Do not take instruction from those who are unskilled in the Word.
Posted : 16 Aug, 2016 08:34 AM
The devil used the scripture inappropriately when he tempted Christ. Make sure the scripture is on point with the discussion. Note those who do not respond on point, who cannot answer directly with specific scripture, when they are trying to rebut a point made in God's word; but rather try to twist the scriptures, especially unrelated passages, to push forward an agenda, and those who are novices; along with the unskilled, untaught, unbalanced, etc.
"But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for 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 complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." 2 Timothy 3-4
Know the scriptures. "Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against You." Psalm 119
"Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, 9 holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. 10 But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. 11 Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. 12 Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus." 1 Timothy 3 Every officer of the church is tested before admission to the office, be it apostle, prophet, evangelist, elder, bishop, pastor teacher (Ephesians 4:11), or deacon, and have been found blameless, in order to be able to take the office that the individual bring no accusation with them into office against the church and/or the testimony of the gospel through their conduct. Before the apostles were apostles, they were disciples. Officers of the church are not to be novices, but skilled in the use of the word, and able to rightly divide the word of truth.
For a more complete understanding, I would suggest a study of the "pastoral" epistles, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. You might start by listening to all of them, as it will help you hear the themes God has placed in them for our instruction and protection under the leadership of sound men of the faith. Mark those who want to debate the authority and/or efficacy of God's holy word. It is not open to debate. Mark those who suggest, contrary to scripture, that knowing scripture, disqualifies a man from being able to minister compassionately.
And again, be mindful that those who are unskilled, who reject God's word, and think that knowing it disqualifies one from compassionate tending to the flock, are carnal, and in sin.
"And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king." (You can't obey what you do not know. In this case, it was a specific word of the Lord given through Samuel that King Saul refused to obey) I Samuel 15 (as with all my references, please read entire chapter.)
Of the three times scripture records Jesus weeping, none of them was when dealing with those who presented false teachings. He corrected their false teachings with all authority. This is what I'm talking about when someone blindly pulls a scripture which is not on point, and not germane to the discussion. That Christ wept at the burial site of Lazarus is an amazing thing. It has nothing to do with this discussion. If he wants to make a point about the Holy Spirit being grieved, use the right scripture.
Using scripture out of context is not what the Holy Spirit leads people to do. The leading into truth by the Holy Spirit is not an instant gift of all knowledge and wisdom. Even Jesus grew in wisdom and stature over time. "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." Luke 2:52 Are you better than Jesus?
One does not suddenly become skilled in the use of the word and understand all things. God requires an individual to spend time studying the scriptures to be skilled. The Apostle Paul, already knew the text of scripture, when by a special miracle, God caused the scales to fall from his eyes. But he had spent his whole life studying scripture. Unless God is intervening in your life, and performing a miracle, you too need to learn the scriptures the old fashioned way, you must study them; just like Jesus, and just like Paul.
Do not take instruction from those who are unskilled in the Word.
Posted : 14 Aug, 2016 01:07 PM
"�I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you." John 16
As the Holy Spirit illuminates your understanding, He will NEVER EVER contradict God's written word. False spirits, demons, can appear as angels of light (2 Corinthians 11), but if what they say contradicts scripture, you have total assurance that their words are a lie.
Again:
"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled* in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." Hebrews 5
Do not take instruction from those who are unskilled in the Word.
Posted : 13 Aug, 2016 06:57 PM
I encourage all to read the whole chapter wherever I have cited scripture, and understand my references in their proper context.
Beware the untaught*, the unskilled*, and the unstable*, those who twist* the truth and bring false doctrine, making up things which contradict* scripture, and these lies are a cancer* to the body of Christ.
Always compare what is said to the Holy Bible, and if true, submit to it. Experience does not determine doctrine. The living word of God either validates experience or exposes the lies of it. "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth." John 17:17, Hebrews 4:12
"Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. 15 Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer*." 2 Timothy 2 If you do not study God's word, you cannot be an unashamed worker, as you will not be rightly dividing the word of truth.
"My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment."
"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled* in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." Hebrews 5
"And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, �I am of Paul,� and another, �I am of Apollos,� are you not carnal? 1 Corinthians 3
"Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 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, 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. 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; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 3
"O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions* of what is falsely called knowledge� 21 by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith." 1 Timothy 6
If anyone think a pointed response is never appropriate, especially when there is false teaching being thrown about, consider these words most carefully: "Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith" Titus 1
"Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned." Titus 3
"Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You." Psalm 119
"I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above ALL Your name." Psalm 138 This is the importance God has assigned to His word. Read it, study it, meditate upon it, memorize it, write it, listen to it, drink it, eat it.
