The Half-Truth Problem & The Life of Christ: The Sermon on the Mount Link
Here lately, I have seen a rash of people hanging onto what I would call 'half-truths'. What I mean by half-truth is this: what they say is partially the Truth, partially a lie. My friends, a half-truth IS a lie. The enemy uses half-truth's to steer us away from the salvation we gain through Jesus Christ. Here are some of the examples of half-truths that I have seen:
"Homosexuality is not a sin."
"Faith is an individual thing, there isn't one path that is exactly the correct way to get to heaven..."
"We have to do works of The Law (Hebraic Jewish Law) and keep the entire Law in order to be saved in addition to believing in Christ."
"Why would a woman want to keep a child of a rape??? Abortion isn't wrong in this instance..."
"I'm a good person, that's enough to get me to heaven."
"Religion is just a system of control on society."
These are just a few of the various things I have seen. Here's the problem. The Bible itself refutes all of the above. Here is my refute against these claims with Biblical knowledge. The Bible isn't just a book. It is God's Word so we might know Him: Father, Son and Holy Spirit better.
Homosexuality is talked about in Leviticus 18:22 and Romans 1:26-32. (By the way, you can read Romans 1:18-25 for all of these.)
Jesus says in John 14:6, that he is the only way to the Father. All other roads lead to Hell.
Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ is what gets us into Heaven, not works (Ephesians 2:8-10). Works are how you tell a Christians Faith (James 2:14-26).
Abortion isn't directly mentioned, but God is the one who allows a baby to be conceived and gives it the breath of life. It is a living being and it is murder to end a human life, any human life born or unborn, by way of abortion is murder (Exodus 20:13).
Being good won't get you to Heaven. Only Jesus does that(John 14:6; Ephesians 2:8-10).
Religion isn't a system of control. In Christ we are freed from the bondage and guilt of our sin (Galatians 5:1). But first, we must recognize our sin.
The world tells us that we must keep up with the changing times in order to survive. Wrong!!!! Just because it's becoming more popular to be gay or get an abortion doesn't mean that it is right. Just because gay people are in 'healthy' relationships and happy doesn't make it right. All people are to be treated equally yes, but sin is not to be tolerated in the church or in our world. However, that doesn't give us the right to judge. We are not to judge people, just the sin they committ. We are to love the sinner. People sin. I sin. You sin. We all sin. I hate the sin. I love you, me and all of my brothers and sisters in the love that Christ has for us. I write this, not to be hateful, but to be loving. God rebukes those He loves, He rebukes me, and it is my job to show the Truth where I see Truth being distorted. I pray this reaches you where you are at. I pray you realize that Christ is the only way, nothing else will do the job. Turn yourself to Christ. It is never too late until you're dead. Turn back, let yourself be loved by others who confess Christ as Savior. Let yourself be loved by Christ.
Please remember, I am here to help and I pray that the Truth opens your eyes. God Bless you.
Here is the link to the sermon. Don't forget to click the 'comment' tab to weigh in!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M37OmAEbXPg&feature=youtu.be
"Homosexuality is not a sin."
"Faith is an individual thing, there isn't one path that is exactly the correct way to get to heaven..."
"We have to do works of The Law (Hebraic Jewish Law) and keep the entire Law in order to be saved in addition to believing in Christ."
"Why would a woman want to keep a child of a rape??? Abortion isn't wrong in this instance..."
"I'm a good person, that's enough to get me to heaven."
"Religion is just a system of control on society."
These are just a few of the various things I have seen. Here's the problem. The Bible itself refutes all of the above. Here is my refute against these claims with Biblical knowledge. The Bible isn't just a book. It is God's Word so we might know Him: Father, Son and Holy Spirit better.
Homosexuality is talked about in Leviticus 18:22 and Romans 1:26-32. (By the way, you can read Romans 1:18-25 for all of these.)
Jesus says in John 14:6, that he is the only way to the Father. All other roads lead to Hell.
Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ is what gets us into Heaven, not works (Ephesians 2:8-10). Works are how you tell a Christians Faith (James 2:14-26).
Abortion isn't directly mentioned, but God is the one who allows a baby to be conceived and gives it the breath of life. It is a living being and it is murder to end a human life, any human life born or unborn, by way of abortion is murder (Exodus 20:13).
