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Original Message
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I spent the last 3 days writing and compiling this, with prayer.
There have been three main revisions. I also asked two other people to looked over it, with prayer.
I asked the Lord to not let me take another breath if He does not want me to send it out, lest I proclaim a lie; and I meant it.
I pray that the Lord will cause anyone who reads this know the Truth, who is KING, regardless of what I have written.
I also pray that anyone who reads this and agrees, will share it -- if God leads you to do so.
- Leonard
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The Bible is not the way, the truth and the life -- it not the Word of God.
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Dec 5, 2014 - by Leonard Wass
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.. - John 1:1
If the Bible is the Word, then does that mean "the Bible IS God"?
Is the Bible the "I AM", the truth and the way and the life?
No. Quite obviously it isn't. Is there a person that would disagree so far? Doubtful.
"The Word became FLESH" John 1:14 - Did it become "The Bible"? Obviously not.
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me". - John 14:6
Can we come to the Father through "the Bible"? No, not without the Holy Spirit (the witness). Jesus is the way the truth and the life; not the Bible.
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" - 2 Timothy 3:16
Note: 2 Timothy 3:16 does not say: "All scripture is the Word of God, and is an authority, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, synonymous with God"; but this is how some people apply 2 Timothy 3:16.
We can cut and paste many scriptures that mention God's word - and declare that because the term "God's word" is stated - that it is referring to scripture, but how many of those scriptures, in context, are referring to "scripture" as being God's Word?
That's right. ZERO!
There's: John 10:34-36
Some will insist that Jesus said that the scriptures are the Word of God here:
34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
All He said is: "unto whom the word of God came". How can this be construed as proof that the entire old testament is "God's Word". It just says that the Word of God came to them. He adds: "and the scripture cannot be broken". Surely He wasn't saying that the scripture is infallible; because if it was there wouldn't be hundreds of versions of scriptures, including gay friendly Bible's that have any conviction of homosexuality removed. And I think we all agree that Jesus is not a liar. Secondly, he says "THE" scripture cannot be broken. He is referring to that particular scripture that He cited; otherwise, He would have said: "and 'scripture' cannot be broken" (omitting "the"). Surely, what He meant is that "the" scripture (remember, He is referring to and cited "the Law"): "in your law, I said, Ye are gods" cannot be broken ..drum roll please ... because it is LAW; not because "ALL" scripture is the full, complete and infallible Word of God.
God's Word is a VERY HIGH title which by its very definition IS God! How can we call or even equate "scripture" to God? How can we worship and hold scripture with the same esteem as God? How can we call scripture: "God's Word?". Scripture doesn't even call itself God's Word.
Scripture IS inspired of God. There can be no doubt. It is not just any collection of 66 books. The prophecies were directly commissioned by God Himself, and the men that penned it assuredly did so under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
"Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life". 2 Corinthians 3:4-6
There are many versions of the Bible. God is unchanging. If the Bible was the Word of God, who IS God, then how can it be changed?
Let's look at the copyright of the NIV for example:
"The NIV text may be quoted in any form (written, visual, electronic or audio), up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, providing the verses do not amount to a complete book of the Bible nor do the verses quoted account for twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted."
Source: [link to www.biblegateway.com (secure)]
If the NIV is God's Word, then how is it that it can be controlled and dictated my man? Can the publisher dictate to God how many verses can be quoted?
Also let's look at the publisher: Zondervan
Source: [link to en.wikipedia.org]
..the same publisher of "The joy of gay sex". Harper Collins/Zondervan.
Source: [link to en.wikipedia.org]
So if the Bible was the Word of God -- let us use the NIV as an example again, which is one of the most widely read and distributed Bible translations on earth - why would it have 65,000 words removed or changed and why would it be published by the same company that is publishing books about gay sex? fd this is the case, then how can the Bible be viewed as infallible? If it is fallible then how can it be called the Word of God who IS infallible?
The Bible is not the absolute truth and never will be because Jesus Christ is the TRUTH. The Bible, even with flaws, POINT to Jesus. We, although we are FLAWED, point to Jesus who is perfect. The Bible was constructed/put together by men; nothing wrong with that, but the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of TRUTH, we must follow Him.
Yes, scripture promotes God's Word because it reflects Him, but it also contains the words of other people too. ie: Letters to churches:
"But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away". - 1 Corinthians 7:12
So from the above verse, does that mean that the words of Apostle Paul is now God's Word, because his letter to the church is in the Bible? No. He directly and definitively states that it is not the Lord speaking, but he is offering his own opinion. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to conclude that since the letter is in the Bible, God wanted it there; but that doesn't make Paul's letter (who he states was written on his own accord) "God's Word". No. It is a letter, written by a man, to a church.
