HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, March 3, 2026 – I love the Bible. I’ve written here and here and elsewhere how important the Bible is to me. I carry one with me wherever I go, and at home I’m surrounded by them. I favor the King James version, though I’m open to other translations.

But the Bible alone is not enough. The Bible alone can’t take you where you need to go. Just before he went Home, Jesus told his followers that there were so many more things he needed to say to them, but they weren’t ready to hear them yet. So he promised he’d send God’s Spirit of Truth to teach them when they were ready.

Jesus’ promise to his early followers is also his promise to us. Jesus didn’t say to make an idol of God’s written Word and bow down to it as the sole authority. No; he never once said that. He himself contradicted the Old Testament on occasion, such as when he overrode Moses’ permission on granting divorces or when he directed us to love our enemies rather than to curse them. This wasn’t just a radical reinterpretation of accepted scripture; it was a whole new Word.

Those of us who are genuinely bornagain are still being taught by God’s Spirit of Truth. This was Jesus’ promise to us, his followers, and Jesus never breaks his promises. Still, there are those who claim that private revelation must accord with scripture, and if it doesn’t, it’s not from God. What would those same people say about Jesus’ private revelations forming the basis for the Gospel, seeing how in so many instances those revelations defied scripture?  

We are constantly being taught by God through his Spirit of Truth. We are directed by God, informed by God, cautioned by God, chastised by God, humored by God, and most of all loved by God, all through his Spirit, as promised by Jesus. We all received a measure of God’s Spirit at our rebirth, and it is through this Spirit residing in us that we’re able to receive God’s revelations, which are actually just God’s teachings, which are actually just God talking to us, one-on-one, as our Father, as any loving father would talk one-on-one to his beloved child. Each of us receives God’s words according to our individual abilities at any given time, just as Jesus promised.

As I said, I love the Bible and I enjoy reading it every day. But I love my one-on-one time with God more. I cherish his private revelations to me just as much as I cherish his public ones in scripture. In some cases, I cherish the private revelations more because they’re so deeply personal and show God’s overwhelming love for me. Some of these revelations I share; most of them I don’t, depending on God’s guidance. Jesus shared some things publicly, other things he shared privately (among his disciples and friends), and some things he didn’t share at all but kept them just between him and God. Jesus promised us we’d have that same intimacy with God—the same access to private revelation—when the time came.

Thank God it’s come.

I love the Bible, but the Bible alone is not enough.

I love God’s Word, but I love God more.