Is the Bible An accessory to many Church-goers?
The answer to this question unfortunately is a resounding yes. Why do I make this assertion? Because many people take what their Pastor says hook, line and sinker instead of being like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 where it says that they received the Word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily whether these things were so. The Bereans didn't even take Paul's and Silas' word as true until they examined it; and these men received direct revelation from the Spirit of God! We have an obligation to study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman who is not ashamed - rightly dividing the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).
If you're not diligent in study,
you will be duped by these numerous false teachers, wolves in sheep's clothing.
Here's what these charlatans do: They love to say that "God told me to
tell you..." Putting God's name on your falsehood clearly implies
dogmatism does it not? This is where the hypnotism begins in these social-prosperity-gospel centers (I can't in good conscience call them churches). To make their
"prophecy" appear authentic, they will take a Bible verse(s) out of
context. What they are doing is claiming they have received "divine
revelation", and they want the Bible to bow its knee to their divination. Remember,
the Bible for the false prophet is an accessory and not the Necessity for life faith and practice. Once they get the foolish
churchian[1]
riled up with their ear-gasm i.e. your “breakthrough”, they fatten you up for
the kill - the money grab!
Mission accomplished. You've been
played.
I would love to say that the
victim (i.e. church-goer) has been freed from their hypnotic trance, but most
return the following week to receive the same abuse from the same wolf in the
pulpit. We call this Stockholm Syndrome - when someone has an unhealthy
affection or attachment to their abuser. This is far worse! This is spiritual
witchcraft. This is what Paul said to the churches in Galatia:
O foolish
Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the
truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as
crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by
the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having
begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect in the flesh?
Galatians 3:1-3
Understand why Paul is rebuking
the Galatian church: He is upset with them and calling them fools because they
received the true gospel and were saved by grace through faith and by the Holy
Spirit - not by any external work they performed. But they began regressing,
thinking their salvation would be sustained by works of the law rather than
realizing their justification was by faith alone in Christ alone. Paul is piggy
backing off a discussion he began in the previous chapter after witnessing
Peter and other Jews play the hypocrite- stating that Gentile converts needed
to keep the Mosaic law in order to be saved (Galatians 2:12-21). This is how a
person begins to doubt their salvation, the power of God in their lives and the
trustworthiness of the Bible. Think about it, if everyone in the pulpit is
coming up with some new aberrant revelation every week, then the Bible is
nothing more than an accessory to their heterodoxy[2]
- it’s no longer the engrafted Word alone that
saves the soul (James 1:21).
My Bible clearly tells me that
God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).
The abuser is masquerading as a
representative of the Lord - using the Lord's name in vain as they mentally,
intellectually and spiritually devour your mind and soul as they line their
pockets.
What we are to do is what I said
at the very beginning of this article is to carefully analyze what we are
hearing and place it beside the scriptures to see if what they are saying is
confirmed through Holy Writ. If it’s not, reject it and them (i.e. a person that
habitually misinterprets scripture is not being Spirit led).
A person who is genuinely
Spirit-filled will not perpetually teach gross and careless
error on purpose - they just won't. They reverence and love God and His Word
too much to do that. I get that we are flawed as humans, even the best of us
will mis-interpret scripture due to poor hermeneutics[3],
ignorance, naivete and sinful impulse which can lead to subjective unbiblical private
interpretations, but that is never an excuse to not work hard to get the text
of scripture right. We have the tools - commentaries, Bible Dictionaries,
lexicons, Bible software, Authentic Bible Teachers and Expositors, etc. Most
importantly we have the Spirit of the Living God (1 John 2:20). You see, delivering the Word of God faithfully
is a lifestyle and worship to God.
At least that is the way I see
it.
Job said, "I have treasured
the words of His mouth more than my necessary food" (Job 23:12).
Jesus said to the devil, "It
is written man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4, originally from Deuteronomy
8:3).
Psalm 19:7 - The law
of the Lord is perfect converting the soul (italics added for
emphasis). The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
Psalm 119:105 - Your
Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path
John 6:63 - My words
are Spirit, and they are life (Jesus speaking italics mine).
Using the Bible as an accessory
shows one's disdain for God. We cannot treat the Bible like a handbag shoes or
jewelry that we put on and take off. The Word of God if intentionally studied
and understood changes your worldview, continually. You will (not probably)
filter everything through a Biblical lens. It is a narrow road to think
Biblically and most unpopular, but it is the only way that saves the soul.
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