April 28, 2010

95%, 99.9% or 100%


I have a trouble reconciling in my mind those that say the Bible is not inerrant. Do you beleive it is inerrant? I have trouble understanding folks that say they are Christian and only apply 50% of the Bible to their lives or believe that the other 50% applies to someone else. I have an even bigger issue with those that believe 95% of the Bible and then try to massage the last 5% and try to bend it or ignore it because it suits their tastes. They brush off Genesis 1 & 2, Revelation or the fact that Christ is the sole mediator to God.

Am I deliberately trying to be devisive by this post? No. I am genuinely confused by what I hear from some people and what I see from them.

Does apostasy enter as full blown shocking change, or does it creep in undetected until it has overcome the church? Does the devil come as a big smelly and scary monster or an angel of light playing a lyre and flutes? Does he come through your enemies or through the people closest to you. Do you think people need help and advice the most when someone close to them is ill and after a tragedy occured or when they just landed the best job of their lives and their oldest kid just got admitted to an Ivy League school?

Subtleties folks, subtleties.

I have problems with folks that say they don't need doctrine or don't need to read the Bible, they just need Jesus. I have one question. Which Jesus? There are denominations that deny His dual nature of completely human/finite and completely divine/infinite. There are others that don't believe in a triune Godhead. Which Jesus? Is He a prophet, king, savior or just a king and prophet? This is core essentials to our faith. Mess these up and you get messed up, bad.

I have trouble understanding people who say they are Christian but forsake gathering together in a church with other believers when they are perfectly able to do so. This one really bothers me because I know a lot of people like this...and they are very close to me. That is like saying you are a fish but you refuse to get in the water and swim.

I feel bad when people need to control themselves and others through man-made rules and regulations in the form of legalism. Once they have implemented the legalism in their own lives, they stand in judgment of others because others haven't done the same as them. What is even sadder is these people don't realize they are apostate too. When you add to what Jesus said or the Bible told us we needed to do, you are not doing what Jesus or the Bible told you to do. That means you are slidding away from the faith. I hate to break it to people this way but...that's apostasy.

I can't figure out how people can say we are not to judge other people, at all...when the Bible clearly warns us of false teachers & false prophets and tells us to be discerning. To hold fast to what is good. How are we to know what is good unless we make judgements about things that are clearly bad? Is it that those people don't want to judge or are they just afraid of offending someones sinful sensibilities? Or perhaps they are just afraid to say anything? They just want to be liked.

What is the difference between disobeying everything in the Bible or just disobeying one thing? Nothing. There is no difference. We believe everything...except one thing? That's okay, right. One little disagreement with the Bible or God is okay, right? WRONG. What plunged the entire universe into chaos, a billion nuclear bombs? A billion unjust deaths? Murder? Rape? Incest? No to all of these. It was the disobedience of one command from God. Biting into a piece of fruit. Fruit that was forbidden to be eaten.

Do we obey God when we feel like it is best for us or do we obey because God knows what is best for us? Do we obey most of the time or sometimes. Do we obey 75%, 99% or 100% of God's statutes, commands and precepts? If we don't accept Jesus 100% and have a legitimate relationship with him but still obey 99.9% of God's commands are we still saved? Are you willing to take that risk to see if you're wrong? If we accept Christ and don't obey commands are we really saved? Do you know what your future looks like? Do you know where you are spending eternity?

You should know the answers to these questions, not just your pastor. And if you need to ask your pastor what he thinks you may be in more trouble than you realize. Most of these questions should be easy questions for people of faith to answer. If they are hard for you then you need to sharpen your pencil and do some homework. Your eternal future and where you spend it depends on how you answer.

4 comments:

Greg West said...

Andy,
You wrote "I have trouble understanding people who say they are Christian but forsake gathering together in a church with other believers when they are perfectly able to do so. This one really bothers me because I know a lot of people like this...and they are very close to me. That is like saying you are a fish but you refuse to get in the water and swim."

This really hit home for me as I have some close family and friends like this and it breaks my heart. After I recommitted to follow Christ, I still refused to go to church, because I felt that "church" had let me down. Then one day God just made me realize I was wrong.

A lot of people say "but I don't 'get' anything out of church." We don't go to 'get' anything. We go to GIVE. to God, number 1, and to others second.

Andy Pierson said...

Many people make many excuses but the Biblical evidences are clear. We are to well together in unity. Nowhere is this more clear than places like Philippians. Paul is constantly going back to the theme of unity and harmony in the body. This came to me in crystal clear clarity when my father passed away. The body of the church was incredibly supportive not only to my wife and I but also my mother who is not even a member of my church. Thanks for you input.

Greg West said...

I am so thankful to the church my family and I call home. It gives us a chance to minister to others and a chance to be ministered to by others, and we are all strengthened in our faith by corporate worship and good Christian fellowship.

Andy Pierson said...

Amen brother Amen. Praise God.

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