This study is currently under re-construction.
The Bible is said to be the foundation stone upon which the Church of God rests. It is often quoted to encourage and build up faith in God. Indeed, the Bible says of itself:
II Timothy 3:16 Every Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, 3:17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Sometimes however, the Scriptures are misused to condemn people and destroy faith!
It seems like one can prove (or disprove) almost anything by quoting from the Bible and this perception leaves many sincere people confused. Because a handful of Bible verses have been twisted and misapplied to condemn GLBT Believers many gays and lesbians now view the Bible itself as a source book of intolerance. Those who know the Bible understand that it nowhere condemns people due to sexual orientation, however the perception persists and drives innumerable people farther and farther away from the God of inclusive Love and Mercy.
Compounding this confusion is the proliferation of Bible versions, many (like the NIV) are distinctly and deliberately homophobic. Now when a person says, "The Bible says..." we have to ask, "which Bible?"
There was a time not so long ago when if you spoke English your Bible translation was almost certainly the Authorized King James Version. Today however there are almost as many Bible versions as there are Christian denominations! It all seems very confusing at times!
So it is completely understandable that people ask, "Do we really need the Bible?" Would we perhaps be better off just forgetting about the ancient source book of faith and starting from scratch?
Can we know God without the Holy Book?
The first thing to remember is that if you're a Christian, the Bible did not save you, Jesus did! People tend to forget this sometimes.
May I repeat this? The Bible didn't save you, Jesus did!
Don't get out the stakes for my crucifixion just yet! I'm not denying the importance of the Holy Scriptures, God forbid! But the Bible tells us about HaShem, the God of Israel and the Noahides. It leads us to salvation by sharing a written record of God's dealings with the people of this planet. Through its pages we read the words revealed to Moses, to the prophets and others. The B'rit Hadashah or New Testament records Master Y'shua's insights and teachings, his promises and prophecies. It explains those teachings through the words of Paul, of John and Peter and others.
That Glorious Holy Book teaches us that salvation and liberation from sin and death is the free gift of God, not of works leaving none to boast! Restoration with the One God is not granted by any book, even the Bible, not even in its original pure form!
No, the Bible has never saved a single soul. -- The Author of the Bible did it all!
BUT the Bible reveals how to uncover the truth of God:
Acts 10:9 Now on the next day as they were on their journey, and got close to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about noon.
10:10 He became hungry and desired to eat, but while they were preparing, he fell into a trance.
10:11 He saw heaven opened and a certain container descending to him, like a great sheet let down by four corners to the earth, 10:12 in which were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and birds of the sky.
10:13 A voice came to him, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat!"
10:14 But Peter said, "Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean."
10:15 A voice came to him again the second time, "What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean."
10:16 This was done three times, and immediately the vessel was retrieved again into heaven.
10:17 Now while Peter was very perplexed and considering what the vision he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood before the gate, 10:18 and called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there.
10:19 While Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Behold, three men seek you. 10:20 So arise, get down, and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them."
Peter was a devout and faithful Jew. He knew the Law of Moses, the Torah. He knew that it was a sin for him to eat the creatures on that blanket, but he also understood that what he was seeing was a vision from God! It was revealing something more than dietary laws. As a devout First Century Jew Peter piously avoided contact with Gentiles, as did Master Y'shua (Matt 15:26) and yet here he was being instructed by God to share his faith in HaShem and the teachings of Master Y'shua with Noahides (Gentiles)! This was unheard of.
"Sorry God, no can do," he could have answered. "See, I'm a Torah observant Jew and Leviticus says..."
But what did God say. God didn't reply that there were older, more reliable manuscripts that said it was all right. God didn't reference Strong's Concordance and break down the literal meanings of the words, No!
God said, "What I have called clean do not you call unclean!"
God knew the Law better than Peter did, and God said, "Kill and eat these un-kosher foods"! The Levitical Law was superceded by the sovereign Will of God! God had said these animals, and hence the Gentiles being alluded to, were now to be considered as pure, so they were pure no matter what the Bible said!
Now, these Gentiles that soon showed up weren't dummies either! No doubt those sent to Peter's house knew they were asking Peter to violate the Levitical law by their request, but God had told them to go so they went.
