THE BIBLE IS A TEXTBOOK, NOT A RULE BOOK by Deirdre A reprint from June 16, 2014 Many people view the Holy Bible as a rule book, hence ignoring 2 Timothy 3:16, which tells us that the Bible is a textbook. ““All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” – 2 Timothy 3:16. The fact that the bible is a textbook and NOT a rule book is made clearer by Proverbs 6:23 which tells us that the way of life is reproof of instruction. For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life, - Proverbs 6:23 SO WHAT DOES REPROOF OF INSTRUCTION MEAN? It means that we are to criticize and analyze the case studies given to us in the Bible just like we would criticize and analyze problems and case studies in any other text book. Using a textbook model, I am able to view the bible in 3 major categories: The work of God the Father, the Work of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. 1) God the Father gave us law and prophecy about law. 2) Jesus Christ served as the model. He lived the life which was the example of how we are to apply Gods law in our own lives. Jesus also gave us prophecy of future examples. 3)The Holy Spirit worked through the Apostles to produce case studies to test our knowledge and understanding of God’s law; how to discern truth from lie; and how to apply God’s law to our daily life; in addition to more prophecy. If you look at the Bible in light of it being a Textbook and NOT a Rule book, it becomes easier to see which of the Apostles teaching should be followed, and which should NOT be followed. For example it is easy to criticize Pauls work because the bulk of Pauls teaching is NOT consistent with Gods law. This does NOT mean that all of Pauls work is false, on the contrary -- we must test Pauls work to see if it is true. The methodology that I use to determine if what Paul says is true, is to see if I can make the same argument that Paul makes using only quotes from God the Father or Jesus Christ. If I cannot find any scripture that corroborates what Paul says -- that is any scripture where God is saying what Paul says -- then I know what Paul is saying is a lie, because Paul has NOT been authorized to add to or take away from Gods word. Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you. - Deuteronomy 4:2 Jesus also reiterated what the Father said in Deuteronomy 4:2. Jesus gave explicit instruction to the Apostles to teach ONLY what Jesus commanded. Jesus did NOT give the Apostles authority to teach something IN ADDITION TO or INSTEAD OF what Jesus Commanded. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore[a] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. - Matthew 28:18-20 So if Jesus did NOT previously command it, the Apostles had NO AUTHORITY to teach it. Paul is the one Apostle that stepped out of the boundaries of his authority, especially, when Paul started teaching from his own opinion. That is why I know that if Paul teaches something that Jesus DID NOT TEACH, then Pauls teaching is NOT to be followed. SO IN CONCLUSION, THE POINT OF THIS ARTICLE IS TO TELL YOU THAT EVERYTHING IN THE BIBLE IS NOT MEANT TO BE FOLLOWED! THE BIBLE IS NOT A RULE BOOK, IT IS A TEXTBOOK. SOME OF THE TEACHINGS IN THE BIBLE WERE PUT THERE SIMPLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF TESTING YOU - TO TEST WHETHER YOU ARE GOING TO OBEY GODS LAW! Paul himself wrote: For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. - 2 Corinthians 2:9 and we know Paul speaks the truth in 2 Corinthians 2:9 because God says: Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. - Exodus 16:4
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 14:31:32 +0000
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