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Liberty Advocate http://www.libertyadvocate.com
Know the Truth
by
Karen Pansler-Lam, J.D.
Do you know the truth?
How many times have you read the Bible from cover to cover?
Do you know the truth about the Scripture
"Judge not, that ye be not judged"? Do you know the truth about repentance? Do you know the truth about forgiveness? Do you know the truth about rebuke? Do you know the truth? There
is only one way to know the truth. Jesus
exhorts us to study His Word to know the truth: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my
disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall
make you free” (John 8: 31, 32). Notice that
Jesus exhorts us to “continue in my word.” To
continue is to be continuous, or unceasing.
In other words, we must never stop studying His Word to know the
truth. We must zealously persist in an ongoing study of the Word of God if
we want to know the truth. The
more we earnestly read the Bible, the more we are filled with the
knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God! Romans 11:33
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it,
do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with
the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
Colossians 1:9 If we do not read the Bible, we are spiritually ignorant.
And we misunderstand and misuse Scriptures. My dear friend, how many times have
you read the Bible
from cover to cover? Let
me share with you an e-mail I sent to my family a few weeks ago.
First, let me give you a little background about my response. . . In
a sister’s family Christmas letter, she insists that as Christians we
must forgive those who have wronged us even if they refuse to repent.
She quotes “Judge not” and other Scriptures dealing with
forgiveness. However, all quoted Scriptures are taken out of context and
encourage a false gospel - a gospel of forgiveness without repentance.
Here
is the e-mail response I sent to my family reproving the false gospel of
forgiveness without repentance: Dear Family, The Bible clearly teaches us
that repentance comes before forgiveness.
The word “repent” Just as Jesus does not forgive
us our sins unless we repent, He does not teach or preach Have you not read Jesus’ words
in Luke 17:3, 4? 3:Take heed to yourselves:
If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he
4:And if he trespass against
thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn Of course, in verse 4 the
brother is not committing the same trespass seven times.
They Jesus
also explains in Matthew 18 the procedure when someone sins against us: 15:
Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his
fault 16:
But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in
the mouth 17:
And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he
neglect to Moreover, the Scriptures quoted
in Darlene’s letter must be studied in the context of the 1:Judge
not, that ye be not judged. 2:For
with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye
mete, it 3:And
why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest
not the 4:Or
how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine
eye; and, 5:Thou
hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt
thou see This
is one of the most misused Scriptures in the Bible because people do not
read beyond Jesus said: “If ye continue in
my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall You
will never know the truth unless you read the Bible over and over again. How
many times have you have read the entire Bible from cover to cover?
It
would be a good New Year's resolution for 2010 to read the Bible from
cover to cover! My dear friend, it is doubtful that any of my family has ever read the Bible from cover to cover. And how many times have you heard professing Christians misuse or misunderstand Scriptures because they take them out of context? Many Christians present Christ as a non-judging, weak, spineless, cowardly, soft, irresolute and unmanly Saviour who holds no man or woman to God's commandments. In other words, they misrepresent Jesus Christ as no respecter of persons: He forgives the obedient and the disobedient. But we know that this is a lie – a false Christ. Disobedient Christians are false Christians. Only those who repent of their sins and perform works evidencing repentance are true Christians: Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance. Matthew 3:8 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bringeth forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Matthew 7:17 –20
Christ warns us He will judge false Christians: Not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Matthew 7:21 - 23 We must read the Bible and pray for Divine revelation to know the truth. My dear friend, today there are friends, family,
preachers, pastors, and evangelists preaching and teaching many lies - false gospels. You must read
the Bible and meditate on the Holy Scriptures to have a true understanding
of Christ and Christianity. You
must read and meditate on God’s Word to know the truth: Jesus saith unto him, I
am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by
me. John 14:6 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into
all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall
hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
He shall glorify me: for he shall
receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
John 17:17 If ye continue in
my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall Listen, my dear friend, Jesus clearly exhorts us to study the Word of God if we want to know the truth and be set free from the bondage of lies and sin. Notice that Jesus says if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. This is a conditional promise: IF you continue in my word, THEN you are my disciples; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. In the negative: if you don't read God's Word, you don't know the truth: you're in bondage to a false gospel. Therefore, you're not a disciple of Christ. Again, many family, friends, preachers, teachers,
pastors, and evangelists are preaching and teaching lies - false
gospels. And Paul warns us in
his letter to the Galatians that those who preach a false gospel are
accursed: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel unto you than which we have preached unto you, let him be
accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any
other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed”
(Galatians 1:8, 9). Do
you know the true gospel? Do you know the truth? How many times have you read
the Bible from cover to cover? My husband and I read along silently
as we listen to Alexander Scourby read the King James Version of the Bible
on CD. Listening to someone properly read the Bible helps us
focus on the Scriptures, deepens our understanding of what we are
reading, brings out the beauty of the written Word, and makes reading the
Bible enjoyable. The Word really comes to life. For
example, when Scourby reads Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, you really
feel as though you are sitting in ancient Corinth and a Christian brother
is reading aloud Paul’s letter to the church. How
many times have you read the Bible from cover to cover? In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he
exhorts: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (II
Timothy 2:15). Again, do you know the truth? My dear friend, will you
read and study the Bible from cover to cover?
Liberty Advocate http://www.libertyadvocate.com January 2010
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