Daily Bible Nuggets #127–296 on The Scriptures Summary Listing

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Jerry

I started the just concluded series of Bible Nuggets on “The Scriptures” on January 1, 2014, completing the last entry on this theme on June 22, 2014. This may be one of the longest-running series of posts anywhere directly about what the Bible says about itself. If you missed reading any of these, feel free to go into either the Archives by date, or into the Category under either “Daily Bible Nuggets” or “What the Bible Says About Itself,” where you will find them all.

I took these directly from The New Topical Textbook, pages 239, 240, a very helpful resource for Bible study. You will find about the same list of topics in Dr. John MacArthur’s MacArthur Study Bible at the back of the Bible. If you happen to have a copy of the printed edition of my book, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, you will find the list in the Topic Number Index on page 1597. You will not find the list in the electronic or digital software edition because the Publisher left that index out.

For your convenience in reviewing the Scripture references for each of the subtopics, I give the following list from my Topic Number Index:

THE SCRIPTURES

1014. Scriptures given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. +2 P 1:21.
1015. Christ taught out of. +Lk 24:27.
1016. Names of. +Ro 1:2.
1017. Contain the promises of the gospel. +Ro 1:2.
1018. Reveal the laws, statutes, and judgments of God. +Dt 4:5.
1019. Record divine prophecies. +2 P 1:19.
1020. Testify of Christ. +*Jn 5:39.
1021. Are full and sufficient. +Lk 16:31.
1022. Are an unerring guide. +2 P 1:19.
1023. Make wise unto salvation. +2 Tim 3:15.
1024. Are profitable for doctrine and practice. +2 Tim 3:16.
1025. Scriptures described as pure. +Pr 30:5.
1026. True. +Ps 119:160.
1027. Perfect. +Ps 19:7.
1028. Precious. +Ps 19:10 (desired).
1029. Quick and powerful. +He 4:12.
1030. Written for our instruction. +Ro 15:4.
1031. Intended for the use of all men. +Ro 16:26.
1032. Nothing to be taken from or added to the Scriptures. +Pr 30:6.
1033. One portion to be compared with another. 1 Cor 2:13.
1034. Christ sanctioned, by appealing to them. +Mt 4:4.
1035. Scriptures designed for regenerating. +1 P 1:23.
1036. Scriptures designed for quickening. +Ps 119:93.
1037. Illuminating. +Ps 119:130.
1038. Converting the soul. +Ps 19:7.
1039. Making wise the simple. +Ps 19:7.
1040. Sanctifying. +Jn 17:17.
1041. Producing faith. +Jn 20:31.
1042. Hope. +Ro 15:4.
1043. Obedience. +Dt 17:19.
1044. Cleansing the heart. +Jn 15:3.
1045. Cleansing the way. +Ps 119:9.
1046. Keeping from destructive paths. +Ps 17:4.
1047. Supporting life. +Mt 4:4.
1048. Promoting growth in grace. +1 P 2:2.
1049. Building up in the faith. +Ac 20:32.
1050. Admonishing. +1 Cor 10:11.
1051. Comforting. +Ro 15:4.
1052. Rejoicing the heart. +Ps 19:8.
1053. The Scriptures work effectually in them that believe. +1 Th 2:13.
1054. Letter without spirit, killeth. +2 Cor 3:6.
1055. Ignorance of the Scriptures a source of error. +Mt 22:29.
1056. Christ enables us to understand the Scriptures. +*Lk 24:45.
1057. The Holy Spirit enables us to understand the Scriptures. +Jn 16:13.
1058. No prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. +**2 P 1:20n.
1059. Everything should be tried or tested by the Scripture. +Ac 17:11.
1060. The Scriptures should be the standard of teaching. +1 P 4:11.
1061. The Scriptures should be believed. +Jn 2:22.
1062. Appealed to. +1 P 1:16.
1063. Read. +Is 34:16.
1064. Read publicly to all. +Ne 8:3.
1065. Known. +2 Tim 3:15.
1066. Received, not as the word of men, but as the word of God. +1 Th 2:13.
1067. Received with meekness. James 1:21.
1068. Searched. +*Jn 5:39.
1069. Searched daily. +*Ac 17:11.
1070. Laid up in the heart. +Ps 119:11.
1071. Taught to children. +2 Tim 3:15.
1072. Taught to all. +2 Ch 17:9.
1073. Talked of continually. +Dt 6:7.
1074. Not handled deceitfully. +2 Cor 4:2.
1075. Not only heard, but obeyed. +Mt 7:24.
1076. Used against our spiritual enemies. Ep 6:17.
1077. All should desire to hear the Scriptures. +Ne 8:1.
1078. Mere hearers of the Scriptures deceive themselves. +James 1:22.
1079. Advantage of possessing the Scriptures. +Ro 3:2.
1080. Saints love the Scriptures exceedingly. +Ps 119:97.
1081. Delight in. +Ps 1:2.
1082. Regard as sweet. +Ps 119:103.
1083. Esteem, above all things. +*Jb 23:12.
1084. Long after. +Ps 119:82.
1085. Stand in awe of. +Ps 119:61.
1086. Keep in remembrance. +Ps 119:16.
1087. Saints grieve when men disobey the Scriptures. +Ps 119:158.
1088. Saints hide Scripture in their hearts. +Ps 119:11.
1089. Saints hope in. Ps 119:81.
1090. Meditate in. +Ps 1:2.
1091. Rejoice in. +*Je 15:16.
1092. Trust in. +Ps 119:42.
1093. Obey. +Lk 8:21.
1094. Speak of. Ps 119:172.
1095. Esteem, as a light. +Ps 119:105.
1096. Pray to be taught. +Ps 119:12.
1097. Pray to be conformed to. +Ps 119:133.
1098. Plead the promises of in prayer. +Ps 119:25.
1099. They who search, are truly noble. +Ac 17:11.
1100. Blessedness of hearing and obeying. +*Lk 11:28.
1101. Let them dwell richly in you. Col 3:16.
1102. THE WICKED corrupt the Scriptures. +2 Cor 2:17.
1103. The wicked make the Scriptures of none effect through their traditions. +Mk 7:13.
1104. Reject the Scriptures. +Je 8:9.
1105. Stumble at. +1 P 2:8.
1106. Obey not. +Ps 119:158.
1107. Frequently wrest, to their own destruction. +2 P 3:16.
1108. Denunciations against those who add to, or take from, the Scriptures. +Re 22:18.
1109. Destruction of the Scriptures punished. +Je 36:31.

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Daily Bible Nugget #296, Jeremiah 36:29-31

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Jerry

The Nugget:

Jeremiah 36:29 And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?

Jer 36:30 Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.

Jer 36:31 And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not.

My Comment:

Destruction of the Scriptures punished most severely (The New Topical Textbook, last subheading under the major topic “The Scriptures,” page 240).

King Jehoiakim, king of Judah, did not like the message from the Lord that Jeremiah the prophet had committed to writing in the scroll of Jeremiah, so as the scroll was read to him, he cut the leaves like pages three or four at a time as they were read and burned them in the hearth burning before him.

The account reports that all this was done without fear or the least concern.

