One of the greatest gifts that God gave mankind was the
Holy Bible because the Bible is literally God revealing Himself and
communicating Himself to mankind in written word. Anything and everything that
we know about God comes from these Holy Scriptures, and they contain the
totality of what we need to know about becoming a Christian, and everything
that we need to know about living the Christian life.
Orthodox Christianity teaches that the Bible was inspired
and authored by the Holy Spirit of God using human instruments. It also
believes that in its original languages of Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic; it is
without error and fault.
However, there are many things that Jesus-following,
church-going, Bible-believing Christians believe that are completely
unbiblical. How does this happen? Often, we’ll hear someone quote a statement
that sounds nice to us, and we’ll begin repeating it as though it’s biblical truth
without ever researching it in the Scriptures. Several of these unbiblical
statements have gained enough traction that many people believe they’re
actually Bible verses. Not only are the statements unbiblical; most of them
teach the opposite of what the Bible teaches.
Here is a list of nine popular unbiblical statements that
Bible-loving Christians tend to believe:
1. God helps those who help themselves.
This statement is actually anti-Gospel. Self-reliance and
self-righteousness, or the attitude of trying harder and doing better, actually
gets in the way of the work of God. Jesus saves those who die to themselves:
“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).
2. God wants me to be happy.
It’s a common belief that God exists to be our “personal
genie,” waiting to give us our every wish. It’s amazing how we will justify our
sinful actions by saying, “God just wants me to be happy.” Happiness is tied to
feelings and emotions that are often based on circumstances, and those change
all the time. God wants us to be obedient to Him, trust Him and know that
everything He does is for our good, even if it doesn’t make me feel “happy” in
that moment. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together
for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
3. We’re all God’s children.
Although God has created everyone … not everyone
relationally belongs to Him. Only those who have repented of sin, placed their
faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and possess the Holy Spirit of
God inside of them can claim Him as their Father: “But you have received the
Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears
witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:15b–16).
However, those who don’t have Jesus as their Savior, nor
have the Holy Spirit of God inside of them, actually belong to Satan: “And you
were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the
course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:1 – 2). “By this
it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the
devil: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one
who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:10).
4. Cleanliness is next to godliness.
The people around you may appreciate you staying clean, but
this is not Scripture. Parents may use this unbiblical statement to motivate
their kids to clean their rooms. However, I’d suggest using an actual biblical
statement: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in
the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).
5. God won’t give you more than you can handle.
Actually, all of life is more than we can handle. The point
of living in a fallen world is not for us to try really hard to carry our heavy
burden, but rather give-up, quit and surrender to God, that’s what faith is all
about. Everything is more than I can handle, but not more than Jesus can
handle: “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we
experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that
we despaired of life itself” (2 Corinthians 1:8). “Come to me, all who labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
6. We all worship the same God.
Yes, there is only one true and living God: “Know therefore
today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on
the earth beneath; there is no other” (Deuteronomy 4:39). However, He only
accepts worship that comes through Jesus Christ, not Muhammad, Buddha, Joseph
Smith, etc: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name
under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
7. Bad things happen to good people.
Often we place ourselves in the judgment seat of what is
good and bad, or who is good and bad. The most popular way to make that
judgment is by comparison. For example, Bob is a good guy, because he is not as
bad as Sam. However, according to the Bible, we’re all on equal ground because
none of us is inherently good: “As it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not
one’” (Romans 3:10).
8. When you die, God gains another angel.
Plain and simple. Humans are humans, and angels are angels.
This remains so even in eternity. In fact, angels are intrigued by the
interaction between God and His “image-bearing” humans: “It was revealed to
them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now
been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the
Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look” (1 Peter
1:12).
9. We’re all going to the same place when we
die.
There are two possible destinations when we pass: Heaven
and Hell. However, only those who are in Christ will be with Him for all eternity
when they physically die: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and
the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6).
The fact that many of us Christians believe these
unbiblical statements shows our unfortunate overall biblical illiteracy.
Instead of swallowing popular statements hook-line-and-sinker, may we be like
the Bereans in the Book of Acts. When they heard Paul preach, they wanted to
research the Scriptures themselves to authenticate what he was saying: “The brothers
immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived,
they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those
in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the
Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:10 – 11).
What are some more unbiblical statements that you’ve heard
Christians commonly use?
Source:
Shane serves as the Director of Evangelism for the Southern
Baptists of Texas Convention. He and his wife, Kasi, reside in Rockwall, TX
with their five children – Raygen, Harper, Titus, Elliot, & Glory. He has
been in ministry for over 15 years as a church planter, lead pastor, associate
pastor, and student pastor. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biblical Studies, a
Master’s Degree in History, and a PhD in Clinical Christian Counseling.
No comments:
Post a Comment