"Verse by Verse Bible Studies"
by Zac Poonen
"Topical Bible Study" by Zac Poonen
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me”
It is erroneous to believe that IDOLATRY is only worshipping a carved image.
Idols have many faces, and adopt various forms and shapes.
It is "ANYTHING" or "ANYONE" on whom we lavish excessive, passionate devotion or adoration.
An idol can be "workers, meetings, materialism, self-pride, seeking preeminence among men, and more.
Idolatry is leaning on "MERE HUMANS," "CREATED THINGS," and "RELIGIOUSITY," rather than your FIRST port of Call...........the providence and sustaining Grace of GOD!!!
We must remember that idolizing is a sin.
Is there a God?
Who is God?
What is God like?
Is he sort of powerful or all powerful?
Did He create the entire universe and all that is in it or was he a space alien who introduced life to this planet?
Is his power only in the spiritual realm or is it in the natural realm also?
Is he wise about just some things or is he all knowing?
Is he in control of some things or is He sovereign over all things?
Is he just old or eternal?
Has he revealed everything or just some things?
What does He require?
How can I be reconciled (at peace) with God?
Can God the Father be seen?
Can the Holy Spirit be seen?
When God sits on the throne, Who is seen?
Does God object to anything and if so, what does He hate?
Does God have the power to send us to hell?
If God is loving, why would He send anyone to hell?
What is worship?
How do we worship God?
How can we be accepted by God?
Can we communicate with God?
Does He communicate with us?
Does He answer all our prayers or just some of them?
Can we please him?
Can we control or manipulate him?
Does He favor certain people and not others?
Imagine yourself in the Old Testament, among the nation of Israel, surrounded by idolatrous nations who worshipped many gods, all claiming that their gods needed to be honored and appeased.
Everyone used the term “god” or “gods” to describe their idols or their concept of spirits who controlled life or affected their daily lives. Many Jewish people worshiped Jehovah or LORD as Creator of heaven and earth and observed the traditions and holidays associated with His commandments, but many of them also paid tribute or honor to other spirits or lesser “deities” out of fear that they may have been neglecting a god who might hurt them or one who would prosper them. They sometimes reasoned that since Jehovah had said, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” that it was okay to have other gods behind Him. Fear was usually the ruling emotion, sexual immorality, pride, lust for power and approval of men may have been factors as well.
God, the Creator of Heaven and earth, hated this unfaithful betrayal of His honor, love, protection and care for the Jewish nation.
He called it
IDOLATRY
and reserved His worst curses against those who honored someone or something else beside Himself.
Baal was one of the most common gods frequently honored by Jewish people. What if a Jewish person claimed to believe in Jehovah God but he actually honored Baal god instead? Many Jewish people were influenced by their parents who honored other gods. They naturally felt that what was good for their parents was good enough for them. The Jewish people obviously thought that they were obeying the God of Abraham. Nearly every time a prophet scolded them for disobedience and idolatry, they acted as if they had no idea what God was rebuking them for. They thought they were doing what he required. They didn’t see anything wrong with what they were doing.
The word “god” has many applications.
Be sure you know which god you or other people are talking about.
Many people refer to the Holy Scriptures and think they are talking about the God of the Bible, when actually they have a god of their own choosing.
Is it Abaddon, Allah, alcohol, animism, antichrist, ancestry worship, Ashtoreth, astrology, Baal, Beelzebub, Buddhism, debauchery, Darwinism, education, entertainment, environmentalism, feminism, globalism, heroin, Hinduism, Hollywood, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Lucifer, Mammon, Masonry, marijuana, methamphetamines, Mormonism, mother earth, gods of the New Age, opium, organized crime, your parents, politics, pornography, power, prosperity, security, secularism, sexual addictions, socialism, Tarot cards, wicca, witchcraft, the workers, or yourself, etc.?
Do you believe in reincarnation, carma or the resurrection?
Do you recognize yourself as a sinner or do you think you are pretty good on the sin curve?
Are you picking and choosing bits and pieces from several different gods or belief systems?
Are your beliefs making you weird and alienating you from people?
Do you think abortion is okay but war is bad?
Do you think that when people experience tragedies that they should be helped or allowed to die or suffer?
Do you believe that the trees and plants and animals are as important as humans and that the world population of humans ought to be reduced in numbers by at least half?
How do you think that should be accomplished?
Do you think Jews and Christians ought to let people murder them without defending themselves or their families?
Do you think that laws or jails should not exist, that all people should be allowed to do as they please?