Being good won't get you to Heaven. Only Jesus does that(John 14:6; Ephesians 2:8-10).
Religion isn't a system of control. In Christ we are freed from the bondage and guilt of our sin (Galatians 5:1). But first, we must recognize our sin.
The world tells us that we must keep up with the changing times in order to survive. Wrong!!!! Just because it's becoming more popular to be gay or get an abortion doesn't mean that it is right. Just because gay people are in 'healthy' relationships and happy doesn't make it right. All people are to be treated equally yes, but sin is not to be tolerated in the church or in our world. However, that doesn't give us the right to judge. We are not to judge people, just the sin they committ. We are to love the sinner. People sin. I sin. You sin. We all sin. I hate the sin. I love you, me and all of my brothers and sisters in the love that Christ has for us. I write this, not to be hateful, but to be loving. God rebukes those He loves, He rebukes me, and it is my job to show the Truth where I see Truth being distorted. I pray this reaches you where you are at. I pray you realize that Christ is the only way, nothing else will do the job. Turn yourself to Christ. It is never too late until you're dead. Turn back, let yourself be loved by others who confess Christ as Savior. Let yourself be loved by Christ.
Please remember, I am here to help and I pray that the Truth opens your eyes. God Bless you.
Here is the link to the sermon. Don't forget to click the 'comment' tab to weigh in!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M37OmAEbXPg&feature=youtu.be
Hey Ryan! Some of what you state are half-truths...and others are completely bold faced lies....we definitely agree there!
ReplyDeleteI did want to pose a couple of questions to you so that the abstract idea of being a "sinner" can be defined....what is sin defined as in the bible? How do you know if you're sinning?
I haven't heard of a current party/belief system that indicates that you have to both follow the Talmud with Mosaic Laws and believe in Christ in order to be saved. That is what the Circumcision Party believed in Christ's time, Paul's time, etc. In fact, that is what Galatians and Romans are all about....how the Circumcision Party was saying that you have to follow the laws for salvation......I'm sure it's still out there..I just haven't heard of it.
Finally...I am going to disagree with you on one of your "half-truths" namely: "Religion is just a system of control on society."
If we look back throughout history...Religion is a system of control on society...look at the oppression of people by the church through the ages and even today! It is my belief, that religion is not a good thing...people don't need a religion...it is actually what divides Christ's body....what they need is the Truth as you state...not a religious philosophy or set of rules to follow in order to be saved or "be a good person". Religion is not the answer, Christ (who is the Way, the Truth, and the Light) is. :-) Jarred
Really, 'sin' is anything that is contrary to God's Will. 1 John 3:4 says that, "Everyone who commits sin also breaks the law; sin is the breaking of law." (HCSB) This is what the Bible itself defined. Now the trouble is, what IS the Law? That answer is found throughout Scripture. Before the time of Moses, God gave His instructions to people through revelation. If they obeyed, that means they had faith in what they were being told. Moses then came along and received a written "Law" from God. This was for the Hebrews to live by and defined exactly what 'sin' was. Unfortunately, at first they disobeyed. After an exile, they started to obey, but they missed the whole content of the Law. Christ came and fulfilled the Law by living it out perfectly, as God had intended, without the legalistic nature of the Jews. Christ came and redefined the Law, explained that the nature of the Law is love. Explained that food isn't what defiles us, it's the ugliness that comes out. Murder isn't just killing someone, it's calling them a degrading name. Keeping the Sabbath doesn't mean to adhere to it so we can't do anything, but that humans need a day of rest...we can't expect to go like a chicken with it's head cut off 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and be ok. We need rest. On this day of rest, we are to praise God and take time especially to worship Him. In the 1st century church, that was a daily thing. Adultery begins by lusting in the heart. In fact, Christ in some ways made the Law harder and more strict to adhere to. If we live our lives by confessing Christ, seeking his guidance and help, and show love over anything else, then adherance to God's Law comes naturally and doesn't have to be legalistic. We won't be perfect, but in Christ's eyes, we are His children and make mistakes. We just need to turn back to Him.
ReplyDeletecon't below....
