This sermon, titled “Eat This Book: It’s a Literal Meal,” navigates the complex dialogue between viewing the Bible as the literal word of God versus interpreting it with a blend of literalism and symbolism. It confronts the declining belief in the Bible as the literal word of God in the U.S., presenting statistical data to frame the conversation around modern perceptions of biblical authority.
Sermon Notes:
2 Peter 1:16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known
to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of
His majesty.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because
when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not
as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, …
Rule #5: All of the Bible is about Jesus
Rule #6: The Bible not only has to be Read, It has to be Interpreted
Rule #7: “A Text Taken out of Context is a Con”
Rule #8: Let the Bible interpret Bible
Rule #9: There is a Progressive Revelation in the Bible
Rule #10 Scripture is to be understood in its literal, normal, and natural sense.
Headline: Fewer in U.S. Now See Bible as Literal Word of God
20% of all U.S. adults believe it is the actual word of God
25% of Christian adults believe it is the actual word of God
49% of all U.S. adults belive it is the inspired word of God
58% of Christian adults believe it is the inspired word of God
29% of all U.S. adults believe it is an ancient book of fables
16% of Christian adults believe it an ancient book of fables.
30% of Protestants say that the Bible is literally true, compared with 15% of Catholics.
A record-low 20% of Americans now say the Bible is the literal word of God,
down from 24% the last time the question was asked in 2017, and down from 30%
of what it was in 2011.
This marks the first time significantly more Americans have viewed the Bible as
not divinely inspired than as the literal word of God.
1. THE BIBLE IS NOT AN ANCIENT BOOK OF FABLES.
2 Peter 1:16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known
to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of
His majesty.
Dear Dr Gott:
An infinitely wise God placed in Adam and Eve’s environment everything that
that was needed for optimum health. Because He did not place a rifle in Adam’s
hand or teach Eve how to build a trap, how did these two people capture moving
creatures to eat? It’s highly un- likely that Adam and Eve obtained enough vitamin
B12 from their skimpy diet of fruits and vegetables, Could they have suffered
vitamin deficiences?
Dear Reader:
Sure, anybody who fails to eat a well-balanced diet can suffer malnutrition and
vitamin deficiency. But don’t you think you are carrying this Adam and Eve thing
too far? It doesn’t take a theologian to conclude that much Biblical material is
symbolic not literal. No one has the faintest idea of what Adam and Eve ate
and that information is probably not important if, as I suspect the original man
and woman are symbols of an unsophisticated and primitive tribe that existed
without sin until its numbers became more human by obtaining knowledge–
a revolutionary and dangerous turn of events for the shaman and leaders
of such a culture.
Bill O’Reilly: “If you believe in Adam and Eve, there are a number of other things you
have to believe. You have to believe in incest because the race had to procreate
off the children that Adam and Eve had. If you believe in Adam and Eve, you
have to reject the science of evolution and carbon dating.”
Matthew 19:4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who
made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’
1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.”
The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
1 Timothy 2:13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
Romans 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses …”
Exodus 20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
Exodus 20:10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God …”
Exodus 20:11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea,
and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed
the Sabbath day and hallowed it
2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as
a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day
John Schneider says “It’s time to face facts: There was no historical Adam and Eve,
no serpent, no apple, no fall that toppled man from a state of innocence.
Evolution makes it pretty clear that in nature, and in the moral experience of human
beings, there never was any such paradise to be lost, so Christians, I think, have
a challenge, have a job on their hands to reformulate some of their tradition about
human beginnings.”
2 Peter 1:16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known
to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of
His majesty.
2. THE BIBLE IS THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD, BUT NOT
EVERYTHING IN IT SHOULD BE TAKEN LITERALLY.
Revelation 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a
great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon
his heads.
Revelation 12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did
cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready
to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
When the Bible uses the name Adam, it means a literal person named Adam and
not just a symbolic representative of the human race.
When the Bible uses the word “days” it means a literal 24-hour day and not a
symbolic representation of an era or an extended period of time.
When the Bible uses the word “devil” or “:Satan” it means a literal devil and not just
a symbolic representation of evil.
3. THE BIBLE IS THE ACTUAL WORD OF GOD AND IS TO BE
TAKEN LITERALLY, WORD FOR WORD.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because
when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not
as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, …
Genesis 3:1 “… the serpent said to the woman, “Has God said?”
1 Thessalonians 2:13 “… as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively
works in you who believe.
This sermon delves into the profound concept of living a resurrection life—a life transformed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It underscores the significance of living not for ourselves, but for Jesus, who sacrificed Himself for our redemption. The message draws on various Scriptures to explore the multifaceted implications of a life lived in the light of Christ’s resurrection.
Sermon Notes:
2 Corinthians 5:9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be
well pleasing to Him.