Some people try to create a straw man argument by implying that if you don't recognise the "WHOLE" Bible (in it's entirety, ie: including the Apostle letters personal words in a letter to the church) as "God's Word", then that leaves you in the realm of having to pick and choose what is God's Word and what is not God's Word. What they are leaving out is that that's why He gave His Holy Spirit! Scripture alone cannot be understood by natural man. It's a false argument and premise to begin with. Who said we have to pick and choose? With His witness: The Holy Spirit, we can come to an understanding. There IS no problem of having to pick and choose ANYTHING if we do NOT agree that the Bible (in its entirety) is "Gods Word". That's a straw man argument!
The words of Jesus are the words of eternal life, we will be judged by His words, written in the scriptures and CONFIRMED by the CONVICTION of the Holy Spirit, which each of us must PRAY FROM Jesus. We will be judged by Him as WITNESSED by the Holy Spirit.
Without the Holy Spirit the wisdom of God's Word, outlined and reflected in scripture cannot be properly understood; or is at best open to interpretation (and probably pretty bad interpretation, depending on the individual reading; and considering Bible's like the NIV have become so corrupted). And man in his fallen and corrupt state certainly can't be trusted to get it right by his own intellect. So then we come back full circle, to: The Holy Spirit is required to understand scripture, and THEN (and only with the Witness) you have "God's Word", because HE lives in you! The Bible itself (alone) is NOT God's Word; neither in part or in its entirety. It is scripture; a set of books, proverbs letters and God-given prophecies which He gave us as a tool for "reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness", and to ensure His Word doesn't come back void, He also sent His Witness: The Holy Spirit.
"So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." - Isaiah 55:11
People cite 2 Timothy 3:15-17 to say that scripture is the Word of God:
15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Note: Paul was talking about the Torah not the Bible.
What does it say?
- The Scriptures are Holy.
- They are "able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus".
- All scripture is given by inspiration of God.
- All scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
Ok firstly, where was the part about scripture being the "Word of God" again? Why do people even quote these verses in such an argument, stating that the above scripture declares that the Bible is the Word of God? Secondly, "inspiration" does not and cannot be translated or construed to be interpreted as "the Word of God". I might be inspired to paint a sunset, but that doesn't make the sunset an artist any more than the word "inspiration" means "the Word of God". The Bible doesn't say: "In the beginning was the Bible and the Bible was with God and the Bible was God". The Bible didn't even exist in the beginning!
There can be no logical doubt that the prophecies of scripture are God inspired and protected and preserved by God, even in spite of the myriad of attacks and attempts to eradicate it. Even where attempts have been made to change meanings (and there have been countless efforts), such sabotage cannot stand against God's Witness: The Holy Spirit.
The Bible contains hundreds of prophecies about events from all over the world. The holy scriptures (old testament) foretold the coming, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Even His birthplace was foretold. This could come about by no other power but by God Himself, who knows the beginning from the end.
People try to discredit the prophecies, but secular writings and growing archaeological evidence keep vindicating and underscoring what scripture has to say.
There can be no doubt that God has projected and proclaimed His Word through the centuries -- but NOWHERE in the any scripture does it say that scripture is infallible, OR that scripture is His Word! The MOST it says, at any point is:
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" - 2 Timothy 3:16
..but we've already been over that.
The doctrine of Biblical inspiration and infallibility was made up by religious people to create an artificial foundation for faith. But that was never necessary, because in doing so they are trying to project "carnal proof" and the ability to "defend themselves with logic"; lest skeptics try to invalidate their "source", instead of simply acknowledging that the Holy Spirit is responsible for witnessing to the Truth. In trying to "justify their faith" (carnally), they lost their faith and made the Bible an idol. God never commissioned us to justify ourselves or protect our image or to pander to unbelievers. He asked us to love and obey Him. We are to point to Jesus, not the Bible. Jesus Saves, not the Bible. The Word became FLESH, not scripture.
Where did a distinction come between "God's WORD" and "God's word" come from? Who made up that one? The Bible, in John 1:1 says that "in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God", so to get away with saying that the Bible is the "Word" they say that Jesus is the living word and that scripture is a different type of word, a lesser word: The "word" of God. Then who and what is the "word" if it is not God, when John 1:1 says that the Word is God? If we can't get the first paragraph of John right, then how are we supposed to understand the rest of what he wrote? Especially when we can't even come to a conclusion on who God is and what His Word is?
