Yesterday I published the first part of this - I had made a couple of assertions and this part should help develop them out. I hope it makes sense. I just want to keep them short. Some friends have asked.
So, since according to the Scriptures and biblical theologians, the first mark of a true church is the true preaching of God's Word, we need a contextual understanding of the Bible as a whole as well as that of the smaller parts that form the whole. This is of vital importance because what we believe about the Bible will determine what we believe about God.
We were created for God, and the pursuit of our Christian lives is to know Him, the one true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. This is eternal life. ( John 17:3 ) Do we actually "know" him or just maybe know some things "about" him? Or worse, do we believe what the American Gospel is selling, and thus believe in a god of our own making and not the God of the Bible?
Throughout most of the last two-thousand years of church history, Christ's church has not had access to a Bible; many folks were actually illiterate and relied on the clergy to read and teach them the Scriptures.
The main thrust of the Reformation was the "rediscovery" of the Bible ( and justification by faith alone ) and it was William Tyndale who promised to get the Bible into the hands of a plow boy that he may know more of the Scriptures than Tyndale himself.
Praise God. I'm very sure I don't know as much of the Scripture as Tyndale, but I'm thankful for the ultimate price he paid for God's Holy Word. By the way, historically we can see that the church has had the most growth when we faced times of greatest persecution. And I'm willing to bet this is true on an individual basis as well.
Coinciding with the invention of the printing press, the Reformation indeed made the Bible more accessible to the common people. Sadly, today we have more Bibles available to us, especially in the western world, and yet, people are just as biblically ignorant as ever.
Why is that?
Every era of church history has had its unique battles and heresy to combat, but the authority, inerrancy, and sufficiency of the Scriptures has been an on-going, never-ending bombardment against Christ's church down through all ages.
I believe the enemy's greatest attack against us is to keep God's Word out of the hands and hearts of God's children because the Bible is God's revealed Word to his us, his "special revelation." You can see how it differs from the "general revelation" we see about God in his creation. ( Romans 1:19-20 ) His written Word is specific and gives us all we need to lead a godly life.
And the Bible is how God actually speaks to us - how we know him. Satan would love nothing more than to blind us from this truth.
And he's hard at it.
The progressive movement here in America in the last century within the mainline denominations has questioned severely the inerrancy, authority, and sufficiency of the Scriptures and leaves it up to the church folk to decide what parts of the Bible we would like to keep and what offensive parts to toss out as antiquated and archaic. And in doing so, out goes the core, essential doctrines of the Christian faith. Thus, out goes Christianity altogether.
Without the core doctrines, there is no faith. You know that, right?
And if Satan can't start a dumpster fire with the Bible, he'll move onto plan B which is a twisting of the truth, and the temptation he used on Jesus. I guess he knew he couldn't get Jesus to disregard the Scriptures, so his tactic was to contort and twist God's Word. The devil is slick.
And Jesus is God - so he didn't fall for it.
But Eve did.
"Did God really say......?" The serpent deceived her.
And she bit into the lie and gave some to her husband to eat.
And as sons and daughters of Eve, let us not become prideful. We are just as susceptible today. Look at us! There are so many false teachings masquerading as the truth in our "Christian" culture just as the Bible said would happen.
So again, what we believe about the Bible will influence what we believe about God and ourselves. We need to think deeply about this because there are movements claiming Christianity that have actually created a god that is not the God revealed in Scripture. There's is a distant or weak and impotent god, a god that man controls or a god more like Santa Clause than the one true God.
And it's not enough just to have the Bible and be reading it!!!!
We MUST have the correct interpretation of the Scriptures, a.k.a. "hermeneutics." There is only one true meaning of a text. It's not, "Let's go around the circle and everyone tell what this verse means to them" kind of a thing. That's dangerous. There can be different applications, but only one original meaning that God spoke to us. It doesn't matter what it means to us - we're the creatures. What matters is what it means to God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things. The sovereign, eternal God. This is what matters.
This is also where false teachers come into play. Remember, they "use" the Bible - that's how these wolves in sheep's wool snatch up and deceive people. There is always some truth mixed in with the error, as they also rely on their dreams and visions going beyond the Scriptures. ( Jude 8 ) We need to be aware of this, so we are not led astray. ( Matthew 24:4 )
A couple of weeks ago I was talking to a friend who is involved in a false movement Bible study where the author of the book they are using for the study not only rips verses out of their context to back up his false teaching, but continually tells of his dreams and visions instead of teaching the Bible. And my friend said in defense of the study, "But Rebecca, they do quote from the Bible!"
