The misunderstanding of God and His word is a complex issue. God's nature in relation to the written word is where the misunderstanding starts. Most churches have a classical view of God that is based more on Greek philosophy that the actual scripture. It comes in two basic forms, Calvinism and Arminism. These take only a portion of scripture, interpret it, and ignore the rest. As a result the importance of the entire Biblical time line is missed.
The first area of misunderstanding in scripture is God's interaction with Israel.
| Exodus 32:9-14 And the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! 10 Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation. 11 Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said: Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, `He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and repent from this harm to Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever. 14 So the Lord repented from the harm which He said He would do to His people. |
What does a Calvinist do with this scripture? Clearly everything is not predetermined.
Second area of misunderstanding is the Four Gospels. Jesus preached His sermons to a Jewish Audience. The Old Covenant was still in effect. During his earthly ministry He taught Israel to keep the commandments of the Law. He made many statements concerning the Law.
Matthew 5:17-20 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 19:16-19 Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?"
So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."
He said to Him, "Which ones?"
Jesus said, "'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" |
These last couple of quotes from Jesus are very telling.
Mark 1:14-15 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."
Matthew 15:24 But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." |
Jesus preached the
gospel of the kingdom to Israel. It is important to remember that. Paul, on the other hand, preached the
gospel of grace to the Gentiles. Here are some examples of his preaching.
Romans 2:14-16 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.
Romans 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,
Romans 16:25-27 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith-- to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. |
These last two fly in the face of keeping the law.
Colossians 2:16-17 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
Galatians 4:10-11 You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain. |
Bottom line, keeping the law isn't for the Body of Christ.
God and his written Word are both poorly understood. The main area confusion, is that the Church tries to apply teaching to itself that was intended for Israel. Paul speaks out against this a number of times in his letters. There are even folks out there that will go so far the rip out half of the New Testament, cutting it off from Acts 9 onwards because they don't want to hear what Paul has to say. This stems from a misunderstanding of the biblical timeline. Israel gets rejected because they reject their Messiah. God turns his focus to the Gentiles and commissions Paul in Acts 9. Most people miss this when reading their Bibles. They miss a particular scriptures intended audience. The four Gospels and Hebrews have a Jewish audience, the rest of the New Testament was written to Gentiles.
Sorry for being so long winded..
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