Jarred, specifically to the 119 ministries, I believe they teach the legalistic nature of the law. I could be wrong though. Here are a couple things I saw. One of the videos talked about sacrificing in Jerusalem if they had a temple. Hebrews directly refutes this. Christ is the sole sacrifice and no other sacrifice is needed, thereby rendering that part of the law no longer necessary, because Christ fulfilled it. There are a few other things that I saw that really made me caution their teachings. Upon testing what they said, I found 'half-truths' in some of their teachings. The historical aspect of the Jews they do well. It's interpreting it and building the bridge to today that I have issues with. A few times I've seen the whole, "This is the part of the message you never hear..." Those are warning signs of a cult...however, as long as Christ is preached, that the only way to Heaven is by grace through faith alone and that because of that faith, we are to be prepared to love God and others, and work for the Kingdom, then it's all good. The teachings just aren't for me and I think partially deceptive (againk, I could be wrong, that's just how I see it). However, I do like that they show more of the OT than most churches. I believe our churches need more OT teachings. Who I really feel for is the Mormons and Jehovah's witness, because those ARE cults, guaranteed. The Christ they preach is not what the Bible says about Him.
ReplyDeleteFinally, about the religion aspect. I define religion differently and that's where the confusion lies. Yes, religion as you talk about it is the legalistic nature of any religion, Islam, Jewish, Christianity, Catholicism. I guess what I was getting at was that a true faith in Christ as a 'religion' is what is called for. The 'religion' that most non-believers see and Christ came to rid is the type not needed; however, they also have a skewed view because of past issues (whatever that may be, we all have them). Forced religion is not religion...that is a dictatorship. The church was wrong for doing that in the Middle Ages and even now. It's why I left Catholicism...I was half-way forced into it. Rebellion is usually the next step.
Thanks for replying and the conversation! Ryan
Upon further review of 119 Ministries, I believe they are what's called a "Messianic Jew" movement (I previously stated it could be a cult; if it is a Messianic Jew movement, that's ok)...at least their theology lines up to be close to what Messianic Jews say. They believe in Christ as salvation, The Law as sanctification. I obviously think Christ and His blood obtain salvation & sanctification and that it is a work that will not be accomplished until we reach the other side of this Earthly life. The Law is what makes us aware of sin and the need for obedience to Christ.
ReplyDeleteOut of all of this I would like to say this: I do not want the freedom in Christ that I have to be used as a stumbling block to anyone. If it is a subject that causes anyone to waiver in their walk with Christ, this is not my goal. My only goal is that people come to a saving knowledge of Christ. The rest of the doctrine does not have an affect on salvation. Salvation is gained by grace through faith in Christ as Savior alone. The rest is just a discussion of theology.
Ryan,
ReplyDeleteYou talk about homosexuality as a sin and quote it from the law that you call legalistic and say we don’t have to follow anymore because it’s fulfilled. God's word is infallible and all true and Paul states that he still follows the law and that if it weren’t for that law he would not know what sin was.
You stated that the problem is, what IS the law…..and you answered yourself a few sentences later: Moses then came along and received a written "Law" from God. This was for the Hebrews to live by and defined exactly what 'sin' was. This is the same law that Christ followed. It is the same law you use to define homosexuality as a sin. Christ’s teachings focused on the heavier parts of the law, doing all things in love.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 - 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
ALL SCRIPTURE. The New Testament didn’t exist then, so all scripture was the entire Old Testament. The whole thing including the laws. Christ taught nothing but the Old Testament. Every word. He is the living word made flesh. He was the law, the living, breathing, walking around teaching…. law. To call the law legalism is to call Christ legalism.
The legalism that people toss around refers to all of the extra laws and traditions the Jews created because they were so afraid of breaking one of God's laws. God's laws cannot be legalism. His laws are perfect, not a burden and meant to show us our need for Christ while giving us guidelines to live by.
Psalm 19:7 - The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
Romans 7:12 - 12 so then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Everyone loves to say, Christ is our example. We should live like Christ. Well Christ followed God's laws and taught them. Not the Jew’s extra laws...that is what he spoke against...but he did follow God's laws. He showed you how to live your life; he even went as far as to say that he wasn’t abolishing the law.