And what happened? Peter violated the letter of the Law, preached the Gospel to non-Jews, and, beginning at verse 44:
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.45 All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
46 For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered,
47 "Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?"
48 And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.
The Holy Ghost fell on the Gentiles!
God told these Gentiles to go, they went. God told Peter to go, he went. Then the Holy Ghost came!
Peter could look at these people and see that God had made them pure! Remember what Jesus said? By their fruits you can know his disciples.
There are those today who say that God doesn't love certain groups of people, like gays and lesbians, that they are outcasts, abominations according to Leviticus, but friend, who are we to judge? Surely only God can determine anyone's standing. And besides:
Acts 5:39: "...but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it--lest you even be found to fight against God."
What God has called holy, do not dare to call unholy! By the Spirit of God we can know the truth of a thing by its fruits and by the witness of our spirits. Yet even so, our own cultural and religious belief systems come into play. The best advice is to leave the judging of other to God (1 Corinthians 4:3).
Now, some will argue at this point that we must have the Bible to teach us!
However scripture says clearly at I John 2:27:
"As for you, the anointing which you received from God abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as God's anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in God."
For those who surrender their will and ego to God, the indwelling Spirit of Truth will teach us all things and, in harmony with that sweet Spirit, we may peaceably abide in God.
But you may say, the heart is vile, you can't trust it!
Well, the Bible says, at I John 3:
18: "Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
19 We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before God
20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.
21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God...
The question is will we trust God?
The Christian mystic Thomas Merton (1919-68) wrote in Seeds of Contemplation:
"Contemplation is the highest expression of one's intellectual and spiritual life. It is that life itself, fully awake, fully active, fully aware that it is alive. It is spiritual wonder. It is spontaneous awe at the sacredness of life, of being."
It is by searching our hearts that we know the mysteries and the will of God.
So, what about the Bible?
Yes!
We read at II Tim. 2: 15:
Study to show yourself approved unto God, a worker that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
And what is that word of truth? Why, it is the Bible. Paul continues to tell Timothy:
2 Timothy 3:16: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17: That the person of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Please understand, we love the Bible here at AllFaith.com, we read it and honor it, but my friends, we must "rightly divide this word of Truth," not just take it out of context for our own purposes as is too often done.
So, what's the central issue then? How are we saved? How do we draw closer and closer to God?
Romans 3:
19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;
20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in God's sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets
22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified as a gift by God's grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in Jesus' blood through faith. This was to demonstrate Jesus' righteousness, because in the forbearance of God God passed over the sins previously committed;
26 for the demonstration, I say, of God's righteousness at the present time, so that God would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.
28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is God not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
30 since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.
31 Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.
We establish and confirm the legitimacy of the written Law by acknowledging that we can't possibly fulfill it! Its only by God's Grace that any of us are saved, whoever we are and that Grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9).
So then, while the Bible truly is the Word of God and is conducive to our spiritual development and salvation, it is God who saves, not the Bible. It is God who instructs us, not the Bible. We should not become like the Bible-thumpers who use the Word of Love as a tool for bigotry and hatred. We must use it for love and peace, to draw ever closer to God.
Those who abuse the blessed Word of God through their hatred and spiritual darkness would do well to heed these words of John the Beloved. He sounds a stern warning in Third John:
I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say.
10 For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church.
11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
Far too many people have "been put out of the churches" and told that God does not love them, that God made a mistake in their design, that it takes money or knowledge to be a Believer, that they must play politics or deny what they inwardly know to be true, but friend the Bible tells me differently! The Bible, as well as my personal experiences with God, tells me that God so loves us ALL that Jesus came to set us ALL free. I'm free today! We are free today and one day we'll all know the Truth! I bet we will ALL be surprised by it! (Phil. 4:8,9
Thank you and may our beloved Creator bless you abundantly.
My Grace Inclusive Yahoo groups
The Grace Inclusive Christian Prayer And/Or Bible and Homosexuality (and discussion) groups
The Grace Inclusive Christian Prayer And/Or Bible and Homosexuality (and discussion) groups
You are visitor number...
Who cares, I'm glad YOU'RE here!
Who cares, I'm glad YOU'RE here!
 |
|
|
| |
|
| |
| | |
|
| |
| |