2 Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that
if One died for all, then all died;
2 Corinthians 5:15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for
themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
One is to live as if Jesus died yesterday, rose this morning and is coming back tonight!
Luke 2:11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ
the Lord.
1 John 4:14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior
of the world.
Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Jesus came to save us from sin.
Matthew 1:21 NLT And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he
will save his people from their sins.”
Jesus came to save us from death.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Jesus came to save us from judgment.
1 Thessalonians 1:10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from
the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
1. RESURRECTION LIFE SAVES US FROM LIVING FOR SELF.
2 Corinthians 5:15 And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for
themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
County Common Pleas Court Judge Brendan Sheehan told Candelario (quote)
” You left your child trapped in a tiny prison for days while you were out having a good
time and you committed the ultimate betrayal by leaving your daughter alone without
food. Just as you didn’t let Jailyn out of her confinement, so too you should spend
the rest of your life in a cell without freedom. The only difference will be, the prison
will at least feed you and give you liquid that you denied her.”
At the sentencing, lead detective T.J. Powell wrote a poem he read:
J is for the justice that will be received today.
A is for the angel wings she earned on that dreadful day.
I is for the incremental repetition buildup of suspense for a … death that clearly
makes no sense.
L is for the lack of love while alone for 11 days.
Y is for a young life that was taken away.
N is for new eternal life Jailyn gained on that day. No child should ever have to die this way.
2. RESURRECTION LIFE MEANS LIVING FOR JESUS.
2 Corinthians 5:15 And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for
themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
John 10:10 “… I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more
abundantly.”
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ
lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Romans 6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that
just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life.
3. RESURRECTION LIFE MEANS PLEASING JESUS.
2 Corinthians 5:9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be
well pleasing to Him.
John 8:29 And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I
always do those things that please Him.
4. RESURRECTION LIFE EMBODIES LOVING JESUS.
2 Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Christ compels us …”
1 John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us.
5. RESURRECTION LIFE SIGNALS A NEW VIEWPOINT OF OTHERS.
2 Corinthians 5:16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view.
At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently
we know him now!
2 Corinthians 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a
new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things
have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
6. RESURRECTION LIFE EXPLAINS BEING CRAZY FOR JESUS.
2 Corinthians 5:13 (NIV) If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God;
2 Corintians 5:13 (NLT) If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God.
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;
Acts 26:24 (NLT) Suddenly, Festus shouted, “Paul, you are insane. Too much study
has made you crazy!”
Mark 3:21 When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away.
“He’s out of his mind,” they said.
John 10:’20 And many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen
to Him?”
1 Peter 2:9 “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation,
a peculiar people;…”
A.W. Tozer writes in The Root of the Righteous (quote p.156)
” A real Christian is an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for One whom
he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to Someone he cannot see, expects
to go to heaven on the virtue of Another, empties himself in order to be full,
admits he is wrong so he can be declared right, goes down in order to get up,
is strongest when he is weakest, richest when he is poorest, and happiest when
he feels worst. He dies so he can live, forsakes in order to have, gives away so
he can keep, sees the invisible, hears the inaudible …”
Adrian Rogers said, “I may be a nut, but I’m fastened to a good bolt, the Lord Jesus
Christ.”
Love makes people do crazy things.
William Borden, 1887-1913.
The epitaph at the bottom of William Borden’s tombstone ends with the phrase,
“Apart from faith in Christ, there is no explanation for such a life.”
2 Corinthians 5:15 And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for
themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
Isaiah 46:9
Deut 28:29
Prov 4:18
2 Peter 1:19
Rev 1:1
Deut 29:29
Isaiah 46:9
Gal 4:4
Isaiah 30:18
Genesis 1:26
Psalm 2:7
Psalm 51:11
Romans 1:7
John 1:1
Acts 5:3-4
1 John 5:7
Proverbs 4:18
Psalm 119:133
Psalm 17:5
John 3:19-20
2 Peter 1:19
Jeremiah 17:9
1 Peter 1:19
Psalm 119:105
Rev 22:16
Luke 21:26-27
Matt 7:21-23
Sermon Notes
Isaiah 46:9 (NIV) “… I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none
like me.
Isaiah 46:10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what
is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’
Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things
which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all
the words of this law.
Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and
more unto the perfect day.
2 Peter 1:19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to
heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star
rises in your hearts;
Rule #5: All of the Bible is about Jesus.
Rule # 6: The Bible not only has to be Read, It has to be Interpreted
Rule #7: “A Text Taken out of Context is a Con”
Rule #8: Let the Bible interpret Bible
Rule #9: There is a Progressive Revelation in the Bible
Progressive revelation simply put is the unfolding of God’s revelation.
Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His
servants—things which must shortly take place.
Now the whole Bible is Jesus being revealed and He is the one doing the revealing
The whole Bible is God’s Revelation not just the Book of Revelation
Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things
which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all
the words of this law.