God enabled Jeremiah to replace the entire book with yet more like words added besides, and we have the result in our Bible even today.

God placed a severe curse or penalty upon the king and his descendants, who would never sit upon the throne of David thereafter. He lost his kingdom and the whole remainder of his nation was carried captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, where the nation was in captivity for 70 years.

This curse has an interesting bearing upon the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ and His legal right to the Throne of David. I have placed a note in a parallel passage to this text at Jeremiah 22:30 in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. The note spells out in some detail the repercussions of this incident in Israel’s history, and the providential provision God made in part through the Virgin Birth to accomplish His purpose in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. If Jesus is not the true Messiah of Israel, there can never be a Messiah for Israel, since the predicted Messiah must meet specific requirements stated in Bible prophecy, including some time prophecies that have long expired.

There are many since throughout history who have attempted to destroy the Bible. Some have in past history kept the Bible from the people, not allowing them to read a Bible in the vernacular, that is, in their own language, for themselves. As I understand it, the Bible was placed on the Index of forbidden books by one church I know of in past history.

Despite being attacked more than any other book in past history, God has providentially preserved the Bible so that we can read it for ourselves today.

If you are not well acquainted with the Bible, take advantage of its wide availability in many different languages and translations, find a translation you enjoy, and take the time to make it part of your life. If the Bible is true–and it certainly is–you will be grateful through all eternity for every minute you spent in this life getting better acquainted with this greatest of all books, especially if your experience is like mine, where reading the Book made it possible for you to know the Divine Author Himself.

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Daily Bible Nugget #295, Revelation 22:19

Posted on June 21, 2014 by Jerry

The Nugget:

Revelation 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

My Comment:

Denunciations against those who add to or take from the Scriptures (The New Topical Textbook, subheading under the main topic “The Scriptures,” page 240).

Taking something away from the written Word of God is a perilous action, for anyone who does so will lose his part in the book of life, the holy city, and the promises written in the Word of God.

Once again, while this warning is appended to the book of Revelation specifically, its position in the Bible being at the very end of the Bible, may providentially have been designed to have the warning applicable to the whole Book.

The Apostle John was the last living Apostle of Christ. It is possible, but not certain, that the Apostle John was the person God provided in the early Church to certify which writings belonged in the completed New Testament. That is an idea discussed and supported by a most interesting appendix to volume two of Townsend’s Analysis, a nineteenth century Chronological Bible which is very well done.

Just how does this warning not to take anything away from the Word of God apply? The warning might well apply historically to certain heretics of the second century or so who devised their own edition of the New Testament or Gospel account to suit their system of errors. They took out those portions of the Gospel text which recorded miracles and other things they did not like.

In our own day the Jehovah’s Witnesses have published The New World Translation which attempts to remove all evidence for the doctrine of the Trinity, the personality of the Holy Spirit, and the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ from the text. This surely would fall under the condemnation of the warning in Revelation 22:19 not to take away from the words of the Bible. This would also suggest that the translators, the organization and its leaders, and any of their followers or adherents who are deceived by this translation into not believing in the deity of Jesus Christ, and the personality of the Holy Spirit, are very likely to be devoid of any hope of eternal life.

I challenge anyone who may be affiliated in any way with the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Watchtower Society to make a very careful examination of their belief as it compares with the Bible itself, properly translated. I have had Jehovah’s Witnesses challenge me to examine my beliefs with what the Bible teaches, appealing most correctly to Romans 14:12 to justify such a challenge. I say, respectfully, that what is good for the goose is good for the gander. The challenge of Romans 14:12 surely applies to me. But it also applies to everyone else, including every Jehovah’s Witness. Every one of us will have to give account of ourselves to God.

In times past, and just lately here on this website, I have been challenged by Jehovah’s Witnesses who claim “Jesus is NOT Jehovah.” If this is what you believe, I have some rather shocking news for you. A careful comparison of Scripture with Scripture will demonstrate to anyone who will go by what the Bible itself says that Jesus is identified as Jehovah in the New Testament in several ways. There is not space in this post to fully explore this truth, but I will point to where anyone can learn more later in this post, and as necessary, in subsequent posts once my series on “The Scriptures” from the outline in The New Topical Textbook is completed. I have written over 95 Bible Nuggets on the theme of “The Scriptures” from this outline. This outline greatly impressed me in my Bible studies as a teenager about the supreme importance of the Bible in our spiritual lives. I trust you have gained a similar perspective from reading my posts, a perspective that will anchor your faith in the written Word of God.

Some students of the false cults have identified several such groups by the term “Name Cults.” By this term reference is made to the claim of such cultic groups to have a special and more correct focus and understanding of God’s name than the rest of us poor souls. To know God’s names and their meaning is a wonderful study, and taken directly from Scripture, is most instructive.

The Watchtower Society’s New World Translation brings the Divine Name, Jehovah, into the text of the New Testament, which on linguistic and textual evidence in the original manuscripts is invalid, though well-intended on their part. To support such a claim, they provide in an appendix photographic copies of a Greek manuscript of the New Testament which does contain the name Jehovah where our ordinary translations use the word “Lord,” as in New Testament quotations of Old Testament passages which in the Hebrew text do contain the name Jehovah.

There is one very striking exception where the New World Translation fails to apply this general principle. The exception is found at 1 Peter 2:3.

1 Peter 2:3 is certainly a quotation from Psalm 34:8. Equally certain it is that Psalm 34:8 contains a reference to the Divine Name, Jehovah.

The Watchtower arguments to justify an exception here to their general principle are unconvincing. I would rather believe that they are lamely trying to hide the fact that Peter in this quotation from Psalm 34:8 is applying it to our Lord Jesus Christ, and so in some sense equating Jesus with Jehovah. This comparison or equation is quite frequently done. I have provided a rather complete listing of the examples I have found in my note at 1 Peter 2:3 in both The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and the same note preserved in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible.

Another text the Watchtower and its followers like to use to reduce the honor we are to give the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:9, 10) is John 20:17. This verse, the Watchtower claims, proves that Jesus cannot be God, for He refers to “My Father, and your Father, My God and your God.” If Jesus calls the Father “my God,” He can hardly Himself be God. This is hardly the proper inference to be drawn from the words of Jesus here, for later in this same chapter, John 20:28, we have the climax of John’s Gospel, where John records that Thomas in devout worship said to Jesus, “My Lord and my God.”

When we consider John 20:17, I would ask a Jehovah’s Witness, and anyone else who has bought into the same error, “Why did Jesus not more simply say, “to our Father and to our God”?

The correct answer is rooted in a correct understanding of the Person of Christ–something the Watchtower and its followers do not have!

The New Testament reveals that Jesus Christ possessed two natures in His one Person at the same time. Jesus Christ clearly possessed a human nature (Philippians 2:7), something we might expect, having been born of the virgin Mary (Matthew 1:18, 23) in fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Jesus Christ clearly possessed a Divine nature (Philippians 2:6), having been conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18, 20; Luke 1:35).

Therefore, though Jesus Christ was and still is truly a man (Philippians 2:7; 1 Timothy 2:5), he certainly had a relationship with God the Father which is different than we as fallen creatures have, for He was possessed of a perfect, unfallen, and sinless human nature (John 14:30; Hebrews 4:15).

