Is All Scripture God-Breathed?

I am always amused when I hear people say things like, "I don't believe in Christian perfection," or, "We just cannot live a holy life." Doesn't the Bible tell us to do these things?

"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14)."

Jesus said, "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48)."

So what does it really mean when someone says that they do not believe in holiness, or Christian perfection? Since the Bible says that we should be perfect and holy it must mean that we do not believe what the Bible says. Even those who claim to respect the authority of the Bible will claim not to believe something that is clearly taught there.

Since the Bible is "God-breathed" or "inspired" by God I'm not so sure that any of us are in a position to decide which of its teachings we should or should not believe. Here's my suggestion, and the point of this blog. Rather than just ignoring something that is clear in Scripture, why don't we find a way to define it that makes sense in light of all Scripture? Wouldn't that make more sense than ignoring it and acting like it doesn't exist?

How do you define holiness and perfection? How should we define them? Do you suppose that if we define them the way that God intend that they will make sense? I would suggest that definition and diligent study is a far better practice than willful ignorance.

Is Sin Really So Bad?

Over the past few weeks I have taken notice of a lot of the sin around me. I've been watching as I see people (even within the church) live as though there is no such thing as sin. Worse yet, they live as though there is no consequence for sin. The Bible tells us, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, AND DEATH THROUGH SIN, and thus death spread to all men..." (Romans 5:12) The consequence of sin is death. Spiritual death. Separation from God. Could God have given us any more clarity on the issue through His Word? Over and over throughout the inspired word we read that SIN IS BAD! Yet we act like sin is alright.

The divorce rate among the church is as high as that of the world. Despite what some of us seem to think, the Bible does indeed teach us that divorce is not the will of God. We expect it from sinners, but it happens among professing Christians, and even in some instances clergy. Professing Christians are just as guilty of fornication, and gossip and other sins as anyone else. Notice that I said "professing Christians" and not Christians.

In spite of our ignorance (often willful ignorance) of God's Word, it still teaches that we are to live above these things. "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be DONE AWAY WITH, that we should no longer be slaves of sin." (Romans 6:6)

The point is this. The Spirit of God does not dwell in darkness. Too often those who claim to be the church dwell in darkness. We condone it by teaching that "we're all sinners." When we do that, we're condoning something that brings death. When we condone it within the church we're bringing death to the body of Christ. There are thousands of people who claim to be Christians who will not give up their sin. They still want to continue to look at pornography, they want to drink, or gossip, or control a church that is God's. They want to live like the world. You cannot be a worldly Christian. Those terms are mutually exclusive. If we are ever going to see revival in the church it will be because we have become serious about seeking holiness "without which NO ONE WILL SEE THE LORD." (Hebrews 12:14)

Fellowship With God

God desires fellowship with you. The book of Genesis tells us that God walked in the garden of Eden in the cool of the day. He lived in harmony and fellowship with Adam and Eve, and all of His creation. God commanded Moses to build a tabernacle in the wilderness so that He could dwell in the midst of His people. A temple was erected in Jerusalem, again, so He could live with the people. Even in our day God desires this fellowship. He wants to live in the midst of His people. He wants a relationship with each and every one of us, but (this is the important part) He will not compromise His holiness in the name of fellowship.

We like to talk about our relationship with God, and our fellowship with Him, but so many times we act like He steps down into the gutters where we live to have that relationship. God does not take a step down to have fellowship with us. He restores us to the image in which man was created. "And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man (1 Cor. 15:49)."

We can indeed live in fellowship with God in this live, but we MUST REMEMBER that in order to do that we must grow and mature spiritually. We must allow God to make us something better than the fallen men that we once were. The Bible teaches that God draws men to Himself. Even when "He became flesh and dwelt among us" He was drawing us to Himself. It does not teach that He comes to us and changes His attitude toward our sin in the name of fellowship. He desires fellowship, but the change must occur within us. Why did God's fellowship with the Jews of the Old Testament cease at times? Not because He didn't want the relationship, but because THEY did not rise up to meet Him in holiness. They did not allow Him to make them something better than they were before.

The Season of Lent

I was in a restaurant the other day and heard one of the women sitting at the booth behind me ask the other what she is giving up for lent. Prior to that I had not been listening to their conversation, but that caught my attention. Every year at this time we see people with ashes on their foreheads struggling to decide what they can give up for a season to show their allegiance to God. What are you giving up this year?

Many web sites of congregations that observe lent say something like this: "No one knows for sure where lent started, or why it was originally observed." You can check for yourself if you don't believe me. Every year people are fired up about giving up something that will show God they are worthy. First of all, we are not worthy regardless of what we go without for a few short weeks. Second, I've searched the scriptures and have yet to find anything to support giving up your favorite tv show for a couple of weeks to show God you care.