I. GOD’S PROGRESSIVE REVELATION COMES THROUGH INFORMATION.
Isaiah 46:9 “… For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none
like Me,
Isaiah 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things
that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’
Isaiah 46:9 (NIV) “… I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none
like me.
Isaiah 46:10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what
is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’
(1) Later revelation interprets earlier revelation.
(2) The New Testament interprets the Old Testament,
It has been said: “The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed;
the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed.”
Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son,
made of a woman, made under the law,
Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you …
Blessed are all those who wait for Him.
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…
Psalm 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son;
this day have I begotten thee.
Psalm 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit
from me.
The Father is God
Romans 1:7 …Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Son is God
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God.
The Holy Spirit is God
Acts 5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the
Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?
Acts 5:4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it
not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You
have not lied to men but to God.”
1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
II. GOD’S PROGRESSIVE REVELATION COMES THROUGH ILLUSTRATION.
Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and
more unto the perfect day.
The truth does get truer.
Psalm 119:133 Order my steps in your word: and let not any iniquity have
dominion over me.
Psalm 17:5 Hold up my goings in your paths, that my footsteps slip not.
The light recieved increases light
The light refused increases darkness.
Vance Havner once said, “A man is judged not on the basis of how much sin he
commits, but on the basis of how much light he rejects. ”
John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
John 3:20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light,
lest his deeds should be exposed
III. GOD’S PROGRESSIVE REVELATION COMES THROUGH ILLUMINATION.
2 Peter 1:19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to
heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star
rises in your hearts;
2 Peter 1:19 (NLT) You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words
are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning
Star shines in your hearts.
1 Peter 1:19 (KJV) We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do
well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day
dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
1 Peter 1:19 “… until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
1 Peter 1:19 “… until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
Revelation 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things
in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and
morning star.
We sing a hymn about it “The Lily of the Valley”
He’s the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star.
Heavenly sunlight, heavenly sunlight,
flooding my soul with glory divine:
hallelujah, I am rejoicing,
singing His praises, Jesus is mine.
Luke 21:26 Men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those
things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Luke 21:27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and
great glory.
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom
of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Matthew 7:22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
Matthew 7:23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me,
you who practice lawlessness!’
Isaiah 28:9 “Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand
the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts?
Isaiah 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line,
line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”
Isaiah 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people,
Isaiah 28:12 To whom He said, “This is the rest with which You may cause the
weary to rest,” And, “This is the refreshing”; Yet they would not hear.
Isaiah 28:13 But the word of the Lord was to them, “Precept upon precept, precept
upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little,” That they
might go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and caught.
Steven Lawson (quote)
“Cancel the entertainment in the church, fire the drama team, get rid of the shtick,
unplug the colored lights, put the pulpit back in the center of the building,
stand up like a man, open the Bible, lift it up, let it out, and let it fly.”
Rule #5: All of the Bible is about Jesus.
Rule # 6: The Bible not only has to be Read, It has to be Interpreted
Rule #7: “A Text Taken out of Context is a Con”
Rule #8: Let the Bible interpret Bible
I. THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF LET THE BIBLE INTERPRET ITSELF.
Isaiah 28:9 “Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand
the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts?
Isaiah 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line,
line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”
Isaiah 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line,
line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”
Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone
for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
Whoever believes will not act hastily.
Isaiah 28:17 Also I will make justice the measuring line, And righteousness
the plummet;
1 Corinthians 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid,
which is Jesus Christ.
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!
II. THE SCATTERED SCRIPTURES THAT LET THE BIBLE INTERPRET ITSELF.
Isaiah 28:10 “…. Line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”
Matthew 16:6 Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and the Sadducees”
1 Corinthians 5:6 “… Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
Galatians 5:9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
1 Peter 5:8 “… your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom
he may devour.
Revelation 5:5 “… Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed …”
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which
the Lord God had made.
Revelation 20:2 “… that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan …
John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of man be lifted up:
John 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
III. THE INTENDED INTERPRETATION FROM LET THE BIBLE INTERPRET ITSELF.
Isaiah 28:12 To whom He said, “This is the rest with which You may cause the
weary to rest,” And, “This is the refreshing”; Yet they would not hear.
Isaiah 28:13 But the word of the Lord was to them, “Precept upon precept, precept
upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little,” That they
might go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and caught.
The Bible has one interpretation and many applications.
Exegesis is drawing out from the text.
Eisegesis is reading into the text.
The Constitution like the Bible has one interpretation and many applications.
The late Justice Antonin Scalia commented:
“[There’s] the argument of flexibility and it goes something like this: The Constitution
is over 200 years old and societies change. It has to change with society, like
a living organism, or it will become brittle and break. But you would have to be an
idiot to believe that; the Constitution is not a living organism; it is a legal document.
It says something and doesn’t say other things . .”
