Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Monday, April 27, 2015
Monday, April 20, 2015
What Does the Scripture Say? Rev.M.D.Rogers
Often times, in my Christian walk, I will hear people say things like "Smoking/drinking a glass of wine/dancing/ (insert activity here that somebody doesn't like) is a sin". My response to them is usually something along the lines of "Show me where Scripture says that", or "Did God really say that?". After the initial hemming and hawing, I'll get the usual vague NT verses about "not all things are profitable" and "don't make your brother stumble", etc., which clearly are not a condemnation of a certain activity as "sin", but rather admonitions to treat others in a Christlike manner.As I get confronted with these issues and the Biblical ignorance they stem from, I find myself asking this question: why is it that Christians will get so bent out of shape over things God never said was a sin, ie, dancing (which is actually encouraged in Scripture), certain musical styles (musical notes have no morals, they are a tool like a hammer or a rake), or having a glass of wine with dinner (*psst* Jesus drank wine, it can't be a sin); yet, somehow, when confronted with crystal clear Scriptural commandments from God Himself (ie, the Sabbath, eating pigs), these same Christians will fall all over themselves to tell you how that's not really what it means, or that was just for someone else to obey, or that God changed His mind, or some bizarre combination of those excuses? This baffles my mind, and quite frankly, I find it utterly laughable. That's the lie of the serpent all over again. "Oh, God didn't really mean that we should not work on Saturday. He randomly changed His mind about the day He made holy from Creation for some nonsensical reason."
Christianity truly has become Pharisaical in nature. The very attitude that Jesus condemned in Scripture is alive and well among many of those who claim to follow the Messiah. Mark 7:6-8 says, "He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ` This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me, and in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men'. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men —the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.".
Folks, did you know that only God Himself has the authority to give a commandment? There is a reason that all of the writers of Scripture don't make up their own commandments! Every single time a commandment is uttered in either the Old or New Testaments, it is a DIRECT QUOTE from something that God already said. Paul gives no new commandments, Peter gives no new commandments, the prophets give no new commandments; all of their writings are purely commentary and exposition to certain people (and us by extension) about things that God already said (or is currently saying, in the case of the prophets). Therefore, unless you can show me where Yahweh Himself says "don't do X", I will be forced to conclude that it cannot possibly be a sin.
I hate to break it to everyone, but 99% of the stupid things we argue about as believers have nothing to do with what Scripture actually says.
Friday, April 17, 2015
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Judge Not?-Rev.M.D.Rogers
"Judge not, that ye
be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shallbe judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest
not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother: "Let
me pull out the mote out of thine eye"; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou
see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." ( Matt 7:1-5 )
What the Lord is saying here, to my understanding, is that we should not point out small flaws in our brothers, while we are deeply involved in bigger and deeper flaws ourselves. What the Lord means is that we must not judge unjustly, nor give ourselves the right to say if an illness or suffering is a punishment or simply an accident of life, neither if a person is going to go to hell nor going to be saved.
Based on the integral teaching of the Bible, I do not believe Our Lord is telling us that we must not use our common sense and discernment to get an idea about the behavior and attitudes of other people. Instead, I think that he is exhorting us not to unjustly apply rules to other people, because what we do to others we could have done unto us.
This is the interpretation that can be drawn from phrases like "…with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged " and "…considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye "
If we read a little further in verses 15-20 we see that Jesus himself exhorts us to judge who is a false prophet. If this is what the Lord says after having said "Judge not, that ye be not judged ", it is evident that he is not trying to paralyze our adequate discernment.
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits.
Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree
bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good
tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good
fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into
the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." ( Matt 7: 15-20 )
It is evident that the Lord is telling us to try to distinguish between who is a false prophet and who is not. To get to such a conclusion it is necessary for us to judge. We have to judge who is a good tree; we have to judge who is a bad tree; we have to judge what are good fruits. Therefore, it is not that kind of judgment that the Lord is forbidding us.
Should Matthew 7:1-5 be a total prohibition of judging anything or anyone, this would cause us to have a mental paralysis. If we see a bully beating a little old lady to death with a club, we could not say that he is a scoundrel, because we would be judging this person.
If this really was Jesus' command then, even the pastoral institution could not exist, because telling someone to believe in Christ in order to be saved means that the pastor judged that he is not saved. The job of a pastor implies to watch out for the souls, and tell them when they are sinning; and this action involves judging. If the pastor and deacons see a member doing something that is out of order, they could not dare to tell him anything, because he would reply: "do not judge that you be not judged". Jesus did not put pastors in a position where they would be constantly afraid of committing this farfetched "sin of judging". Also, when a Christian preaches the gospel to a person, this Christian must be "judging", because he is thinking that the person is not saved, and therefore, he is committing the bizarre "sin of judging". Jesus did not put Christians on the verge of sinning by means of "judging" that a person is not saved. To think that is wrong. That interpretation is ludicrous.
Even the first Christians did not have this attitude of "not judging any thing". We can see this in Acts 16:15 where Lydia compelled Paul to judge her. Also, in I Co 2:15, where Paul himself says that a spiritual man judges all things. Or, in I Co 5: 3, where Paul says that he judges, and with a judgment of punishment. Again, in I Co 5: 12-13, where we can see how Christians judged other Christians. Or, in I Co 6:1, where we see that saints did judge, and not only that, but in verse 4 it says that it was the duty of Christians to judge their brethren. We see the same thing in I Co 10:15 and 11:13 where Paul asked the brethren to judge what he was saying. And finally we have I Co 14: 29, where it is evident that the brethren should judge what the prophets say during church services.
As we can see, our first brethren, who were closer to the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, did not have that extremist attitude of not judging. Those who hold fast to this erroneous interpretation have one of two reasons: 1) They do not fully understand this teaching of Jesus, or 2) They do not want anybody to rebuke them for their sins in or out of the church.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
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