In a very strange encounter, a bunch of religious leaders showed up to argue with Jesus Christ. Why? Because they felt He was not biblical.
Turning the tables to judge those who were judging him, in John 5:39-42 Jesus says, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.”
Where did they go wrong? They studied the Scriptures but did not submit to the Spirit. In this way, they were having demonic Bible studies. Satan knows the Scripture well enough to quote it and twist it. Whenever Jesus encountered demons, they knew exactly who He was. But, neither Satan nor demons submit to the Holy Spirit. As a result, they do not hate sin nor love Jesus.
Rather than merely judging the religious leaders, we should judge ourselves so we can avoid their fate. They wrongly thought that the more they knew, the closer to God they were. But, their knowledge puffed them up with pride so that they were self-righteous, judgmental, and unloving. They even felt that they should have authority over Jesus to correct His errors.
If we are honest, we must admit that we are capable of the same sins. The answer is to continually invite the same Holy Spirit who inspired the writing of Scripture to help us learn how to humbly love Jesus and become more and more like Him. Otherwise, we can end up quoting the Bible in our fight against God oblivious to our error.
Is there any issue in the Bible that you have become proud about, are wrongly judgmental of others for, or need to become humbler about?