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Is there a difference between knowing Jesus and His Word and knowing the Bible or the theology/doctrines of your church?
Jesus said to the church leaders of His day,
You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me (John 5:39 NKJV).
Did these religious leaders struggle because they neglected studying the Bible, choosing instead to spend their time on novels, video games, or television?
Indeed, if they were not only faithful Bible students but also faithful church attenders and tithe payers, then what was their problem?
Is it possible today that there are people who faithfully read the Bible, diligently search the Scriptures, are faithful church attenders and tithe payers—but who fail to know Jesus and His Word?
Jesus said it would be this way:
Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:21–23 NIV84, emphasis mine).
How is this possible? How is it possible for people to be faithful students of the Bible, claim Jesus as their Savior, work actively and faithfully in ministry—and yet be evildoers?
Because their faith, their belief, their commitment, and their Bible reading are processed through lies; they have rejected the truth of who Jesus is and have preferred a false Christ in His place. They reject the truth of God as Creator and prefer a god who is like them in character, a god who makes up rules and uses power to punish rule-breakers. Thus, they worship a creature rather than the Creator, all the while using the words of Jesus but practicing the methods of Satan.
These evildoers, claiming to be followers of Jesus, don’t actually understand, embrace, and apply the methods of God, the Word of God, despite studying the Bible—why? They don’t understand what the Word of God is.
The Meaning of the Word
Is the “Word of God” words?
Is there power in the words?
Do we need to have the right words in order to experience the power of God or to know Him?
Do we need to pray with the right words, in the name of Jesus (or maybe even “Joshua” or “Yeshua”)?
If we think the power is in the words, do we enter into superstition, into witchcraft and sorcery, seeking the right verbal incantation rather than the right spirit?
Is the power of God in the words spoken—or in the meaning of the words?
The apostle Paul wrote,
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Romans 1:16 NIV84).
Was he referring to the word “gospel”—that there is power in the word itself or in the idea, the truth, the meaning of what that word “gospel” is intended to convey?
And what if we use the word “gospel” but understand it to mean something other than what Paul intended—does our gospel still contain the power of God?
When we consider the Bible, understanding that it is the inspired Word of God, is the power in the words it contains or is it in the truths, the meaning, that originate in and reconnect us to God, who is the source of all truth and power?
Satan knows that if we are reconciled to God, if we do open our hearts to God’s truth, his lies are displaced and we are won back to trust and experience the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Thus, Satan, the father of lies, the master of misinformation, the director of deceit, seeks to use the same words of God but change their meaning and, thereby, introduce lies into our minds that cut us off from God.
This is what sorcery is all about. Sorcerers are people who work to gain power over people’s minds through a variety of means, but the goal is the same: to sever hearts and minds from God and gain power over minds. In ancient times, sorcerers used various hallucinogens, the proverbial witch’s brew, to make people more susceptible to mind control. In our day, mind-altering chemicals can be used, but more often, mind control is pursued through propaganda, which includes changing the meaning of words to cause confusion and interfere with people being able to tell what is real from fantasy in order to prevent them from being able to discern truth from lies, good from evil. (For more see our blog The Attack on Your Mind by Modern-Day Sorcerers).
The Bible is our source of truth given by God to both lead us into truth and protect us from deception. Thus, it is important for us to know how to benefit from the Bible so that we won’t be like those Bible students whom Jesus called evildoers.
Are the words of the Bible inspired? Or were the prophets who wrote the Bible inspired with truth and then they chose the words to convey those truths? If it is the latter, then the power is not in the words but in the ideas, the meaning, the truths contained in the Bible.
Do we recognize that words are not reality? Instead, they are symbols of reality used to communicate and convey concepts—and the concepts that words convey may be true or false. Thus, again, the power is not in the words but in the truth being conveyed.
