Monthly Archives: February 2024

Bible

Paul vs. Jesus? Not exactly.

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False teacher Jory Micah made a silly claim about the foundations of the Bible, presumably to prop up her true religion, which is radical feminism. She’s a typical Paul-hater,  having done nothing for the kingdom except fight it, whereas Paul suffered nearly nonstop intense persecution for the faith.  And Jory doesn’t even believe what Jesus said.  Paul’s words are just as primary as the “red letters” (direct quotes of Jesus sometimes printed in red ink).

An old thread over at the false gospel-preaching Sojourners Blog had multiple accusations against a commenter about whether Jesus and Paul taught the same Gospel, saying things like:

. . . the question of whether the Gospel according to Paul agrees with the Gospel according to Jesus seem largely ignored.

A commenter there referred to someone quoting Paul as a “Paulian” instead of a “Christian,” and a commenter here literally said that “Jesus trumps Paul.” Whole TV shows and analyses have been made about the alleged differences.  But is this really the case?

I also had an old friend who had gone to seminary and was a pastor for a time.  He tried to rationalize that homosexual unions were OK because Paul allegedly didn’t know about those kinds of unions.  Paul almost certainly did know about them, but more importantly, the Holy Spirit knows about them, and he inspired the text.  That guy was a typical “Christian” Leftist, treating scripture as inspired except for the parts he didn’t like.

The “Jesus vs. Paul” debate is known as a false dichotomy or a false dilemma.  It implies that you have to choose one side or the other when there are actually other options.  Please consider this:

1. Jesus is God.  The Bible is the word of God.  Therefore, it is all the word of Jesus.  The original writings turned out just like He wanted them to, including Paul’s letters.  If you don’t like what Paul wrote, you don’t like what the Holy Spirit wrote.

2. The “red letters” carry no more authority than any of the other verses, let alone the ~3,000 verses saying, “God said,” “The word of the Lord came to me,” etc.

3. Roughly 10% of the “red letters” quoted the “black letters.”  Jesus unapologetically and frequently quoted from the Old Testament, including the most controversial parts such as Adam and Eve, Noah, Jonah, and Sodom and Gomorrah.

4. Peter referred to Paul’s writings as scripture, along with a marvelous take-down of those who misunderstand him.

2 Peter 3:15–16 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

5. None of the people making this argument seem to question what Luke wrote in his Gospel, so why do they question what Luke documented about Paul in the book of Acts, including his encounters with Jesus and his acceptance by the other Apostles?

6. Unless you think Paul made up his whole story – which would raise a whole new set of issues – then his claims are just as authoritative as those of the Gospel writers.

For example, Luke was not a direct follower of Jesus but was a careful historian and under the tutelage of Paul.  Mark was not an eye-witness but leveraged Peter for his Gospel.  But Paul heard directly from Jesus.

7. Consider how much you know about the concept of grace and love and where it came from.  Do you really want to discard it?

8. Jesus and Paul don’t disagree.  The clear trumps the unclear, but a Gospel writer’s presentation of Jesus’ teachings doesn’t trump Paul’s presentation of Jesus’ teachings.

9.  Much of Paul’s writings predate the Gospels.

10. If you reject Jesus’ authorized representatives, you reject him.  Luke 10:16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

So, I don’t think Paul disagrees with what others documented directly and indirectly about Jesus.

Quoting Paul doesn’t make one a “Paulian” instead of a Christian; it just means you are quoting the word of God.  Don’t let anyone dismiss your claims because you quote Paul.

Just quote scripture in context.  It’s all good.  And again, if you disagree with Paul, you disagree with the Holy Spirit.  Good luck with that, Progressive “Christians”!

Bible

They wouldn’t like the Sermon on the Mount if they understood it

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bible.jpgLiberal theologians and even skeptics claim to revere the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), but that is just because they don’t understand it.  If they read it properly, they would hate it.

It portrays Jesus as being very intolerant.  He tells the audience how they are doing everything wrong – worship, giving, praying, fasting, behaving, etc.

He upholds every letter and pen stroke of the Old Testament, something they typically abandon first.

