingdom of heaven!
Right!
Religious believers are all deceived by pastors and elders.
They worship and have blind faith in the Bible.
They see it as even higher than God!
Yeah.
The religious world has become so depraved
that it only recognizes the Bible, not the truth,
and keeps to the Bible while not receiving the Lord—
they're all beyond help.
That's very true.
Amen!
Everything Almighty God reveals is the truth.
I feel like my heart has been set on fire,
it feels clear and bright!
Thanks be to God!
I won't keep blindly to the Bible anymore.
I must be a wise virgin, hear the Lord's voice, and truly receive the Lord! (Amen!)
I have to go.
Oh, where to?
Back to the church to discuss the Bible with the congregation.
Wait,
you understood everything and you're still going to discuss the Bible?
Why you may ask?
I'm going to discuss how to go outside the Bible and receive the Lord!
Great!