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Thursday, June 13, 2013

Only the Words in Red?


As this is my last post, and I am moving on to other Internet projects, I think it’s best to move on with some thoughts on recent false teachings that I have encountered.  That’s fitting because the goal of these pages has not been of a devotional nature,  but to keep people alert  regarding religious trends in America.

I was reading in Romans 3 this morning and was struck by the apologist tones of Paul.  He was ever a defender of the faith and often answered slanders and misconceptions in his writings.  In this chapter he answers a slander that some were saying and affirming that he said “the more we sin” the better we will show the righteousness of God (verse 8).  Apparently there was a thought going around that it was better to be sinful because it showed more clearly the righteousness of God.  Although this is clearly false, to a fledgling church in the midst of Roman philosophies,  it might have had some weight.

Currently we are finding people saying things just as false that could not possibly be promoted by a godly influence. However, it is apparently having weight with some immature Christians. 
One particular thing is this:

"The words in Red are the only ones we need to care about." The idea being the only words that are important are the words that Christ said himself. 

 
The scripture states in I Timothy  3:16-17 that All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

 
Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God [is] pure: he [is] a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

 In explaining any doctrine, no one relies only on the words in red.  Many parts of the Gospels are not in red or directly spoken by Jesus but we accept it as the Word of God. The motivations behind such wresting of the Word of God are usually to cover another false teaching.  You are thereby instructed to ignore other parts of the bible or give them less weight.  This leads to an unbalanced gospel.   The sad result, if you swallow this, is that you will inevitably reach false conclusions in your life about the requirements of God. When Jesus stated something, there was witness to that truth elsewhere in scripture.  Why, because Jesus was not his own witness. There are numerous times, Jesus could have bore witness because he is truth, but he would not. St. John 5: 31“If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true."(NASB).  And that my friends, is in RED.

 
For example, if want to see an explanation sin and its working in our lives, we find no better explanation than in the Pauline Epistles.  But this word “sin” is only mentioned in totality 15 times in the Gospels.  However, Romans 6-7 describes the sinfulness of man and how that sinfulness effects our everyday lives.  This is not explained as fully in the gospels.  Jesus tells us that If we have sin, we cannot be with him, and tells us that he who commits sin is the servant of sin.  However, in the Epistles alone, General and Pauline, sin is mentioned and taught about total of 74 times.  Should we then throw that witness away because Jesus did not speak these words?

 
We find very little explanation about the relationship between husbands and wives in the Gospel, but receive light through Ephesians, I Peter and Genesis. There is no better understanding about the working of the Spirit to create the structure of the church that in I Corinthians 12.

 
Many false teachers have used this tactic before to cover up other false teachings and induce people to de-value certain portions of the bible--portions which condemn their errors.  The Seventh Day Adventists for example in their writings hold to this same type of mentality that the certain words in the bible are to be given more credence than others.  Once again, as I’ve said on this blog, no one scripture should be used to enforce anything like it’s a doctrine, since God never leaves himself without a witness to the truth. Scripture must be studied and prayed over before it is enforced in any form. 


In the Book of Numbers15:32, the God gave Israel the Law about the Sabbath. Anyone who broke the Sabbath was to be stoned.  But notice even with the law being clear, they prayed and sought God about what to do.  They respected the voice of God as well as the law.  I believe this should always be done when in comes to doctrines, because, as in this case some doctrines effect people's lives more than others.

 
What is deeply tragic about anyone pushing these thoughts is that, no man speaking by the Spirit of God can misrepresent the gospel in such a dangerous way. (I Cor 12:13).  Whoever has started this dangerous trend is in danger themselves and certainly not in good fellowship with Christ.  Such teaching is biblical interpretation without the touch of God’s Holy Spirit.

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