Introduction
I am an Evangelical Christian.
I believe that the Bible alone is the definitive and authoritative source for teaching the precepts and practices of the Christian life. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
So, what I will be writing in this series will be from that perspective.
I realize that many of my writing friends and newsletter readers do not hold the same theological beliefs that I do and I will truly endeavor to be respectful.
At the same time, I do not desire to be silent concerning my own beliefs and experiences.
As mature writers, I think it is important that we learn to articulate what makes us who we are and why we believe what we believe.
I believe that no matter what variation of fiction or non-fiction genres a writer focuses on, the story is ultimately about themselves.
I am no different. This is Life UnCorked after all, right?
Having grown up in a very tradition-oriented liturgical version of Christianity which seemed to elevate the process of worship over the object of that worship, my deeper spiritual questions never seemed to be satisfied.
Eventually, I turned to New Age teaching. Yet again, I was left unsatisfied and confused.
It wasn’t until encountering a series of personal circumstances in my life (God’s providence?) which led me to begin reading and studying the Bible on my own, that I found the answers I was searching for…
You can read the story of my quest for Truth and the surprisingly simple place I found it, in my short Memoir, Coming Home: A Sailor’s Story.
I do not claim to be a “Bible Scholar”, but having experience in both liturgical and non-liturgical churches as well as non-church-oriented religion has given me somewhat of a basis for comparative perspective and discussion.
I am closing in on 43 years in my walk with Christ.
What I have learned is to trust God.
God alone is good (Luke 18:19).
He speaks authoritatively, yet plainly (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
He is not the author of confusion (1Corinthians 14:33)
God is not some cruel master who makes us go through endless spiritual rituals and exercises, never knowing whether we have “done enough” to make the cut.
He has clearly provided a (the) way of salvation (Galatians 2:8-9). He says that we can be secure in the knowledge that we are eternally saved (1 John 2:25; 5:11, 13). We can have unfettered direct access to God (Hebrews 10:19) because of the shed blood of Jesus.
Sadly, men have developed whole systems and hierarchies of religion (and the myriad offshoots) out of the plain and simple teaching of Scripture.
For what purpose? Power, control, self-glorification, gaining favor with God (you can fill in the blank)?
Sadly, this “disease” of religion can be found across the spectrum of denominations. Even those who refer to themselves as “independent” (sometimes the worst of the lot in their smugness).
It is this that I refer to as “Spiritual Cancer”.
Next time, I will go a little deeper into the “Cancer” analogy before getting into more specific topics.
Comments and discussion are welcomed. Please be respectful.
Cork
Cork, I was "saved" long ago but this is the first time in my life that I have really sought to grow in the Spirit and invest in my Christian maturation. This year I traded happy hours for Bible Studies and have been richly rewarded, spiritually. I enjoyed this post and look forward to your future posts on this subject.
Thanks Cork
Looking forward to your perspective on this subject.
You wrote "Sadly, men have developed whole systems and hierarchies of religion (and the myriad offshoots) out of the plain and simple teaching of Scripture.
For what purpose? Power, control, self-glorification, gaining favor with God (you can fill in the blank)"
I think the Bible says a lot about the purpose of why people pervert the scriptures.
We should not be surprised by this multitude of different views on the scriptures, as the word of God is full of warnings about false teachers that will try to deceive you: "Take care that no man deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying I am Christ, and will deceive many." (Matt 24:4-5)
Many false preachers will come in the Name of Christ- claiming that Jesus is the Christ, and many people will be deceived by them!
Jesus is warning us very clearly.
Yet, how is it possible that those who preach Christ will actually deceive people?
Simple, they use the name of God to claim to be good, and then ask you for money to preach Jesus; yet in fact they are using it for their own profit, and not to promote God’s way of mercy and love.
"But there were false prophets (teachers) among the people (in ancient Israel), as there will be false teachers among you, (within Christian groups) who will secretly (surreptitiously) put forward wrong teachings for your destruction, (how many different churches are there?) even turning (you) away from the Lord who gave himself for you; whose destruction (the false teachers’ destruction) will come quickly, and they themselves will be the cause of it (their own destruction). And a great number (of Christians) will go with (support) them in their evil ways, through whom the true way (of following Christ) will be evil spoken of. And in their desire for profit they will come to you with words of deceit, like traders doing business in souls (they will corrupt your souls for their profit!) whose punishment has been ready for a long time and their destruction is watching for them. (2Peter 2:1-3 BBE version)
These liars will try to make a profit from you, but God will eventually punish and destroy them.
In the meantime, we need to be careful of their actions. The various translations of the first part of verse 3 is brings home their true motivations:
• They will be greedy and cheat you with smooth talk. (CEV)
• And by covetousness, with well-turned words, they will use you for gain, (LITV)
• And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. (ESV)
• Thirsting for riches, they will trade on you with their canting talk. (WNT)
• In their greed these false teachers will make a profit out of telling you made-up stories. (GNB)
• In their greed they will use good-sounding arguments to exploit you. (GW)
• And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you. (KJV)
• In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. (ISV)
We need wisdom to discern who are the teachers of truth, and who are feathering their own nests- or we may pay for it with our money and time. But more importantly those people who follow these false teachers, will be so deceived that they will think they are doing God’s will in killing righteous people! (John 16:2-3)
Prior to Christ’s return we are told that a great false teacher, called the False Prophet, will lead many to worship God in vain, such that they will murder true followers of God. (Rev 6:9-11)
We therefore need to choose very carefully whom we listen to, and what teachers we follow. Don’t believe men, believe what is in the Bible, and trust in the Lord to help you to understand his word. (Prov 3:5)