Recently, a long-time friend of ours texted us and said that he had no interest in reading our book, Remnants of Ur. He claims that God spoke to him and told him that the Bible is true. So, why would he listen to us, mere humans, when he has heard from God?
Unfortunately, the conversation ended abruptly and we were not able to convey that although we have found in our research that the Bible has many faults, we respect it as a valuable spiritual tool.
His thinking is in line with fundamental Christians who are taught that every word of the Bible is 100% inspired by God, which actually comes from the teachings of Paul.
In 2 Timothy 3:16, Paul was talking about the Hebrew scriptures as he was addressing the fact that the Jewish people place higher value on some of the scriptures more than others, and they still do today.
The Hebrew Bible is comprised of the same books as the Old Testament in the Christian Bible; however, they are in a different order. The writings are divided into 3 books, the Torah, the Nevi’im, and the Ketuvim.
The Torah includes the writings of Moses. They are esteemed to be directly from God and are supremely revered. The Nevi’im consists of the writings of the prophets and are less valuable, since the prophets were merely human. Lastly, the Ketuvim includes the Psalms, Proverbs, etc., which are considered inspirational writings, and are of least worth.
Paul was simply saying that ALL of the Hebrew scripture was given by inspiration of God, and was profitable for doctrine, reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; basically, not just the Torah.
Christians have taken those words of Paul to mean that the entire Bible, Old and New Testaments, fits that criterion—end of subject.
So, just a couple of thoughts here. If the New Testament is 100% inspired by God, then God must have a difficult time keeping a story straight.
For example, during the crucifixion scene, Mark and Mathew report that both thieves reviled Christ. Whereas, Luke gives an ornate story of one thief reviling and one thief honoring Christ, and John just mentions that there were two others crucified alongside of him. So, which gospel is correct?
They don’t line up because they were written by people who reported things in the way they saw or heard others see them. Not every word can be stood upon as being directly issued by God.
Christians have been taught by their leaders to make an idol out of the Bible, and worship it as if it were God himself. They binge upon the writings of Paul, yet they neglect the teachings of the most important one written about within its pages.
Let’s think this through. We have four Gospels that give us a glimpse into the actions and teachings of the Messiah—the very Messiah.
So why would we even follow the teachings of another, namely Paul, whose teachings often contradict the Lord’s teachings.
Christ said, “he who hears my words and does them is like a wise man who builds his house on a solid foundation. So, when the huge storm comes, your house will stand.”
Whose teachings have you built your house upon? Because, there is a massive spiritual storm coming and we will see great destruction, because the majority of believers follow the wrong teachings from the Bible and have built their houses upon sand.
It’s not enough to just have faith in Christ as Paul taught. In John 8:31, Jesus said to those Jews who believed on him, if you continue in my word, then you are my disciples indeed. It is not a free gift as Paul taught.
Christ said, enter in at the strait gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many that go that path.
What is the strait gate? it is the teachings of the Chosen one (Christ) who came to teach the true way to the nations as written about in Isaiah chapter 42 of the Hebrew Bible. On a side note, King James did a poor job translating this passage from Hebrew into English.
This is not a word for the world. This is a word for those who call themselves Christians. Is your house built upon the spiritual teachings of Christ or are you following Paul’s religion down that broad destructive path?
Lastly, I want to share something that God showed me. In the 10th chapter of Revelation, John hears seven thunders uttering their voices and is instructed to keep their words a mystery. Afterwards, John is asked to take a little book and eat it. It was honey in his mouth and bitter in his belly, which is biblically symbolic of poison.
The little book is the Bible. It is sweet like honey if used as a spiritual tool for God to show us the treasures. However, if used as a religious tool and if some of the fallacies within its pages are consumed as truth, it becomes poisonous.