17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
This specifically says that the law is not abolished and that the law isn’t finished so to speak until all the prophesies are fulfilled and heaven and earth pass away. He even tells you that if you annul one of the least of the commandments and teach others to do the same that you will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven. This is pretty clear. He is telling you right here that you still need to follow it so that you know how he wants you to live.
Here is an analogy: If I drive to your house and I follow the speed limit perfectly all the way there then I have fulfilled the speed limit law. So when I leave your house, I no longer have to follow the speed limit law because it’s been fulfilled. How much sense does that make?
Here is another: Matthew 7:21-23
ReplyDelete21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
These people thought they were ok. They were doing God's work, mighty men of God who were performing miracles in his name, they THOUGHT they were going to heaven and yet he declares I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice LAWLESSNESS. Lawlessness is not following the law. That is pretty plain, you even quoted this scripture: 1John 3:4 –“4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.” How do you break something that is no longer in effect or no longer applies?
Why do you suppose that Christ told us?
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
I’m sorry, but Mainstream Christianity is a wide road. God’s way is narrow…that is something to truly think about.
How about this: Mark 7:7-9 – And in vain they worship Me; teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” 9 – He said to them “All too well you reject the commandments of God, to keep your traditions.
This clearly states we are to keep the commandments and stop following tradition. This is not just Catholicism.
Another thing....everyone concentrates on how God loves us. Did you once ever ask how can I love God back?
Well let’s look at the Bible for the answer:
1 John 5:2 - By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.
1John 5:3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome
I think that is pretty straight forward.
Here is something else to think about:
Revelation 12:17 - 17 So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Revelation 14:12 - 12 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus
Revelation is incredibly straight forward right here as well. We are to keep the commandments of God AND our faith and testimony of Jesus.
BTW…do not think I write this to tell you that the law saves you. It doesn’t and we know that. We all know that we need our Savior. Even the Orthodox Jews know they need a savior and can’t be saved by the law. Do you know why they reject Jesus as the Messiah? It’s because Christianity teaches that Christ did away with the law! And they know that isn’t right.
ReplyDeleteOk the last thing I will comment on is the sacrificial system and its return in the millennium. If you read Ezekiel 40-48 it details the dimensions of the temple to be built and it also discusses all of the sacrifices that we will be doing before God. How do we know that this is in the future? Because no temple has ever been built to these dimensions as of yet; therefore, this prophesy has not yet been fulfilled. And we know that when Jesus comes back he gathers all and places them in the land and rebuilds the temple and reinstates the sacrifices. It is wrong to think that the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament took away the sins of the people. It didn’t, it served as a lesson as to how sin was a horrible offense against God. This is what it will be again in the millennium. It will stand to remind us like communion does. It will also serve to help teach those who are born during the millennium about sin.
This is not some new idea or some outrageous theory, even mainstream Christianity believes the same thing, for instance see this article :
http://www.gotquestions.org/millennial-sacrifices.html
Hebrews 10 is discussing one sacrifice on one day, not all
sacrifices every day. The Yom Kippur sacrifice happened once a year when the priest went into the holy of holies and made a sacrifice for the nation of Israel, and that sacrifice has never been good enough. This is why in Ezekiel you see all the other sacrifices but not this one.
Also, here is a question: in Hebrews 8:4: if the sacrifice system was abolished on Earth, then why can Jesus not be a High Priest on Earth? The only explanation is because the commandments for the Levites still stand, and Jesus is NOT a Levite, thus He is forbidden from being a High Priest on Earth...
I do hope that this helps to clarify a few things. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Aliisa
Hi Ryan!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the input. As I stated in my original post, I thought others who may read your blog may appreciate a better definition of sin than just the abstract word. However, there are a couple of things I would like to respond to.
Your statement: “Christ came and redefined the Law, explained that the nature of the Law is love.” Christ is the Word made flesh. Part of the Word is the Law. That being said, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He doesn’t change. So if Christ redefined the law, then he changed. Maybe you didn’t mean “redefine”; maybe you meant “brought further/deeper explanation of the nature of the Law or to develop the full potential of the Law”—both of which are definitions of fulfill by the way. He filled full the meaning of the Law, which includes love. After all, God is love. He is not, however, a man that he should lie. (Numbers 23:19). If he changed His Word and changed His laws, then he lied when He claimed to be the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8)
As to your statement on the Sabbath:
“Keeping the Sabbath doesn't mean to adhere to it so we can't do anything, but that humans need a day of rest...we can't expect to go like a chicken with it's head cut off 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and be ok. We need rest. On this day of rest, we are to praise God and take time especially to worship Him. In the 1st century church, that was a daily thing.”
