This is something that is really bothering me because of events that only marginally concern me personally, but because they directly concern my friend, they definitely concern me.
There is a set of beliefs out there that is pretty messed up with regards to Scripture. Well, let’s face it, there are a good MANY sets of beliefs that are messed up concerning Scripture, but the ones that really bother me are the ones from people who claim to be Christian.) In this case, I’m speaking of the belief that there are many valid interpretations of Scripture.
First off, the Bible quite clearly says “no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation”. The word translated “prophecy” there is not just a prophet of the Lord telling hte future. It’s more than that. It means “teaching”. So no teaching of the Word of God is of a private interpretation. Now, there are things that many churches teach that are not from the Scriptures, I’ll give you that. However, when faced with that Scripture, there is really no other way we can understand it. The spiritual journey of the Christian ought to be one that encompasses the identification of wrong doctrine in his or her belief system for the purpose of eradicating it, and setting up in its place a correct doctrine. Just because there are many churches out there that teach different interpretations does not mean that this jusifies the belief that there are multiple valid interpretations….it simply means, as Christ indicated in His sermon on the mount, that there will be many people in the last day who will think they are saved because the preached in Christ’s name, but who are in fact unsaved. They will be insistent that they are saved, but Christ is adamant, and will tell them that He never knew them.
A friend of mine put that Scripture to someone of the multiple interpretation camp, and they patently ignored it, and talked about how God wouldn’t make just one narrow interpretation of His Word, etc. No Biblical support…no care to the fact that the Word of God itself contradicts their position. And they’re content to believe this way. Does ANY church have a perfect set of doctrine? No, we’re mere men, after all. However, it’s important to realize that this shouldn’t be an excuse not to seek after proper doctrine. It also shouldn’t be an excuse for us to not contend earnestly for the faith.
People, the Word of God is the only source of our knowledge of God! You can’t state whatever you want about God and claim that it is valid. You can’t claim that God was accepting of whatever people wanted, when His Word clearly states that homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God. You can’t claim that we are not to condemn sin, when the apostles after Christ’s example clearly condemned sin, and in some cases it is recorded that they cast brothers out of the church when they would not conform to the clear teachings of the Word of God. People claim that we are not to judge, lest we be judged. Ok, if I point out that someone is in an adulterous relationship, I can easily point it out…we are told what is right behavior, and we are told not to cast our pearls before swine, which means someone has to figure out who the pigs are, as D.A. Carson stated at the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology.
Having said all of this, please pray, gentle reader. Pray that those who are not persuaded that the Word of God has any power over them will come to realize its authority in their lives. Specifically, please pray for someone I know named Michele. She’s pretty messed up, and believes that the Scriptures can say whatever she wants them to. She doesn’t think she has any responsibility as a wife, and that the Lord is supremely concerned with her happiness. She believes that she can disobey His Word if she doesn’t like what it’s telling her. It’s an ugly situation, to be sure, but the Lord isn’t powerless here. He can change her heart. From man’s perspective, we see it as nearly hopeless, but the Lord CAN still do an awesome work in her life, and I pray He does.