"Exactly," I said, "So does Satan." ( Matthew 4:1-11 )
For example, if you've been in a church that has a misunderstanding of what it means to be created in the image of God and presents a false dichotomy of the creation story, teaching that God created man divine and you are just like Jesus, that's going to pollute your understanding of God, not to mention puffing up yourself with pride. Anything you attempt to build off of that false notion and foundation of being a little god, including your relationship with God, will end up crooked.
So sound biblical hermeneutics is everything. "Sound interpretation leads to sound doctrine leads to sound living."
We don't want to just possess an appearance of godliness with dead bones on the inside - that's what the American Gospel is producing. ( 2 Timothy 3:5 ) Rotten fruit is not the goal.
But how do we know what we are learning is the truth?
That's an important question. One we should take very seriously.
For one thing we need to employ our God-given reasoning, common sense, and critical thinking skills. If you are in a church or movement that claims doctrine divides or that we don't need reasoning. Please grab your family and run to the nearest exit.
Asking the question, "If God made man divine, how did Adam and Eve sin?" is just one small example of using our brains. Another one: Am I trusting this leader no matter what he spews or am I trusting what I read in the Bible?
Or if we believe the Bible is outdated in modernity, how do we trust what we think is acceptable and not acceptable in the Scriptures when every church age has approved of all kinds of societal ills such as slavery and primogeniture at one time or another?
Do you see what I mean? That's subjectivism.
And for the love of all that is good in this world, we must read the Bible in context. Hijacking a verse out of God's original meaning is a common practice of false teachers. When I list a biblical reference in my blog, please, read the verses surrounding it. But better yet, read the entire chapter. I pray that my work inspires others to read and examine the Scriptures for themselves and know God better.
There are hard things in the Bible, but we must let them stick if we are going to engage in authentic Bible study with any degree of integrity. The Bible is God's narrative, not ours. He alone says what it means.
Lastly, and more importantly, the Holy Spirit doesn't just convict us of our sins; as I touched on briefly above, Jesus promises us that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, will guide us in the truth. He will never deceive us. We can trust Him as we trust Christ to lead us in paths of righteousness. ( John 16:12 )
I know this isn't what my blog is about today, but I also want to interject quickly that the Holy Spirit equips us to serve God. Whatever is on our plate each day, no matter how daunting a task, the Holy Spirit empowers us to see us through. With joy and grace, I might add, and to the glory of God the Father. ( Philippians 1:6, 2:12, 1 Peter 4"11, Colossians 1:29 )
So, pray before you open your Bible each morning that the Holy Spirit will also open your mind to understand the Scriptures. ( Luke 24:13-35 ) If you aren't attending a local church, pray for God to guide you to a Gospel-centered church that is committed to the true preaching of God's Word. Don't be in a hurry. Wait for it. If we come before our Father in Heaven with a hunger and desire to understand his Word to us accurately, and this among his saints, I know that's a prayer he will answer.
He has been answering it for me and my family, and I know he will answer it for yours. Don't give in to the enemy's attacks. Keep praying. And I'll continue on these true church essentials in the blogs to come.
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Friends, I want to share some prayers for you and your family: Teach us your way, O LORD, that we may walk in your truth; unite our hearts to fear your name. ( Psalm 86:11 ) Sanctify us in the truth, your word is truth. ( John 17:17 ) Please help us to divide Scripture rightly. ( 2 Timothy 2:15 ) ( Charles Spurgeon likened this verse to hoeing straight rows in a garden. I like that analogy. ) To handle your Word with fear and trembling. ( Isaiah 66:2 ) To hide it in our hearts that we may not sin against you. ( Psalm 119:11 ) Let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. ( Colossians 3:16 ) Each morning let us awake with a hunger for the Scriptures and let us taste and see that you are good. Satisfy us with good so that our youth is renewed like the eagle's. ( Psalm 5:3, Psalm 103, Psalm 19:7-11 ) Also Psalm 119 - it's all about the Scriptures. You can pray prayers right out of the Scriptures, not just from the Psalter. Paul's epistle prayers for the Church are amazing and another favorite is Daniel's humble prayer in The Book of Daniel chapter 9.
Amen and amen.
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