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Seriously
Abused Scriptures
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REMEMBER: A TEXT – WITHOUT A CONTEXT – IS REALLY A PRETEXT!
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The unique authority of the Bible has made it a special object of misuse to
support an endless list of strange ideas. But, justification of denominational
doctrines or particular theological traditions, has more than most others
caused damage to our understanding of this precious Book of books among
God's people. Ignorance of context (literary, historical, cultural) commonly
causes innocent misunderstandings and therefore misuse, but those listed below go beyond this. Seventh-Day Adventist abuse of John 3:13 ("No one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from Heaven, the Son of Man") to 'prove' that no-one goes to Heaven until Christ returns is not listed below because it would be obvious to the thinking person who reads the Bible that the resurrected Jesus brought the righteous dead up from Sheol/Hades with Him when He appeared before the Father after these words to Nicodemus (as Paul affirmed: "When He ascended on high He led a host of captives" Eph.4:8), and Paul's statement in 1 Thess.4:14 is quite clear that Christ "will bring (them) with Him" in His return to us from Heaven.
| SDA abuse of Jn.3:13. |
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That no-one goes to heaven before the resurrection when Christ returns.
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following are some Scriptures whose abuse has been damaging
to the life of the Christian Church:
| Matthew 16:18-19 | John 20:23 | Ephesians 2:8 | 1 Corinthians 14:34 |
| Matthew 18:19-20 | Romans 5:11 | 1 Corinthians 3:17 | 1 Peter 3:21 |
"And I tell you, you are Peter ['Cephas'
in Aramaic, Jesus' and Peter's home language, see I Cor.15:5], and on this rock ['cephas' in Aramaic, the language in which this was declared] I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." |
error 2: 'The rock means the true confession/doctrine of Christ'.
error 3: 'The rock means Christ Himself'.
is no uncertainty concerning the meaning of
the 'rock' in this context if we allow the Bible to speak its own mind
without imposing our theology. The context of these two verses allows
no other meaning than that Peter, whose God-inspired insight ('thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God') provoked Christ's statement, is rewarded by
his inclusion in the foundation layer of Christ's ecclesia, His church.
The rest of Scripture pointedly lets us know that
this was not unique to Peter (as the papacy and anglo-catholics
insist today). The Revelation shows the personal names (not the offices or positions)
of all twelve apostles set in the foundation layer of Christ's Church,
His Bride-City (Rev.21:14). This does not include Judas Iscariot even
though he had the opportunity as one of the Twelve appointed by Jesus
as apostles. It is the Twelve on the Day of Pentecost that stood as leaders
of new-born Christianity: hence, the importance of Acts chapter one concerning
their qualification in confirmation of Jesus' statement in John 15:27 –
"And you also will bear witness, [in addition to the Holy Spirit's witness to the world through all true believers] because you have been with Me from the beginning." |
had explained this at the Last Supper, that in addition to the future witness of the Holy Spirit through them (like all other Christians) they
would themselves be a witness because they had been with Him from the
beginning of His ministry. For this very reason Peter insists that the
replacement for Judas must have been with Jesus from Christ's baptism
by John until His Ascension (Ac.1:21-22). (And for this reason Paul could
never be counted as one of the Twelve).
Jesus
says that Peter's new understanding about Him is a supernatural enlightenment,
a product of Peter's devotion to God (v.17). Peter's name-change confirms
Christ's recognition of the change in Peter's heart which had allowed
his new perspective on Jesus (v.15). The unstable 'reed' was to become
a 'rock', useful to God in leadership of the forming ecclesia,
the congregation of Christ.
This
witness of Scripture to the non-exclusive non-transferable nature of the
promise made to Peter is confirmed by the language facts. The language
in which Christ spoke this promise was Aramaic, the common language of
the Palestine region at the time. In this language the name 'Cephas' (translated
as 'Petros' in the Greek New Testament) and the word 'rock' are exactly
the same.
This
makes nonsense of the Protestant claim that the different Greek endings
in the use of the same word twice in the text (petros and petra) makes
it mean two different things: (1) petros=Peter, (2) petra=confession of
Christ, or Christ Himself. This is a subjection of God's Word to polemical
interest, and it is a violation of its purpose and context.
Both sides of the Protestant-Catholic divide have abused this Scripture for polemical reasons. But God says:
"...
the City [Christ's 'Bride', the Church]
had twelve foundations,
and on them were the names [not the offices] of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." (Rev.21:14).
and on them were the names [not the offices] of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." (Rev.21:14).
This
honour is not inheritable by any subsequent person in church history.
