Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Holy Scriptures?

     


     Just started studying the book of Romans this month. There is so much truth in this first chapter and a lot I could talk about. But in my discussions with others at work and on-line, I have seen that many people, especially Christians, don't believe the Bible to be holy.


  • Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures (Romans 1:1-2)
     The Merriam-Webster defines holy as: exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness; Devine; devoted entirely to the deity or the work of the deityhaving a divine quality.

     Holy.

     Is this how we see the Scriptures? Many religions that are in the Christian fold have over time, picked apart the Holy Scriptures to such a degree that you can hardly, if at all, call them Christian. They hollow out the Holy Scriptures for their own purposes and all that is left is a hollow shell of the Bible filled with customs, rites, culture, new doctrine and religiosity. 

    In my study I went through and looked at what the Bible says:

  • for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21)
  •  in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began (Titus 1:2)
  • For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. (1 Thessalonians 2:13)
  • having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever (1 Peter 1:23)
  • All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
  • as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. (2 Peter 3:16)
     In 2 Timothy I learned that ALL Scripture is inspired, or "God Breathed." In 2 Peter I see that men were moved by the Holy Spirit and that it applies to New Testament writings. That is how I need to treat the Bible, as the word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit. When that is taken away we are left with a god put into human terms and desires. A god that is not God anymore. 

2 comments:

  1. I just wanted you to know that I saw your comment on the BioLogos page (those people need prayer) and I clicked the link and it brought me to this page. I was really blessed today with the idea that God's Word is holy and perfect. So simple, yet so profound. I guess in some ways I had allowed a tiny bit of doubt about the preservation of His Word to creep in to the back of my mind. Why read the Bible at all if it's flawed? I could read a book by MacArthur once and be blessed by it. But then every time I go back to it, while it does have some value, it's not something that is soul-transforming. That's how I was starting to see the Scriptures, at times. Been there, read that. But if I see it as a holy and perfect Book, then I want to read it more and more. This is exactly what I needed. Thanks. I hope you continue with your blog.

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  2. And I just started my own blog at OilBelievers.com, which will deal with some Christian issues, and I hope you will leave a comment for me! I am new to this blogging thing and still figuring it out.

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