Do you like animals better than people?
Inherent in every god and belief system is a hierarchy, moral, judicial, political, economic, and social construct. Be sure to examine the full implications of each belief. A belief system often appears to be benign or beneficial on the surface, but the implications and contradictions within its teaching are destructive and cruel. Observing the culture which most closely follows that particular belief can give you an idea of the consequences of that belief. Contrary to what people say no two religions are the same. One cannot take bits and pieces of different beliefs and randomly sew them together. Be careful which religious beliefs your children may be developing from the culture and things learned in school.
Are you worshiping the God who created all things, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: God of the Holy Scriptures?
Do your values, attitudes, morals and worldview reflect truth gained from scripture?
Have you been set free from the bondage of sin?
Are your beliefs making you wholesome and loving?
Do you love your neighbors as yourself?
Do you love your enemies?
Do you hunger and thirst to understand scripture?
Are you trying to figure out what God thinks about your political and social choices?
Are you trying to lead others to faith in Jesus Christ?
Or do you think they should just be left alone to find a god of their own choice?
Inherent in God’s Word is a moral, social and political construct of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the only one that actually gives you eternal life, freedom from bondage to sin, wisdom for making good choices, God’s Word for your guide and the Holy Spirit as your Counselor.
Who is the God of Scripture?
Notice the different names used for the Creator God and the pronouns and the singular or plural forms which are mentioned in scripture! Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God (Elohim a plural form of the Hebrew word ‘El,’ meaning Gods) created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
The God of the Bible is the Creator of the universe….There are different names given which reflect the character qualities and activities of this Creator God….El, Elohim, Spirit of God, Word, Adonai, I AM, the Son, Son of God, Father, Counselor, Jehovah or Jaweh, Lord of Hosts, LORD, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Alpha and Omega, Prince of Peace, Lord of Glory, the Holy One of God, My Lord and My God, The Good Shepherd, the Light of the World, etc.
Genesis 1:26-27 “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in his own image.”
God is talking to the other members of the godhead using the word us and our and then it says God created man in his own image. He was not talking to angels because angels didn’t create anything, God did. Humans are not made in the image of angels. The word Father implies that God has others equal to Himself. Who are the others? The Son and the Holy Spirit. The word Father was not used in reference to God until Jesus used it. It infuriated the Pharisees and Jewish leaders when Jesus did so.
Matthew 28:18 “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” The Three exist and act as One, in One name.
John 1:1-5, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made, without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not.”
John 1:10-13, “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God. Verse 14, The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
Hebrews 1:8-10, “But about the Son, He (God the Father) says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. He also says, in the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” The Father is talking to the Son about what the Son did in the eternal past and what He will do in the eternal future.
The cross of Christ cannot be separated from His person. He was appointed to be the Savior of the world. It is His defining role, but He has other roles as well….just as every person has different roles in life.
Christ is fully God, but He is also fully man.
This is another incomprehensible characteristic of Jesus Christ that human beings cannot fathom. He existed before He was given a human body. He has existed invisibly and eternally just as the Father and the Holy Spirit have. His human body is what made him visible to us and made it possible for Him to pay the price for our sins. When people saw him, they saw God because God’s moral character was visible in Him. One of the first important questions He asked people was, “Who do you say that I am?” There were many different answers….Only one answer was correct. He was the Son of God; God in the flesh. There are certain things true of Jesus Christ as a human that are not true of the Father and Spirit. He was visible. Everything he did was done by the power of the Father. He said it wasn’t himself doing it. He said, “My Father has given me authority over everything. No one really knows the Son except the Father, and no one really knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” He came as a baby and grew up, growing and changing in form. Therefore he changed. God the Father and the Spirit don’t change. Jesus grew in wisdom and stature. His character was Holy but his flesh was human….He was like the first Adam before sin entered the world. He lived on earth as a human. He humbled himself and made himself nothing in order to obey His Father. He learned obedience through suffering. But that doesn’t mean he suffered because of disobedience. He was obedient and therefore suffered to be obedient and suffered at the hands of men for his obedience. He was perfect. He was tempted and the Father cannot be tempted. He could not sin because God cannot sin. Temptation is the pull of man’s own evil thoughts and desires. James 1:14 Temptation is Satan’s trickery. Matthew 4:1-11 Satan was unable to trick the Son. Jesus Christ’s moral character was more powerful than his human character. When people talk or think about the free will of men, they assume that man’s free will is equal to God’s free will. Yes, God gives us free will, but it is never stronger than God’s will or sovereignty. Man’s free will isn’t even as strong as each other’s free will. There are always some people who are stronger, smarter or have more money, power or influence than others. Satan and demons have more power than people, but even they are limited by God’s sovereignty.