This being the case, Jesus is always cognizant of this difference, so He NEVER EVEN ONCE uses the expression of Himself, “Our Father,” but always speaks as at John 20:17, “say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and your God” and again at Revelation 3:12, “my God,” but never “our God.”

Therefore, to suggest that Jesus so spoke at John 20:17 to Mary Magdalene who was first to witness Jesus after His bodily resurrection from the dead, that He spoke in this manner so as to deny His Deity is very wide of the mark, and surely a gross misinterpretation of this text, in an attempt to take away a precious affirmation of Who Jesus is and His proper relation in His true humanity to the Father.

Those who take away from the Person of Christ by denying Who He really is are surely in grave danger of having no part in the promise of eternal life with God and His Divine Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, as clearly threatened in Revelation 22:19.

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1521 for Revelation 22:19.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1538 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Revelation 22:19.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

Revelation 22:19. And if. FS184C, +Mt 4:9. take away from. See on Re 2:18. *Je 26:2. Mt 19:9n. Lk 11:52. Jn 3:7n. +*Ga 1:8, 9. 1 Th 4:2n. God. See on +*Re 3:5. +Re 13:8. Ex 32:33. **Ps 69:28. shall take. *Lk 8:18. his part. %Dt 18:1. Jsh 22:25, 27. +*Ep 1:11. out of the book of life. Re 13:8. >Ps 69:28. or, from the tree of life. See on ver. Re 22:2, 14. +Re 2:7. >Ge 2:9. >Ge 3:22. and out. See on Re 21:2, 22-27. holy city. Re 21:2, 10. >Is 52:1. +Mt 4:5. *He 12:22. and from. ver. Re 22:12. Re 1:3. 2:7, 11, 17, 26. 3:4, 5, 12, 21. 7:9-17. 14:13. 20:15.

For Further Study:

1 Peter 2:3. If. FS184A, +1 Cor 15:2. 1 P 1:17. Mt 6:30. Lk 12:28. Ro 6:8. tasted. Gr. geuomai (S#1089g, Mt 16:28). Aorist tense, ye tasted. “A taste excites the appetite” (Bengel, cited by Vincent). 2 S 19:35. Jb 12:11. +**Ps 9:10. >Ps 34:8. 63:5. *SS 2:3. Zc 9:17. Lk 5:39. Jn 4:14. +*Ro 12:3. 2 Cor 12:16. *He 6:4-6. *1 J 5:10. the Lord. The Hebrew text underlying this quotation from the Old Testament reads “Jehovah” (Ps 34:8h); this is therefore a very clear instance of the Divine Name of Jehovah being applied directly to Jesus Christ by the apostles in the New Testament, for the following verse (ver. 1 P 2:4) shows unmistakably that this reference is to Jesus (Ac 11:21n). The following pairs of references will show that this identification is very frequently made in the New Testament:

(1) Mt 3:3 with Is 40:3.
(2) Jn 12:41 w Is 6:1.
(3) Ep 4:7, 8n w Ps 68:18.
(4) 1 P 3:15 w Is 8:13.
(5) 1 Cor 2:8 w Ps 24:7, 10.
(6) James 2:1 w Ps 24:7, 10.
(7) 1 Cor 1:30 w **Je 23:5, 6.
(8) Jn 3:31 w Ps 97:9.
(9) Re 1:17 w Is 44:6.
(10) Phil 2:6 w Zc 13:7.
(11) He 13:20 w Is 40:10, 11.
(12) Col 1:16 w Pr 16:4.
(13) Lk 7:27 w Ml 3:1.
(14) He 1:8, 10-12 w Ps 102:24-27.
(15) Titus 2:13 w Ho 1:7.
(16) 2 Tim 4:1 w Ec 12:14.
(17) Re 1:5 and Re 17:14 w Da 2:47.
(18) Jn 1:3 w Is 40:28.
(19) Col 1:17 w +*Ne 9:6.

When I present the above information to Jehovah’s Witnesses, the reaction I get is the question, “How could Jesus be Jehovah? Is that what you are claiming?” The answer is that in the Bible there is more than one Person in the Triune Godhead who is called Jehovah (**Ge 19:24n; +*Ex 3:2n). For Scripture evidence establishing the divinity or deity of Christ, see Topic Numbers 74-82, the sets of references gathered at Mt 28:19n, and the following related notes and references: (1) Deity of Christ, Col 1:16n. (2) Christ received worship, +*Mt 14:33. +*Jn 20:28, 29n. +*Ac 7:59n. (3) Christ is not a lesser god, or entitled to a lesser degree of worship, +*Jn 1:1n. Phil 2:6n. (4) Jesus called God, +**Jn 20:28, 29n. (5) Charged with blasphemy for his claim to deity, Jn 10:32n. (6) Only a divine Savior possessing full deity could qualify as our substitute, better, sacrifice, in the atonement for sins, He 10:4n. **Je 23:5, 6. gracious. Gr. chrēstos (S#5543g, Ep 4:32), employed, that is, (by implication) useful (in manner or morals) [Strong]; delicious to the taste. Je 24:2-5. Mt 11:30g. Lk 5:39g (better). Lk 6:35. Ro 2:4. 11:22. +*Ep 4:32g.

We must carefully observe that to say Jesus is Jehovah does not mean Jesus is the Father. In the Bible the Father is called Jehovah; the Son is called Jehovah, and it may be (though at this time I have not conducted a study on this aspect) that the Holy Spirit is called Jehovah, but I’ll have to determine by further study whether in fact the Holy Spirit is ever called Jehovah or not. But that the Father is called Jehovah, and the Son is called Jehovah can be proven absolutely from Scripture.

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Daily Bible Nugget #294, Revelation 22:18

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Jerry

The Nugget:

Revelation 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

My Comment:

Denunciations against those who add to or take from the Scriptures (The New Topical Textbook, subheading under the major heading, “The Scriptures,” page 240).

It seems fitting that at the close of the New Testament this warning against adding to the Scripture should be issued. There are some who argue this prohibition applies only to the book of Revelation. I think otherwise. I believe God providentially arranged this warning’s placement at the close of the New Testament to warn against adding to the now closed canon of Scripture. John was the last writer to pen a New Testament book. John outlived the other writers of the New Testament by as many as 30 years. It is highly likely, though it cannot strictly be proven historically with the evidence in our possession, that John himself finalized and closed the New Testament canon or list of books to be contained in the New Testament. Such is the position argued or presented in an appendix at the end of Townsend’s Analysis, a most helpful arrangement of Scripture in chronological order produced in the nineteenth century. In any case, I agree with his position, or his prejudices, however you may see it!

I think the warning applies to any person or group that would add to the Bible as we have it in its 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament, additional revelation or Tradition that is regarded as divinely inspired or authoritative on a par with Scripture itself.

