shapedbytruth

1 Sam 20:30 KJB Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness?

1 Sam 20:30 MSG Saul exploded in anger at Jonathan: “You son of a ____! Don’t you think I know that you’re in cahoots with the son of Jesse, disgracing both you and your mother? For as long as the son of Jesse is walking around free on this earth, your future in this kingdom is at risk. Now go get him. Bring him here. From this moment, he’s as good as dead!”

John 9:34 KJB They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.

John 9:34 TLB “You illegitimate ____, you!” they shouted. “Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw him out.

I often hear folks use the term “in the greek” as some form of incantation of authoritative invulnerability.  They seem to think by saying that it gives them ultimate authority to correct the bible any which way they please.

My response is “Which greek?”…

Is it Textus Receptus?  The Critical Text? Is it Erasmus,      Tregelles, Stephanus, Beza, Elziver, Scrivner?  One of the 21 Tischendorf editions?  Westcott-Hort?  The SBL?  One of the five UBS editions?  One of the 28 Nestle-Aland editions?

Are you relying on the handful (around 47, mostly fragments) of Alexandrian manuscripts?  The most known of which is Codex A – Alexandrinus, Codex B – Vaticanus, Codex Aleph – Sinaiticus?

Or the over 5000 manuscripts of the Antiochian (Syrian) line?

Where is the ultimate authority?  Where did God preserve His words?  Did God break His promise to preserve His words?

Did He who created the universe and upholds all things by the word of his power (Heb 1:3) somehow become powerless to preserve His words?

God promises to preserve His words

Psalms 12:6-7 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

You shall not add or take away, says God

Deuteronomy 4:1-2 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

God cares about every one of His words

Proverbs 30:5-6 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

God’s words will never pass away

Mark 13:31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

God will curse those who change His Word

Revelation 22:18-19 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Heb 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Acts 13:2a As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said…

Note that the Holy Ghost spoke as they ministered to the Lord and fasted…

Do not let the enemy set the rules of engagement, pick the battlefield, or define the terms of battle.

That is what Israel did when Goliath challenged them.

Rom 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Gal 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2 Chron 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.

I want the Lord to shew himself strong on my behalf

The question to ask: How can I have a heart that is perfect toward Him?

James gives the answer:

James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

To build a muscle, you must exercise it against resistance.

Like exercising a muscle, exercising your faith (trust in God’s words) against the temptations (strongholds of lies that exalt themselves against the truth of God) builds patience, making you perfect (mature) and entire (complete).

James continues, indicating that when we exercise faith we must also exercise wisdom (God’s wisdom, not man’s wisdom)…

James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

James goes on indicating that faith exercised in wisdom is the cure for wavering and double-mindedness…

James 1:6-8 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Our heart is perfect toward God when we are single-minded, not wavering in our trust in Him.

Phil 4:9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

Our salvation was completed on the cross and paid in full when Jesus said “It is finished” (John 19:30).

Paul’s letters consistently to the Ephesians and Corinthians reflect this.

Eph 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.

1 Cor 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

1 Cor 15:2 by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

Our current condition of salvation does have future implications.

Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

This is not talking about progressive process but talking about an event that will take place in the future.  Our salvation was settled in the past and this condition continues in the present and into the future.  Believers are saved from all judgement and wrath both now and from all future wrath.  When the wrath that is to come occurs (1 Thess 1:10; 5:9-10), we will be saved from that as well.

The issue comes when people wrest the scriptures and misconstrue “being saved” as a progressive salvation.  The justification of our salvation is not progressive but a settled and completed work by our Lord Jesus Christ.

What is “progressive” is sanctification (1 Thess 4:3-4; 2 Thess 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2) where we mature in our faith and “work out our own salvation” (Phil 2:12).  We mature by exercising our faith from a position of salvation.  James 1:2-11 describes the process whereby the trials of our faith worketh patience, and we let patience hath her perfect work (bring maturity) that we may be perfect (mature).

When a seed is planted, it is already settled what the seed will become.  It is just a matter of time for it to grow and mature for it to become what it is growing into.  It is already settled who we are, it takes time to grow into, mature, and bear the fruit of who we already are in the Spirit.  It is already settled in the spirit who we are, we are in the process of manifesting physically what we already are spiritually.   As we mature, we manifest more and more of what we already are spiritually.  The final transformation will be when Jesus returns (1 Cor 15:51).

1 John 3:2-3 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

The world’s version of unity is compromise of many belief systems.  Notice that their mantra, COEXIST, has seven letters, the beast has 7 heads.

Unity for Christians is that they are members of the body of Christ, a body that has one head and one authority, Jesus.

– Signs, wonders, miracles and spiritual gifts do not build faith

– Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Want more faith? Study more of God’s word and speak God’s words

– Spiritual gifts, head knowledge, and time alone do not build spiritual maturity

– Maturity comes by being a doer of the word. Practice studying God’s word and exercising it in prayer without ceasing, worship, ministering to (loving) others needs, and exercising spiritual gifts. Want to mature? Practice being a doer of the word.

– Having a “tool” does not make you a carpenter. Having lots of tools does not make you a master carpenter.

– Key is to walk humbly and make use of and mature in the use of the tools you have. When God can trust you with what He has given you, He will entrust you with more. (Luke 16:10)