The human mind is truly a wonder, We've learned
that the once indivisible atom is actually composed
of smaller parts, themselves composed of particles
even yet smaller. On the other side of the scale
we've peered out billions of light years across the
universe almost to the beginning of time itself.
From the miniscule to the immense and everywhere in
between, we've gotten pretty good at figuring many
things out.
In the past century alone we've acquired the
ability to fly freely all over our entire planet and
even beyond as both our human and mechanical
emissaries have plied the sea of space - the most
distant of them now traveling so far away that the
sun looks like nothing more than a very bright star
shining in the blackness.
Where it once took months or even years to send
messages across our world, we now take instantaneous
communication to almost every place on Earth for
granted. Our advanced technology has also allowed us
to live in relative comfort from pole to pole, under
the sea, and above our atmosphere.
But where there is a positive, we also have the
negative.
The human inclination of "wanting to do things
our own way" which reaches back to Adam and Eve's
fall, through the building of the Tower of Babel and
right up until the present is perhaps the prime
reason for the increasingly dark world to which we
open our eyes each morning, At the risk of
introducing a new cliche', I think that "Pride thy
name is human" is nevertheless an accurate one. We
often get so enamoured of ourselves that we forget
the One that made us and everything else.
To put things in proper perspective, let's see
what God told the prophet Isaiah way back in the 8th
Century B.C .: Isaiah
55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For
as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my
ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher
than your thoughts. Considering just how huge this
universe is, that's saying a lot!
Paul accurately describes our limited
perceptions:
1 Corinthians 13:11-12 When I was a child, I
spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought
as a child: but when I became a man, I put away
childish things. For now we see through a glass
darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part;
but then shall I know even as also I am known.
In other words, while we exist in this life, our
understanding will be exceedingly limited at best,
even for the brightest of us. No matter how smart we
think we are, we'll never be able to understand the
mind of God in its totality. But we could never even
begin to comprehend him unless God in some manner
chose to reveal himself to us. Fortunately he has
done just that in the pages of the Bible, inspired
by the Holy Spirit to provide us a record of his
deeds and wisdom across the ages for all to read.
But it gets even better because he has made this
very same Spirit available to all who accept Jesus
to assist us in understanding it:
John 14:26 [Jesus said to his disciples] But the
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father
will send in my name, he shall teach you all things,
and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever
I have said to you. [Here and throughout, bracketed
sections are added for clarification.]
As to importance of the Word, we have:
Deuteronomy 11:18-19 Therefore shall ye lay up
these my words in your heart and in your soul, and
bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may
be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall
teach them [to] your children, speaking of them when
thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest
by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou
risest up.
2 Timothy 3:16 [Paul wrote] All scripture is
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable fro
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness.
Revelation 22:18-19 For I testify unto every man
that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book.
If any man add unto these things, God shall add unto
him the plagues that are written in this book: And
if any man shall take away from the words in this
book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part
out of the book of life, and out of the holy city,
and from the things which are written in this book.
I think it is safe to say from the passages above
that God takes his Written Word very seriously
ranging from the first five books of Moses all the
way up to the final book of Revelation. But is what
we are reading today accurate? That's a fair
question.
Regarding the Old Testament, the discovery and
study of the Dead Sea scrolls has revealed very
little variation in the original Hebrew and Aramaic
over the centuries. The New Testament has over 5000
ancient copies of the original books comprising it
either in part or in total still available. This
evidence points to a level of reliability to which
no other historical documents even come close, as
far as I know.
Now, does this mean that the particular version
of the Bible you may be reading is 100% accurate?
The simple answer is "No," in that there are minor
variations even amongst the ancient texts. Likewise,
when translated into modern languages some of the
words may have no direct equivalents. And don't
forget, languages themselves change over the years.
Now this may be troubling information to some, but
the main thing to remember is that the best Bible
scholars agree that the differences are by and large
insignificant. But you needn't take my word for it
alone. Neil R. Lightfoot, author of "How We Got the
Bible" (MJF Books, copyright 1963, 1988, 2003) makes
this exact case with his excellently researched and
well-written book.
For English speakers, you can't do much better
than having the King James, Revised Standard, and
New International Versions in your library, in my
opinion, along with a good concordance such as
Strong's.
Now that I've hopefully established the Bible's
importance and reliability, let's examine what
happens when individuals, parishes, and even entire
denominations practice "Bible Grab Bag," This is
what I call a selective reading of scripture,
usually out of context, designed to back up whatever
opinion or doctrine one wants to promote. Here's an example:
1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the
love that God hath to us.
God is love; and he that dwelleth in love
dwelleth in God, and God in him.
This is certainly absolutely true. But when it is
quoted to create an "anything goes" doctrine, it is
clearly being misused. One result of such is the
false claims that God would never send anyone to
hell, no matter what they do or what manner of
lifestyle they may be living This, of course, is
refuted in Daniel 12:2-3; Matthew 25:31-46; Luke
12:5, 2 Peter 2:4-9, Revelation, chapter 19 and many
more. This includes even those who have rejected
Jesus as the only means of salvation (John 14:6).
It may surprise you to know that this "pick and
choose" approach which mixes the truth with a lie
isn't something humans invented, A look back at
Genesis 3 shows Satan using this tactic very
effectively on Adam and Eve. About them getting to
know the difference between good and evil was the
truth, but the devil lied when he said they wouldn't
die after eating the forbidden fruit. Likewise when
Jesus was in the wilderness after his baptism
(Matthew 4:1-10), Satan tried using Scripture to get
Jesus to play his game. Of course, Jesus countered
this ploy by his correct use of the Bibl. How the
devil ever figured he could outwit the man who wrote
the book must be a prime example of his own
arrogance and self-delusion. Unfortunately, he's had
a lot better luck with most of Adam and Eve's
descendants.