There are and have been certain religious groups who claim to have additional books that belong in the Bible or new books of revelatory material which they believe to be specially, even divinely inspired. The Mormons have their Book of Mormon. The Roman Catholics have added a number of apocryphal books to the Old Testament, books present in the Septuagint but not accepted by the Jews in Israel and not named as Scripture by the New Testament writers. The Roman Catholics have also added Tradition into the mix as authoritative, to be considered along side the Bible in formulating doctrine. Other groups have their inspired prophetess (like Seventh-day Adventists and Ellen G. White, or the Christian Science church with Mary Baker Eddy). Other groups claim to be the only source of authoritative Bible teaching, or similarly make the claim to be the one true church. All of these are in danger of violating the command in Revelation 22:18 not to add to God’s Word, the Bible.

I think the best choice is to go by the Bible alone and in its entirety, and seek to have fellowship with others who have the proper regard for the Bible.

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1521 for Revelation 22:18.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1538 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Revelation 22:18.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

Revelation 22:18. testify. See on ver. Re 22:16. *Re 3:14. Ep 4:17. 1 Th 4:6. heareth. See on Re 1:3. this book. ver. Re 22:7, 9. Dt 31:24. +Ac 1:20. If. FS184C, +Mt 4:9. add unto these. >Dt 4:2. >Dt 12:32. Jsh 1:7. 1 S 12:19. 1 K 12:11. Pr 19:27. +*Pr 30:6. +**Is 8:20. **Je 23:28, 29. Mt 7:15-20. **Mt 15:6-9, 13. 24:11, 24. 28:20. 1 Cor 3:12, 13. God shall add. T#1108. Re 14:10, 11. 15:1. Re 16:1-3, 8-11, 17, 18, 21. 19:20. 20:10, 15. **Le 26:18, 24, 25, 28, 37. %Pr 10:22. the plagues. >Dt 29:20.

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Daily Bible Nugget #293, 2 Peter 3:16

Posted on June 19, 2014 by Jerry

The Nugget:

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, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

My Comment:

The wicked frequently wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction (The New Topical Textbook, subheading under the main heading “The Scriptures,” page 240).

Peter is, in context, speaking of Paul’s letters or epistles, which Peter accounts to be Scripture (as evidenced by his statement, “as they do also the other scriptures”). Peter had just written that we should be “diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless” (2 Peter 3:14). Paul teaches these very truths in his letters. Using a good source of cross references will lead to the passages in Paul’s letters that Peter could be referring to.

For some, in Peter’s day as well as ours, there are things which are hard to understand in Paul’s letters. One of the issues Peter is addressing is the danger of moral apostasy. Some had taken parts of Paul’s message and given those parts a wrong interpretation (see Romans 3:8, where Paul comments that this was taking place). One of the falsehoods both Paul and Peter were confronting is the notion that because we are saved by grace apart from works, it does not matter if we keep on sinning, because God’s grace in Christ will cover it all, so we can freely live as we please. That is known as antinomianism.

It is a very prevalent doctrine among some Christians today too. Antinomianism is a term that literally means “against law.” The idea is, since we are saved by grace, we have nothing to do with law. Since we have nothing to do with law, we are not required to obey it. It is the wrong inference drawn from a misunderstanding of what is meant by our freedom from the law, our liberty in Christ. The title of a good Gospel song is “Free from the Law.” Antinomians have taken this Biblical idea to an extreme.

Some people who have fallen into the antinomian error would even question the possibility of moral apostasy. Some supposedly Bible believing Christians do not believe in the possibility of apostasy at all, moral or doctrinal. The New Testament is filled with warnings against apostasy, but these are either ignored, or are explained away. Most Evangelical Christians will say and teach that if someone appears to have fallen away, they were never saved in the first place, and they cite 1 John 2:19 to make that case. They are driven to that mistaken application by the necessities of their doctrinal system, Calvinism or a weaker variant, for they believe “Once Saved, Always Saved.” But this use of 1 John 2:19 falls into the errors of (1) taking a verse out of its evident historical context; (2) trying to fit all situations into one verse–overgeneralizing and so making the verse apply to more than it really does. By taking such a stance, many Christians who believe the Bible have fallen into the fatal mistake of denying one doctrine (the very real possibility of apostasy) to affirm another (the unconditional eternal security of the believer). In this case, they deny a true doctrine to affirm a false one! And Peter clearly warns us that to do this is to court our own destruction.

The Bible does not teach unconditional eternal security, or “Once Saved, Always Saved,” at all! What the Bible does teach is the absolute eternal security of the believer, not the unbeliever.

There are other ways of wresting the Scripture to our own destruction. It is a very serious matter, even dangerous matter, to fasten our belief-system to a man-made doctrinal scheme, such as Calvinism, or Romanism, or Arianism–perhaps almost any “ism”!

I have more recently learned of another serious example of wresting the Scriptures. Having a mistaken concept of the Atonement of Christ plagues all of us because almost without exception, all English Bibles have been translated from the Hebrew and especially the Greek originals to reflect the Penal Satisfaction Theory of the Atonement, a theological construct which may be traced to Anselm and Augustine. This theory was borrowed whole by the Protestant Reformers from Roman Catholicism. This is one of the areas in theology where the Protestant Reformers did not go far enough in their Reformation. Another area where the Reformers by and large were totally in the dark is the subject of Bible prophecy.

Now, I cannot give you Chapter and Verse for my idea that God is not going to require us to pass a seminary level final test on systematic theology to be able to enter His heaven, but since the New Testament nowhere suggests our need to pass such a test, the simple faith represented by Paul’s response to the question of the Philippian Jailer, “What must I do to be saved?” still has the valid and simple answer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:30, 31).

But this does not in any way excuse any of us from the responsibility to check everything we believe and have been taught against the Scripture, just as the Bereans did in Acts 17:11.

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1470 for 2 Peter 3:16.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1488 or in Logos 5 Bible software for 2 Peter 3:16.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

