Segmented Biblical Attention (Mark #8)

There is no book like the Bible.

Variation and diversities are not marks of error. But herein lies a potentially serious problem. The temptation of groups of serious conviction is to move ever further from the central pale of reason that C.S. Lewis calls "mere Christianity." Because of their emphasis, they begin declaring that "love is everything," or "history is all-important." They take some important but not critical emphasis of Scripture and move it to the exalted position of an imperative doctrine. They move their test of fellowship away from the person of Jesus Christ to some lesser point. Such a group may have started well, but, for want of proper attention to the whole counsel of God, they drift away from vital Christianity into a misplaced emphasis.

It is easy to see how a religious group can move from the true to the false by small steps of defection from the teaching of Holy Scripture. Too often, however, this special emphasis becomes the critical all-important point. When a theological eccentricity moves to the very center of the attention of a group of Christians, that group, often without sensing it, becomes eccentric and potentially heretical.

This "outward bound" direction must always be avoided by the biblical Christian. When a group develops a theological or doctrinal interpretation that touches only minimally on the proper biblical emphasis and lives for the most part outside of that circle, it becomes a cult.

By this we mean that, from a starting point of Scripture, it has moved away from the teaching of the Word of God so that its central emphasis has become a set of human philosophies, ideas, or revelations that can no longer be justified by the teaching of the Word of God. Its attention to an interesting portion of Scripture has been carried to the point where it has isolated this passage of the Word of God from the corrective modifications found in other portions of the Word. Its segmented biblical attention has cut it off from the body of divine truth.

Virtually every cult in existence today has followed the unwise course of segmented biblical attention out beyond the pale of reason into the production of a destructive heresy.

(Read Acts 19:1-6) The disciples of John the Baptist continued faithfully in their conviction of the truth of the message of this humble forerunner of Jesus Christ.

But herein was their problem. They were so taken with the preaching of John that they neglected his major emphasis: namely, that One was coming after him, who would guide them into all truth. They therefore missed the opportunity to hear the Word of Christ. They missed the chance to believe in Him and become true Christians, sharing in the gift of the Holy Spirit given to the Church on the day of Pentecost. Their own testimony was that they had not even heard of the Holy Spirit.

These people did not come to the place where they shared the life of God that comes to every person who is made a new creature in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul's question to these disciples, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" was a most appropriate way of asking whether they had become true Christians.

Realizing that they were not indeed believers, the Apostle Paul said unto them "that they should believe on Him who would come after him" [after John the Baptist, that is]; they should receive Jesus Christ. The happy conclusion of this story is they did indeed believe on Jesus Christ, were baptized in His name and received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We may rejoice that Paul was given of God the opportunity to bring to these sincere seekers after truth the final revelation of God in Jesus Christ. It is highly probable that they would otherwise have formed a religious group around the preaching of John the Baptist which, however sincere, would have prevented people from hearing the message of salvation by the grace of God made possible though Christ alone. Their sincere attention to a segmented, non-final revelation would have therefore been a most damnable thing. Their religious belief and practice would have been merely a cult rather than real and vital Christianity.

The lesson for all of us is very clear. While we may be fascinated with the words of one of the personalities of Scripture and with the emphasis of a given book of the Bible, we must not fail to pay attention to the message of the entire Word of God.

The Bible declares about itself that "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the Man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It is therefore of great importance that the doctrine by which a Christian orients his faith and his life come from all Scripture. He must remember that the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, was given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and is vital in its entirety to his understanding of the faith.

He remembers also that Revelation is "progressive!" God presented truth in a cumulative fashion, moving from the basic theistic concepts of the Old Testament to the final revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ. Christ brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel (2 Timothy 1:10); and His doctrine was explained to us by His apostles who wrote the letters of the New Testament.

We must also never forget that the proper interpretation of the Bible must be based on text, context, and greater context. The biblical interpreter must ask "What does this verse mean? In what setting is it given to us? How does it relate to the whole Bible?"

The major deficiency of the cults of our time is that they have neglected to base their faith on the Bible as a whole. One group denies the immortality of the soul because of a statement about death in Ecclesiastes 9:5. They ignore the fact that the final light on the subject of immortality was given to us by Jesus Christ. Paul explains that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (see 2 Corinthians 5:8).

Some find a verse in the Bible about God having given to some prophet a vision. They use this as the scriptural base for a notion that all sound religion is therefore conducted on the basis of God revealing Himself in visions and dreams. Such a notion can cause a person to drift away from the Word of God into a spiritual opium den of his own making. Another leader may greatly encourage Christians by his emphasis on a relaxed and positive mental attitude. While this message may be of value, if taken as ultimate truth, it can cause a naive person finally to deny physical reality. No mental attitude can take away the fact of death or deliver us from the necessity of living in the midst of physical dimensions.

The mature Christian will make none of these mistakes. He will avoid the dread pitfalls of spiritual lunacy that come from going off the deep end on the basis of any one verse from the Bible.

It is a grave temptation for any group to find a verse in the Bible about holiness, the kingdom, law, grace, works, faith, or something else and use it for a substitute for the whole counsel of God. Even zealous Christians have frequently fallen into the trap of segmented biblical interpretation, thereby creating a cultic influence in their system of doctrine.

Christian maturity will save us from all of this.

(from Know The Marks of Cults - The 12 basic errors of false religion by Dave Breese)

THE TRUTH

Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes unto the Father but by Me."

Do you want to know for sure that you are going to be with God in Heaven?
If God were to ask you, "Why should I let you into My Heaven?" what would you say?
Following is the best news you could ever hear.
Did you know that the Bible tells you how you can know for sure that you have eternal life and will go to be with God in Heaven?