For instance, when you see the letters T, R, E, and E formed into the word “tree,” you are not seeing a plant, a tree; you are seeing a symbolic representation of a tree. You cannot get life-sustaining nutrition by reading the words apples, walnuts, and avocados. The words are not reality and do not provide any life-giving power. In order to gain the energy, nutrition, and life from the food, one must actually eat it, taking the food into their body.
Likewise, the words truth, love, righteousness, God, and Jesus do not contain any life-giving power; they are symbolic representations of reality—and in order to benefit, one must actually partake of the reality to which those words are representing.
Imagine the physical starvation, suffering, and death that you could cause if you got people to believe that health came from getting together to read about food and sing songs about food but the people don’t actually eat food. Or, if they believe they must eat something, you get them to replace real fruit with wax fruit.
This was the problem with the Jews in Christ’s day! They read the words of Scripture but did not understand the meaning. They replaced the true meaning with falsehoods and, thereby, internalized into their minds and hearts the words of Scripture but none of its power because they took in lies; the words had their meaning replaced with untruths.
This has happened in Christianity whenever Christians have replaced the truth of God’s law being design law with the lie that God’s law functions like human law. We read the words of Scripture but fail to understand the truth those words are intended to convey, and we end up with a form of godliness without power. We can experience the power of God only by returning to the truth, internalizing the true meaning of the words—the truth really does set us free (John 8:32).
Real Power and Truth
Understanding all of this, we realize that there is no power in syllables or words, but in the truth, in the meaning those words convey. This is why it is not only okay but necessary to replace Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew words with English, German, French, and other language words if we want to empower all people with the Word of God—just as long as one brings the most accurate meaning across in the translation. It is the truth that is inspired by God and which contains the power, not the words.
So, what is the Word of God? First and foremost, it is Jesus—Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:1, 14)—it is the truth that originates and emanates from God. And the Bible contains divine truth. These divinely inspired truths were revealed to the Bible writers, and the writers then chose the words and expressions to convey the truths. If we want to know the Word of God, we must go beyond the syllables to find the divine truths, the true meaning contained within the writings, within the stories and events recorded.
And to do that, we must incorporate and integrate all the truth God reveals to us, what Come and Reason calls the Integrative Evidence-based Approach, which seeks to harmonize all the evidentiary threads God has given us. God reveals truth in Scripture, so we must always include Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16).
But the Scripture also teaches that God reveals truth in two other threads, two other modes, means, or places—which are reality-based, and, thus, call our minds to understand the reality behind the words:
Science and nature are the second thread of evidence—as Paul wrote:
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse (Romans 1:20 NIV84).
God, the Creator, wrote His design laws that govern the operations of reality into the cosmos. This planet and all life are built upon these design laws of God. As the psalmist wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1 NIV84).
If we want to know reality-based truth, our understanding of Scripture must harmonize with the laws God built life to exist and operate upon.
And the third thread of evidence God has provided is our experience. God has invited us, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8 NIV84).
We are not to merely hear the words of Scripture or comprehend the laws of nature; we are to experience truth, partake of it, and experience the blessings, the presence of God, the peace, health, and happiness that always result from harmony with God and His living law of love.
Our understanding of reality must harmonize truth, the truth of Scripture, with the truth of the laws built into the fabric of the cosmos and sustained by our Creator, and we must experience the truth of how reality actually works in our own life.
The problem for the “evildoers” is that they embrace the Scripture but do not embrace truth and, instead, divorce the Scripture from objective reality, from God’s design laws and how life works and, thus, the Bible is read in a fantastical light, through the light of Roman law, human law, imposed law, imperialism, and the many doctrines teach a false punishing god who is like Satan in character.
Our message is a call for people to leave the imperial/dictator god systems of belief and return to worshiping our Creator, the God who built and sustains reality, whose laws are the protocols reality operates upon, and to know that truth by experience, to know Jesus the living Word, the reality of who He is, His methods, designs, and living law. Our God is real, and His Word is reality itself!
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