Once you have read the Bible from cover to cover why do you really need to keep reading it? The answer is because it’s like opening a gift that inside has another gift and inside it there is another gift and so on…
And all these gifts help us to know Jesus in a greater and greater way. So that we become a fully mature man who has his conscience purged from the dead works of law keeping and any consciousness of sins defined by the law. Heb.9,10
Realizing that love shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit(Rom.5:5) is the guide God has for His children in how we know Him and the choices we make. Not the law given through Moses that Paul says in Heb.10:1-4 keeps men bound to sin.
This happens by its constant reminder of sacrifice. Israel in the Old Covenant made their sacrifices using animals. Today the harlot and her daughters use a perversion of 1John1:9 that makes believers constantly do penance/sacrifice for sins from which their faith in Jesus is supposed to have purged them.
This is why Paul instructs us in 2Cor.13:5 to “examine ourselves to see whether we be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”
Have you ever examined what you believe? Have you ever asked the question, does what I believe really agree with what the Bible teaches? For most the answer is no. Because most people, even those who say they are believers, don’t study the Bible. And many times even those who do don’t study to find truth. Rather, they generally study only for the purpose of finding confirmation that what they already believe is true.
This is why you can give some people example after example from the Bible that shows they have been deceived and they will still try to come up with something to contradict what you show them. Not realizing that what they are actually saying is the Bible contradicts itself.
This happens because theirs is the kind of study that is based upon a subjective interpretation of the scripture. And is not the examination that Paul demands of our beliefs that shows whether or not we are in the faith that was once delivered to the saints.
To use an obvious example for most, Mormons have a set of beliefs that are inconsistent with what the Bible teaches. But, they’re ok with this because it is also their belief that the Bible we have today is a corruption of what was actually written so long ago by the prophets and apostles. So too with Jehovah’s witnesses. Yet both of these cults will use the Bible when it suits their ends as if it were true. Proving on one hand they are right because the Bible says so. While on the other showing the Bible can not be trusted because of its perceived contradictions.
But, my main concern in this and in other messages here is with the evangelical Protestant church. Those who claim to believe the Bible is the word of God. Because they along with their mother Roman Catholic Church have accepted the teachings of Augustine rather than the teachings of the apostles. Teachings that reject sound doctrine. And in its place have accepted a perversion of the truth. A perversion that soothes itching ears, but does not lead to salvation.
Their deception is more subtle than that of the Mormon and JW cults. Making it even more dangerous because discernment then is a matter of right vs what appears to the novice to be almost right. As opposed to right vs what is obviously wrong.
Their main message is that God punishes a man for someone else’s sins. This is what is known as the doctrine of original sin. And is what they mean when speaking about how and why death passed to all men from Adam. This is a message that speaks a different gospel than the one preached by the apostles and written in the Old Testament. One that originates with Satan. Because it is a lie. And he is the father of lies.
Yet people cling to it as if not doing so means they forfeit their very life in Christ. Even though we know the scripture says “The soul that sinneth it shall die.” And that “the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father.”
And just like their cult counterparts do they come up with what they perceive as a contradiction when Moses in Ex.34 and Deut.5 said the sins of the father shall be visited on the children to the 3rd and 4th generation. Is this then one of those contradictions? Does this contradict what we find in Ez.18 and especially vs.20?
This is by no means a contradiction. Because what Ezekiel was telling them is that under the law only the one who sins will be punished for that sin according to that law. And by contrast what Moses was telling them is that there is a stigma of a father’s sins that will be remembered/visited on the children for 3 or 4 generations. And then remembered no more.
A stigma that is befalls all men at all times and continues to this very day. Such as the stigma of being a child born out of wedlock. This stigma is universal. And applies even today to those who have been born out of such circumstances.
See, there is no contradiction. But, only truth that sets men free when they are willing to humble themselves to study the Bible to learn the truth. And to live by it no matter what.
Just as the father of our faith Abraham did when he left familiar surroundings to go wherever God told him to go. Also by taking his son to the mount to sacrifice him as God instructed. And having God tell him after stopping him and gave a ram instead for sacrifice that because he was willing to give his only child to God, “Now I know that you will not withhold anything from me.”
This is the kind of faith Abraham had. And is the kind of faith Paul refers to in Gal.2:16 as “the faith of Christ” that alone can make men righteous. Believing God Abraham attained the righteousness of faith. Believing God Jesus attained that same righteousness. And believing Jesus as He believed the Father is how we attain unto that same righteousness as well.
So when you read the Bible do it to learn the truth. And not just to confirm that what you already believe is the truth. Recognizing that the doctrine of original sin and sin nature teach a works righteousness that has always been condemned by God. And finding that there are no contradictions in the Bible. And that any perceived contradictions are in the mind of the person, not the Bible.
Studying to learn truth will open up for you the windows of heaven as Malachi said. To receive blessings from God that will be more than you can contain. The blessing of more grace that James said humility brings. The more grace that is more of Jesus by a relationship with Him through the Holy Spirit that grows from faith to faith and from glory to glory.
This is where God wants each of us to be in our relationship with Him. Having the abundant life Jesus said He came to give us as we through study and prayer come to know Him more and more.
Learning patience through tribulation. And through patience gaining experience. And hope that makes not ashamed because of deliverance we have experienced with God. This is how at the end of all this His love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Come to Him and know the truth that saves men from natural to spiritual. From being only flesh and blood to become the spiritual being God created men to be. The spirit given by the one who is the Living Spirit.
Being delivered from death to life and from wrath to peace with God. Wrath not because you have been naughty and deserve it. But, because if we remain only flesh at death we will be forever separated from Him.
Being born again and made spirit we become God’s children and heirs to His kingdom. Do this and you will become the mature and complete man or woman of God that He wants all His children to be. Having studied to show yourself a workman who is approved by God. Knowing how to rightly divide His word of truth.
And if you do not yet know Jesus you can come to know Him by trusting in Him as Abraham did. And believing in your heart that He has raised from the dead. Do this and you will be a child of God and heir to His kingdom. Do this… and I will see you there or in the air!
This message can also be heard at: https://rumble.com/v7h06bm-still-confessing-sin-then-its-time-for-an-examination-2cor.135.html