Since its very beginning the church itself has
been a prime target for Satan's deceptions. In the
Olivet Discourse, the very next thing Jesus
mentioned after the destruction of the Temple was
the coming of false prophets and false messiahs.
Many of Paul's epistles, and in particular his
letter to the Galatians, dealt with combating
erroneous doctrines. The Antichrist who will rule
the future world will no doubt take this deception
to a whole new level.
Now as we come to the end of the first decade of
the 21st Century, it appears that we are seeing
signs that this corruption of Scripture is already
going into overdrive. Many major Protestant
denominations have rejected Jesus as the only way to
be saved (John 14:6, Acts 4:10-12) but have had no
problem accepting openly homosexual clergy into
their pulpits in direct contradiction to Bible
teaching (Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:27-32, 1
Corinthians 6:9-10). I myself left the Episcopal
Church after being a member for almost 50 years
because it is now traveling down this path of false
doctrines. in addition to this, I continue to find
troubling that so many have still remained in TEC
and the other denominations which have adbopted
similar "innovations." I am especially concerned
about the kids who attend Sunday School in these
places because a lie repeated often enough does
start to sound like the truth and the young are
generally the most vulnerable.
That the influx of heresy (might as well not
mince words because this is EXACTLY what it we have
here) is weakening, distracting and dividing the
church at this particular time when we see the
darkness growing over our world leads me to believe
that this is no accident. The church which once
provided a moral compass to the society around it
has now become increasingly ineffective at the very
time the enemies of Jesus are growing stronger. In a
very real sense its light is going out while the
"prince of this world" tightens his grip.
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul
warned his young protege' Timothy that this very
thing was to come in the Last
Days:
1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly,
that in the latter times some shall depart from the
faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils [demons].
2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine; burt after their own
lusts shall heap to themselves teachers, having
itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears
from the truth, and be turned unto fables.
The prophet Hosea once said:
Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of
knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I
will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest
to thee: seeing thou hast forgotten that law of they
God, I will also forget thy children.
Now. let me ask you a question: When was the last
time you heard these passages read or preached upon
in YOUR church? If the answer is "Never" it seems
that pehaps you should ask your pastor "Why not?"
But be cautioned that your inquiry may not go over
well in many churches these days.
Another casualty in the modern church has been
the paucity of teaching about the End of the Age.
Though some denominations have incorporated
prophetic passages into their Advent lectionaries,
it seems there is little emphasis on them in these
times of ours when the signs are increasingly
showing up. People are just not being informed of
them and what the implications are when this
information is needed the most!
Now let's consider two logical inconsistencies to
the "Bible Grab Bag" approach.
1) If the Bible is indeed the Word of God, what
gives any person the authority to decide which parts are "relevant"
and "accurate" and which are not? In order to do so, aren't such people
setting themselves up to know MORE than God?
2) On the other side of the coin, if the Bible is
no more than an ancient collection of writings by a bunch of guys
expressing their own opinions, then why then can't each of us just
make up our own theologies as we go along?
This all may sound pretty ridiculous, but this is
precisely what is happening in the church right now.
The point here is that the only argument that
really works is that the Bible is indeed the Word of God and that as such
must be taken in its entirety or not at all. Perhaps the greatest
evidence that this is true is its unerring record in predicting events
future to when they were first recorded. In addition to the prophecies
we've already related regarding the state of the church in the Latter
Days, here are a few even more compelling ones concerning Jesus
himself:
1) His unusual birth - Isaiah 7:14, confirmed:
Luke 2:1-7
2) His birthplace - Micah 5:2, confirmed Luke
2:1-7
3) His lineage from King David - Isaiah 11:1-2,
confirmed Matthew 1:1-16
[Joseph's ancestors], Luke 3:23-38 [Mary's
ancestors, and Joseph's legal
ancestors by virtue of his marriage to Mary],
Revelation 22:16.
4) Details of his death- Psalm 22;16-18,
confirmed John 19:17-24.
5) His resurrection - Psalm 16:10, confirmed
Matthew 28:1-10
In conclusion, it appears that the Bible is
exactly what it claims to be - the Written Word of God,
just as Jesus is the Living Word of God (John 1:1-17). Now any "Jesus"
who was not virgin-born, or did not perform miracles, or
hadn't died on the cross for our sins and was physically resurrected
wouldn't be the real Jesus at all, would he?
In the same manner that Jesus the Living Word
must be taken in his entirety, so must the Bible which is
Written Word be as well. To do otherwise is to accept "another
Jesus," and "another Gospel" which are nothing more than counterfeits that can
lead to salvation for no one.
The main reason that these "alternate Jesus' "and
"alternate gospels" likely have such appeal is because they
allow people to avoid a very unpopular word and concept in our society
today - ACCOUNTABILITY! None of us likes to be told that we might be
wrong or that we might have to give up some of the bad things we do that we
enjoy so much. Or that continuing to do them will have consequences
which might last into eternity.
The problem is, ignoring the truth doesn't make
it any "less true." Believing the Earth is flat for example,
as some people amazingly still do apparently despite all the photos from
space, doesn't make it any less spherical. Not accepting the Bible in
its entirety and Jesus in his entirety likewise doesn't change the truth
about them.
So it really is a case of "All or Nothing," isn't
it?"