Posted in Bible • Law • Tradition • Whole Bible Christianity book

Only the Moral?

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Whole Bible Christianity, chapter 6, ‘Only the Moral’

The next objection you have heard is that the Word (the Law) is split into three parts: ceremonial, civil, and moral. Ceremonial commands are supposed to be about sacrifices and holidays, laws of clean and unclean, and similar stuff. Civil commands, it is claimed, are the ones for government and punishment for violations. Moral commands are said to be universal in nature. These commands are allegedly fewer in number and include laws such as the prohibition of murder or stealing.

After dividing the Word into these non-biblical sections, some teachers pass judgment (James 4:11) on which parts apply to modern believers. In their opinion, the civil or ceremonial laws don’t apply. But I say to you the Bible doesn’t divide itself this way. No believer described in the Bible ever sets aside any part of it. There is nothing that gives us the right to toss anything out, no matter what fantasy divisions we make.

The rich truth is that the designations of civil, ceremonial, and moral are not found in the Word. We are warned on many occasions in the Word not to add to or take away from it. There is no hint that God thinks of any part of His Word as simply ‘ceremonial’ and therefore not worth doing, or limited only to Jewish people.

Everything God says is moral, whether we call it moral or invent some other category. All of His Words are eternal, and we are not to change any. That, of course, doesn’t keep us from trying, which we’ve been doing ever since the Garden.

A simple reading of the Word, by a humble and tender heart willing to respond, is sufficient to overturn the complicated, extra-biblical arguments for disobedience. Anything He asks us to do is part of His morality, whether we think it’s important or not.

Posted in Authority • Bible • Church • Daily Living • Whole Bible Christianity book

Form of Religion but No Power

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Chapter 1, Part Bible church, ‘Whole Bible Christianity’

Israel transformed God’s kingdom to man’s kingdom by holding to a form of religion but denying the power of it (2 Timothy 3:1-9). The church, which started out with a good foundation in the first century, has sadly done the same thing. Organizations do this. They start off okay, but drift into self-protection and failure to speak the Word, just like Israel did. Dogma, tradition, and complicated theologies eventually substitute for the simple straight talk from God.

Some things I say in this book might sound like unfair blanket statements. Until you realize that all who claim church membership or have a Christian name tag are not all in the Body of the Christ. Around the year 325 A.D. the Roman emperor Constantine made his version of Christianity the official religion of the empire. Everyone had to convert. Or else. This conversion was often nothing more than slapping Christian labels on pagan practices and being anti-Jewish. The slapping was literal in some cases because he chiseled off idol’s names and re-chiseled on ‘saints’ names. He tried to switch the real Sabbath to Sunday, and ‘Christianized’ pagan feasts that have come to be known as Christmas and Easter. If you wanted to get the empire off your back and do some business, you had to at least look like a Christian on the surface.

Constantine’s pragmatism reared its ugly head again in the revivals of the 1800’s. Preachers and evangelists of this time thought they should reduce the biblical message to ‘whatever gets them in the door.’ So they watered down the Bible to make it more palatable, and comfortable. Perhaps we could even say ‘ear tickling.’ This is where raised hands and going forward came from, which some famous evangelists of the 20th century raised to an art form.

The result is that we have a large population of church-goers conditioned to expect this and perpetuate it, as if it really means salvation. The enemy’s tares of “seeker friendly, spiritual but not religious” teachings were sown under the cover of seeming to advance the Kingdom. But when we sacrifice truth on the altar of expediency, we fill our buildings and not our hearts.

You may recognize that Constantine’s version of “church” still exists today. When I mention the church (little ‘c’) in this book, I’m including everyone who wears the name, even though most don’t truly play on God’s side in the game.

Posted in Authority • Bible • Hermeneutics • Translational Bias • Whole Bible Christianity book

Can the Bible Be Trusted?

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Chapter 4 of ‘Whole Bible Christianity’ section on “Can the Bible be Trusted?”

I’m sure you’ve heard teachings that cast doubt on the authenticity of the Word. For instance, some claim that ‘translational bias’ has corrupted the translations. What they mean is that no one can translate well enough to get God’s message across because our own brains get in the way. We have too many assumptions.

It is true that when it comes to translating the Bible, even the most well trained scholar can color his or her translating. It is also true that even scholars have assumptions. We all have a bias of some sort even when casually reading the Word. It’s been a problem since the beginning.

1Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” (Genesis 3:1-3 NASB95)

The serpent was obviously against what God instructed the first man and woman to do. “Has God said” is a common refrain among those who seek to destroy the authority of the Father throughout history. Eve had a bias too, as shown by her ‘don’t touch’ twist on what God said (He only said “don’t eat”). Created beings play fast and loose with God’s Words, and we need to watch ourselves. Bernard Ramm puts it this way.

“…we all need a new sense of respect for the Holy Scripture. Believing it to be the veritable word of God, we must exercise all the human pains possible to keep from overlaying it with a gossamer pattern of our own spinning. In each of those cases where human error enters, divine truth is obscured. Let us then steer a straight course through the Holy Bible, neither turning to the left side of heresy nor to the right side of unbridled imagination.”

But the weightiest truth against the claim of translational bias, or any other teaching casting doubt on the Bible, is that the foundation for all of the books is the first five. The Torah was the first canon by which any additional writing, or any prophet or preacher, was always measured.

