Christ Assembly │ The Spirits Opposed to Scripture
The Miracle of Inspiration
Part Six
The Spirits Opposed to Scripture
If you do not recall a day in your life when you received eternal life as a free gift from Jesus, then this article will not make sense to you. Please click the eternal life button now and learn more about finding peace with God and being born again today.
As saints in Christ, we struggle against rulers, powers and world forces of darkness, and the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). If we believe that earth alone bears the effects of sin, then we fail to understand the Scripture. Sin apparently started in the heavenly places before the creation of man, because Satan tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:3-5). Satan had already fallen in sin, before he tempted Adam and Eve. The wicked influence Satan and his spiritual forces of darkness not only spread evil over the world, but also spread evil in heaven. Part of his evil spiritual power has been directed toward the Word of God. Satan works to destroy the knowledge of God and the power of God (Matthew 12:29).
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
1 Timothy 4:1
The Gist Theory of Inspiration. As we have seen, the gist theory of inspiration describes the view that the writers of the New Testament only communicated the “gist” of the message of Jesus Christ, and not His actual words. Some of those people teach at seminaries, while others teach in the local church. So often, people look at the person doing the teaching, and because they like the person, they overlook the teaching. In the New Testament, both the teacher and the teaching must be scrutinized (1 Timothy 4:16; Acts 17:11; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; Acts 20:28-30; 1 John 2:19; 1Timothy 4:1). When a well-respected teacher spreads error, then that teacher must be corrected in love, but then silenced if he persists in spreading wicked lies (Titus 1:10-11).
Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
2 Corinthians 11:15
The Motives under Error. Since God actually communicated all the sayings of Jesus with verbatim accuracy, why would anyone stray away from that truth? Anyone teaching error does so from impure motives, because they have substituted their own judgment for the revelation from God. Satan and his minions may appear as angels of light (2 Corinthians 11:13-15), and he wraps his lies around God’s truth to pervert the truth (1 Timothy 4:1-5), but believers must be careful to test the spirits (1 John 4:1-3), and to stand firmly upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Motives always matter, but each person should examine their motives from God’s Word. We should all start with self-examination.
All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the LORD weighs the motives.
Proverbs 16:2
But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.Matthew 15:18
The Heart of the Matter. The Lord Jesus Christ elaborated upon this relationship between the heart and actions. He taught His disciples that “the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man” (Matthew 15:18). Everyone who teaches “gist” inspiration does so from his heart. What they say with their mouth flows from their hearts. I understand that you may have great respect for some people who teach that the Bible is not truthful, but all claims that try to impeach the truthfulness of God’s Word, or impugn the veracity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit must be exposed for what they are: errors. The truth does not depend upon who said it, or what motives underlie their error. The motives for their words only reflect the evil in their hearts that motivates them to speak evil. Ponder carefully what the passages above say about how our words, our heart, and our motives all relate to one another.
Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
John 17:17
Truth and Motives. Jesus proclaimed in many ways that the Word of God is truth (for example, John 17:17). Jesus also personalized the truth when He declared: “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me (John 14:6). As we will see below, the doctrine of verbal, plenary inspiration does not depend upon motives, but stands apart from motives. The truth will always be the truth, no matter who acknowledges it or recognizes it. Likewise, error will always be error, no matter who propagates it or why they propagate it. Take for example the person who teaches that God loves the entire world (John 3:16). Imagine that same person teaches that we do not need evangelism because a loving God will not send anyone to hell for eternal punishment. Some people would argue he teaches from a pure motive, but actually he teaches from an evil motive. The Scripture clearly teaches that all men have sinned (Romans 3:23) and deserve death (Romans 6:23). Indeed, the wrath of God abides upon everyone who sins and does not obey Jesus Christ by being born again (John 3:36). The lost need faith, which comes by hearing. Without a messenger to preach to them, they will cannot hear (Romans 10:14-17). So we must spread the Gospel so everyone may hear, and those appointed to salvation shall receive eternal life (Acts 13:48). Without the Gospel being preached, salvation dos not come. So, while a teacher may claim they spread God’s love by claiming all the world will go to heaven, in fact, that teacher proclaims the doctrines of demons and attacks the church and deludes the world. Indeed, the church faces all kinds of spiritual attacks. In the same way, every believer promoting a “gist” theory of inspiration should be confronted in love, and if unrepentant, removed through the disciplinary process of the church from teaching and fellowship with the brethren, until he has confessed his sin and returned to sound doctrine.
So we learn about the inspiration of the Word of God today.
● The Word of God means that every person who denies the spiritual integrity of the Word of God does so from an impure heart.
● The Word of God provides direction for confronting false teachers, and following a pattern of discipline to remove them from teaching positions, until they repent and confess sound doctrine.
● The Word of God promotes love among the believers and God sanctifies His people through the ministry of the Word of God and its truth.
Application for Today
I want to be careful to respect the Word of God and let it sanctify my heart in Christ Jesus. I intend to encourage others to believe the Word of God, and to respect it as a communication from God. Will you let God use His Word to sanctify your life today?