Jesus Christ was holy.
He had to be holy in order to pay the price for the sins of the world.
When Jesus explained his role on earth as a Savior to all people, including Gentiles, the people of his hometown rejected him and tried to kill him by stoning him, Luke 4:16-28. Jewish people had a strong aversion and hatred for anyone who was not Jewish. Supernaturally, he slipped away from them. He taught with an authority that no one could explain or deny. Some people recognized who he was, some people did not. He told people that He had existed before Abraham John 8:28. He told people that God, His Father, had instructed him what to do before He came to earth. Jesus told people that he could forgive sins.
- Only God could do that!
He could heal their diseases and cast out demons. He could influence the weather by calming the storm.
- Only God could do that!
He told people that He was the Lord of the Sabbath when they accused him of working on the Sabbath. He would quote a commandment and then say, “I give you a new commandment; Love one another.” Who has the power or authority to give a new commandment?
- Only God could do that!
In every way He was showing people that He had the power of God…No one but God, a crazy person or liar would have made the claims that he made. He could feed over five thousand people with a few loaves and fishes. He could raise the dead. These statements and abilities clearly shocked the Pharisees and other Jews. They had been willing to consider him as a prophet or even the Messiah until he began telling them more about his purpose, plans and interest in the Gentiles, John 8:58 They were expecting a Messiah who would conquer the Romans. Their hatred of Gentiles exceeded their curiosity and appreciation for Jesus. God’s commandment for them to love others as themselves was not happening.
Is Jesus Christ a good man, a prophet, a bad man, a mad man or is He God?
He asked, “Can anyone prove me guilty of sin?” The Jews could not accuse him of sin so they said he was demon possessed. His friends, family and disciples who spent the most time with him all gave testimony that he was without sin. To simply say that Jesus was just a good man is not possible. Jesus himself said no one is good except God, in other words, he was claiming to be God. He didn’t just come to be an example to people or to start a new religion. He came to save people through the power of the cross and His Blood sacrifice. He was bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth and announcing Himself as the Son of the King. He was fulfilling hundreds of prophecies regarding this, but the Jews who claimed to be worshiping God did not recognize who He was. Those in the darkness cannot recognize Jesus as God, John 1:5.
How can you worship or obey a God you do not recognize or know?
But that is precisely what false teachers are trying to do. 1 Timothy 1:3-11 says that the goal of God’s work is LOVE.
- False teachers want to teach the law but they do not know what they are talking about or what they confidently affirm.
- False teaching leads to legalism but produces no love or knowledge of scripture or obedience to it.
- False teachers add to God’s commandments but they don’t have the authority or the right to do so.
Only God has the right to tell people what pleases Him. Only God can empower people to truly love others. False teachers pretend to love others, but watch their focus of activity. Does it really help others or does it just promote or provide for the false teachers?
Jesus Christ died, God the Father cannot die.
God the Father and the Holy Spirit remained alive. God the Father cannot be tempted, but Jesus was tempted. His miracles were not evidence of his deity but they were proof that He was Messiah. They were fulfillment of prophecies that had been made thousands of years before. They were performed as a man through the power of the Father. Other men performed miracles through the power of God. Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and the disciples and apostles also performed miracles. Christ’s miracles were simply proof that the Father had sent Him and was working through him. Jesus said he was doing the work of His Father, just as he always had in eternity past.
These are only a few of hundreds of verses that talk about Jesus as God, the eternal Creator. There are also dozens of verses that refer to the Holy Spirit as God the Creator, as a person who can act, think, speak, counsel, be grieved, be offended, and could punish evil doers. And of course the whole Bible is full of descriptions of God the Father. How could we worship one member of the godhead and not worship all three?
Is there a devil? Is he equal in power to God?
Yes, there is a devil.
God created him as the most powerful and beautiful angel and in pride he desired to be God and usurp God’s power and authority in the universe. He is not equal to God at all, not even close. He is simply a created being who is destined for hell which was created for him and the angels who follow him. He hates people, those created in God’s image.
- He wants people and angels to worship himself, therefore, he creates false religions and false doctrines to lure people away from worshiping God.
- He rules with lies and murder.
- He tempts people to sin, then accuses them of doing what he tempted them to do.
- Ultimately his goal is to fill people with such guilt that they self destruct.