He spoke of judgment.  He emphatically shows that there are false religions – the very thing that the liberal theologians teach the opposite of.  He warns strongly against false teachers – people like them!

It sets an impossibly high standard and demonstrates that we need a Savior to reach God.  He raises the bar or shows the real intent behind prohibitions against adultery, murder, etc., and sums up that section by saying, Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

The problem is that the liberal theologians view it as a checklist, just as they do with Matthew 22:37-40 (“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind . . . Love your neighbor as yourself.”).  He didn’t mean for us to respond, “Thanks for the summary, I’ll get right on that!”  The proper response is to be convicted that we can never be good enough on our own.  You have to be self-righteous not to realize what a joke it would be to claim you followed those passages well enough to merit God’s eternal favor.

When Jesus speaks of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, He is referring to God’s definition of righteousness, not the made up definitions of the theological Left (abortion rights, “same-sex marriage,” etc.).

Jesus says to give to the needy, but He doesn’t teach to take other people’s money at the point of a gun (i.e., taxes) to fund your pet projects.

He teaches not to judge hypocritically (Matthew 7:1-5), but the theological liberals only read the first verse and, ironically enough, use that to judge others for making any judgments.

He teaches of Heaven and Hell, which they often deny.

They completely miss the point of the wise and foolish builder passage at the end of chapter 7.  They have heard his words but don’t put them into practice.  They actively teach that other religions are valid paths to God.

And so much more!

I’ll close with some excellent comments from Bubba from this post about a false teacher:

These are the most prominent questions that come to mind, in response to Chuck’s [Currie] assertion, “A Christian is a person who hears the Sermon on the Mount and says, ‘Amen.'”

1) In that sermon (Mt 5:3-4), Jesus Christ taught the mourning, spiritually poor are blessed, implying a crucial need for God’s grace. Does Chuck agree that God’s grace is absolutely necessary for us to inherit eternal life?

2) In that sermon (5:11), Jesus taught that we are blessed, not when we’re persecuted for any ol’ reason or even for the sake of broad categories of goodness and righteousness, but for HIS sake. Does Chuck agree that we must stand up, not only for Jesus’ teachings, but for Jesus Himself?

3) In that sermon (5:17-20), Jesus affirmed the authority of Scripture to the smallest penstroke. Does Chuck defer to Christ on the question of the Bible’s ultimate authority?

4) In that sermon (7:21-23), Jesus is quite clear that not everyone will enter heaven, even going so far as to say that not everyone who calls Him “Lord” will enter heaven. Does Chuck reject universalism in order to conform his beliefs to this teaching?

5) In that passage of this sermon, Jesus is also quite clear on the determining factor of one’s eternal destiny: whether Jesus knows you. Does Chuck agree that Jesus’ knowing you is absolutely crucial for salvation?

And, if the answer is “no” for any of the questions above — if Chuck [Currie] doesn’t say “Amen” to truly every implication of the Sermon, and what it says about its Speaker, about Scripture, and about judgment — do we have Chuck’s blessing in questioning whether he really is a Christian?

. . . I don’t find the Sermon on the Mount to be non-controversial. On the contrary, its rooted in very bold claims about Christ, His book, and His sheep.

I’m reminded of what Reagan said about Marx: “How do you tell a Communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.”

I’m beginning to think that there’s a similar dynamic among theologically conservative Christians and those theological liberals who border on (and often cross into) apostasy.

The theological liberal claims to stand by the Sermon on the Mount, but it’s only the theological conservative who really grasps the sermon’s contents.

P.S. Here’s a good analysis of why the Sermon on the Mount was aimed at disciples and not just anyone.  Otherwise, verse 11 wouldn’t make much sense.  If you aren’t a follower of Christ, then why would someone persecute you because of him?

Matthew 5:11

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
False teachers, Politics, Sexuality

Simple responses to Romans 1 pro-gay theology errors

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The entire Bible is very clear that any sex outside of a one-man, one-woman marriage is a sin*, yet “Christian” Leftists and atheists use all sorts of fallacious sound bites to deceive and distract people.  One of the passages they work the hardest to dismiss is Romans 1:26-27.

