SEVEN FAMOUS BIBLE VERSES. #1: ALLEGORY, "THE FIRST BIG LIE"

"Indeed, has God said...." (Genesis 3:1b)

We westerners are prone to appropriate nice sounding Bible verses, in order to make them mean whatever we think they should mean. The more incredible of these verses become marketing sensations on t shirts, plaques, key chains, mugs, bumper stickers and more.  Even non-believers may find these items appealing and purchase them to use. In fact, non-believers and the majority of Christians all have the same favorite verse. (That verse is Matthew   “….judge not less ye be judged”...more on that, next post.)

Ignoring the strange humor of an atheist, agnostic or professing Christian quoting the King James Bible, is there any basis in truth for the potential misuse of a portion of a verse or passage? Human beings, including even those of us who are Biblically grounded, are error-prone. That is to be expected since only God is perfect. However, intentional misuse of Scripture began the Fall of Man and brought sin into this world. So for the next several posts, we will look at some of these more prominent verses, with an eye to discerning if their usage in modern times is appropriate, or hopelessly out of context.

Here is the first misquote of all time and the Greatest Lie ever told. This is the Lie not just heard around the world, but one that ricocheted into Heaven, thereby causing the Son of God to stop off the Eternal Throne of Heaven and give His Life on a Cross. The Lie led to the Lord leaving Heaven and lowering Himself, in order to lay waste Lucifer and his schemes of death.

WHAT LUCIFER SAID THAT GOD SAID:

Genesis 3:1-5 - Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

WHAT GOD ACTUALLY SAID:

Genesis 2:15-17 - Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."

HOW DEVIOUS WAS THE LIE? READ:

The devil, very slyly twisted the direct command from God here: ""Indeed, has God said...."

The first instilling of doubt or manipulating the Word of God is this "you know God didn't really say that and what I THINK it really means is (fill in the blanks)!" Unfortunately, the majority of this world - both Christian AND non-Christian do NOT believe the accurate, literal Word of GOD to be true, so they buy any allegorical interpretation as "truth" when the opposite is true. 

Allegory is a personal "interpretation" of what a person "thinks" another said where self-opinion drives the message rather what the document or the literal truth is. Sadly, almost all mainline protestant and other liturgical traditions treat the Bible as a fable of moral or inspiring stories only, rather than the inspired God-breathed Word direct from Heaven. The modern evangelical and mega-church movements have also strayed mightily, just like the rich Laodecian church of the Book of the Revelation, which had the facade of being followers of Jesus Christ, but not the heart and commitment necessary for this to be true.

Allegory is basically untruth....or the Big Lie. It detracts from the True Message of sin, the human condition and the repentance or turning from that sin.
Allegory, the Big Lie, belittles the Spirit of God Who hovered over the unformed planet and spoke both directly from Heaven or through His prophets.
Allegory disparages the King of Heaven, Who stepped off the Throne and did not consider His equal status with God the Father, a thing to be grasped, but humbled Himself in the form of a man. He did this to teach, submit to the Will of the Father ("But Mine, but Thine will be done") and was nailed to a horrid Cross to die and rise again that we may live.
Allegory distances us from the plain-speaking, honest and loving GOD Who wishes to have relationships with His created children by saying to THESE SAME CHILDREN - YOU AND I - THE SAME THING SATAN SAID TO EVE "Indeed has God said....?"
Allegory destroys the Road to Salvation for all who follow and preach it.

This is the Biggest Lie mankind has ever listened to and bought. This Big Lie, from the serpent who launched Allegory as acceptable to teach the Word of God, will lead and has led, untold billions into eternal separation from God and Heaven. Do not be caught in that trap. God has always spoken in simple terms. He all the work Himself. All any human has to do is receive and believe, because it is by the Grace of God we are saved, through Faith and Forgiveness.

(Photo taken of a stream high atop Pine Mountain, Georgia)

THE INFALLIBILITY OF JESUS

Websters defines the word "INFALLIBLE" as follows:

-  incapable of error 

-  not liable to mislead, deceive, or disappoint 

-  incapable of error in defining doctrines touching faith or morals.

Does this sound like any man ever born or still alive, in the past 5774 years of Creation?  Yes and No!

Yes - the only Man ever born who fits this description is the Sinless Son of God -YaHWeH (Jesus the Messiah).

No - there is no mortal man since Adam who is infallible, incapable of sin. Since the lies of Satan to Eve in Genesis 3, there has been misinterpretation of God's Word and instructions....even when people have the Word right in front of their faces in the form of the Bible!

