I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. Galatians 1:6-7 (NLT)
Now this will be a controversial post for some, but I press on nonetheless. Those of us that believe the Bible to be the only infallible Word of God, know which groups, that call themselves Christian, do this. I won't name them. That's not my place. However I will say this: Paul was preaching to the church in Galatia because they were beginning to preach that salvation through acceptance of Christ as savior, was not in itself enough. That doctrine and practices of the Jews must also be accomplished in order for salvation to occur. This is just not correct.
In fact, Paul goes on to say in Galations 1:8-10 (NLT) "Let God's curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News that the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed. Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant."
How is it then, that we can know whether or not what is being preached is truly the Good News that was given to us by Jesus? We must "test the spirits." We must read our bibles, study it, word by word, and line by line. Read other versions to be sure that what you're reading is consistent. Do whatever you must to know that you are not preaching a version of the Good News that is not true.
While reading the bible is not the only way to know that what you're preaching, or being preached, it is by far the best. Another way to know whether or not you are preaching the true Good News, is to ask yourself, is this "Good News" telling me that anything I can do will guarantee my salvation? If the answer is yes, then you are not speaking or hearing the true Good News.
Today, take the time to think about what it is you have learned from your bibles, and no other books or doctrine. Do you believe that your salvation is guaranteed solely because you have accepted Christ Jesus as your savior? If so, great! Hallelujah! If not, perhaps you should re-evaluate what it is that you think you can do to guarantee something that we all know not one of us can, or does, deserve. A gift is only a gift so long as nothing is required in return. Are you throwing Christ's "gift" back in his face?
--Lord, today I pray that my words may reach those that are hearing a "Good News" that is contrary to Yours, and that they might hear the truth in these words. I pray that they will seek out Your truth, and Your Good News. I pray this in Jesus' Holy Name. Amen.
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Good Job Shalene! It seems we are of like spirits today! Praise Him! May His truth always endure!!!
ReplyDeleteLove you!
LOL I agree, you two are of like spirits today. I think I might have used up my quota of intelligence responding to Hannah's blog, but I have thought a lot about the idea of "false prophets" lately. It occurs to me that many times it's because we deify people. We have one God, He came to earth once in the flesh of man, died for our sins, and left behind His spirit to guide us. Let's not give men authority they don't deserve. Keep attuned to His word and not simply the words of others.
ReplyDeleteHey Shalene nice post. Don't forget about using the Greek and Hebrew when studying. The good news back in Paul's day (1 CO 15:1-8) was that Jesus was Anointed, suffered, died and was raised, which he proved through the scriptures, which in his day only the Hebrew scriptures were around.
ReplyDeleteActs 28:23 They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.
Paul had to prove to the unbelievers, that Jesus was the Anointed one and that he had to suffer; from Moses and the Prophets.
Enlight, Welcome back to my blog. It's nice to know you still visit once in awhile. I'm glad you liked my post. I'm still working on understanding the other languages. :) May God's blessings be upon you.
ReplyDeleteHey Shalene, I am referring to looking up keywords in the Greek or Hebrew Strongs dictionary. It would be impossible to learn biblical Hebrew or Greek. Many words have a deeper meaning then what they represent in the English language.
ReplyDeletePlus using different translations can be a great help, just stay away from any that paraphrase. Always have to refer to the KJV when using the Strongs.