First, read or even memorize this passage.  Also, review the entire chapter to note the context: Paul explains how the world is upside down in rebellion against God and that deep down, everyone knows it.  Then, he gives this “Exhibit A” as an example.

Romans 1:26–27 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Pretty clear, eh?  It describes the behavior of gays and lesbians and notes how it is a prime example of rebellion against the created order.  Note that if you keep reading the chapter, you’ll see that we all have rebelled in multiple ways, so don’t be smug just because homosexual behavior isn’t a temptation for you.  But the point here is that the passage does clearly state that homosexual behavior is a sin.  Yet countless wolves, such as Matthew Vines, use easily refuted sound bites to deceive people (many of whom are eager to be deceived).

Here are some of their objections to Romans 1 and some simple responses.  Note that you can give much more detailed responses, but those usually aren’t necessary.  Just these basics will show people how ill-informed they are on this topic and reveal whether they love the world or whether they love God.  For starters you can ask people when the last time was that they read Romans carefully.

“But Paul didn’t know any better about homosexuality” (and similar responses). This is a big tip-off that you are talking to a non-Christian, if the person saying it is a leader, or a layperson who is “saved and confused” at best.  Paul’s writings are just as much scripture as any of the Gospels.  Those writings are from Paul and the Holy Spirit and turned out just as God intended.  Paul does not disagree with Jesus.  And those using that argument have no proof that Paul wouldn’t have known about homosexual relationships.  In fact, he describes them precisely in the passage.  Also see this refutation of the related “Jesus never said anything about homosexuality” sound bite.

“The passage was about temple prostitutes.”  The passage doesn’t mention temple prostitutes, temples, or prostitutes.  And I have seen zero evidence, ever, that lesbian temple prostitutes have ever existed, so the description of lesbian behavior also refutes that.  You don’t need to know Greek to see that simple truth.

“The passage was about pederasty (adult/child) or coercive relationships.”  No, the passage refers to “men” and “women” every time. And note how they “gave up” relationships willingly and “were consumed with passion for one another.” There is no hint of coercion.

“The passage is about people abandoning their natural desires, so the real sin is if a gay behaves in a straight manner or vice verse.”  That is the most laughable objection, but you hear it often.  First, the Greek word is tied to natural functions, not desires. And it notes that they “gave up” natural relations.

And using their logic this key passage applies to exactly no one.  Think about it: Whatever anyone did — gay/straight/bi — they could claim was their nature, so they hadn’t sinned.  And very few people do things they don’t want to do, so everyone could cite that as proof that they are sinless on this account.

“They were born that way.”  No, they weren’t.  The causes can be complex (abuse, bad relationships, rebellion, or some combination of those), but even if they were born that way, everyone could use that excuse for the laundry list of sins at the end of the chapter.  Good luck with that on judgment day.

I hope you commit those to memory or refer back here when you encounter these objections.  They are so simple to refute and should convict those who use them of how badly they are butchering scripture.  You don’t need a degree in theology or Greek to see how clearly and quickly the pro-LGBTQX arguments fail.

If you really love your neighbors, you won’t lie and tell them that this behavior is without consequence.  The same goes for other sexual sins and other sins in general.  Don’t love the world and your popularity more than you love God.

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Homosexual behavior is rebellion against God.  Affirming anyone in that behavior or in other sins means that you have joined them in the rebellion.

Romans 1:32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

More stuff!

The main categories of pro-gay theology and why they are all false and un-biblical.

Responding to Pro-Gay Theology

Responding to same-sex marriage arguments

*The Bible couldn’t be more clear. Bible-believing Christians and even two out of the three types of pro-gay people** (religious or not) can see these truths:

– 100% of the verses addressing homosexual behavior describe it as sin in the clearest and strongest possible terms.
– 100% of the verses referring to God’s ideal for marriage involve one man and one woman.
– 100% of the verses referencing parenting involve moms and dads with unique roles (or at least a set of male and female parents guiding the children).
– 0% of 31,173 Bible verses refer to homosexual behavior in a positive or even benign way or even hint at the acceptability of homosexual unions of any kind. There are no exceptions for “committed” relationships.
– 0% of 31,173 Bible verses refer to LGBT couples parenting children.

