This is my continuation from my previous post. Again I want to get this out in the open, I’m not going to pretend I know everything ; I don’t. My goal here is not to make you believe me or convince you of my thoughts, feelings, and opinions. My goal is to help you think and ask the questions, but more importantly, to search for the truth in the scripture, so that you may grow in your knowledge and relationship with Christ. As born-again followers of Christ living in today’s world it’s so very easy to hear things that sound biblical but just are not scriptural at all. I call them the feel good mantras. They make people feel good but it’s not the reality of the teachings in the scriptures or Jesus himself. Remember, context it key. It’s never okay or correct to pull out a verse and twist it to say something it’s not saying and I pray I don’t do that. That becomes misleading. I’ve been “around the block” and I’ve heard it all. Well, maybe not “all” as these past few years I’ve heard things that shocked me that people claim the scripture says, that when I actually look for it, it’s not in there, but instead it is some man’s interpretation to get some kind of man made idea across. I’ll say it again, the Bible is not that complicated when you read it without presuppositions or man’s idea of what they want it to say. Just allow the Holy Spirit to show you what it says. Don’t read the scriptures with a YOU centered bent or a modern day Christianity idea. That is to say, there was no such thing as “Calvinism”, “dispensationalism”, “Baptist”, “Catholic”, etc, when the scriptures were written and it’s this author’s opinion you should not read the Bible this way. All of these types of interpretations can make things a lot more confusing than they really are. I’ve heard the opinions of Pastors and Bible teachers…many…and I was always left confused about things that didn’t make sense when I read the words that have been placed into what we call the Bible. I am not one to take man’s word just because he has a title like “Pastor”. This doesn’t mean I don’t respect Pastors, who to the best of their ability, are preaching the truth. I also wanted to seek out what others opinions were on many of these topics that I was taught was the only “truth”, according to some man who interpreted the Bible to say something in particular, and yet others say something else. Who’s right? Does it matter who’s right? My opinion is the only thing we have to get right is “who is Jesus and what was his purpose?”. The rest is not worth arguing over. Still, I wanted to point out things that over the years have made me nuts when I hear them because that’s not what scripture says and I do think it’s important that we understand what was written down and why in the context of who, what, and when. It’s okay for you to question your Pastors, your teachers, and your traditions, but do it with your Bible in your hand.