Remember, the Twelve's essential qualification was that they were leaders
who were personal eye-witnesses of Christ's ministry from His baptism to His ascension.
foundational leader, Peter exercised the first
'key' in opening the door of the New Covenant to Israel in Jerusalem on
the Day of Pentecost, and the second 'key' in opening the door to the
Gentiles in Roman Caesarea, the administrative capital of Palestine.
| "Truly, I say to you, whatever you
bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in Heaven. For where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I among them." |
error 2: 'unity in faith (prayer) gives Heaven's authority on earth'.
terms 'keys', 'bind' and 'loose' are idiomatic within Jesus' culture of the time for authority, just as 'gates of hell' refers to Satan's authority.
This passage is the concluding climax
on disciplinary procedures to be followed in maintaining godly relationships
within the fellowship of Christ's disciples. It has nothing to do with
unity in prayer for things, and even less for any special authority attached
to persons or ranks in church organization or ministry.
The last line of this quote is often used in Protestant churches to say that God is with the congregation because they have 'gathered' in Christ's name. It has nothing to do with any church meeting unless that specific church meeting is the full implementation of the instructed disciplinary reconciliation or expulsion from all fellowship by the aggrieved party a witness (the person who is number 'three').
Neither is Christ number four in a meeting of 'three'. The obedient to diligently preserve the spiritual unity among Christ's disciples represent Him. This is God's guarantee to those who reconcile their differences that He is on their side in all Heaven's authority to implement the healing of their disrupted Christian relationship.
"Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld." |
forgiveness is the mission of
all who "receive the Holy Spirit", Who was given to all God's
people everywhere on the Day of Pentecost. It is the ministry of 'reconciliation'
as Paul called it. It is the responsibility of every Christ. There is
no other channel of God's redemptive mercy other than the Spirit-filled Christian.
"Therefore, just as sin came into the
world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned -- for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law." |
clear. No 'law', no sin, even though born of
Adam. Law is the knowledge of sin. Lack of knowledge is innocence even
when sinfulness lurks latent in the propensities of human nature. Every
child is born innocent (guiltless, not righteous). Spiritual death spreads
to all because they all sinned themselves. Read the text again.
Therefore guilt cannot be inherited from the sins
of others anymore than righteousness can be inherited from the good works of our ancestors.
"...the immeasurable riches of His grace
in kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved
through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of
God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are
His workmanship...". |
error: 'faith is a sovereign gift from God given to His elect'.
text's context, saving grace is the gift, not faith (trust).Faith is simply the channel through which the grace of forgiveness
is received. Faith is the human response to God: the only right response. Anything less is sin.
This faith-gift misinterpretation of the text has been a shameful twisting of God's Word from the days of Augustine of Hippo, which Calvin unfortunately followed, and the Reformed movement perpetuated.
"If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you [plural] are that temple [singular]." |
is addressing the quality of that
which is built upon the foundation which he laid in Corinth - the congregation
(1Cor.3:10-15). The congregation ('you' plural) is collectively the temple
of God. This passage has been confused with 1 Cor.6:15-20, in which the
physical body (flesh) of the believer is described as a temple of God's
presence because of the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This text is not a threat by God to 'destroy'
those who 'destroy' themselves (the same term is used), which is self-contradictory,
or send to Hell those who commit suicide, which is more often said by
false teachers.
Not only has this misrepresentation of
God's word hurt survivors of a family suicide, it has also robbed the
Christian church of its true meaning - accountability of Christian leaders
for what they do with Christ's congregation.
"For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says." |
1 Cor.11:5 precedes this text,
the readers are assumed to know that any woman prophesying in church should
have a covering on her head as a sign that she is not usurping male responsibility
for leadership. Therefore, if the prophesying of women is accepted as
part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the church, it is amazing that
this text could ever be used to insist that they must be silent. Neither
Paul nor any other part of Holy Scripture contradicts itself, as would be implied.
The issue here is orderliness in church
meetings, namely one person speaking at a time! Interruptions or interjections
for explanations because a woman did not have the same background education
as the men of that time was not to be allowed to interfere with the public
ministry of the gathered congregation and cause it to become disorderly.
"Baptism, which corresponds to this
[Noah's Flood], now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ". |
baptism is to Christian conversion as the resurrection of Jesus is to His crucifixion. It is the physical outward sign of an inward spiritual redemption. As
the resurrection by God declared the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice for our
sin, so also a believer's baptism is the outward demonstration of an internal saving faith.
Our sin is no more taken away by Christ's resurrection as that our salvation could be conferred through water baptism. It is Christ's Cross which alone is the place where God's love propitiated His justice for our sakes and therefore from which God's mercy flows upon every repentant heart!