His whole purpose is to destroy Christians and people, especially the Jewish race, which he despises and tries to eradicate in order to keep God from fulfilling His plans for the world. God’s prophecies for the end times include a plan for 144,000 Jewish evangelists to preach the gospel. Satan wants to prevent that.
God is too big for His creation to understand or comprehend.
- God has revealed Himself in the book of scripture and in the natural realm.
- God created the universe and the universe bears the imprint of a triune nature.
Much of what we see in the natural creation is composed of three factors: Space, Matter and Energy; Time is composed of the Future, Present and Past; Space is composed of Length, Breadth and Depth; Nothing is adequate to explain God. Christians don’t understand God, they just believe that His Word is true. His Word says that God is three persons; coequal, coeternal and coexistent.
Each person is fully God, yet there is just one God.
- Every error of the past has come about through attempts to simplify the doctrine of the Trinity to make it understandable.
- This we can never do.
- We can understand and know what scripture has said, but we can’t figure out how it is possible.
- Simply reflecting on the complexity of the universe boggles the mind.
- How could a human understand the Creator?
Christians obey the command to study the Word of God in order to know Him.
Proverbs 1:29-32 condemns those who hate knowledge and choose not to fear the Lord. They reject His advice and pay no attention when he corrects them. They are fools who turn away from him. They are the ones who believe false teachers and ignore God’s Word. Jesus said, “Pay attention to what you hear. To those who hear more understanding will be given. To those who are not listening, even what they think they have will be taken away from them.”
- False teachers lead people into idolatry and sin, no matter how noble, how humble or sacrificial they appear.
- False teachers claim to have spiritual or mystical access to God without study.
- They are liars and the Word of Truth is not in them.
We are commanded to love the Lord with minds. Matthew 22:37, Our minds must be occupied with meditation of God’s scripture in order to obey it. With the Holy Spirit as our guide we must work to understand it. The more one understands scripture, the more one loves the Lord because we know Him better. Matthew 7:24-27, One who listens to Christ’s teaching and obeys it is wise, like a person who builds his house on a solid rock.
The first commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your mind and the second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:37-39; Luke 10:27-28
- Knowing who God is enables you to love Him.
- As long as He is unknown, how can you love Him at all?
- How can you follow someone you do not know?
- How can you please Him?
- How can you love your neighbor as yourself?
- And who is your neighbor?
- Is your neighbor the person next door, someone who needs your help or just the people who agree with your beliefs and lifestyle?
As the Israelites found, we also find that saying that we believe in God or follow a pattern of activities doesn’t mean we do actually believe, love or worship the real God of scripture. How we treat others is a better register of how much we love God. How much we hunger and thirst after righteousness and desire to understand God’s Word shows how much we love God. Freedom from bondage to sin and immorality shows whether God is living in us.
Contrary to what false teachers tell people, the Christian creeds are not beliefs that were later formulations of the church. The creeds were the original beliefs which had to be stated and taught as a response to false teaching that had crept into the church through pagan sources, false doctrines and ideas. They are based on a close and clear examination of the totality of scripture. The years following the death of Christ were tumultuous, Christians were being hounded to death in many places….they had to hide and move from place to place. So, there wasn’t a lot of time and opportunity to systematically teach, record and pass along the truths of scripture to all the new believers who were coming to faith. Faith is what saves us. Doctrine is the information that enables us to have faith. Faith cometh by hearing the Word of God being taught or by learning what the Word of God says. It saves us from deception which leads to hell. Teaching sound doctrine is a command from the Lord.
Avoiding and rejecting false doctrine is a command from the Lord.
The word “doctrine” means teaching, principles, knowledge, or truths.
- Is God Triune?
- And so what?!
- Why does that matter?
- Is this just information we need to know, or is it information that has application in our lives and our relationship with God and one another?
- How can we know what God wants from us if we don’t know who He is?
As those who have been created in the image of God, we are to reflect His character to the world. We cannot reflect a nature that has not been given to us and that we know nothing about.
God said it is NOT GOOD to be alone.
Self sufficiency is a weakness. God intends for us to be united with others in families and in the church. We are made for relationship and friendship. If we don’t have wholesome relationships, we are not happy or fulfilled. We were made for love. We were made to love and be loved.
God is love, therefore there must be Three persons – Before He created anything God the Father could not love unless there was someone to love who was equal to Himself.
God the Father loves the Holy Spirit and His Son. Together they created the universe.
The practical application of this reality is that we love others, give ourselves to others and put others before us. We work together with others.