2 Peter 3:16. in all. The Pauline Epistles were by this time become the common property of all the churches. The “all” seems to imply they were now completed (JFB). See on 1 P 1:1. speaking. +*Ro 8:19. *1 Cor 15:21, 23, 24. *Col 3:4. +*1 Th 4:14 18. *1 Th 5:1 10. *1 Tim 6:14. *2 Tim 1:7, 8. +*2 Tim 4:1, 8, 18. *He 9:28. 10:23-39. of these things. ver. 2 Peter 3:14. 2 K ch. 1. Col 3:4. 1 Th 4:13. 5:11. 2 Th 2:16. some things. Notice Peter says some things, not all. The difficulty some readers and interpreters find in understanding parts of Scripture is no argument against perspicuity, the doctrine that Scripture declares it is understandable (Ps 119:130) to the ordinary reader (T#1110—1122). This furnishes no basis for those denominations, churches, and religious organizations, even some false cults (some of which appeal to Mt 16:16 or Mt 24:45 to assert their authority), to claim they are the exclusive source for authoritative teaching of the Bible. Peter warns, in context, that those he speaks of are deficient in their knowledge and have a character problem. He urges us not to be led away with the error of the wicked. We are urged to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 P 3:18). The only source of this knowledge is the 27 primary documents we have in the New Testament. We need to make it our habit to regularly study the Scriptures, and feed on God’s Word (+1 P 2:2n). Ps 119:97. hard to be understood. Gr. dusnoētos (S#1425g, only here), difficult of perception (Strong). 1 K 10:1. Pr 1:6. +**Pr 28:5. Jn 6:60. Ro 3:5-8, 20-28. 4:15. 5:20. 6:1. 7:4-11. 8:29, 30. 9:18 20. 11:33. 14:1-6 with Acts 15:29. 1 Cor 2:13, 14. Ga 3:10. 2 Th 2:1-12. 2 Tim 2:17. *He 5:10, 11. 6:4-9. unlearned. Gr. amathēs (S#261g, only here), ignorant (Strong); lacking in the moral qualities of a balanced judgment (Strachan). This is the central issue, the major problem: people who ought to know better are virtually Biblically illiterate. Jn 17:3. Ac 4:13. 1 Cor 14:16. 2 Tim 2:23. He 5:11, 12. 6:9n. 1 P 2:2n. unstable. Gr. astēriktos (S#793g, only here and 2 P 2:14). Refers more to conduct, those whose habits are not fully trained and established (see Strachan). 2 P 2:14. Ge 49:4. 2 Tim 3:5 7. +*James 1:8. wrest. Gr. strebloō (S#4761g, only here), to wrench, that is, (specifically) to torture (by the rack), but only figuratively to pervert (Strong). T#1107. Ex 23:2, 6. Dt 16:19. 2 S 22:27g. Ps 56:5. +*Je 8:8mg. Je 23:36. Hab 1:4. Mt 4:5, 6. 15:3-6. 19:3-10. 22:29. Ro 8:21. 1 Cor 5:9-11. +*2 Cor 2:17. 3:17. +*2 Cor 4:2. Ga 5:13. 2 Tim 2:18. 1 P 2:8. as they do. Is 28:16. the other. Gr. loipoi (S#3062g, Mt 22:6), remaining ones (Strong). The Greek word has reference to others of the same kind. Mt 15:3, 6. 22:29. *Mt 25:11. *Ac 2:37. *Ro 1:13. *1 Cor 9:5. *2 Cor 12:13. *Ga 2:13. *Phil 4:3. +*1 Tim 5:18. +*2 Tim 3:16. scriptures. Gr. graphē (S#1124g, Mt 21:42). Note that St. Paul’s epistles are called “Scriptures” (CB). In its fifty occurrences, this term is always applied to the Old and New Testament sacred writings. Men in each Church having miraculous discernment of spirits (1 J 4:1; 2 Th 2:2n) would have prevented any uninspired writing from being put on a par with the OT word of God; the apostles’ lives also were providentially prolonged, Paul’s and Peter’s at least to thirty-four years after Christ’s resurrection, John’s to thirty years beyond them, so that fraud in the canon is out of the question. The three first Gospels and Acts are included in “the other Scriptures” (1 Tim 5:18), and perhaps all the NT books, save John and Revelation, written later (see JFB). 2 P 1:20, 21. +Mt 21:42. **1 Cor 14:37. Col 4:16. 1 Th 5:27. +**2 Tim 3:15-17. 1 P 2:6. unto their own. 2 P 2:1. +*Phil 3:19. 1 P 2:8. Jude 1:4. destruction. Gr. apōleia (S#684g, Mt 7:13), ruin or loss (physical, spiritual or eternal) [Strong]. ver. 2 P 3:6, *2 P 3:7, 9. 2 P 2:1, 3. Dt 4:2. 12:32. Is 28:13. 1 Tim 5:15. Re 22:19.

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Daily Bible Nugget #292, Psalm 119:158

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Jerry

The Nugget:

Psa 119:158 I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word.

My Comment:

The wicked obey not the Scriptures (The New Topical Textbook, subheading under the main topic “The Scriptures,” page 240).

The Psalmist was grieved when he beheld transgressors, people who did not obey God’s Word. That should grieve us too.

There are solutions to this major problem of so many people paying no attention to God’s Word in the Bible, thinking they can violate it with impunity (Galatians 6:8, 9; Psalm 82:5).

It would be a good idea to pray for them that they might find the Lord, that they might become open to hearing, really hearing, the Gospel.

It would be a good idea to become an influence for good, an influence upon someone we know who has not accepted the truth of the Gospel, and share the Gospel as God provides us the opportunity to do so.

The need is out there today, just as it has been in the past. We each must do what we can to get the Gospel out to those who have not yet responded in faith to its message.

There are transgressors who do not keep God’s Word. In the past, God has used His Word to change the lives of such people. His Word is still valid. It will do powerfully what it has always done, change the world for the better (Romans 1:16). Don’t be guilty of suppressing the truth (Romans 1:18) by keeping the Gospel a secret.

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 634 for Psalm 119:158.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 678 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Psalm 119:158.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

Psalm 119:158. beheld. ver. Ps 119:53, 136. Je 3:20. Ezk 9:4. Mk 3:5. the transgressors. Ps 101:3, 4. +Pr 2:22. Je 9:2. was grieved. T#662, T#1087. ver. Ps 119:53n, 104, 113, 136. Ps 26:5, 9. +Ps 79:9 (T#538). Ps 139:21. Ge 6:6. Dt 7:26. 1 S 15:35. Ezr 9:2-5. 10:6. Jb 1:1. 21:16. 42:6. Pr 8:13. 29:27. Is 42:24. Je 13:17. 14:17. *Ezk 9:4. Mt 18:31. 23:37. *Mk 3:5. Lk 19:41. +*Ac 17:16. +*Ac 20:31. Ro 9:1-3. 2 Cor 2:4. +*2 Cor 12:21. Ga 1:8, 9. 2:14. 5:12n. Ep 4:26. *Phil 3:18. 2 P 2:7, 8. Jude 1:22, 23. kept not. T#1106. ver. Ps 119:5, %+*Ps 119:63, 85, 136. +*2 Ch 19:2. +**Is 8:20. Ep 5:6. thy word. ver. +Ps 119:11, 50. Is 42:24.

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Daily Bible Nugget #291, 1 Peter 2:8

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Jerry

The Nugget:

1Pe 2:8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. (KJV)

1Pe 2:8 and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. (NET Bible)

My Comment:

The wicked stumble at the Scriptures (The New Topical Textbook, subheading under the main heading “The Scriptures,” page 240).

There are many who stumble at the Scriptures. They cannot understand the Bible correctly because they do not obey it, as so clearly expressed above by the NET Bible.

Most striking, and terrifying, is the fact that the Greek word underlying the English words “being disobedient” means unpersuasable. Think about it! If you are so committed to your belief, your position, that you will not change no matter what the evidence to the contrary, you are in BIG trouble. The same Greek word appears at John 3:36, “he that believeth not” shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Some translations read “he that obeyeth not,” which is a step in the right direction. But the word means unpersuasable. Are you unable to be persuaded when you are faced with irrefutable evidence, evidence that proves your belief or understanding is wrong? To be stuck in a wrong opinion is dangerous indeed (Proverbs 29:1).

We all should be willing to change our mind about something, that is, to correct our mistaken opinion, based on new and better evidence.

There are those who in public and political life as well as in personal life who simply do not care to take the Bible, the Word of God, into consideration.