Recently, there has been an increasing controversy over the current Pope - Pope Francis's statements which were emblazoned across the worldwide media. The esteemed former bishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina said (according to media reports) "all atheists can go to heaven".....and other such headlines. 

Here is what he really said and it is directly from his own letter, not a sensational media report. Pope Francis responded to an Italian newspaper questions in a long letter (see here) and said this about atheists "First of all, you ask if the God of the Christians forgives those who do not believe and do not seek faith.  Given that  -  and this is fundamental  -  God's mercy has no limits if he who asks for mercy does so in contrition and with a sincere heart, the issue for those who do not believe in God is in obeying their own conscience.  In fact, listening and obeying it, means deciding about what is perceived to be good or to be evil.  The goodness or the wickedness of our behavior depends on this decision...." 

The main thing to note here is that he did not really say "all atheists" go to Heaven. He just did not preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ...thereby, misleading countless thousands. In his idea of outreach to the lost, he not only gave wrong advice (about "perceiving to be good") but incorrect Soteriology (The Doctrine of True Salvation). Holy Scriptures note "there is none good - not even one. All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God" (Romans 3:23). God also said in Isaiah 64:6 ESV "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

The point is we can and WILL never "find what is good" and do it and expect to get to Heaven on our own. We could NOT and NEVER WILL do. This is the reason God had to pour Himself out from the Throne of Heaven to bring the Word DIRECTLY from The Father on how to restore our fallen relationship with Him (Philippians 2). This is the reason He gave Himself to be persecuted and to die on the Cross that ALL men, from eternity past to present, could be saved. That substitutionary atonement for ALL sin accomplished the work God the Father had sent Christ to do. Jesus not only did that well, but His obedience is noted as the example for us here in Hebrews 5:7.

Having a good conscience will never save anyone...it can deceive a person into thinking that all is well with your soul, but a convicted conscience is evidence that God has pierced a person's consciousness with the fact of his/her sin. This is then followed by the knowledge that such a person is in dire need of Repentance to make it right before God. Again, there is nothing good about any of this, from our human perspective.  This is evidence we sin constantly against Holy Father in Heaven.

The redeemed person, i.e., one who is really and truly saved, has been given the gift of Repentance....and it IS a gift. Anyone who rejects the word "Repentance" as is not of God, period. Among the first words by Jesus of the first Gospel ever written - Mark....we have what Jesus said in Chapter 1, verse 15 "Repent, believe the Gospel and be saved"! There is no other way to Salvation or Heaven. You can't work your way into heaven. You can't donate your way into heaven. You can't baptize your way into heaven....and NO amount of going to church or mass will get you there either. Only the true forgiveness of Sin and acceptance of Jesus Christ ALONE, as LORD and Savior, will get you there.

Jesus said "I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH and THE LIFE, no one can comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6) These are the declarations from Heaven from the Incomparable, Inerrant and Infallible Son of God. There is no man ever born who can claim to speak for God, who has never made a false or incorrect statement. Anyone or any group claiming that is guilty of sin, of assuming unto himself, the mantle of God. All men are sinners saved by Grace - if and when we are rescued from the pit of eternal damnation.

The Infallibility of Jesus Christ, the Aleph Tav, the Alpha and Omega, will be evident on Judgment Day and in the Millennial Kingdom when He will be ruling the Nations here on earth for 1000 years. He will be physically sitting on the Throne in Jerusalem in the not to distant future. The Words He spoke, as recorded via the inspired Word of God, in 66 books of the Bible, are Spirit, Truth and Life. If you doubt one jot, dot or tittle, you have doubted the Entire Scriptures and the Truth is not in you. There is no inconsistency in the Gospels or the ancient text. Secular archaeologists are constantly proving the accuracy of Biblical events, with more to come. The discovery of tissue in dinosaur bones in Montana proves the young age of the earth and on and on.

The point is, be careful of anyone who suddenly pronounces who can and cannot get into heaven. Seek ye for your own self the Word of Truth. That Truth can only be found in the Words of the Christ, the Word Who became Flesh and the Word from Christ - the Bible....Seek the counsel of an older and wiser Christian person. Seek direction on how to read the Scriptures for yourself, from the Spirit of God Who dwells in ALL true believers. He will show you the way of all infallible Truth, not a fellow mortal as ourselves.

But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you...Matthew 6:33 (Aramaic Bible)