Father, I pray the blood of Christ, Sir, for the cleansing of this board, and beg Lord, that You would rebuke the lies of the demons who try to twist Your holy words Lord. I pray Lord You would expose the lies of the enemy for what they are, for the heresy that it is. I ask these things according to Your will and according to Your word Lord, asking in Christ's steady Father, as You have commanded, in His name, Amen.
MY LITTLE CHILDREN, these things I write to YOU, so that YOU MAY NOT SIN, ---->AND IF<---- ANYONE SINS ...
How is John suggesting we go out and sin with these words? Or me by quoting him? Good grief. How bizarre a reading of these words. And did not Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit say the same thing?
From a recent post:
"And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. ... For we are God�s fellow workers; you are God�s field, you are God�s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one�s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one�s work, of what sort it is. If anyone�s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone�s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." 1 Corinthians 3
Paul goes on to chastise the Corinthians with even more severe language in Chapter 5. "I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner�not even to eat with such a person. 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore �put away from yourselves the evil person.�"
Is anyone fool enough to call these words of God a lie, and say Christians do not sin, when the who passage is a rebuke of Christians living in sin? And who will dare say that quoting God is an approval of sin? That is outrageous.
You are in open sin before the Lord by denying the plain words of Romans 7:25. It is without question that the ecclesia is to judge sin among the body, and to remove it from the presence of the body, by disassociation. It is without question that Christians can live in sin. If it were not possible, there would be no church discipline, nor any need for church discipline. You pick off individual verses, or small groups of verses, rather then giving the full context of the verses, and you twist them together, to make points that are false and contradictory to the entire body of scripture. Peter didn't say it was impossible to understand Paul, he said Paul wrote things hard to understand.
"Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 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, 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<-----.
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; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
You reject the learned in the scriptures, and count yourself a hero for disrespecting the scriptures; and one of the very scriptures you use to prove your case exposes the lie you foster upon those who read these pages. You are unlearned, untaught, and unstable, and you twist God's word to your own destruction. God gave us the Holy Bible to feed upon, so that we can grow, as it says in 1 Peter 2.
"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." Hebrews 5
You casually dismiss what God honors. The Lord rebuke you. Your teachings are false. I leave you to the discipline of the Lord.
"Unfortunately people who are well versed in scripture, do not have much good to offer, because they are unable to be humble and correctable themselves, so the new one in Christ can be more sincere, seen in who uses too many words as totally incorrect....."
You falsely asserted that a category of people are in a constant state of sin. The fact that a particular person may commit a sin is not proof that it is a truth that a whole group of people is sinning that sin continuously. What you said is not backed by anything said in the scripture.
"We notice God is fair in all things. Himself although mighty, suffering the shame and death of the cross, having sincere respect to the lowly.."
No, God is intentionally unfair to all. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Fair is us going to hell to pay for our sin. But instead of us getting fair, we get immeasurably better than fair. Every day that we wake up and we are not in hell, it's not fair. That's better than fair.
"My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment."
My actions are not to be compared to anyone else. The standard for me to meet is Christ likeness. "For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." It does not say, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of some other person. To compare Christians, is to ignore the lesson of 1 Corinthians 2, and such actions are evidence, according to what God says there, spiritual immaturity, and carnal living.
"Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father."
"Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, �Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.� 2 And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, �God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?� 4 And those who stood by said, �Do you revile God�s high priest?� 5 Then Paul said, �I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, �You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.��" Take heed how you speak to an officer of the church.
There is a marked distinction between new birth, and a reclamation project. The new birth is not a reclamation project. It is an entirely new life, not made from past parts.
The mind however, carries over from the old self, and must be renewed.
God says to reckon, consider it to be so, that the old man has been crucified and dead. The positional truth is that the old man is dead, and not able to be obeyed. It is a future truth for the purposes of our time on earth according to the first birth. Yet, sometimes people live according to the dictates of the flesh, while a Christian. Paul admitted the same, admitting he was a slave to it.
God is not rehabbing the old man. He killed it on the cross before any of us were born, and started with new material. That is the new creation. As a practical truth, God made the payment, but has not disposed of the flesh yet. That He will do in the future.
Renew the mind. The new birth already occurred for anyone who has trusted/believed Christ. It is a particular event in time, not an ongoing birth. It happens instantaneously. The mind is to be continuously renewed by absorbing the Word of God. The living Word of God, which God honors, above His own name. We are to intake His holy Word by reading, speaking, hearing, writing, studying, praying through, and meditating upon His living Word.
God is not taking the old man and reconstructing or renewing him.
"All the Biblical knowledge in the world wouldn't have saved me when I was falling. I needed an experience in the here and now, to prove to me that God still has the personality he shows in His Word; to show that He is still alive and well and His love is at work performing miracles in the lives of His people today, and not just for those in the distant past. Otherwise, the Bible would have just become a dusty old book that shows how to live an ethical life to me."