They are engaged in suppressing the truth to carry out their agenda of falsehood and wickedness (Romans 1:18). Those who support Sodomy disobey the Scripture, and of course are against the Scripture.

Those who support so-called “gay rights” are likewise disobedient to Scripture (2 Chronicles 19:2).

Those who support so-called “same-sex marriage” are likewise in violation of Scripture, and knowingly reject what God has said in His written Word, the Bible on this issue (Matthew 19:4, 5, 6).

Some governments have declared that to support and proclaim the Bible truth on these issues is “hate speech.” Isn’t that too bad. The Bible commands us to hate the sin, but rescue the sinner (Jude 1:23). The Bible also commands us to obey God regardless what civil authorities may require to the contrary (Acts 5:29). The government and its officials better start paying attention to God and the Bible (Psalm 9:17).

There are those who in matters of religion and doctrine, particularly Bible doctrine, plainly stumble at the Word of God because of their disobedience to Scripture, and failure to study the Bible carefully enough to arrive at the correct position taught in the Bible.

Just this morning I listened to a brief ending portion of a message by Dr. R. C. Sproul talking about “Chosen by God,” addressing the subject of predestination. He argued for the validity of that Bible doctrine in the form he believes it on the basis that the world’s five greatest theologians have written on this doctrine and Dr. Sproul agrees with what they teach, and stated all five of these great theologians agreed with each other. The five theologians he mentioned are Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Jonathan Edwards.

No wonder Dr. R. C. Sproul is all mixed up! If studying such men as these is how he formulates and verifies his understanding of Bible doctrine, no wonder he gets much of it wrong whenever he goes off on his favorite tangent of expounding Calvinism instead of the Bible. Don’t get me wrong. Dr. Sproul is a wonderfully gifted and very effective teacher and I enjoy his program when he sticks to the Bible. And even when he veers off course–away from the Bible sometimes, he is still very informative.

Contrary to what Dr. R. C. Sproul said this morning during his program Renewing Your Mind, when he said the “pre” in the word predestination speaks of “before,” and the rest of the word, “destination” speaks of where we finally end up, either heaven or hell, the doctrine of predestination as taught in the Greek New Testament does not address the matter of who has been arbitrarily chosen by God to go to heaven from eternity past, even before the person entered into earthly life, regardless of what they may or may not do.

The Bible doctrine of predestination pertains to the fact that God desires our lives to be conformed to the example and life of Christ in obedience to His written Word found in the Bible. During the portion of the program I was able to listen to today, Dr. Sproul did not cite, far less expound and exegete, a single Scripture. He did discuss at some length that Martin Luther actually wrote more on the doctrine of predestination than John Calvin did. But I will furnish you one or two verses or so to consider so you can see for yourself what the New Testament has to say about predestination. Take a look at Romans 8:29, 30. Paul speaks there of our being predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s Son, not to heaven or hell–regardless of the choices we may or may not make (as wrongly taught by Calvinism).

The subject of predestination is also addressed in Ephesians 1:4, 5, 11. I will cite what Malcolm Lavender has placed as note “a” in his new translation at Ephesians 1:4,

“There is a predestination of Scripture, but not to eternal destiny. Predestination is to holiness, righteousness, and true knowledge (cf. Ep 4:24; Col. 3:10). God determined in eternity that He would have a holy Church, in the image of His Son; a Church with the family likeness (cf. Rom. 8:29; 2 Pet. 1:4).
This is predestination of Divine exaltation, salvation, redemption, and restoration from the Fall, not the heartless decree of Calvinism, carried out by irresistible grace for the elect, and eternal damnation for all others (cf. Rom. 9:15 and note).”

Therefore, in the important matter of Bible doctrine, we need to be careful when we listen to our favorite Bible teachers. We need to be Berean Christians and search the Scriptures to see if what is being taught is actually supported by the Bible (Acts 17:11).

We need to be careful of the very sincere and zealous people who come to our door proclaiming God’s Kingdom, plentifully supplied with literature and talking points. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, who meet in their Kingdom Halls, know nothing correctly about the Kingdom of God as taught by Scripture itself, except perhaps for one thing: they are most correct that God’s Kingdom is here on this earth. Our inheritance indeed is on earth (Matthew 5:5), not the third heaven. Most Bible believing Christians are wrong on this point. Both the Jehovah’s Witnesses and most Evangelical Bible believing Christians are mistaken about the duration of God’s Kingdom on earth, and commonly believe it lasts for only 1000 years, called the Millennium. That is not what the Bible teaches. Our Lord Jesus Christ will rule this earth, seated on the throne of David, from Jerusalem not for 1000 years but forever (Luke 1:32, 33).

Interestingly, a new poster here, probably a Jehovah’s Witness, left a comment at Bible Nugget 287, in the form of a link to an article which is rather a listing of Scripture which the poster’s title suggests supports the idea that “Jesus is NOT Jehovah.”

This morning I went to the link. Immediately I spotted a misuse of Vine’s Expository Dictionary, page 490, cited in support of the mistaken New World Translation rendering at John 1:1, “a god.” Vine does not support this translation at all, and further down the page he specifically addresses that translation error. Watch out when a religious organization like the Watchtower mishandles citations, inferring support when the writer cited certainly does not support their view.

As an experienced English teacher used to checking carefully the research papers written by my students, I give the Watchtower a failing grade for misuse of sources.

I encountered this issue numerous times when I was visited every Monday night for a Watchtower Bible study in my home for four years. I’m sure the local Kingdom Hall Literature Servant (that’s what the position the person teaching me the Bible held was called back then–he was in charge of all literature distribution by his congregation) was most surprised when I brought out a different reference work time after time cited by the Watchtower literature and was able to show the Watchtower was inaccurate or downright deceitful in its citations of scholarly sources.

Thus, the wicked certainly stumble in their handling of the Word of God, and should not be heeded or followed.

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1458 for 1 Peter 2:8.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1475 or in Logos 5 Bible software for 1 Peter 2:8.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

1 Peter 2:8. a stone. FS22L2, +Is 8:14. >Is 8:14. 57:14. Mt 21:44. Mk 12:10. *Lk 2:34. 20:17. Ro 9:32, 33. 1 Cor 1:23. +1 Cor 8:9. 2 Cor 2:16. of stumbling. Gr. proskomma (S#4348g, Ro 9:32). Is 28:13. Je 6:21. *Je 13:16. Ezk 3:20. +*Ezk 14:3. Da 2:45. Ho 14:9. Ro 9:32. +**1 Cor 8:9. Ga 5:11. Re 2:14. of offence. Gr. skandalon (S#4625g, Mt 13:34). This is a composite quotation from Ps 118:22 and Is 8:14 (CB; see Mt 27:9n). =Ex 10:7. Mt 5:30. +Mt 11:6. *Mt 15:12. Lk 7:23. Jn 16:1. Ro 9:33. 1 Cor 1:23. Ga 5:11. stumble. Gr. proskoptō (S#4350g, Ro 9:32). T#1105. Dt 32:35. Ps 69:22. +*Ps 119:155, 171. %Pr 4:12. 28:5. Is 26:9. 28:13. +*Is 66:4, 5. *Je 6:19. 13:16. Ezk 12:2. *Ezk 33:31. *Da 9:13. 11:19. *Da 12:10. Ho 13:6. %+*Mi 2:7. Hab 1:4. +*Mt 5:30. Jn 7:17. **1 Cor 2:14. **2 Cor 4:3, 4. +*2 P 3:16. at the word. Mk 4:17. +Ac 8:4. being disobedient. Gr. apeitheō (S#544g, Jn 3:36), non-persuasable (Wuest). See on ver. 1 P 2:7. %1 P 1:14. 3:1. 4:17. 2 K 18:12. 2 Ch 25:20. *Ezk 33:11. +*Jn 3:19. +*Ac 6:9. Ro 10:21. Ep 2:2. 5:6. He 11:31. whereunto. T#252. +*Ge 50:20. Ex 9:16. +*Is 30:33. Ml 3:2. +*Ac 2:23. 4:27, 28. 13:29. Ro 9:22. 10:16. 1 Th 5:9. *2 P 2:3. Jude 1:4. Re 17:17. appointed. or, they were put aside. Gr. tithēmi (S#5087g). They were put aside translates etethēsan from tithēmi. Gingrich says: “1. put, place, lay-—a. generally lay (away), set up, put (away)….” Tithēmi has a large variety of meanings; BDAG says: “The semantic boundaries of this multivalent verb are quite flexible.” Here tithēmi is normally translated in a pre-destinarian sense—-appointed, destined-—as if God foreordained people to stumble. A. T. Robertson in a quote says: “Their disobedience is not ordained, the penalty of their disobedience is.” God as to His very nature cannot damn apart from judiciary action! People are judicially damned for wickedness, not by decree (cf. Ro 9:15, 18, 22; 11:20, 23 and notes) [LNT, fn s]. 1 P 1:2. Ex 4:21. +*Dt 10:15. Jb 23:14. Pr 16:4. 19:21. +*Pr 21:30. +*Is 30:33. 37:26. 49:6. Mt 24:51. Lk 2:34. 12:46. Ac 2:23. 4:28. Ro 9:17, 22. 16:26. *Ga 6:8. 1 Th 5:9. 1 Tim 2:4, 7. 2 Tim 1:11. *Titus 2:11. He 1:2. Re 17:14.

Posted in Daily Bible Nuggets, Doctrinal Discussions, False Religions, Politics and the Bible, What the Bible says about itself | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Daily Bible Nugget #290, Jeremiah 8:9

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Jerry

The Nugget:

Jeremiah 8:9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them? (KJV)

Jer 8:9 Your wise men will be put to shame.
They will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment.
Since they have rejected the word of the LORD,
what wisdom do they really have?
(NET Bible)

Jer 8:9 The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them? (ESV)

My Comment:

The wicked reject the Scriptures (The New Topical Textbook, subheading under the main heading “The Scriptures,” page 240).

Clearly in our day a large part of society reject the Scriptures. There are those–surely to be accounted among the wicked–who seek to remove the Bible from any mention in public life. Atheist groups do that, such as the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Other secular groups do the same, such as the Southern Poverty Law Center–a group that likes to pin labels on groups they disagree with, especially Evangelical and Bible believing Christian groups, including the American Family Association.

If one were to check carefully into American history, the evidence is that the Founding Fathers established the Bill of Rights, the first Ten Amendments, the Constitution, and before those wrote the Declaration of Independence upon Biblical principles. One of the Founding Fathers stated, in so many words, that the Constitution was designed to govern a Christian and moral people, and would not work with any other. They specifically did not found a democracy. They were very wisely against democracy. They founded a federal republic, with the goal of drastically limiting the powers and the reach of the federal government. The Founding Fathers did not found a system designed to utterly separate church and state in a manner taught about in some of our schools today, but designed a system that would never establish a state-supported religion or denomination.

Today we have a President who is unwilling to release full documentation to show he qualifies for the office he holds. That means, in essence, we don’t really know who he is! The Democratic Party knowingly and very clearly violated a most important provision of the Constitution when they placed his name in nomination. In my estimation a political party that would do that ought to be barred from any further participation in this nation’s political process for perpetrating a continuing fraud upon the public until they learn to follow the Constitution.

We have an Attorney General who knowingly violates federal law, such as in the “fast and furious” gun-running scandal, such as in failing on purpose to enforce the laws pertaining to border security and illegal immigration. He is also disingenuous when he tries to override attempts by individual states to have voter I.D. laws–perhaps because he wants to continue the election fraud, as “vote early and often.”

We have an IRS that broke the law by singling out conservative and Christian groups–denying them tax-exempt status granted other groups. Apparently the IRS was sent on its vendetta against the conservative groups by the President himself. Just this week the IRS claimed to have lost all the emails of Lois Lerner that pertain to this case because of a computer crash. Well, if not all, just two years’ worth. And maybe just those sent to the White House, Federal Election Commission, Department of Justice, and other federal agencies. In other words, only the most incriminating emails from the person at the heart of this unlawful targeting scandal are lost. How convenient! And a blatant lie. Those who know about how emails are sent and stored and backed up will not be fooled by this nonsense. We do not appear to have any legal force within the federal government with enough moral backbone to call a halt to this continuing outrage. Both the President and his Attorney General are lawless individuals who ought to have no place in our government.

Just as outrageously fraudulent is the so-called “Federal Reserve.” It is neither Federal, nor does it have a reserve. By black-letter law the Federal Reserve is charged to stabilize the currency such that there is NO inflation at all–no change in the purchasing power of the dollar. It violates that central charge and responsibility every day with impunity. It instead has set a “goal” of about 2 or 3 percent inflation. Well, use the rule of 72. At 2% inflation rate, the value of your money is cut in half every 36 years. That does not seem so bad when you do not take a careful look. But it means that to save enough to retire comfortably, you must double the amount of money required to do so in that time. That means that when you retire after having worked for 36 years or more, your money has only half the purchasing power that it started with. At 3% it only takes 24 years to have the same effect. And only the numbskulls at the Federal Government would believe inflation is ever even that low. The so-called “consumer price index” is a fraud, based on things in an hypothetical “basket” like picture frames, but NOT including the price of food or fuel. The Federal Reserve is a banking cartel, and is a private not federal institution with special privileges, including the privilege of not being audited. But you can be sure the bankers are enjoying the profits at our expense.

Ultimately, Jeremiah’s statement will prove true even in our current situation: our leaders have rejected God’s Word, demonstrating they have no wisdom. Our leaders lend their full support to ungodly, immoral causes and movements, but rarely, perhaps never stand up for what is right. God declares they will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment. They will be put to shame.

Anyone who rejects God’s Word in the Bible is devoid of sound judgment and totally lacking in wisdom, and not just in the political sphere. God’s Word in the Bible applies to each of us as individuals, and was written to provide us the moral guidance we need to be successful in life and in eternity. The wisest thing anyone can do is to get better acquainted until they are thoroughly acquainted with what the Bible teaches. The first step in that direction would be to start reading the Bible for yourself.