"These things I have written unto you ... that ye may know that ye have eternal life ... (1 John 5:13)

The Bible says there are 5 things you need to know about eternal life.

1. Heaven - - Eternal Life is a Free GIFT. The Bible says, "... the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23). And because Heaven is a GIFT, like any other genuine GIFT, it is not earned or deserved. No amount of personal effort, good works, or religious deeds can earn a place in Heaven for you. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the GIFT of God: NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8, 9) Why is it that no-one can earn his way to Heaven?
2. Because Man is a Sinner. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Sin is transgressing God's Law and includes such things as lying, lust, cheating, deceit, anger, evil thoughts, immoral behaviour, and more. And because of this, man cannot save himself. If you wanted to save yourself by good deeds, do you know how good you would have to be? "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48) With such a high standard, no-one can save himself.
3. However in spite of our sin ... God is merciful and therefore doesn't want to punish us. This is because "... God is love." (1 John 4:8) And He says, "...I have loved thee with an everlasting love..." (Jeremiah 31:3) But the same Bible that tells us that God loves us also tells us that God is just and therefore must punish sin. He says..."...I will by no means clear the guilty..." (Exodus 34:7) "...the soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezekiel 18:4). Therein lies the problem. God loves us and doesn't want to punish us but He is just and must punish sin.
4. God solved this problem for us in the person of JESUS CHRIST. Who is He? The Bible tells us clearly that He is the infinite GOD-MAN. "In the beginning was the Word (Jesus)... and the Word (Jesus) was God. And the Word (Jesus) was made flesh, and dwelt among us..." (John 1:1, 14) Jesus Christ came to earth and lived a sinless life, but while on earth what did He do? He died on the Cross to pay the penalty for our sins and rose from the grave to purchase a place for us in Heaven. "All we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord has laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity (sin) of us all." (Isaiah 53:6) Jesus Christ bore our sin in His body on the Cross and now offers you eternal life (Heaven) as a free gift.
5. This gift is received by faith. Faith is the key that opens the door to Heaven. Many people mistake two things for saving faith. Saving faith is not mere intellectual assent, like believing certain historical facts. The Bible says that the devil believes there is one God, so believing there is one God is not saving faith. Saving faith is not mere temporal faith, that is, trusting God for temporary crises such as financial, family, or physical needs. Now these are good and you should trust Christ for these, but they are not saving faith! Saving faith is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life. It means resting upon Christ alone and what He has done rather than in what you or I have done to get us into Heaven. "... Believe (trust) on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved ..." (Acts 16: 31) You have just read the greatest story ever told, about the greatest offer ever made, by the greatest person who ever lived, Jesus Christ!

You too can receive this gift!

If you have trusted Christ as your personal Saviour as a result of reading this, and you want further help in the decision you have made or if you have more questions about the Christian faith, please contact us by e-mail or visit http://www.emmanuelbarrie.org/.

How Do You Explain Charismatic Healings?

Charismatics often respond to biblical and theological reasoning by appealing to experience. They plead, "But incredible things are happening; how do you explain it?"

In reply I say: "Since no charismatic healer can come up with genuinely verifiable cases of instant healing involving organic disease; since no charismatic healer heals everyone who comes for healing and hundreds go away from their services as sick or as crippled as when they came; since no charismatic healer raises the dead; since the Word of God needs no confirmation outside itself and is sufficient to show the way of salvation; since charismatic healings are based on a questionable theology of the atonement and salvation; since charismatic writers and teachers appear to disallow God His own purposes in allowing people to be sick; since charismatic healers seem to need their own special environment; since the evidence they bring forth to prove healings is often weak, unsupported, and over-exaggerated; since charismatics are not known for going into hospitals to heal though there are plenty of faithful people in hospitals; since most instances of healings by charismatics can be explained in ways other than God's unquestioned supernatural intervention; since charismatics get sick and die like everyone else; since so much confusion and contradiction surrounds what is happening -- the return question is: How do you explain it? It is certainly not the biblical gift of healing!"


Healings are occurring today. But the biblical gift of healing is not present. God heals whom He wills, when He wills and there are many times when committed Christians are involved in the most tragic unexplainable and seemingly needless cases of suffering. Loved ones have been earnestly prayed for only to see the answer come back no. Charismatic pastors -- if they are honest -- will admit they have had the same types of experiences.


But what is the typical explanation charismatic teachers, healers, and leaders give for the multitudes of those who are not healed. "THEY DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH FAITH." That kind of reasoning is neither kind nor accurate. And furthermore, faith cannot be measured!

(from "Charismatic Chaos" by John MacArthur, Jr.)

Where Are They Now?

It seems a mounting number of evangelical Christian congregations are increasingly concerned over the disappearance from their midst of whole families who have slipped away from the faith into an unheard-of religion. "What strange new cults are assaulting the minds of people?"

A cult is a religious perversion. It is a belief and practice in the world of religion which calls for devotion to a religious view or leader centered in false doctrine. It is an organized heresy.

A cult may take many forms but it is basically a religious movement which distorts or warps orthodox faith to the point where truth becomes perverted into a lie. A cult is impossible to define except against the absolute standard of the teaching of Holy Scripture. When contrasted to biblical truth, a cult is seen to have distinguishing marks by which it can be labelled as being fatally sub-Christian.

There is no question but that one of the most interesting and dangerous developments of our time is the rise of aberrative religions. The promoters of old and new cults are active and their works are growing as never before. Emboldened by easy successes, they have been able to capture new multitudes of followers.

The result is that millions of simple souls are being beguiled into following religious notions that are nothing but false and Satanic cults. The old cults are experiencing a remarkable resurgence, and curious new "faiths" are spawning in profusion.

1 Timonthy 4:1 "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times, some shall depart from the Faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils."