“The writers of the Bible believed their writings to be God inspired but in all actuality that just isn’t the case. The Bible is not to be taken literally as God’s word”. I heard the above quote recently on a national call in radio program. The caller told the radio hosts that her pastor was responsible for the above quote. The response from the two host pastors of the program was a rousing, in unison” RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!” Personally I thought that was good advice.

That pastor’s statement dismissing the fact that the Bible is God’s word reflects where we can place the bulk of the problems in the Christian Church today. The quote from that unnamed pastor can be laid at the feet of many pastors in many denominational, as well as non-denominational, churches around the world.

Why is Christ’s church floundering today? It is because the Bible, the inerrant word of God Almighty, is not taken seriously let alone literally by many of Christianity’s leaders. If we dismiss any portion of God’s word by implying it was not God breathed, then all of scripture becomes a bald face lie. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” 2 Timothy 3:16. Apparently the above mentioned pastor’s opinion is we should simply dismiss the entirety of the Bible as man’s own mythological tales. If we believe man just made up the words that established the biblical canon of scripture then the Christian Church has no purpose and is meaningless.

Recently I read that approximately 70% of the people who attend Church services are not born again. That number, if accurate, is not only depressing but scary. The idea that some pastors are demeaning, disparaging, and dismissing the Bible’s true validity, and giving man the credit for its inception through his imagination, proves that many people no longer believe what the Bible says. Therefore that 70% figure referring to the unsaved in the church, again if that number is correct and I suspect it is, would be a very good indication of where the Church is headed. Perhaps we’re already there.

Many expositors condemn those who claim we are witnessing the great apostasy of the Church happening today. But I say when legitimate surveys are done which indicate significant numbers of people in Church are remaining in their lost state, how much more proof is needed before those expositors see what many of us have been aware of for quite some time?

Our foundation of faith is based on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What will we do for a replacement for the Bible? Will we turn to “The Shack” as our study guide? What about “The Purpose Driven Life”? Or better yet, perhaps the book of Mormon will be our re-enforcing and permanent new foundation for biblical truth. Don’t let yourself become deceived by people who have no true biblical discernment. 

The Bible is our God given tool, a place where we can go to study and learn about our Great God and Savior, Jesus the Christ. But what of the history of the world both past and future? Studying God’s word to obtain greater understanding, discernment, and wisdom is essential for the born again believer in Christ. But the new mantra from many pastors today is “Listen to me, I’ve got the truth, forget that tired, old antiquated nonsense of our forefathers. The Bible is no longer relevant in our new progressive society.” People, this type of teaching is more commonly referred to as cultic.

I’ve known for years that many parts of the Bible are looked on as allegorical in most denominational Christian Churches, and that fact alone will be a disrupting and divisive influence to Christ’s true Church in the last days, but a pastor who claims the Bible is not God’s word is certainly fixated on removing Christ as the foundation for our faith. Tragically, this kind of teaching has now seeped into many congregations.

These days, we’re seeing many new pastors, learned men and women (don’t get me stated on women pastors) who’ve come out of seminaries completely void of any real essence of God’s truth. They then proceed to fill the pulpits of our churches and the messages they deliver week in and week out are nothing more than tripe if they believe not in the inerrancy of the scriptures. Hence the figure of 70% of pew sitters who lack any real conversion experience (by the way, in case you’re wondering, that 70% figure comes from the Barna Research Group).

The whole concept of dumbing down the Church by disparaging the inerrant word of God is fully, unmistakably satanic, and it started way back when Satan had his first conversation with Eve, “…Yea, hath God said…” Genesis 3:1. That little piece of satanic rubbish caused Eve to doubt God’s  word and from then on it’s been all downhill (spiritually speaking) for humankind. But not for Satan; he and his demonic hoards must be quite satisfied with their more current achievements. By infiltrating the minds of the professors in the seminaries and Christian collages, who in turn teach the classes and corrupt the vast majority of students with those old antiquated but effectual lies, Satan and his minions of evil have reached new heights in their attempts at destroying the truth of God’s word. These newly initiated followers of Satan are now intent on disseminating their new god’s doctrine instead of the One true God’s inerrant word. 