Love is not just romance….love is joy, peace, comfort, counsel, communication, honesty in one-ness. Love is responsibility, work with reward. God is love. He loves us and wants us to love Him and love others. The institution of marriage and family is a reflection of the Trinity.
The doctrine of the Trinity flows into the doctrine of the Church.
Unity in plurality is modeled in the Bride of Christ, the Church of God. Our love for one another as believers is anchored in the love that the members of the Trinity have for one another. It is impossible for nonbelievers to truly love believers because their values are different. The darkness hates the light. Christian love is to defer to the needs of the weaker members. We are to model the love of God by helping the needy, the helpless, the orphans, the widows. We are to model the love of Jesus by loving our enemies. The Church is not a club for like minded people.
The Church is the hand of God to a dying and dark world.
Christians should not view themselves as individuals, but as members of the Body of Christ being directed by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Bible is the story of the love of the Trinity towards the human race. The Father does not exist in isolation. He exists in unity with His Son and His Holy Spirit. He also wants to exist in unity with humans. Beware of people who despise and mock Christians and the Christian faith. The spirit of anti Christ is alive and well.
The persons of the Trinity are not just three different ways of looking at one God.
The three persons exist together alongside and in one another. The Trinity is incomprehensible to humans. Our understanding is finite…God is eternal, supernatural, all powerful, but He has given us enough information to know in order to have a relationship with Him. He is not an impersonal power. He is a person with a personality with thoughts, plans, emotions, wisdom and activities constantly occurring in His whole universe and on earth. We can anger, grieve and offend Him.
Since God is a plurality in unity that means He wants us to live and love as plurality in unity as well. Our love and kindness to others, all others, (not just those who agree with us) models the character of God. This is why the marriage bond and the family unit is so important to God. It is one of the major ways that we can glorify Him. This is why giving to the needy, the widows and orphans in His Name glorifies God.
Just as the persons of the Trinity have different primary functions in relating to the world, the people of the church have different functions in the church and the world.
- And unbelieving people in the world have different functions as well.
- People need one another.
- Lonely people are at a distinct disadvantage.
- God’s first institution is the family.
God is an unselfish giver.
- He wants us to be unselfishly generous to all people.
- God is honest.
- He wants us to be honest with everyone.
- God is holy and wants us to be holy.
- God is courageous and wants us to be courageous.
- God is wise and He has given us His Word so that we can become wise.
- God answers questions and He wants us to answer questions.
- God thinks and He wants us to think.
This also helps us understand what humility is….being a plurality in unity forces us to empathize and sympathize with others.
Humility is only possible in a plural unity.
The natural result of pride is isolation. Proud people do not want to be bothered with needy people. God expects us to help the needy people so that we could have the blessing of meeting those needs. God is a healer and He has put people among us with the talent, willingness and dedication to meet many of our physical problems. It takes humility to meet the needs of the needy.
Realizing the concept of the Trinity actually causes us to understand how indebted we are to each person of the Trinity.
- God created us,
- He saved us from our sins.
- He gave us eternal life.
- He gives us His righteousness and takes our unrighteousness away.
- He indwells the believer and seals us as His children and heirs and citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven forever.
How can we not love and worship every member of the godhead?
Realizing Who God is as the Trinity creates in us a desire to bring others into relationship with our loving God. Our hearts and minds are dedicated for evangelism, to tell others of the joy, peace, love and freedom from guilt that Christ gives to us. Loving God wells up in us a love for our neighbors and a desire for them to also love God.
- The members of the Trinity are identical to one another in character.
- The members of the Trinity work together, constantly in communication and agreement.
- Each one glorifies the others, but the Holy Spirit is the most anonymous.
- The Son glorifies the Father, the Father glorifies the Son, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son.
- The Holy Spirit is an equal person of the godhead and His work and ministry is to reveal Christ to the world and to believers.
This gives us a good picture of what we should also be doing if we are truly filled with the Holy Spirit. We will glorify Jesus Christ to the world and to one another in our daily lives. We will not point to ourselves or to other people. Evangelism isn’t reserved for certain people. Every believer is an evangelist, every believer is a member of the holy priesthood, someone who can draw others to Jesus, someone who can teach from scripture and minister to the natural and spiritual needs of people around us….not just people who agree with us. In fact, believers should love unbelievers and their enemies, just as Jesus did. It is a sorry fact that many people who claim to believe in God and the Spirit refuse to believe in or worship Jesus. This is why one needs to probe for deeper information when talking about “God”.