Justice Clarence Thomas said this about the “living Constitution” doctrine.
Let me put it this way; there are really only two ways to interpret the Constitution —
try to discern as best we can what the framers intended or make it up.
Following the Civil War, in 1868, Congress submitted to the states 3 amendments
The 13th Amendment made slavery illegal, the 14th Amendment defined and granted
broad rights of national citizenship including formerly enslaved people
Another equally important provision of the 14th was the statement that “nor shall any
state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;
The Supreme Court came along almost 100 years later in 1965 and declared for the
first time there is a constitutional right to privacy — they created “zones of privacy”
The Griswold v. Connecticut decision of (1965), centered around the freedom of
individuals to use contraception without interference from the government
Although the Fourteenth Amendment does not contain the word “privacy” itself,
nor does it appear in the rest of the Constitution, U.S. courts have acknowledged
an individual’s right to privacy in home and family life.
They conferred, THE RIGHT TO BE LET ALONE as the most comprehensive of
rights and the right most valued by civilized men.
In 1973 writing for the majority opinion in Roe v. Wade, Justice Harry Blackmun said
that the court held a woman’s right to an abortion was implicit in the right to privacy
protected under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
If it applies to contraceptives and family planning then it applies to family planning
of decding to have an abortion,
But the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits states from denying “the equal protection
of the laws” to “any person.”
And the 14th amendment says any state shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law;
How can you deprive a baby in the womb, the right to life? or due process of the law?
The majority said the baby has no rights because they said it is a only “potential life”
and therefore not a person yet
So the unborn child has no right to privacy, the RIGHT TO BE LET ALONE
God does not change and neither does His Word:
Malachi 3:16 For I am the LORD, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed,
O sons of Jacob.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down
from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
Hebrews 7:24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.
Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to
God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
2 Peter 3:15 And consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also
our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
2 Peter 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are
some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their
own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
2 Peter 3:17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest
you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the
wicked;
2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
Rule #6: The Bible not only has to be Read, It has to be Interpreted.
Rule #7: “A Text taken out of Context is a Con”
Ask yourself, “Is the verse a new thought or the continuation of the previous thought?”
This rule “A text taken out of context is a con” applies to Bible books as well.
For example, do not isolate the writings of Paul from the gospels of Christ or vice versa.
I. WHAT PAUL WROTE WAS SCRIPTURE.
2 Peter 3:15 …our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has
written to you,
2 Peter 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are
some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their
own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
There is a false teaching out there that the books of the Bible were chosen hundreds
of years later in the fourth century by the church and prior to that there was no
agreement on books that should be in or out of the Bible
J.I. Packer “The Church no more gave us the New Testament canon than Sir Isaac
Newton gave us the force of gravity. God gave us gravity, by His work of creation,
and similarly He gave us the New Testament canon, by inspiring the individual books
that make it up.”
Peter Gomes is an homosexual priest wrote in his book entitled ” The Good Book ”
“To base the church’s principle objections to homosexuality and homosexuals
on the basis of Paul’s imperfect knowledge is itself unprincipled …”
Thomas Jefferson letter to William Short, 13 April 1820
“I find many passages of fine imagination, correct morality, and of the most lovely
benevolence: and others again of so much ignorance, so much absurdity, so much
untruth, charlatanism, and imposture, as to pronounce it impossible that such
contradictions should have proceeded from the same being. I separate therefore
the gold from the dross; restore to him the former, & leave the latter to the stupidity
of some, and roguery of others of his disciples. of this band of dupes and impostors,
Paul was the great Coryphaeus, and first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus. these
palpable interpolations and falsifications of his doctrines led me to try to sift
them apart. I found the work obvious and easy …”
The Scriptures cannot be divided up, they have to be taken as a whole.
Jesus and Paul were full and complete agreement
II. WHAT PAUL WROTE WAS HARD TO UNDERSTAND.
2 Peter 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which
are some things hard to be understood …”
Hebrews 4:12 (NASB) For the word of God is living …”
Luke 24:45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the
Scriptures.
Mark Twain said, “It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother
me, it is the parts that I do understand.”
III. WHAT PAUL WROTE WAS TWISTED BY OTHERS.
2 Peter 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are
some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their
own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
Clarence Craig said “The Bible has often been treated as if it were a wax nose
which may be twisted at the whim of the interpreter.”
Romans 3:8 And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are
slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.
Romans 5:20 “…. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.”
Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
Romans 6:2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
Romans 6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?
Certainly not!
Can a person be saved and go on in the same ungodly sinful life pattern?
Can there be a true salvation experience and divine transaction that takes place
that has no impact on our life?
Because when we are born again, we are changed.
Because we are changed we can and will change.
God’s grace: 1. forgives us 2. changes our nature 3. changes our desires.
Romans 6:4 “… even so we also should walk in newness of life.
2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