Having said that, I believe that Christians should support and encourage those who are fighting same-sex attraction. And no one needs to grandstand on the issue before getting to the Good News of the cross.  Here’s an example.

** The three general types of pro-gay theology people:

1. “The Bible says homosexuality is wrong, but it isn’t the word of God.” (Obviously non-Christians)

2. “The Bible says it is wrong, but God changed his mind and is only telling the theological Left.” (Only about 10 things wrong with that.)

3. “The Bible is the word of God, but you are just misunderstanding it.” (Uh, no, not really.)

Apologetics, Bible, Favorites

“The Lord says . . .”

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Revising an old favorite . . .

bible3.jpgIs the Bible the Word of God?

The Bible directly quotes God roughly 3,000 times and the New Testament writers quote the Old Testament as the word of God 320 times.  Keep in mind that some of those references covered passages of scripture and not just one verse.

Also, Jesus claimed to be God, so all the “red letters” would be Biblical claims to be the Word of God.  And roughly 10% of the red letters quote the black letters.  As noted in “What did Jesus think of the Old Testament,” the references Jesus made to the Old Testament were varied and often cited the most controversial parts – Satan, Noah, Jonah, Sodom, etc.  Jesus made zero corrections to the Old Testament, and He quoted from the Pentateuch (the first five books), Psalms, Jonah, and others.  He even said:

Matthew 5:17-18 “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. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

I’ve seen too many self-proclaimed Christians insist that God didn’t really order the clearing out of the Promised Land, but that the Israelites just made that up. But that would mean that the Bible is full of hundreds or even thousands of blasphemous lies. Just scan the Bible and look for the seemingly endless references to the Israelites captivity in Egypt and their eventual taking of Canaan. What else would you call it if you kill people and lie and say God told you to do it? If these “Christians” think the Bible is so flawed, why pick up the book at all?

I searched in my Bible software for a few phrases to see how many times they occurred.  There were so many that I got tired after a while.  Watch for them when you read the Bible.  It is really quite amazing.

  • The Lord says 198
  • The Lord said 301
  • The word of the Lord 239
  •  . . . declares the Lord 266
  •  . . . oracle 47
  • I am the Lord 158
  • Lord instructed 3
  • Lord commanded 117
  • Lord had commanded 24
  • the Lord gave this command 1
  • Lord gave 42
  • Lord told 10
  • Lord has told 4
  • Says the Lord 103
  • The Lord almighty says 47
  • Says the Lord almighty 31
  • The Lord almighty, the God of Israel says 1
  • Lord spoke 25
  • Lord revealed 1
  • Lord then said 1
  • Lord answered 23
  • God said 54
  • Lord had said 31
  • Lord replied 11
  • Holy one of Israel says 2
  • Lord called 14

Then, of course, there is 2 Timothy 3:16-17 – All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  (Yes, some people think that doesn’t apply to the New Testament.  I’ll address that in another post.)  And Peter referred to Paul’s writings as scripture.

So the Bible makes an extraordinary amount of claims to be the Word of God and that it was transmitted to us accurately.

What’s the point?

Now, before any skeptics or Liberal Theologians choke on their own rage, yelling, ” Circular reference! ” Let me point out that I’m not referring to these as my only proof that the Bible is God’s Word.  I understand that claiming that the Bible is God’s Word because it says it is God’s Word wouldn’t be an adequate argument.  We have other evidence for it being God’s Word.

Still, there are a couple important points one can draw from this huge amount of references.

If the Bible is God’s Word, wouldn’t you expect it to make that claim?  In fact, if it didn’t make that claim, wouldn’t you view that as a reason for it not being God’s word?  And if it said it wasn’t God’s word, then it obviously wouldn’t be God’s word.  So, the claims to be God’s word are a sort of necessary occurrence.

The second and main point of this post is only for Christians who claim the Bible isn’t all inspired by God, or that it was just what the Jews and Christians thought God was saying, or that it is somehow incomplete.