The wrong God is idolatry.
If you have the wrong God, you have the wrong gospel.
People who have created a god of their own choosing also will have a different path to follow. They may use the same words or similar terminology but the words have different meanings and God is not fooled. Jesus said anyone who tries to climb into the sheepfold any other way except by Him will perish. The Father knows who has believed in His Son and those who do not.
(1.) The Doctrine of the Trinity or Tri unity of God is essential for understanding and believing in the Atonement of the Cross.
It is at the heart of the whole Christian faith and this is why it is considered the most crucial of all doctrines. If Jesus is merely a human (as cultists and non Christians believe) then it is impossible for him to bear the full wrath of God against the sin of the world. No created creature, no matter how great could save us. The cross would have been nothing but a tragedy. Christ’s righteousness could not be imputed to us and our sin could not be transferred to him.
(2.) Moreover, Justification by faith alone is impossible if we deny the full deity of Jesus Christ.
If Jesus is not fully God, we could not trust his sacrifice and we would have to pay for our own sins in some way, and there would be no way we could ever know or trust whether we had done enough or could do enough to pay for our sins…We don’t even know what all of our sins are.
(3.) If Jesus is not God, then prayers in His Name cannot be made and it would be wrong to worship Him.
And clearly, worship of Jesus Christ is necessary, commanded and obvious in scripture.
(4.) If Jesus is just a created being, then to attribute salvation to a human instead of to God himself exalts a human being above God and the Grace of God would be nullified. God would be secondary or unnecessary.
(5.) The personal nature of God is at stake. If God the Father exists alone, then why would He demand that humans learn to love others?
(6.) The unity of the universe is at stake.
If there is not perfect plurality and unity in God himself, then there could be no unity in the complexity of the universe. There would be chaos and war in the universe if there were several powerful beings without unity. There would be chaos in the universe if it was an evolutionary accident.
What are the Distinctions between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
Each Person has different primary functions relating to the world.
- God the Father spoke the creative words to bring the universe into being.
- God the Son, the eternal Word of the Father, carried out the creative Work.
- The Holy Spirit hovered over the face of the waters, sustaining and manifesting the power of God in many activities.
In the work of redemption, God the Father planned the redemption. Jesus Christ, the Son obeyed the Father and accomplished redemption for us. And after Jesus returned to heaven, the Holy Spirit was sent by the Father and the Son to apply redemption to believers and to seal believers through eternity.
Why do the persons of the Trinity take these different roles?
Could they have exchanged roles?
No.
The role of commanding, directing and sending is appropriate to the position of the Father. The role of obeying, going as the Father sends and revealing God to us is appropriate to the position of the Son. The role of the Holy Spirit is appropriate for the Holy Spirit. These roles could not be reversed or the Father would cease to be the Father and the Son would cease to be the Son. And the Holy Spirit would have been distinctly different. Their roles are clearly eternal, not changeable or interchangeable. They are real persons with real relationships with one another. The only distinctions between the persons are in the ways they relate to each other and to the rest of creation.
Disagreements over Essentials or Non Essentials
Since humans are not perfect, all knowing, or all powerful, we must learn from God’s Word and Holy Spirit and teach one another what we have learned.
We must be able to ask questions about scripture and to have those questions answered. Even when we disagree, we learn from one another, even if it is only to learn that we disagree or that certain ideas are not valid. Many great truths of the scripture have been discovered while believers have studied together and disagreed over certain verses. Many times the disagreements have led to divisions in the church. Sometimes the points of disagreements are important, sometimes they have not been.
Romans 14:10 “Why do you look down on a (believing) brother? Remember, each of us will stand personally before the judgment seat of God.”
Romans 14:1-15:12 were warnings not to condemn or criticize one another on non-essential issues.
- Scripture warns us not to judge others by their appearance or stature or because they aren’t one of our group.
- We are not to judge others by their financial status, age or occupation.
- We are not to judge others because of race, culture or where they are from.
- In heaven, people from every tribe, tongue and nation will be worshiping God.
- We must begin loving others now.
- We are not to judge other believers for what they eat or drink or how they conduct their worship of God.
- We are not to add more rules to the commandments of God or to lay more burdens on people.
- We are not to criticize or quarrel with other Christians but instead we are commanded to love them.
