13
Good Words Vs. God's Word
Jon Burgess30But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”31Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. Galatians 4:30-31
When the Apostle Paul was making his point about the freedom of the new covenant in Christ versus the old covenant to the church in Galatia he didn't just give them his words, he gave them God's Word. He was following the pattern of His Savior Jesus who, being The Word, quoted the words of the Old Testament around 50 times as recorded in the New Testament. The farther we stray from the Scripture the easier it is to get away from The Truth. All it takes is a little bit at a time and then before we know it, we have traded the truth for a lie. How? It always sounds good. It always seems right. It always feels like what we want to believe instead of the truth. It's just a little bit at a time. It's the Devil and the garden twisting God's Words with Eve and trading them for his good words, "you can be like God". It's the Devil in the wilderness taking scripture out of context to tempt Jesus who was hungry and thirsty after 40 days of fasting. It's the little variations of the truth that deceive the masses. It's why Paul writes in the very next chapter, "7You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?8That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.9“A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” (Gal. 5:7-8).
It's so interesting that today's reading would ask the question, "What do the Scriptures say". This is exactly the question that came to my mind after reading an article last night out of the Christian Post. Pastor Michael A. Walrond Jr, one of New York City's most influential pastor who leads the more than 10,000-member First Corinthian Baptist Chruch in Harlem told his church that it's insane to believe that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. Here's the exact quote, "There was a time when you would see people in the pulpit say, 'well, if you don't believe in Jesusyougoing to Hell. That's insanity in many ways because that is not what Jesus even believes. And so the key is you believe in God. And whatever your path is to God I celebrate that. Personally I celebrate that...". His argument goes on to say that God wants to bring us all together and therefore Christianity should not be a source of division. The fact that Pastor Walrond could get up and be proud of the fact that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is no longer preached at his pulpit is appalling and frightening to me. Jesus Himself preached that He is The Way, not a way, The Truth, not a truth, The life, not a life. There is no other way to the Father except through Jesus. Buddhawon't get a person to The Father. Muhammud won't get a person to The Father. Confuscious won't get a person to The Father. Mother Mary won't get a person to The Father. Only One can and His name is Jesus. This automatically means that there willbedivision between those who believe in Jesus and those who don't. To be united in our deception is not a unity I'm going to promote. What does Scripture say, "34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.35For I have come to turn“ ‘a man against his father,daughter against her mother,a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ (Matthew 10:34-36). These good words sound good to the ears but are destructive to the soul. Sadly, the influence of this pastor is not a little leaven, but an entire lump of good words straying from God's Word!
Lord, I thank You for this discipline of Life Journaling that keeps me in Your Word every day. I pray that I would not stray or be deceived by the good words of influential people around me. Let me test everything by the plumb line of Your Word. You are true and everything else is a lie. Please open Pastor Walrond's eyes and the eyes of his church to say how dangerous these good words are.