What are you saying here?
God’s commandment to rest on the Sabbath didn’t mean to do absolutely nothing; it meant to take it as a day of rest from your work. Using the Hebrew, the word “work” in Hebrew is mĕla'kah (Strong’s Lexicon H4399) meaning your occupation or business. Exodus 31:12 -17 shows that we are to keep God’s Sabbath, not our own (vs 13 says “my Sabbaths”). Verse 17 says it is a sign forever, not only until he sends the Messiah.
12 Then the LORD said to Moses, 13 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. 14 “‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people. 15 For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death. 16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.”
Breaking the Sabbath, by choice, is a sin and the penalty of sin is death which is why we needed a savior. Christ paid that penalty. Causing others to do the same (break the Sabbath which is a law/commandment) is also a sin (consider Luke 17:1-2). The Laws and Traditions from the Talmud and other such things are all man-made laws and traditions. They are not what God wanted, nor expected, nor expects. It doesn’t say to pick some random day and take that day to praise God and worship him. Yes, we are to do those things daily, it wasn’t just what the followers of the Way (Acts 24:14) did. The Sabbath is a day of rest that even God observes.
cont'd...
To quote you again: “In fact, Christ in some ways made the Law harder and more strict to adhere to.” By your statement, are you again making Christ a liar? He specifically says his ways are not burdensome.
ReplyDelete1 John 5:3--For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
Yes, I will agree that Christ provided additional light/understanding of what it meant to commit the sins. As mentioned before, maybe this is what you were referring to when you say “redefined”, but I’m not sure.
You got this part right on! “If we live our lives by confessing Christ, seeking his guidance and help, and show love over anything else, then adherence to God's Law comes naturally and doesn't have to be legalistic.” If you “show love over anything else” that would include showing your love for God, which is to keep his commandments.
John 14:15--“ If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
When you love God, it’s not legalistic. Is it legalistic for you to do as your mother and father tell you to do? If so, then honoring your father and mother (another commandment) is legalistic. Is following the laws of the land you reside in legalistic? Yet we are commanded to submit to those in authority over us and follow the laws of the land (Romans 13:1--1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.).
As to your statements regarding 119 Ministries, I do not feel this is the forum to discuss this. A personal message, e-mail, or phone call would be more appropriate. I understand your concerns, but my concern with you posting this here, is those who depend upon you for all of their guidance and do not research things themselves, may miss out on some great truths they teach, even if you don’t agree with everything.
“It's interpreting it and building the bridge to today that I have issues with. A few times I've seen the whole, "This is the part of the message you never hear..." Those are warning signs of a cult...”
The quote you gave makes perfect sense if you consider that what they teach is coming straight from scripture. They point you to scriptures that are not often taught (messages you never hear) in the average Christian church. This isn’t a sign of a cult; it’s a sign of a ministry pointing to parts of the scripture that the predominantly New Testament churches don’t teach. Does that make sense? That is the intention of the statement. They are shedding light on verses that the average person doesn’t read, hear, or get taught. Consider Ezekiel as a greater prophet, or Nahum as a lesser one. How many people are familiar with those books? Heck, how many people are familiar with Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers?
I can respect that you feel the teachings aren’t for you. You even feel they may be partially deceptive; that is your opinion. I caution against teaching others that they are, but instead, encourage people to seek the truth out for themselves. That doesn’t mean, watch a video, then come ask your opinion. I know that’s not what you would tell them to do anyway, but it’s the lazy man’s way out and is most common in the church for the few who do some reading on their own.
That’s all I am going to say on that topic here. I hope we can get together some day and go through some of the things that you feel are so wrong. I am a seeker of truth, and if what they’re teaching isn’t truth, then I do need to see the light. I am open to that; I hope that you are open to the same.
Jarred