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 804 for Jeremiah 8:9.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 830 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Jeremiah 8:9.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

Jeremiah 8:9. The wise men are. or, Have they been, etc. Je 2:8. 6:15. 10:21. 49:7. 50:35. Jb 5:12, 13. Is 19:11, 12. *Ezk 7:26. 28:17. Ro 1:22. 2:23. *1 Cor 1:19, 26-29. 4:10. 1 Tim 1:7. lo. *Dt 4:6. **Ps 19:7. **Ps 119:98-100. +*Is 8:20n. 1 Cor 1:18-29. **2 Tim 3:15. rejected. T#1104. *Je 6:10n, 19. 20:8. 36:23. 2 K 17:15. 2 Ch 36:16. Ps 50:17. Pr 1:30. *Is 5:24. 30:12. Ho 4:6. Am 2:4. Zc 7:12. +*Mk 7:9, 13. Lk 7:30. +**Jn 5:39. Ac 13:46. Ro 3:31. what wisdom. Heb. the wisdom of what thing, etc. Dt 32:28. 2 S 15:31. 16:23. %+*Ps 119:99, 100. Pr 1:7. 14:6. +*Pr 21:30. Mt 6:23. 7:26. Lk 11:35. Jn 3:10. 1 Cor 1:20.

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Daily Bible Nugget #289, Mark 7:13

Posted on June 15, 2014 by Jerry

The Nugget:

Mark 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

My Comment:

The wicked make the Scriptures of none effect through their traditions (The New Topical Textbook, subheading under the main heading “The Scriptures,” page 240).

Notice that in Mark 7:13 Jesus charged the religious leaders of His day with making the word of God of none effect through their tradition, which they delivered–that is, pronounced as authoritative. These religious leaders were the official teaching authority of their day in Israel.

There is a lesson to be learned here. Jesus boldly placed the authority of the Scripture over any supposed authority of tradition imposed or promulgated by the religious authorities.

Jesus never appealed to tradition as the basis for the authority behind anything He taught. Jesus commanded us to “search the Scriptures” (John 5:39), not Tradition!

From the outset of His ministry, Jesus demonstrated for us His use of Scripture to answer and resist the Devil during His forty days of the temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:3, 4; 4:5, 6, 7; 4:8, 9, 10). Jesus did not try to answer Satan by using Tradition. Jesus answered Satan by a direct appeal to the Bible.

I think the evidence in the Bible is very clear for anyone who will honestly read what it says with their eyes open. We are to go by the Bible alone and in its entirety. The New Topical Textbook is surely correct when it states, “The wicked make [the Scriptures] of none effect through their traditions (Mark 7:9-13).”

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1087 for Mark 7:13.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1108 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Mark 7:13.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

Mark 7:13. the word. ver. Mk 7:9. +*Is 8:20n. Je 8:8, 9. Ho 8:12. Mt 5:17-20. 15:6. Titus 1:14. of God. Notice the Lord’s claim here for the Mosaic Law (CB). +Lk 5:1. **+Jn 10:35. +Ro 9:6. +Re 1:2. none effect. T#1103. Mt 15:6. Ro 2:23. Ga 3:17. tradition. ver. +Mk 7:3. Mt 15:3. Lk 12:1. which ye have delivered. Note the Past Tense, thus identifying them with their forefathers (CB). 1 K 12:33. Ml 2:9. Mt 23:35. such. Ezk 18:14. Ga 5:21.

Posted in Daily Bible Nuggets, What the Bible says about itself | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Daily Bible Nugget #288, Mark 7:9

Posted on June 14, 2014 by Jerry

The Nugget:

Mark 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

My Comment:

The wicked make the Scriptures of none effect through their traditions (The New Topical Textbook, subheading under the main heading “The Scriptures,” page 240).

Jesus spoke of tradition several times. In the New Testament Jesus always condemns tradition each time He mentions it by name.

Tradition is a very slippery word. Different groups, and different individuals, use the term but often with different meaning. I believe the term “tradition” as it is used by Jesus has reference to additions to what the Bible itself states or contains, additions made by man in the name of religion.

The Bible teaches it alone is the Word of God. No one has the authority to add to or subtract from what the Bible teaches (Isaiah 8:20; Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18, 19).

The Bible teaches that it is a complete revelation, to which no further revelation will be added (Jude 1:3).

The Bible teaches that it contains all that we are required to know about spiritual things (2 Timothy 3:15), and that it equips us perfectly to do what God wants us to do for Him (2 Timothy 3:16, 17).

I fully grant that in some religious circles this is a very controversial subject, and others will strongly disagree with what I have said. I reply, “Chapter and Verse, Please.” Anyone who carefully reads the New Testament in a plain text Bible will clearly understand that in terms of what Jesus Himself explicitly taught, tradition has a very bad name.

Some will claim, like the Roman Catholics do, that since the Bible itself states it does not record everything Jesus said (John 20:30; John 21:25), we must look to the tradition preserved by the Roman Catholic Church outside of the Bible to learn “the rest of the story.” Tradition is preserved in the writings of the Church Fathers, the writings of early Christians after the time the New Testament was written. But the early writers do not claim to be writing divinely inspired revelation from God, and they quote the New Testament as authoritative Scripture, but do not regard their own or the writings of each other on the same level as the New Testament records. Furthermore, there are no additional words of Christ recorded outside the record we have in the New Testament.

Any claim from any church, no matter how ancient, to have preserved “unwritten tradition” from the Apostolic period is bogus.

Remember I said that the word “Tradition” is a very slippery word. When one uses the word “Tradition” but uses it in a way which actually represents distinct meanings for the word as if the word meant just one and the same thing all along, one is committing the logical fallacy of equivocation. I believe that Roman Catholics are guilty of this practice because Roman Catholics understand Tradition to mean the development of Christian doctrine over time–thus a changing content which results in new content. This permits the introduction of new practices and changing doctrine in their church. This contradicts the teaching of the Bible (Jude 1:3) which speaks of an unchanging and complete body of doctrine delivered once for all to the saints.

Notice the issue Jesus points out about tradition: those who hold to tradition “reject the commandment of God” (Mark 7:9) so that they may keep their own tradition. I think this is very evident in the teaching and practice of the Roman Catholic Church, because that church insists upon the equal authority of tradition and Scripture, and utterly rejects the doctrine of going by the Bible alone.

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1086 for Mark 7:9.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1108 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Mark 7:9.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

Mark 7:9. Full. 2 K 16:10-16. Is 24:5. 29:13. Je 44:16, 17. Da 7:25. 11:36. Mt 15:3-6. 2 Th 2:4. well. FS60A, +Ge 3:22. ver. Mk 7:6. James 2:19. reject. or, frustrate. or, set aside. ver. Mk 7:13. Ps 119:126. +*Je 8:9. Mt 23:14-33. *Lk 7:30. Ro 3:31. Ga 2:21. 3:15g. He 10:28g. the commandment of God. ver. Mk 7:8. Hab 1:4. keep your own tradition. ver. +Mk 7:3. 1 K 18:27. Ec 7:29.

Posted in Daily Bible Nuggets, False Religions, What the Bible says about itself | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment