[This post is not necessarily for the new convert or for the unread or spiritually immature. Please proceed carefully and prayerfully. The Holy Spirit Guidance Is Highly Recommended.]
Praise the LORD everybody. Let everyone praise the LORD!
I am led to shine a little light on a very sensitive subject that has become a well established and ingrained part of the “Christian Culture” even to the point of becoming an idol god.
I feel that the LORD is sending a warning to us to be careful that we do not make an idol out of something that he never intended for us to worship. We should not become like the pharisee and scribes who made their interpretation of Moses’ Law their god and final authority in their lives.
There is a notion among Christians that the Bible is the unadulterated, infallible and undisputed word of God.
I believe the majority of professed Christians would support and argue that the Bible is the undisputed Word of God.
Let’s examine that premise for a moment.
But first let us set forth the definitions of “Unadulterated” and “Undisputed and Infallible.”
According to the Oxford Dictionary, Undisputed means to be accepted without being called into question. Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines undisputed as being impossible to question or doubt.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, Unadulterated means not to be mixed or diluted with any different or extra elements. It means to be complete and absolutely pure.
According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, Infallible means not capable of being wrong or making mistakes: not fallible.
Based upon these definitions and what we know about the many translation errors and politically motivated manipulations and changes in the translation of Holy Scriptures, can we still say that the Bible is the unadulterated, infallible and undisputed Word of God? (Ref. Williston Walker’s A History Of The Christian Church)
The above picture caption sounds good but is it biblically true?
Well let’s look at this premise a little closer using the Bible itself.
I will offer a few exhibits out of the Bible as witnesses to GOD’S TRUTH.
Exhibit 1
The Bible records Jesus as telling Peter that no human agent (human disciplines of education, scriptural interpretation, intellectual or scientific investigation), revealed that he is the Christ but that the revelation of this TRUTH came only from the FATHER (Matthew 16:13-20).
Furthermore the Bible records Jesus as telling Peter and the rest of the disciples that it was upon this divine revelation (not interpretations of Scriptures) that He would establish His One TRUE CHURCH.
Therefore divine revelation is essential to the CHURCH of CHRIST and to His Followers.
Exhibit 2
In Matthew 11:1-25 Jesus is recorded as saying that John the Baptist was actually Elijah who was sent by God to prepare the way of the Messiah and that the learned scribes, Pharisees and religious scholars couldn’t discern this TRUTH although they had the Holy Scriptures for hundreds of years. Jesus even thanked the FATHER for hiding this truth from the learned and revealing it to babes (humble, unassuming, childlike believers).
Therefore, divine revelation was given by God through Christ to those who were humble enough to accept the Gospel of the Kingdom of God in Christ and believe. [Not through the reading and interpretation of Holy Scriptures]
Exhibit 3
The Bible records in the first chapter of John’s gospel that THE WORD was in the beginning with God and that the Word was God. “And that all things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made.”
John’s Gospel also witnesses that “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us” as opposed to becoming an incomplete collection of 66 man written and ordered books called a Bible.
Please note that at the time of the earthly arrival of Christ there weren’t any “Bibles” as we know them today yet God’s Holy Saving TRUTH about The Messiah was revealed to the willing and believing soul.
Exhibit 4
No place in Holy Scriptures does the Bible refer to itself as being Unadulterated, infallible or Indisputable.
Exhibit 5
The Holy Scripture Itself Testifies That The Holy Spirit Is The Required Agent Of Revelation And Not The Bible. (John 16:13)
Exhibit 6
Note that the listeners of Acts 2:37-47, without the benefit of a Bible, heard the Gospel message, believed, obeyed and 3,000 souls were added to the Body of Christ that day.
The Holy Spirit – not the Bible – is essential and mandatory for revelation and SALVATION.
Exhibit 7
Eternal salvation comes only through the Blood of Christ. The Holy Bible, or preferably the Holy Scriptures, can lead us to the giver of Eternal Life and point us in the direction of genuine salvation but it never claims to be the source of our Salvation or to be God.
In Summary:
The “Bible” is not to be worship as if it were God or trusted as if it were a source of unadulterated and indisputable divine revelation and salvation. It cannot be or else it would become an idol god.
There are just too many corruptions of the Holy Scripture’s texts and various interpretations and changes of its words and pages to be trusted literally. This fact is well documented in a variety of resources.
However, I believe that the Bible is a sacred resource tool that can be used by God and His Holy Spirit to reveal His Divine Mysteries and Saving Truth to us through His Holy Spirit – especially to those who have been gifted with His Holy Spirit – the divine teacher. (1 John 2:27)
But just like the Holy Spirit reveals the Truth of The written Word, the devil reveals a counterfeit truth and corrupts and perverts God’s written Word into a lie. And unrepentful mankind has proven to prefer the lie to the truth. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-11)
Don’t make the assumption that the Bible is the literal and infallible Word of GOD. CHRIST IS THE ONLY INFALLIBLE, UNADULTERATED AND INDISPUTABLE LIVING WORD OF GOD (JOHN 1).
The devil reads and interprets Scripture and manipulates the written Word to serve his evil purposes and deceive those who would be saved. All we have to do to see this is to just look at his discourse with Jesus in the wilderness. (Matthew 4:1-11)
And the devil is still misquoting and falsely interpreting the written Word today to deceive, steal, kill and destroy our Faith and our souls.
I assure you that I stand deathly afraid of saying the wrong thing about God, God’s written Word and His Holy Spirit.
I must trust and obey the Holy Spirit in all areas of my life – for I am in utter ignorance without the revelation, knowledge, wisdom and understanding of the Holy Spirit.
I hold the written Word of God as being Sacred and Holy but due to Satan’s deceptions and man’s corruption of the written Word, I must depend ultimately on the Living Word and The Holy Spirit to tell me What The written Word means. I dare not trust my own feeble and sinful intellect, imagination or understanding. I must deeply depend upon God’s revelation and not biblical translations.
Now Don’t Get It Twisted! I respect the Bible but I LOVE and TRUST the True and Living Word More. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:10-11)
Repent! And Wash Away Your Sins By Baptism In The Name Of Christ And Seek and Ask for the Holy Spirit of Promise That Will Lead You Into All Truths. AMEN!
REPENT!
(Click on any picture in this post to open an additional lesson on the Bible.)
This is the sole property of Othealor Wendell Prince, Jr.
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TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY, PRAISE AND HONOR!