Nowhere in the Bible does it make a distinction between God's Word being just scriptural words and God's WORD being God. But it does say that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word WAS God - "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us!" - John 1:14. Period. The end. So every time Jesus spoke of the Word, He is speaking of Himself and His will. He is not saying that scripture is His Word - because if He said that, he would be saying: "All scripture is God"; He would be saying: "worship scripture". Jesus was speaking of what the scripture projected and still projects (along with His Witness): HIM! The Bible is not to be worshipped as an Idol. Nor is it a replacement for a relationship with God:
2 Corinthians 3:4-6
4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
How can scripture be "God's Word" if it killeth, but need the Holy Spirit to give life?
Aside from everything else, a child of God KNOWS that God's Word is written in the heart, not written in a book. The Holy Spirit sorted all that out on the day of Pentecost. The Bible is incomplete without the Holy Spirit bearing witness and the Bible even says the letter killeth! By rights, if we were to close every Bible on earth, every child of God would project and abide in God's Word - because God's Word is GOD! We should KNOW HIM, because He lives in us. The Bible is a tool to help us to get to know Him with His witness, the Holy Spirit. But once we know Him, every God-breathed scripture and commandment of God that's in the Bible is then written on our hearts. We are able to project the Word of God (who IS God), from our very hearts; not shake a book of text (that "killeth") in their air and proclaim that it is "the Word of God". This is idol worship. Without the Holy Spirit, scripture can't be properly understood. If it could be understood without coming to know Him, heaven would fill with fools, thieves and atheists. Oh and don't worry, an atheist would remain an atheist, even if they were in Heaven itself! But I digress..
Nowhere in the Bible does it directly state that the Bible is the "Word of God". Just because a verse states that a particular scripture cannot be broken (because it is law), that doesn't make the whole Bible the "Word of God". There's a big jump there - and a dangerous one; because it sets the Bible up AS "God"; which is open to all manner of interpretation without the Holy Spirit:
"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." - 1 Corinthians 2:14 .
We were asked to spread the Gospel -- to spread the good news -- not to run up and down the earth declaring that scripture is God's Word. And we wonder how all these people who literally worship the Bible - and having done so never found God - wound up so fallen away? And then they became teachers and pastors, holding up the Bible as God - and created whole organizations of people that went out and did the same. In promoting carnally understood, dogma and tradition inspired Bible knowledge, instead of knowledge of HIM - could this be how the megachurches prospered? Could this be how the true church was undermined and fell away? The propagation of the idea that the Bible is the "Word of God" might very well have a lot to do with the fact that most people who proclaim Jesus do not know Him. Worshiping scripture in place of God, or in the same esteem as Him sets a false foundation (Jesus is the ROCK - not the Bible) and prevents people from coming to the understanding that the goal is JESUS! Not "Bible knowledge", which without His Witness fast becomes tradition and dogma; and a path to death. The Bible should be held in high esteem, as it contains prophecies and examples commissioned by the Lord and records of "the gospel" and "the good news", which once studied with prayer will lead us to Him - but the Bible should not be set up as an idol. We should not set out to fill our minds with a carnal understanding of scripture - which kills. We should set out to fill our hearts with His Spirit, Who LIVES in us!
"I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name". - Psalm 138
Ask yourself. Do you really believe that the above verse means that God magnified "scripture" above His name? Or is this just dogma that you believed a long time ago, because it sounded right at the time? To justify the fact that you've believed this for so long, you might say: "Well that verse is referring to the living Word, (Jesus)". Ok then, in such a case, you cannot construe the above verse to mean The Lord "AND" the scripture. It cannot mean both. Otherwise we have come full circle again -- to saying that the Bible is God, or that it is equal to God, who is the Word.
If we are to abide in scripture and declare that it is the infallible unbreakable Word of God, then what was the point of the day of pentecost? Did we all miss the point? If we are to go from door to door with a Bible in our hand but the Holy Spirit is not with us then isn't it in vain?
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." - Matthew 5:17
..because let's face it, man couldn't fulfill the law by himself. If it weren't for Jesus giving His life as payment for our wickedness, we'd still be walking around failing miserably to adhere to "the letter". It couldn't be done before and it can't be done now - UNLESS we are covered in His blood through obedience, glory and proclamation of HIM *cough* NOT "the Bible"! ..and even then, it is His grace that makes the difference.
Glory be to the name of Jesus. For HE is the way, the truth and the life. No one goes to the Father except by Him. Let His will be done, let His kingdom come, for His is the glory and the kingdom and the power, forever and ever.
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