Category: False Teaching

Mercy and Not Sacrifice? #5

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

“But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day” (Matthew 12:7,8 KJV).

What did our Lord mean in today’s Scripture?

Christ’s disciples are hungry, so they pluck corn and eat it as they and Jesus pass through the fields (verse 1). The Pharisees, rather than being sympathetic toward these hungry believers in Christ, chastise them for “[doing] that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day” (verse 2). “Moses said not to work on the Sabbath Day, and Your disciples are disobeying Moses!”

Like the entire nation Israel, these religious leaders have lost sight of the God who gave them the Law through Moses. The Pharisees, the chief example of this hypocrisy, worshipped the Law instead of worshipping the God whom they were to worship using the Law!! Jesus frequently condemned this vain religious system during His earthly ministry (similar vain religion has plagued the Church the Body of Christ for the last 20 centuries!).

Christ twice-reminded these “educated,” conceited Pharisees of their ignorance of the Old Testament Scriptures: “But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; how he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?” (verses 3-5).

Jesus wisely argued that, although the shewbread was only meant for the priests to eat, David and his men were hungry and were permitted to consume it (1 Samuel 21:1-6). Furthermore, He argued that Moses’ inspired writings—“the law”—approved work on the Sabbath if not working caused one to disobey other laws of God. Remember, Israel’s priests had to perform Tabernacle and Temple duties, even on the Sabbath day.

Obviously, the Pharisees were so preoccupied with the Sabbath-day keeping that they overlooked the Sabbath-day meaning….

To Live is Christ, To Die is Gain

Thursday, September 5, 2013

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21 KJV).

In these twelve simple words, we see the Christian’s life and death….

The Christian (“Christlike”) life is the life that Jesus Christ lives in and through the Christian. Here on this earth, Christ lives His life in us Christians. Galatians 2:20 affirms: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

Colossians 3:4 says, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear….” The Bible also says in Colossians 1:27, “…Christ in you [Gentiles], the hope of glory….” We do not live the Christian life because we, even as Christians, cannot live the Christian life. Only Jesus Christ can live His life. When we place our faith in God’s Word to us, Romans through Philemon, the Holy Spirit will take that sound doctrine and transform our inner man (soul and spirit; 1 Thessalonians 2:13), thereby changing the outward man (the actions of the physical body).

In today’s Scripture, we also learn that for the Christian, physical death is “gain.” In 2 Corinthians 5:6-8, we read: “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

While here in this physical world, we are absent from the third heaven where God our heavenly Father dwells. However, we have a responsibility—yea, a privilege—to care for our Christian brethren here on earth and tell the lost world about the salvation in Jesus Christ!

Until we reach heaven’s glory, we agree with Paul: “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you” (Philippians 1:23,24). 🙂

Biblical Stigmata

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

“From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Galatians 6:17 KJV).

The Apostle Paul wrote in today’s Scripture that no one could deny his apostleship was of Jesus Christ, for he bore “in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” What were these “marks?”

Interestingly, the Greek word here translated “marks” is stigmata, which in English means “signs of disgrace or shame.” Understand that these stigmata which Paul suffered were Scriptural, and they involved shame and hatred, not awe and pride like the “stigmata” of religious tradition (wounds on one’s hands and feet superstitiously believed to be Christ’s scars, which leads to nothing more than pagan idolatry).

Notice what an apostle endured in Bible times: “For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; and labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day” (1 Corinthians 4:9-13).

How many of today’s (self-proclaimed) “apostles” could write what Paul did in the above verses? Today, Christendom uses the title “apostle,” not to refer to those who have been directly commissioned and sent by Jesus Christ to travel abroad preaching the Gospel (which is the Biblical definition), but to those who have deceived themselves into believing they have a special “anointing” of God. In Paul’s day, “apostle” was a term of scorn and hatred; today, it is one of great fame and wealth.

Read 2 Corinthians 11:22-30, and notice the beatings, stonings, imprisonments, 195 (!) lashes, and other pains Paul suffered for the Gospel’s sake. How many are willing to endure that stigmata for Christ?

Words Spoken at Baptism?

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” (Matthew 28:19 KJV).

How do we resolve these instructions with what the Holy Spirit spoke through the Apostle Peter in Acts 2:38?

Water baptism, the most divisive issue within Christendom, is rightly called “religious TNT.” There is tremendous confusion about water baptism. Who should administer it (priest, pastor, deacon)? What is the proper mode (sprinkling, pouring, immersion)? What words should be said? Who should be water baptized (adults only, or adults and babies)? How many times forward and backward? Where should it occur? For salvation, for a testimony, or not at all?

Confusion especially arises regarding today’s Scripture and Acts 2:38. Post-resurrection, Jesus commissioned His apostles: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” (today’s Scripture). Yet, read Acts 2:38: “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Which is it? Water baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” as Jesus Christ declared (Matthew 28:19)? Or, be baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ,” as the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter taught (Acts 2:38)? Even today, some denominations follow Matthew 28:19 while others obey Acts 2:38, fervently accusing each other of not having the valid baptism!