Despite the lack of biblical support for lent, I can find the call in the New Testament to make a sacrifice, but it is not simply for a month. GIVE UP SIN FOREVER! Jesus told those that He healed, "Go and sin no more." Paul asked the question, "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" He emphatically answered the question, "God forbid!" The Bible tells us "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts (Gal. 5:24)." Throughout the New Testament the call rings out for us to stop living in sin. As we approach the season in which we commemorate the death and resurrection of Christ, I encourage you to forget about this idea of giving something for lent and give up one thing forever. Sin.

Rebellion

In 1787, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "I hold that a little rebellion from time to time is a good thing." I hereby resolve to rebel against the following:

-The idea that "we're all sinners" and that we "sin every day." ("Go and sin no more" teaches us that this is wrong)

-The belief that "holiness teaching is not practical." (The Bible says without holiness no one will see the Lord)

-The belief that holiness is not one of the "essentials" of Bible doctrine ("Be holy for I am holy" is pretty clear)

-The idea that preaching and teaching the Bible "should not be the top priority" for pastors. ("How shall they hear without a preacher?" Romans 10:14)

-The belief that "people don't really want to hear doctrine." (I no longer care what they want. I want ice cream for breakfast every day, but it's not what I need)

From this point on, I will no longer allow these statements to be made without questioning them. I will not ignore them and move on. I will not use the excuse "we'll never agree on everything." I find that most of the people who use that excuse really don't even try. On this day, I resolve to rebel against the emerging, unbiblical, unholy, ungodly, beast-riding harlot that is taking the place of the church in our day. I hope you will join me.

Biblical Standards

The Bible speaks 76 times in the King James Version of "abominations." These are things that profane the holiness of God and His people. Malachi 3:11 says, "Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah has profaned the Lord's holy institution which He loves: he has married the daughter of a foreign god (NKJV)." Jesus told the Pharisees, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God (Luke 16:15)."

Here we have Old and New Testament accounts of abominations in the sight of God, or things that defile His people who are supposed to be set apart. If the Bible speaks about things that defile God's people, why are we so quick to discount the fact that there are things in which God does not want us to take part? I agree that the Old Testament laws are shadows of New Testament truths. I'm not saying that we shouldn't eat pork, in fact, the New Testament says that we can. But it seems like every time a conversation about things that Christians should not do some simply says, "Don't be legalistic."

There was a day where holiness teaching was far too often legalistic, but I have some news for those who live in this day: that time has passed. I'm not promoting wearing your hair in a bun, or skirts that go to the floor. What I am promoting is that the Bible does certainly teach that there are things that Christians should not do. Why can't we have that conversation? As I read the web sites and blogs of the emergent church, I see over and over again criticism of any kind of standard that comes from Scripture. Christians have come to a point in our day where we don't want to tolerate anything that tells us how to act. I wonder if that has something to do with the state of the church today. Can we get on track without admitting that there are certainly something things that the Bible says Christians should not do?

"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God(1 Corinthians 6:9, 10)."

It's funny, we have made a lot of gray area in these commands, but they seem pretty clear.

Are the Narrow Minded Always Wrong?

I sometimes wonder what we really mean when we say that something is "too narrow," or that someone is "narrow-minded." I've been accused on more than one occasion of being this way. I don't try to be, but there are some things that Scripture teaches very clearly, and on those things I will not bend unless I am shown truth beyond what God's Holy Spirit has already revealed to me.

It seems like we put a lot of emphasis on being "open minded" within the church today. We've got liberal Christians telling those who are conservative that they're "narrow" and the emergent church movement telling everyone that they're "too narrow" among other things. Now I understand that there are people who are more narrow than the truth, and that is certainly not a good thing. But if the Bible is the inspired Word of God and is authoritative in our lives, then should we really be more "broad" in our beliefs than the Bible?

This, again, comes back to convictions. After some conversations that I have had over the past couple of weeks, I wonder if we just use "narrow-minded" as a derogatory title for those who have firm convictions. I'm not trying to say that we all need to be as narrow as we can be, but maybe it wouldn't hurt us to learn to bend a little bit less on firm convictions that come from God's Witnesses, His Word and Spirit. This does not mean that we shouldn't be open to new truth, but it's time that the church (especially the holiness movements) stand firm in their convictions. There are people that can move from holiness churches to Calvinist congregations and not even know the difference. Why are we so willing to bend on holiness? Is it not a clear command in Scripture? Regardless of what background you come from, it is an indisputable truth that the Bible says, "Be holy for I am holy" (Lev. 11:45 among others).

Maybe the problem within the Holiness Movement is that we are not "narrow-minded" enough. Maybe our lack of conviction (along with a desire for everyone to pastor a mega church) has allowed us to become more "broad" in our thinking than Scripture intended.