If people would simply grasp the fact that there are two opposing supernatural forces involved in the lives of every human being on planet earth, one benevolent and the other malevolent, and understand that one is diametrically opposed to the other, there would be many more followers of Christ on planet earth.

Mankind, for the most part, knows there’s a very basic concept, a completely recognizable aspect of life which permeates our very existence. It’s the basic premise of good against evil. What most don’t realize is that this “good vs. evil” concept is supernatural, and the malevolent side focuses their attacks on creating the most deadly of consequences. These two opposing forces waging continual inter-dimensional war are fighting for one purpose and that is for the sole ownership of human souls.

It’s true; these two opposing forces are stuck in a battle which pits supernatural beings against one another. And even though that battle rages on in another dimension, much of the residual from this war ends up in our human dimension in the form of lies, deceit, hatred; the list goes on and on. The number one way this fight effects humanity is that the malevolent forces are constantly bombarding us with their lies. Their darkest agenda is to disrupt, disparage, confuse, corrupt, and ultimately destroy the truth of its opponent, the benevolent ones. Which means the truthfulness of the Bible will be continually attacked. Sadly, many people grasp the enemy’s lies as truth and they become so blinded by these lies that they become adamant in their quest to do the enemy’s biding by re-distributing those lies to others.

The Bible is not only a faithful representation of God’s precepts for the instruction of His children, but it is also a historical document used by many to learn of humanity’s past. The Smithsonian Institute of History, for example, uses the Holy Bible to reference people and places of antiquity. Even though the people the Bible focuses on are the Jews, archeologists have used the Bible for years in their research to determine the placement of cities, buildings, as well as lost civilizations other than the Israelites. God’s word has been an invaluable tool even for the secular segments of our society.

For the believer in Christ there can be no doubting the Holy Bible is the inerrant word of God. That fact alone should say something about those who stand behind the pulpits of the Christian Churches and claim the Bible to be nothing more than man’s great ability at writing fiction.

We can’t look at God’s word and call it false and then with a straight face claim to be born again. Calling God a liar is certainly not a term of endearment. Going about the routine of pastoring a Christian Church while placing doubt in the very word that is to be proclaimed from the pulpit, has and will continue to lead those congregations into unbelief. Certainly, pastors who teach the Bible to be fallible man’s own creation will only add to keeping a Church of lost folks lost. That 70% figure will undoubtedly increase exponentially if this type of teaching continues. “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Matthew 7:13-15.

Jesus refers to those who lead others astray as ravening wolves. “Ravening” signifies rapacious in the Greek. Pastors, or Church leaders for that matter, who would rather believe Satan over God when it comes to the inerrancy of scriptures are rapacious in their determination to lead their flocks away from God. Jesus is applying a metaphor by using the word “wolves” in this context as He describes cruel, greedy, rapacious, destructive men and women intent on leading their flocks astray.

If the majority of folks occupying Church pews these days are indeed unsaved sinners, then it becomes even more understandable as to how and why the great apostasy will occur in the end times. Jesus tells us the path that leads to destruction is very wide and many will follow that destructive path. If a pastor doesn’t believe the Bible he’s not going to preach on salvation through Jesus Christ, and Him alone. He’ll undoubtedly preach on all the different roads that lead to Heaven to placate all the diversity in the pews even though, in truth, he’ll be leading them to Hell.

There are, of course, many ways to authenticate the Bible as being the inerrant word of God, but there’s one truth that always comes screaming back to me at times like these. It’s the following verse in which the Apostle Paul tell us “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14. There are a lot of natural men and women out there pretending to be faithful shepherds of their assigned flocks.

If we don’t believe the Bible then we are no different than the natural man spoken of by Paul. As a matter of fact, we are just as lost and condemned as that natural man. For those of you whose pastor teaches as the pastor spoken of earlier, with regards to the Bible, then my suggestion to you is the same as the statement made by the two radio hosts I wrote about at the beginning of this commentary, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

God bless you all,

Ron Graham

twotug@embarqmail.com

All scripture is from the KJV

 

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