Resolving the apparent contradiction between Matthew 28:19 and Acts 2:38 is as simple as reading and believing the verses and their context. To whom does Matthew 28:19 refer? “All nations”—Gentiles—just as the verse says. Whom does Acts 2:38 involve? “All the house of Israel” (verse 36).

Matthew 28:19 refers to believing Gentiles in Christ’s millennial kingdom (verse 20) being cleansed from their pagan idolatry and embracing the triune Godhead, the only true God. Acts 2:38 is God’s plan of salvation for Israel: Peter is instructing Jews to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the Person they rejected and crucified on Calvary’s cross.

Who Is a Saint? #5

Friday, August 30, 2013

“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:” (1 Corinthians 1:30 KJV).

Behold, the identity that we Christians have in the Lord Jesus Christ!

In religion, “saints” are nothing more than intercessors who influence God to grant us favors. In Scripture, they are something else entirely. God—yea, God alone—creates saints through Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork (today’s Scripture). Saints are not for our selfish desires: they are for God to use to glorify His Son Jesus Christ forever and ever and ever.

Among other things, Jesus Christ is our “sanctification” (today’s Scripture). The writer of the book of Hebrews, when describing Israel’s salvation, used the same terminology the Apostle Paul utilized to refer to us, the Church the Body of Christ. “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all…. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:10,14; cf. Hebrews 13:12; 1 Peter 1:2; Jude 1).

Just as God will separate (sanctify) these believing Jews from the unsaved descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (like He separated Aaron and his sons from the common Israeli bloodline for service in the Levitical priesthood), so He has separated us from the ordinary human race. Just as He will redeem Israel from her sins and Satanic bondage using Jesus Christ’s shed blood (via the New Covenant; Hebrews 8:8-13), so He has bought us out of that slave market of sin and death (redemption; today’s Scripture).

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). In Christ, we have a new nature: we are a new type of mankind, the Church the Body of Christ, the “one new man” (Ephesians 2:15). All saints are equal in Jesus Christ—all Christians are in one body.

When God saved us, He not only delivered us from His wrath in everlasting hellfire, but He made us “saints” in Jesus Christ (today’s Scripture) to use us for His glory forever….

Who Is a Saint? #1

Monday, August 26, 2013

“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:” (1 Corinthians 1:30 KJV).

Behold, the identity that we Christians have in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Just as religion confuses us regarding the definition of “sinner,” it genders uncertainty as to what is a “saint.” Did you know that denominations disagree as to what a “saint” actually is? Must one die to be deemed a “saint?” Is it necessary to have two confirmed posthumous miracles demonstrating one’s intercessory work to God, before one can be recognized as a “saint?” Must one lead a sinless life to be a “saint?” Must one be “canonized” by a church hierarchy to become a “saint?” Should certain “saints” be revered more than others? These are important questions, and the Bible already declared their answers long before any church councils or church fathers offered fallible opinions.

The Lord Jesus Christ so clearly affirmed: “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).

As always, remember that the authority is not in church councils, denominational boards, creeds, assumptions, patristic writings, or preconceived notions. According to the Lord Jesus Himself, the Bible alone is the standard by which all will be judged one day. In the King James Bible, we English-speaking people have every word that the Almighty God of creation wants us to hear from Him. Jesus Christ will use that same text to judge our beliefs one day, so we had better learn what His Word says rather than appealing to the traditions of men!

Firstly, let it be understood that our English word “saint” is derived from the Old French saintifier (influenced later by sanctifier), from ecclesiastical Latin sanctificare, from Latin sanctus ‘holy.’ “Saint” in our New Testament is the Greek word hagios, meaning “holy” or “set apart.” In today’s Scripture, the Bible says that we who are in Jesus Christ are “sanctified,” set apart, holy, and are therefore “saints.”

Let us delve deeper into this doctrine….

In the Palm of Thy Hand

Sunday, August 25, 2013

“Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way” (Psalm 119:128 KJV).

Join the psalmist in esteeming the “precepts” of God preserved for thee in a Book that thou canst hold in the palm of thy hand….

The concept of our Creator God, Jesus Christ, is quite overwhelming. He is such a BIG God concerned about us, such tiny creatures who do everything we can to push Him and His will aside in favor of a “more intelligent” plan. To think that He would even bother to give His Word that was first preserved in heaven (Psalm 119:89) and form it into a book of human language that we could hold in our hands and study and read for ourselves, knowing full well the textual critics and denominationalists would immediately butcher it with their vain translational and hermeneutical methods, that they would greatly “wrest” (twist, corrupt) His Word. They have set themselves up for the day when they will stand before Him and be held accountable for their foolishness!

In today’s Scripture, the psalmist confessed: “Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.” A “precept” is “a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought.” In the verse previous, he declared: “Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold” (verse 127). Do we “esteem all [God’s] precepts concerning all things to be right,” or just the parts of Scripture that bolster our denominational system? Do we love God’s Word “above gold, above fine gold?”

Dear readers, may we never take our King James Bible for granted. History testifies to the fact that countless souls died to give us those precious and preserved Words of God. They did not die in vain, so let us not relinquish that golden text in favor of the feeble, tarnished hallucinations of seminarians, Bible skeptics, and others who rely on human wisdom to govern their worldview (the “false way” of today’s Scripture). May we “esteem” the Word in the palm of our hand, and value it in our hearts by believing it! 🙂

Who Is a Sinner? #6

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 KJV).

Behold, God’s standard of righteousness, of which we all fall short!

Returning to our earlier comments, religious people, whether they know it or not, have set themselves up for misery and disappointment (not including that which will come in eternity). The Bible so clearly declares in Galatians 3:10-13: “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written [Deuteronomy 27:26], Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith [Habakkuk 2:4]. And the law is not of faith: but [Leviticus 18:5], The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written [Deuteronomy 21:23], Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”

By virtue of the Mosaic Law, we are all “guilty before God” (Romans 3:19). No matter how hard we try, we cannot bring God praise by our performance, and we can never measure up to His glory. The Law “was weak through the flesh” (Romans 8:3): our flesh (that is, we in our resources and strength) cannot obey every single rule that demonstrates God’s holiness. The Law only condemns; it saves no one!

However, the good news is that Jesus Christ died on our behalf; He suffered God’s wrath against our sin by becoming “sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus Christ took God’s curse on us sinners, and He bore its weight on Calvary’s cross! When we trust alone in the shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that perfect sacrifice reunites us with God, and we are declared “the righteousness of God” in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). As sinners, we qualify for God’s plan of salvation available only to sinners. By God’s abounding grace, we can be saved from the curse that our performance generates….

Who Is a Sinner? #5

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 KJV).

Behold, God’s standard of righteousness, of which we all fall short!

Religious tradition misleads us to believe that God is pleased with us as long as we appear religious and He is upset with us when we commit deeds of which the “church” or denomination disapproves (then, the church leadership urges us to give money to “make up” for our transgressions!). Going to church, praying, singing hymns, and giving can be God-honoring, but rarely is it ever understood that these activities can also be just as ungodly as the sins of the flesh.

Remember, “judge not a book by its cover”—appearance is not necessarily reality. Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 7:11, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” Despite our “good” works, we still have an “evil” nature!

The Bible explains in Ephesians 2:1-3: “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”

Notice the expression, “the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” There exists in every human being a “spirit,” an attitude, which first appeared in the heart of Lucifer/Satan, “the prince of the power of the air.” This nature is completely opposed to the Lord Jesus Christ: it rejects His values, commandments, and will. That attitude, often called the Adamic (sin) nature, produces sinful behavior (sins, plural), the “desires of the flesh and of the mind.”

Indeed, our “good” works do not impress God, for our nature is evil….

Who Is a Sinner? #4

Monday, August 19, 2013

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 KJV).

Behold, God’s standard of righteousness, of which we all fall short!

Earlier, we briefly mentioned the three types of religious people we meet on a daily basis: (1) those who are too self-righteous to admit that they are sinners, (2) those who are attempting to obey a set of rules to keep God happy and hopefully merit His favor to get them into heaven, and (3) those who believe that their imperfections and transgressions will be dealt with in purgatorial flames. The Bible believer simply cannot hold to any of these viewpoints:

  1. “I AM GOOD ENOUGH ALREADY” — This viewpoint (self-righteousness) is flawed. When compared to some, we appear good, but when compared to others, we appear bad. Determining our “goodness” by focusing on someone else’s sins is unwise, for others also use our sins to establish their “goodness.” Using this system, one can never definitively conclude who is good and who is not! The standard is not you, I, or any other sinful creature—the standard of righteousness is God (today’s Scripture).
  2. “I AM TRYING TO BE GOOD ENOUGH” — This viewpoint (self-reformation) is also defective. No matter what set of rules we attempt to keep, we never can keep them perfectly. Although we can keep from committing certain types of sins and we can stop certain sins, we still have plenty of other sins that complicate our lives. How can God be pleased with our “good” deeds when He is too offended by our sins?
  3. “I WILL BE GOOD ENOUGH AFTER PURGATORY” — This viewpoint (self-suffering) is faulty, too. Can a person suffering in flames of fire really burn away his or her wicked nature and all its resultant sins? Nay, the only flames in the afterlife of which the Bible warns are hell and the lake of fire, where people are never reformed or purified, only preserved and punished!

Dear readers, I warn you in love that these three viewpoints can be summarized as self-delusion. They ignore the very reason why Jesus Christ came to this planet in the first place…!