"I will praise You with my whole heart; Before the gods I will sing praises to You. 2 I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
-----> *****For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.***** <-----
3 In the day when I cried out, You answered me,
And made me bold with strength in my soul." Psalm 138
The Lord rebuke you. How dare you denounce the importance of God's word and the supremacy God has given to His word, such that He exalts it above even His own name! Your experiences are nothing compared to God's holy word, and it is blind arrogance that thinks you can place your experience on par with, or above, God's exalted word.
"For *****the word of God is living and powerful*****, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrews 4:12
"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. *****For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."***** Joshua 1:8
"*****How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.***** 10 With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! 11 *****Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.***** 12 Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your statutes. 13 With my lips I have declared All the judgments of Your mouth. 14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways. 16 I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word." Psalm 119:9-16
"Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth." John 17:17
"Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, �If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.�" John 8:30-32
Maybe if you had the humility of feast upon God's word, instead of being consumed with bragamonies, you wouldn't have gotten so far off the path. You do not have the right to assign God's word to the undignified position of a dusty book. It is alive. Your failure does not cause God's holy word to be impotent.
"The wise men are ashamed, They are dismayed and taken. Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord; So what wisdom do they have?" Jeremiah 8:9
"Unfortunately (where does scripture say it is an unfortunate truth that)
people who are well versed in scripture, (opening fact offered)
do not have much good to offer, (? I've never seen that in the bible. Where does it say this? Where does it say that people who are well versed in the bible do not have much good to offer?)
because they are unable to be humble and correctable themselves, (Where does it say that people who are well versed in scripture are unable to be humble or correctable themselves?)
so the new one in Christ can be more sincere, (Where does it say that new Christians are more sincere than people who are well versed in scripture?)
seen in who uses too many words as totally incorrect....."(I'm not sure I understand what it is you are trying to assert by these words. Care to restate?)
"Brethren, my heart�s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness
----->that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. <-----
3 For they being ignorant of God�s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, �The man who does those things shall live by them.� 6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, �Do not say in your heart, �Who will ascend into heaven?�� (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7 or, ��Who will descend into the abyss?�� (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? �The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart� (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, �Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.� 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For �whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.� 14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: �How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, �Lord, who has believed our report?�
-----> 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.�<----- Romans 10
"Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes,
-----> desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,<-----
3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious." 1 Peter 2
"Then Samuel said to Saul, �Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.� "And he said to him, �Speak on.� 17 So Samuel said, �When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? 18 Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, �Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.�
19 ----->Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord?<-----
Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?� 20 And Saul said to Samuel, �But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.� 22 So Samuel said: �Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. 23
-----> For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.�<-----
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, �I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.� 26 But Samuel said to Saul, �I will not return with you,
----->for you have rejected the word of the Lord,<-----
and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.�
Proverbs were written in large part to Solomon's son.
If we are to reject the command to greet the brethren with a holy kiss, we can also disregard all of the commands to the churches and the people to whom specific letters were written. We need not pray without ceasing. We don't need to worry about loving our brothers, as it says in 1 John. We don't need to drink up the pure milk of the word, or be bothered to grow by it, as Peter said. We don't need to take up the full armor of God and husbands don't need to love their wives, nor children obey their parents in the Lord, as Paul wrote to the Ephesians. By this obscene doctrine that is presented by this man, who refuses the authority of God's word, there is very little instruction for the church.
Matthew was written to the Jews, Oops There goes your falsely interpreted exceptions.
Mark was written to the Romans.
Luke was written to the Greeks.
The truth is, that while most of the scripture was written to specific groups, each has general principles and commands for all. What is written to each of the churches, is written for the entire church, and there is no excuse for rejecting the authority of the proverbs to guide out lives.
One person has a particular worship issue, and thinks that the failure of a large segment of the church in the United States, to obey one specific command, overrules the command for the church as a whole. That is utter nonsense. He falsely assumes this command is ignored in the rest of the world. It is very common in large portions of the church around the world to obey this crystal clear command, and greet the brethren with a holy kiss.
Yes, there are specific promises to specific groups which have no specific application to today's church. As the saying goes, "Don't throw out the baby with the bath water."
Listen to what Jude says:
Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: 2 Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. ... But you, beloved, ***remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ:*** 18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. 19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. ..."
The letter, this epistle, is written to every believer.
Psalm 119 is all about the effectiveness of God's word in our lives. There is no specific target group. And keep in mind, gentiles were allowed to come along side the Jews and live among them as one of them if they accepted the faith, and everything written to the Jews was for them as well.
If anyone tries to get you to reject the authority of God's word in your life, or any portion of it, reject that person.
