A La Carte: (of a menu or
restaurant) listing or serving food that can be ordered as
separate items,
rather than part of a set meal; as separately priced items from a menu, not as
part of a set meal.
Smorgasbord: A buffet offering
a variety of hot and cold meats, salads, hors d'oeuvres, etc.; a wide range of
something; a variety.
I find these two words
interesting because even though their meanings are different, they both provide
a picture of what the Bible has become to many people, even many Christians.
This next phrase is even more explicit.
Pick and Choose: select only
the best or most desirable from among a number of alternatives. The big problem
with this though is that there are not many alternatives in the Bible. There
are only two; God’s way and the wrong way.
The point is, and as I have
already said, even with many Christians, we have become selective in what God
clearly says. If we don’t like what the Bible says, we ignore it or try to
twist God’s words to suit our convenience. We pick only the words we like, and
change the others to comply with our opinions.
The problem with opinions is
they are often wrong; at least when they come from mankind, simply because
mankind is grossly flawed with sin. On the other hand, God’s “opinion” is never
wrong because He is perfect in every way. If He isn’t perfect in every way,
then He isn’t God.
Most in humanity today are
fighting against God, questioning His “opinion” and replacing it with their own
“we know better” attitude. Whether we’re speaking of creation, marriage, sex,
murder, etc. we think we know more because, well hey, we’re 21st
century modern man. We’ve got all the answers (so we think).
God says He created the world
and told us how he did it, but we know better. “We choose evolution and other scientific theories.”
God says marriage is between
a man and a woman, and the marriage bed is holy, “but what does God know? Those are old fogey ideas not fit for the
modern age.”
God says sex should only be
between a man and a woman who are married to each other. “Oh come now! God is just being a stick-in-the-mud. Sex is all about
love and we have a lot of love to give.”
God says that the one who
murders another man should be put to death. “There you go again God. We must show mercy. A life sentence is okay,
and then if they have changed, we’ll let them out after a few years.”
Well I’m getting sick writing
this facetious garbage, so I’ll change course.
From Genesis 1:1 to
Revelation 22:21 is God’s Word. It’s His way or the highway (the broad way to
hell). We cannot just pick and choose what we want, discard most of it and
pickle the rest (change it to suit us).
Instead of reading the Bible
in a way that attempts to make it fit what we believe, we need to be reading it
to see where the REAL TRUTH lies. Keeping in mind that the Bible is always
right, and we are often wrong. God’s Word is always absolute Truth.
I’ve heard people say, “I
just don’t agree with Paul.” Well who died and made you God?” God told Paul
what to say. Paul wrote it down, so what is written came from God not Paul.
Paul was the instrument to convey the Word, but God gave the Word.
“So we have the prophetic
word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining
in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your
hearts. But know this first of all, that
no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no
prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy
Spirit spoke from God (emphasis mine).” (2 Peter 1:19-21)
“and regard the patience of
our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the
wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of
these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught
and unstable distort, as they do also the
rest of the Scriptures (emphasis
mine), to their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:15-16)
Many Christians today are
still in their spiritual diapers, sucking on their spiritual pacifiers. Why
would I say that? Because the proof is in the pudding; i.e. they either are not
a student of God’s Word, or they pick and choose only what doesn’t offend them,
or they mangle the true meaning of the text.
For our own good we need to
read the Bible with the same enthusiasm we have when our favorite television
show is on, or when our favorite team is on the field (or court). Do we even
have that kind of enthusiasm when it comes to opening our Bibles?
When we first became a
Christian we couldn’t wait to open God’s Word and read all He had to say to us.
As time went on our enthusiasm waned, and we just read a very select few verses
here and there, until we just quit reading altogether. Why is this? We have
lost the joy of our salvation, not our salvation, but the “joy” of it. David
had the same problem after Nathan confronted him with his sins of adultery with
Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah the Hittite.
“Restore to me the joy of
Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.” (Psalms 51.12)
Satan uses every trick
possible to keep us from hearing the Truth. Our interest falls away because we
allow Satan to influence us. One way he does this is to discourage us by the
lies that come from those who try to soften or eliminate what the Bible says.
For example; God says there is only one way to be saved, but others say there
are many ways. Now doubts start to rise, and since we are no longer daily in
the Truth, we start picking and choosing what sounds good to us and forming our
own opinions, instead of just listening to what God says. Is it possible we
would rather take the word of man than God?
“But I have this against you,
that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have
fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to
you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.”
(Revelation 2:4-5)
We’ve lost the love we once
had for God and His Word and now listen to everyone else instead. Keep in mind
that the unsaved person cannot understand the Bible. It makes no sense to them.
But we can understand God’s Word if we allow His Spirit to guide us.
“But a natural man does not
accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he
cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” (1 Corinthians
2:14)
The pressure is on in this
modern world we live in to be “politically correct.” “Let us accept all beliefs
so not to offend anyone,” so say the politically correct folks. I personally am
not out to offend anyone, but you and I as Christians, need to make up our
minds once for all just whose side we’re on. Do we want to be popular with
others or do we prefer to obey God, whether we’re popular or not?
The world outside the Church
has a whole boat load of opinions, most all of which conflict with God’s Truth.
Even many Christian brothers and sisters are weak in the faith, but let us open
our eyes and ears and follow our Savior and Lord.
Satan is doing a heck of a
job in muddying the waters of Truth and is using the ignorance of those around
us to lead us all astray. So let me ask, “Why give them an audience? Listen to
what your Savior, your Lord, your God says, and ignore the rest.”
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