People often quote the verse, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” But frequently, they do not know what that means. They forget about the verses that tell us to judge one another and to confess our sins to one another.1 Corinthians 5:3-13 tells us to judge sin inside the church. We are supposed to make judgments and take steps regarding immorality, lying, stealing, hating, idolatry, lust, murdering, deceiving, abortion, addictions, etc. God wants His people to repent from the bondage to sin. When we confront a brother in sin, we are to do it humbly, lest we also be tempted. Yet, it must be done. The church has clear commandments from God about the need for moral integrity.
And Christians are to judge doctrine. False doctrine is to be rejected.
And false teachers are to be rebuked and silenced. Titus 1:10-13
The only way to recognize false doctrine and false teachers is to study, KNOW and continue to study scripture for what it is literally saying.
“Let your teaching be so correct that it can’t be criticized.” Titus 1:8.
One cannot reject false doctrine if one does not know what good doctrine is.
Pastors are supposed to teach. False teachers do a lot of talking and writing but their words do not explain scripture, they actually confuse and refute what scripture says. The best way to spot false teachers is to see what they say about the identity of God, the identity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. If they have denied the Trinity, they are idolaters.
God is a Teacher and a Counselor. He intends for us to do the same for others; not to take His place but to model His character. Being a Christian isn’t just a role of giving information to others, it is to mentor how that information is converted to real life application. Scripture needs to be taught doctrinally and then applied in a Christian worldview of everyday behavior. Non Christians do not understand or agree with Christian worldview because they don’t understand Christian doctrines.
The church, though plural, is one also.
There are untold numbers of Christian churches around the world but we are One Church in God. God knows who are His. We do not always know. God does not work in isolation and neither does the church. Jesus said that tares would exist among the wheat and would not be separated until the time of judgment.
We don’t always know who is a true believer and who is not. If we tried to decide, we would probably throw out the wheat and keep the tares.
This does not mean that the church must not take a stand against sin or false doctrine. All the apostles warned against false teachers, false doctrines, heresies and sin. False teachers use false doctrines to prey on weak people and gain advantage over them. False teachers hide their sin to gain access into people’s lives and gain control over them. False teachers are idolatrous.
So, which doctrines are essential?
The Doctrine of the Word of God, The Doctrine of Divine Revelation, The Doctrine of Divine Inspiration, The Doctrine of God, The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, The Doctrine of Christ, The Doctrine of the Trinity, The Doctrine of Angels, The Doctrine of Man, The Doctrine of Assurance, The Doctrine of Redemption, The Doctrine of Grace, The Doctrine of Sin, The Doctrine of Repentance, The Doctrine of Regeneration, The Doctrine of Substitution, The Doctrine of Faith, The Doctrine of Adoption, The Doctrine of Christian Ethics, The Doctrine of Money, Possessions and Eternal Rewards, The Doctrine of Ministry, The Doctrine of Prayer, The Doctrine of Eternal Security, The Doctrine of the Church, The Doctrine of Satan and Demons, The Doctrine of Hell, Doctrine of Bodily Resurrection, Doctrine of Heaven, Doctrine of Rapture, Doctrine of White Throne Judgment, Doctrine of the Millennium, Doctrine of the Great Tribulation, The Doctrine of the Future, Making peace with a brother, How to scripturally confront an offender, and How to deal with conflict in the church, are just a few of the major doctrines and within each of those are sets of other doctrines.
All doctrines are essential to know because they support, balance and agree with one another. And once a person more fully understands the Bible, the more secure in salvation and more assured of God’s love one feels; the less likely one is to be deceived by false doctrines. The more scripture that has been assimilated into one’s life, the greater the transformation to the image of Christ. The more one knows scripture, the more convictions one has to share the blessings of God’s Word with others. The doctrines of the future are some which we won’t know for sure until certain prophetic statements come to pass. These things are considered less essential for salvation. It is essential to know, be prepared for and looking forward to the Rapture. When a doctrine is important to salvation and necessary for life, Scripture will be found to be full and clear. If a theme is not clear, then it isn’t to be made a point of dissension. The Bible does not contradict itself. If there seems to be a contradiction it is only because it has been misunderstood or misinterpreted.
- Doctrine is teaching deduced from scripture.
- Dogma is teaching laid down by church leaders and when contrary to Biblical doctrines, must be rejected.
What are the Marks of a true Church which would distinguish it from a false church?
In the early days, there was little question about which church could be called a church. But after the church spread out over the world and false teachers and false doctrines began to proliferate it became necessary to define a church.
- Different church fathers have attempted definitions:
- “The congregation of saints in which the gospel is rightly taught and the sacraments (baptism and Lord’s supper) are rightly administered.”
- “Wherever we see the Word of God purely preached and heard, and the sacraments administered according to Christ’s institution.”
These definitions sound pretty vague to someone who hasn’t been scripturally taught or doctrinally expounded. It might be easier to look at the statement of faith (doctrines) of each church and their purposes. The purpose of the church is to worship God, to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Colossians 3:16) and to minister to believers; to nurture those who believe and build them in maturity of understanding of scriptures. To equip the saints for the work of ministry, to teach the Bible for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and knowledge (doctrines) of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:12-13) And to minister to the world in evangelism and mercy. Jesus told his people to make disciples of all nations and accompanying the work of evangelism is the ministry of mercy, caring for the poor and needy in the name of the Lord. Love your enemies and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:35-36)
Whenever false teaching is promoted and believed Biblical doctrines will be ignored or perverted through distortion of scripture.
What and who we idolize slowly and subtly creeps into our lives when we blindly lean on them for support, strength, or daily subsistence.
The purpose of the false teachers is to promote themselves rather than Jesus Christ. Their purpose is to mentally isolate their followers rather than minister to the needy in the name of Jesus. We see this whenever people abandon faith in the Doctrine of the Trinity and promote salvation by human effort or some kind of mystical experience of some sort. Their God is changed, their gospel is changed and the purpose of the group is changed. Scripture will be taught in an allegorical fashion rather than literal. Little fictitious stories or stories which divert attention away from scriptures will be used to entertain people. The followers will be different from Christians in their behavior and often in their appearance. Harm will be done to the family, to the children and women. Men will fail in their spiritual leadership to the family. Immorality will become noticeable, albeit hidden as much as possible.
Followers of false teachers do not learn about the Bible, they simply obey the false teachers.
Life is not healthy or wholesome, it becomes weird.
People spin their wheels doing certain things over and over, with no purpose or results.
Followers (and their families) of false teachers often end in misery, sexual or substance abuse,
financial ruin, heartache or death.
What about judging people for having a church building for fellowship?
Christ never made a commandment about where the church should meet. And neither did Paul or any of the apostles. This rule created by William Irvine is unscriptural and unfounded in any scriptural doctrines. An example cannot be used to formulate a doctrine.
What about judging people for the kind of ministry they follow?
Christ rebuked the apostles for rejecting a man who was preaching Jesus and using Christ’s name to cast out demons. He said, “Don’t stop him! Anyone who is not against you is for you.” Luke 9:49-50. William Irvine’s attempt to start a 2x2 ministry based on Matthew 10 or Luke 10 does not have any scriptural or historical foundation. Those who say you are not saved unless you follow a 2x2 ministry are ignoring nearly every other commandment in that passage. They aren’t obeying what they claim to obey and they added to what Christ commanded.
They have been dishonest about their beliefs, history and activities for over 100 years.
The 2x2 fellowship is idolatrous, believing a false gospel.
They do not believe in or worship the God of the Bible and give more honor to their ministry than they do to God.
The fact that they reject Christians and Christian teaching shows that they have set themselves apart from Christ.
It isn’t their 2x2 ministry that is the problem, it is their false teaching and lack of scriptural understanding.
Made for Fellowship
www.EveryDayWithJesusBible.com
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship.
ACTS 2:42
A non-Christian psychologist said, "We can only get to know ourselves and others to the extent that we tune in to the heartbeat of the universe."
He was attempting to put into words one of the greatest truths of Scripture - namely, that it is only as we have fellowship with God that we can experience fellowship with ourselves and others.
What a pity he could not see that what he calls "the heartbeat of the universe" is the heart that was broken on the cross.
Isn't it sad that so many philosophers and scientists come so close to seeing the reality that lies behind the universe and yet, for some reason, sidestep the great issue of entering into a personal relationship with God?
They struggle to know the secrets of the cosmos, and yet miss the "open secret" of God's revelation through Christ which He laid bare at Calvary.
Instead, they try to achieve fellowship through psychological processes that leave the heart estranged.
The astonishing rise in our day of the "group therapy movement" testifies to the need of the human heart for fellowship. Almost every country in the world reports a rapid rise of small groups meeting together to encourage, confront, and stimulate one another toward good emotional health and maturity.
The world is waking up to the fact that we are made for fellowship. Oh, if only they could see that fellowship which does not begin with God, does not begin.
Daily Prayer:
Father, I am so thankful for the discovery that fellowship cannot be produced by trying but by trusting. It begins and ends with You. Take me deeper into Your heart that I might take others deeper into mine. For Jesus' sake. Amen.
