You are my friends if you do what I command you. - John 15:14
In recent times, there has been growing failure to rightly exegete the Bible in a God-honoring way. What I mean by that is many people, non-Christians and nominal Christians, skew the words of Scripture to support their erroneous declarations about what God’s words actually mean; or should I say what God’s words mean to them? We cannot deviate from God’s word nor negotiate our way around its true meaning. “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” - Galatians 1:6-9.
Recently, I have heard a great number of clearly fictitious and untruthful claims about what the Bible says regarding the hot topics of today. From abortion to sexual sin (and all its poisonous offshoots) to excuses for blatant racism and hatred in general, there seems to be someone who can misquote the Bible in a heartbeat, turning Holy Scripture on its head. The defenses and excuses for such pagan behavior shouldn’t boggle our minds; we should expect it, especially in this age of permissiveness. “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” - 2 Timothy 4:3-4.
They want to usurp the authority of God, so they misinterpret His words to support their barbaric inclinations. By incorrect exegesis of the Scriptures, they render the most despicable acts of man acceptable, if not desirable and noble. They even raise the sinful acts to a place of idolatry and refer to them as ‘inalienable rights’ accorded to them by the Constitution of the United States! Then they demand of us, “how dare” we choose the rightly interpreted word of God over their mongrelized and corrupted version of ‘the truth?’
Make no mistake. There are no ‘work-arounds’ - Jesus Christ did not and does not bless the pagan practices of racists, homosexuals, abortionists, or sinners in general. He came to save sinners from the effects of their sins, not to encourage or validate the lives they have chosen for themselves or the destruction of the lives of their victims. Jesus is clear as to His position on sin. “Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.’” - John 8:10-11. Yes, the woman was a prostitute, a sinner. Christ forgave her sins but specifically commanded her to ‘go ... and from now on sin no more!’ He didn’t wink at her and point her toward men who wanted to pay for her services. He didn’t tell her she had done no wrong. He didn’t tell her to make sure she showed up for all his sermons, but then she could carry on as usual. He told her not to sin anymore, period. So when anyone says abortion, or hating someone based on their race or ethnicity, or a life of sexual sins is excused by God, they are lying. And God has made His position clear. “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” - Proverbs 6:16-19.
In this culture of self-indulgence and open sinfulness, we need to understand that God, in His majesty, should rule our hearts, minds, and deeds. We must come to terms with the fact that any alternative to Jesus Christ leads to condemnation and damnation, whether the culture accepts the truth of that statement or not.
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