When I was in high school, I went out for the football team. They were trying a new freshman only squad that would play on Thursday nights against other freshman squads in our conference. I had never played tackle football, but when the coaches heard I was a pitcher, they had me work at quarterback. Why they put me there I had no idea, because, as I was told by the head varsity coach, they rarely passed the ball.
Instead he showed me the varsity playbook and told me, we’re a running team. He told me that I needed to learn every play in the playbook, because if I was going to play varsity someday, everything I needed to know would be in that book. Well I lasted about halfway through the semester, because I was ineligible to play due to my grades being so bad. I never played another minute of tackle football.
But that playbook being the end all for that team has always stuck with me through the years. And it’s this idea of having everything you need to know and to execute what is required of you in one book, that brings us back to our fall series on the Counterfeit teachings that surround us.
In our first week we simply brought up the fact that there are many counterfeit teachings out there about the Christian faith. We laid some ground work in talking about how these counterfeits shouldn’t alarm us, because Jesus stated that many would come in his name, yet not be from him. And so, we came to the conclusion that the best way to know that a teaching is counterfeit, was to know the real teaching from Scripture. Counterfeit teaching needs to stop with us first, so that we can be on guard for when it comes again.
In our second week, we laid a little more ground work for our series by talking about the clues God has given us to recognize false messengers when they present themselves. These four clues were: they make false predictions, they call people away from God, they are false even if their predictions come true yet they call people away from God, and finally, if they deny the physical work of Jesus. These four clues will help us see through a false messenger’s facade.
As we now make our way through these next seven weeks, we are going to deconstruct the teachings that are coming specifically out of the Progressive Church, and bring to light the Scriptural teachings that are in opposition to these false ones.
But in order to deal with these false teachings, we have to go to the core of why people fall into them. The main reason that there are so many false teachings around us, is because instead of allowing the Scripture to transform us, what instead happens, is people try to transform the Scripture to themselves.
What I mean is this, there is a term that is used in theology called Sola Scriptura, it means Scripture alone. The Progressive Church’s view on Scripture is a source for guidance, rather than the source for God’s revelation. Progressive writers such as Dawn Hutchings communicates it like this, “I grew to understand the nature of myth and I gave up my child like understanding of Scripture as the literal word of God.” She goes on to say, “Sure, I gave up taking the bible literally decades ago. I moved on to a more nuanced understanding of the Scriptures (https://progressivechristianity.org/resources/moving-beyond-doctrines-of-original-sin-the-fall-and-maybe-even-the-doctrine-of-grace-so-that-we-can-embrace-our-role-in-the-evolution-of-humanity-a-sermon-on-genesis-38-15-for-pentecost/).”
The Progressive Christian writer Delwin Brown writes, “We follow the reasoning of the dominant voices—Paul and the theologians behind the Gospels. We listen to them and we agree, or modify, or sometimes sharply disagree. They are good teachers . . .who help us think for ourselves in our times and cultures (https://fpcmurray.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Brown-What-a-progressive-Pian-belives-March-2018-Head-and-Heart.pdf).”
And in his comparison of Fundamental Christianity to the Progressive Church, writer Randall Wehler, writes of the Scriptures, that there are “Various spiritual expression forms…” and that “God revealed multiple ways… (https://progressivechristianity.org/resources/comparing-fundamental-and-progressive-christianity-one-persons-view/)”
The Scriptures are diminished when we try and conform them to ourselves, rather than allowing them to conform us to God.
But this is nothing new, throughout the very Scriptures that Progressive Christianity and others who hold this diminished view see as only one in a sea of divine guides, we can see that God has dealt with it before.
In the book of Jeremiah, multiple times God speaks of people not heeding the words he speaks through his prophets. In Jeremiah 26:4-6 God says, “And you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘If you do not listen to Me and walk in My law, which I have set before you, 5 and if you do not listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have sent you again and again even though you did not listen, 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.’”
In Jeremiah 29:19 God states, “For they have not listened to my words," declares the LORD, "words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either," declares the LORD.”
To the prophet Isaiah, God speaks this in the 30th chapter, “8 And now, go, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever. 9 For they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the Lord; 10 who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’ and to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, 11 leave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.’ 12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, ‘Because you despise this word and trust in oppression and perverseness and rely on them, 13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant; 14 and its breaking is like that of a potter's vessel that is smashed so ruthlessly that among its fragments not a shard is found with which to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern (30:8-14).’”
Jesus says of the Scriptures in Matthew 5:17-19, “17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
So God is very clear that his Word, which we refer to as the Scriptures or the Bible, cannot be disagreed with or modified, because it then becomes man’s word. This is exactly what the serpent does in the Garden with Eve, in Genesis 3:1, where his question slightly distorts God’s words. It reads, “….He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, “You shall not eat of any tree in the garden”?’” What God actually says, comes from Eve in the next verse, “2 …We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
It was the serpent again who said to Jesus in the wilderness in Luke 4:9-11, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11 and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus responds to the serpent by saying this, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
In both situations the Serpent had to be corrected for twisting the words of God. It is no different today. Time and time again, we will see the Progressive Church, and others who hold a diminished view of the Scriptures, alter the words of God to align with their pre-concluded doctrine.
But at the same time as realizing the need to be true to the Scriptures, we must remember that they are a collection of words that point us to life in Christ. Jesus said this to the religious leaders of his day in John 5:39-40, “39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”
We cannot make the Scriptures an idol to be worshiped, but they must be the foundation on which our understanding of God is based. Knowledge of God alone isn’t what saves us, it is the work of Jesus who does this. Only in the light of Jesus, do the Scriptures make sense. Only through his sacrifice on our behalf, do the Scriptures come alive with truth. Jesus speaks of this in John 8:31b-32, “…If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Throughout John’s Gospel the connection with putting into practice Jesus’ words happens again and again, and is summarized in this phrase from John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”
But why should we hold onto the Scriptures, and not change them to fit ourselves?
Here are three reason why:
First, God’s Confirms that the Scriptures are Trustworthy. What I mean by that is, that we can trust that through the centuries, God has handed the Scriptures down to us as he intended them. In Luke 11:51-52, Jesus confirms this by referencing the first death in the Old Testament which is in Genesis 4, to the last death of the prophet Zechariah, when he spoke these words, “51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. 52 Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”
Not only do we have Jesus’ words to give us assurance, but discoveries of manuscripts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, let us know that the Old Testament Scriptures have been unchanged for thousands of years.
Concerning the New Testament Scriptures, we know it’s trustworthy because we have around 5,000 Greek manuscripts, about 20,000 manuscripts in other languages, 32,000 and quotations from the early Church fathers that existed before the Council of Nicaea in AD 325. We know what the original manuscripts say, because we have more documentation about the New Testament than any one other ancient collection of books. In fact the average set of ancient manuscripts on any given subject is about 4ft high, or roughly the size of a standard podium. Comparatively, the amount we have for the New Testament is roughly 6,600ft, or four and a half Empire State buildings. We can trust that what we have, has traversed the centuries in-tacked.
Second, God’s Word Gets Things Done. God says of his Word in Isaiah 55:10-11, “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
Look around the world that we live in. In places where the Gospel has taken root, or from the influence of countries where the Gospel has taken root, things like slavery were abolished, human rights for people were established, and high amounts of individual freedom are seen. Now are the places utopias? No, because this world is still enticed by sin, and won’t fully break free from it until Jesus’ return and his final judgment is carried out. But we can see, when godly men and woman carry out God’s Word, things get done.
Third, God’s Word Transforms Us. Paul writes in his 2nd letter to Timothy, “12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (3:12-17).”
Many things have changed in my life since I became a believer. I am not always doing good, but have seen that when I hold onto God’s Word, life is more fulfilling and freeing. Joy happens when sorrow should, peace occurs when chaos surrounds, and hope conquers when hopelessness should crush. This hasn’t happened in my life because I am strong, but because the Scriptures continually point me back to God who is my strength.
Yet there is a point of caution we must address. While holding onto the unchangeable Word of God, we must not lose focus on having God transform us by that same Word.
The Scriptures tell a coherent story from front to back. It is a story of God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness. The story shows God’s work to bring about humanity’s reconciliation with himself, by showing us that the only way this can happen is through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. The Scriptures we hold, are thousands of years of that story playing out in real time. True the cultures in which it was written are different than our own, but the lives of those who trusted or denounced God, contained with in the pages of the Scriptures, could be our own. And the joy of knowing that we cannot will ourselves to God, but only by his loving work through Jesus are we brought back to him. And now, we live by God’s Word, not in fear of not being good enough, but in love as a child lovingly embraced by their parent.
This is why familiarity with the Scriptures and the allowing them to transform us through the power of the Holy Spirit is so vital for us as Jesus’ disciples. Because when we begin to see the work that God has done through the centuries, we begin to see the work he is doing today.
And so my challenge for you today is this, do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God? Is there anything in there that you struggle to trust or believe in? Are there things in there that you haven’t put into practice?
This week I want to challenge you to bring before God your struggles. To research and ask what does God mean by this, this thing you’re struggling with. Ask God how to put into practice the things he says to do.
We need to follow Paul’s instructions in Romans 12:1-2, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
There’s a promise there, that if we have God transform us then we will know God’s good and pleasing will. This transformation comes through his Word. So then let us cling to every word that God has spoken in the Scripture, trusting the Holy Spirit to transform us by it. Amen.
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