If you really think the Bible has upwards of 3,000 errors/lies in it, why pick it up?

How do you discern which parts belong there and which do not?  You appear to believe in Leopard Theology, where the Bible is only inspired in spots and that you are inspired to spot the spots, or Advanced Leopard Theology, where God is also changing spots and adding/removing spots, and, oddly enough, He is only telling theological liberals and progressives.

Why should I trust your “inspiration” more than the writings of the Apostles or their close companions, especially considering that every word they wrote has been scrutinized by believers and non-believers for 2,000 years?  Why should I trust your views when you deny many of the essentials of the faith and often claim that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection aren’t necessary for people to be reconciled to God or to go to Heaven?

The Gospels and the rest of the New Testament make multiple warnings about sound doctrine. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their false doctrines. Sound doctrine is found in the Word of God.  Otherwise, what doctrines were the writers referring to?

The Bible claims to be the Word of God from beginning to end.  Is believing that a requirement for salvation?  No.  The criminal on the cross wasn’t a Bible scholar, but he went to Heaven because he put his faith in Jesus.

But how even marginally educated Christians can hold a view other than the Bible being the Word of God is beyond me.  The educated theological liberals who deny God’s word tip their hands that their beliefs are really just politics disguised as religion.  I love Charles Spurgeon’s comment about these types and how he has “no more faith in their mercy than in their accuracy.”

Authentic believers are expected to trust that it is the word of God:

1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

Read it and enjoy it, knowing that the original writings turned out just as God and the human writers desired and have been accurately transmitted to us.  It will accomplish all that God promised it would.

Isaiah 55:10-11 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Miscellaneous

I wish I had discovered Grammarly long ago

I don’t know when it came out, but I wish I had used the Grammarly software tool much earlier. They have a free version, but I upgraded to the premium version and am glad I did. It works in email, blogs, Microsoft Word, and elsewhere. It not only offers all sorts of corrections, but it slowly trains you to get more things right the first time.

I have extensive writing experience, but I still use Grammarly software at work and home to catch mistakes.  I recommend using that or a similar tool if writing isn’t your strong suit.  I had my team use it, and I immediately noticed improvements in their writing. 

I used it when writing my book and caught hundreds of large and small errors. And I’ve used it to tidy up old posts that pop up in my stats. I cringe when I see all the old mistakes!

It has a plagiarism check feature that the former Harvard CEO might have found useful. I ran it on my book and discovered I had “plagiarized” my blog a few times. You can join the class action lawsuit for that if you like. 

Side note: I chuckle when Grammarly suggests corrections for Bible verses. No thanks; I think I’ll leave them as they are.

P.S. No, I didn’t receive anything for this post 🙂

Manage Your Mission

FREE KINDLE DOWNLOAD FEB. 3-4 — Manage Your Mission — Living wisely and abundantly for today and eternity

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Hi all — I’m offering a free download of my book on Kindle this weekend. If you read it and leave a review on Amazon, that would be great. Blessings to you all!

I wrote a book! It is called Manage Your Mission. It is about living wisely and abundantly for today and eternity by planning your 7 Fs: Faith, Family, Fitness, Field, Friends, Fun, and Finances. It is designed for both Christians and non-Christians.

I wrote this off and on over the last few years. There were times during the cancer treatments when I was too tired to read, let alone to write. But I’m happy with how it turned out. I think it offers something to anyone interested in wise living. I included loads of advice on faith, family, career, fitness, etc., that can help anyone at any age.   I’ve used this approach to life for decades, and by the grace of God, it has worked spectacularly well for me and my family.

If you leave a review at Amazon or share this with others, it will not hurt my feelings. Apparently the activity helps the sales algorithms. I’m on Goodreads as well, if you like to leave reviews there.

I think this would be great for anyone you are mentoring or with whom you want to share the Gospel. 

My youngest daughter did some heavy editing, and my oldest designed the cover, did the typesetting, and also helped with editing. And my wife helped with some thematic inputs. I also had help in editing from some other friends and one professional editor.

Blessings to you all!