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. (Isaiah 8:20 NASB95)

Posted in Bible • Daily Living • Law • Whole Bible Christianity book

God’s Word is Law, Love, Light, Lamp, Instruction, etc.

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The Bible is given to all people, but some grab hold while others let it slip away. To believers every word from God is love, light, life, a lamp, instruction, law, commands, judgments, teaching, ways, wisdom and truth.

• Love—John 12-14, 15:10.
• Light and lamp—Proverbs 6:23; Psalm 119:105; Isaiah 8:20; Revelation 21:23, 22:5.
• Life—Deuteronomy 4:1, 32:46-47; Proverbs 8:32-36; Matthew 19:16, 17.
• Instructions—Isaiah 1:10; Exodus 16:4 24:12; Jeremiah 35:13; Job 22:22, 36:10; Psalm 78:1; Zephaniah 3:1-7; Malachi 2:1-9; Proverbs 1:2,3,7,8 4:1,2; Romans 15:4; Ephesians 6:4; 1 Timothy 1:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:1, 5:12; 2 Tim 4:2.
• Law—Jeremiah 6:18-19; Zechariah 7:12; Deut 5:5, 17:11, 27:1-3, 26, 30:10,14, 32:46,47; John 15:25; Acts 6:2-4,7 13:44,48,49, 28:23; Romans 9:28,31,32; 1 Corinthians 15:2; Galatians 5:14.
• Commands, judgments, teachings & ways—Isaiah 2:3; Proverbs 5:12, 7:2, 8:10, 1:8, 4:2, 3:1, 6:20-23; Jeremiah 32:33; Deuteronomy 4:1; 2 Chronicles 15:1-7; Matthew 4:23, 7:28,29, 9:35, 13:54, 15:9, 28:20; Acts 2:42, 4:2, 18:11; Romans 12:7; 1 Corinthians 14:26.
• Wisdom and truth—Psalm 119:43,44,142, 138:2; Proverbs 23:23; Malachi 2:6; 1 Kings 2:3-4; John 17:17, 18:37-38, 8:31-32; James 1:18, 21-23,25.

Everything God says could be described by any of these terms. ‘Law’ is ‘instruction’ and also a ‘lamp’ and ‘light.’ ‘Wisdom’ and ‘truth’ is also ‘love’ and ‘life.’ Some people separate His Words into cubbyholes. They think that somehow a word from Him that is ‘Law’ is not ‘love,’ or that a word that is a ‘lamp’ is not ‘Law.’

Posted in Bible • Church • Reward • Whole Bible Christianity book

We Don’t Get Punished

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From the book, ‘Whole Bible Christianity’
Then there is the idea that we don’t have to do the Law because we don’t get punished right away. This is a typical attitude from Christians, which many don’t say aloud. Usually this objection comes up when speaking of the (perceived) small commands such as avoiding pork and shellfish. Because God does not seem to stand around and whack us upside the head with a stick when we don’t obey, some think that implies permission to sin.

11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil. (Ecclesiastes 8:11 NASB95)

But we really should make sure of our idea of punishment. Connection to actions is not always seen. We may not be immediately punished with a lightning bolt or by the ground opening up and swallowing us (Numbers 16:30). But that doesn’t mean we won’t suffer when we ignore His command. Many times suffering is slow in coming because God wants us to repent.

We have no idea of the effects of eating flesh that is not food. For instance, we don’t know for sure whether some of our diseases come from ingesting pork or shellfish on a regular basis. Science doesn’t know enough to figure it all out because it’s too complex.

Many effects of sin take a while to manifest, such as a pregnancy or disease from illicit sex. God is gracious in protecting us from some consequences of sin on some occasions. But should we continue to presume on, or cheapen, His grace this way?

1What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? (Romans 6:1-2 NASB95)

In addition, how does this idea of avoiding immediate punishment fit in with love? Is it part of love to say I can do what I want because I’m not being hit with a stick? Not really. Love means God gives us commands that are good for us. A loving response is to do whatever He asks, simply because He asks. He is the source of light and life and love, so when we do what He says we share in His goodness at the same time.

Posted in Bible • Bible Verse • Daily Living • Whole Bible Christianity

Relevance

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Some struggle to see the Word or parts of the Word as relevant in their lives. The center of this struggle is not the Word, but the self. Confusion is caused when we refuse His plain teaching. All of His Word is relevant to our lives in every way. Every word He speaks is as relevant as a heartbeat. If relevance is hard to find, it’s more likely due to church dogma or the condition of a person’s heart.


His word does not age or fade away; it does not change or fall apart. People, on the other hand, easily change, fade, age and harden. We move away from the Word but the Word, like bedrock, never moves. Circumstances change; people die, but the Word of the Lord and its relevance lives forever (Matthew 24:35).


The Word is one complete book of living oracles (one faith) given to all people by our one God and Savior Jesus the Christ. It is not ‘old’ and ‘new’ in the sense of outdated and updated, nor is any part of it irrelevant. It contains a great deal of wisdom, but it is not a book of disconnected wise sayings. It is full of many practical life instructions, but it is not a book of suggestions. It is a puzzle book to the lawless (1 Corinthians 1:18) yet plain and easy to understand for the humble and obedient heart.