• The Claim: If America or Christians in America would just return to God in prayer he would heal our land.
  • The Truth: This comes from 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says, “and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.” Is this really talking about America and/or Christians? I’m an American and I want to know why Americans think we are so special. No, this is not about America. This verse has nothing to do with healing America or any other place. In context you read that this was given to Solomon who was the King of Israel, after he finished building the temple. This was God’s promise to him for the Jewish people at the time of the first temple building. The principle here of being humble, praying, and turning from evil ways, can be looked at for everyone as we see these sentiments in Christ, but this verse in no way is about healing America and getting America back on track (whatever that means).
• The Claim: Give, and it will be given to you, literally. This is used in prosperity gospel preaching but it might also happen in your own church when they pass around the offering plate. It’s being used to tell you that you need to give money and you will be blessed by God.
  • The Truth: This statement is part of Luke 6:38 which says, “Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over—will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” This is one verse out of many verses in this chapter where Jesus is teaching and conveying a message about how to live as a follower of him, how to emulate his life and how to treat people. Read the whole chapter to get the whole sentiment being conveyed. Nowhere in this chapter does it say to “give to the church” or “give to God” for that matter, in order that you be blessed. This is Jesus teaching a moral standard of living which is exactly what he does during his life on Earth.
• The Claim: God won’t give you more than you can handle. Oh my, how many times have you heard this statement? I hear it everywhere; in church, in Bible study, on TV shows, and in movies.
  • The Truth: Would it surprise you to know that the Bible does not say this, at all? This comes from 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says,“No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.” Does this say the same thing and does it literally mean God won’t give us more than we can handle? Here’s the short answer, no. I understand that your Bible translation could word this verse differently but for consistency I am sticking to the Christian Standard Bible which is the one I choose to use regularly, though I often compare to other versions. (I grew up on KJV) Paul was writing to the Corinthians here and what was his messaging? Like most of his letters he is warning them about becoming like unbelievers, or complacent and what lifestyles of those who proclaim Christ should look like. Go back a few chapters (Chapter 1) and you’ll see what I mean. Paul is telling them here about not succumbing to temptation. That they will be tempted to sin, those temptations are not from God, but with God you can overcome them. Yes, your temptations are more than you can handle by yourself. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t need God. Paul suffered himself but he did not rely on his own strength to get through it. Yes, what Paul suffered is more than any human can handle on their own. That’s the point here. Yes, you will get “more than you can handle” as there is zero promise you won’t. But this is why you need the Lord. Why did Jesus come if we could handle things on our own? God never promises any Christian they won’t suffer tremendous hardships, in fact you can see the opposite in scripture. However, this can be a tool to draw you closer to God. Don’t believe the lie that you won’t suffer more than you can handle, because when that happens, what happens? Many people than doubt God or blame him or even reject him.
• The Claim: Many times people will quote this, “I know the plans I have for you.” The claim is is something like God has these great plans for you and a promise of blessing, or so I think that’s why people continually quote this verse.
  • The Truth: This is Jeremiah 29:11, which says in full,^” For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” You can see why people cling to this verse. On the surface it looks like the Bible is telling you that God plans for you not to suffer. This is false and same goes for a similar out of context verse, Romans 8:28 (please do your own reading on this verse, read the whole chapter and understand what Paul is writing, go back and read from chapter 1). God never ever promises you that you won’t suffer in this life. So what is this verse about? Well, it isn’t about you. This verse is for the Jews at the time of Jeremiah’s life. The first verse of this chapter tells you so, “This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining exiled elders, the priests, the prophets, and all the people Nebuchadnezzar had deported from Jerusalem to Babylon.”. You have to read the entire passage to understand this verse in it’s correct context. Again, this verse is not about you. When you read the context, who, what, and where, you can’t miss what Jeremiah is saying. He is speaking to the exiles about God’s promises to them. The Jewish people were being judged for disobeying God. Babylon was this judgement. God used Jeremiah to convey a message to the exiled and in that message was one of hope and for a future. This is not about prospering you or a promise of peace and prosperity to you or that you won’t endure suffering. If you believe that being a follower of Christ means you won’t suffer, than you’ve never read scripture or been very misled. Jesus said it himself which you can read in John 15:18-25. (verse 20, “Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.”)
• This last one I’m not sure there is a claim but perhaps a dangerous interpretation about healing. I’m going to start with the verses often used. James 5:14-15 says, “Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” I’m going to try to be gentle here but how many times have you heard this said for the basis of healing people of physical ailments? How many of you have heard a Pastor or others imply that when someone is not healed it’s because of their unrepentant sin? I have. I think these verses is where that comes from. Perhaps these false teachers that perform “healing miracles” on stage use these verses also. Here’s the problem, if you are not healed from your physical ailment it does not mean it’s because you don’t have enough faith. If someone tells you that I’d ask who made them judge? We have physical issues in this life because of a decaying world..I’d go out on a limb and say it’s primarily due to what man has done. But some people claim God made you sick and if you’re not healed you aren’t doing something right. Read my last post on how one is saved. The truth is if you’re not healed from whatever physical ailment you suffer, it wasn’t God’s will. No matter how much faith you profess and you should profess it, you won’t change the will of God. These verses are really about spiritual restoration because that is what we need in order to be healed…or saved. How do we get that? We place our trust, our faith, in the Messiah. The consequence of sin is not sickness, the consequence is death, which is spiritual, a permanent separation from God. Jesus paid that price to pave the way to restoration and he is the only way that can happen. Read in the context of the book of James it becomes clear he is referring to spiritual well-being. If you’ve never read the book, do it.

I hope this encourages you into deeper study to know and understand the writings left for us with the purpose of telling us about Christ. From Genesis to Revelation the entirety of scripture is not about you or I or America, or a religion, or any other nation, it is about Christ. The very important theme here is why we needed a redeemer in the first place. In case you want to know, a version of the CSB Apolgetics Study Bible is personally the version of the Bible I use as my every day Bible. Mine is old and this is an updated version. My binding is broken but I have so many notes in my Bible that I have not upgraded to the newer version. My Bible also used to belong to my mother who died at age 63 in 2014 with her notes as well as my own now. Get yourself a Bible you can read with understanding. No, I am not a King-James-Only Christian. It doesn’t have to be a study Bible either. I like mine because there is not a lot of that “study” portion at the bottom of the pages that many study Bibles contain, which in the end is someone else’s idea anyway. I do appreciate this apologetics Bible pointing out in many cases the history of what was going on at the time (at least my copy does but it’s an old copy). I may not have touched on everything here but I pray this gives you something to think about and grow in your faith and your relationship with The Way, who we call Jesus.

All scripture is taken from the Christian Standard Bible translation. https://read.csbible.com