auditive pet peeves
I'll tell you some auditive pet peeves of mine, stuff that irritates me and gets under my skin Those people who are always raving on about simply following Jesus apparently never sought to see how it is Biblically defined. They're USUALLY the let's-all-hold-hands-and-sing-kumbaya bunch. They get all flustered if they hear you tell-it-like-it-is from the Bible to someone else. I'm venting off steam because that happened to me a few days ago. Here am I witnessing to a good friend, to whom I had witnessed many times prior and often at his instigation. He appreciates my straight-forwardness and if he doesn't like someone he will place a couple of well-placed wry jabs that will leave you feelin' somethin'. So here comes a sister in the Lord whom I love very much, sits down, and hears me tell MY FRIEND that he needs to get out of the Catholic Church. So she undertakes to mitigate my words. Man, you would think Rome differed in nothing except organization from the BIBLE-BELIEVING churches which it burned and persecuted beyond measure AND WOULD DO AGAIN. I had to rule my spirit I'll tell you that because starting an argument with her before my friend would not have been the best testimony. Following Jesus is preaching the FOOLISHNESS AND OFFENCE OF THE CROSS AND RESISTING UNTO BLOOD. (1 Corinthians 1:23; Hebrews 12:4) Still wanna be a "follower of Jesus?" Use the expression, but please, pleeeeaaase live it. Now, this is not to advocate gratuiously hurting people's feelings, or going out of your way to offend them. That's not the biblical way (1 Corinthians 13:5) , but I mean come on! Quit you like men! (1 Corinthians 16:13)
Phrases like
"in the original languages..." or
You don't need the original manuscripts to be saved or better understand the Bible. People who think they do never actually exhaust studying the King James that they do have.
"the best and oldest manuscripts ..."
almost always refers to the corrupt Vaticanus and Sinaiticus
or
" A parable makes use of the physical world to teach a GENERAL truth"
Utter rubbish given that Jesus interprets two parables IN DETAIL
or
"THE important thing is that we are all the same because we are all Christians"
NOT IT IS NOT and NO WE ARE NOT. This kind of a phrase is often used to excuse one's conscience from standing up for THE BIBLICAL truth and seperation. The important thing is that we should be united in the Word of God. Unity should be qualified. Simon the sorcerer was NOT a Christian, neither were some other folks Paul and John refer to.
Saying "followers of Jesus" when refering to believers.
I understand the concern over the word "christian" which thanks to Rome the bloody whore, has taken on terrible connotation. But if you don't want to use a Biblical term (mentioned 3 times) then say "Bible-believers" for example.
Here's my beef with the expression AS IT IS USED
A) You are not saved by being a "follower of Jesus". It makes it sound like salvation by works.
B) it seems to boil down Biblical doctrine to "the golden rule". You are not saved by adhering to golden rule.
C) it makes Jesus sound like a humanistic philosopher. That brings up another thing, people who ALWAYS start a prayer with
"dear Jesus", or are always talking about "Christ". Christ this and Christ that. Very similar to the people of Jerusalem who were partly right
Matthew 21:10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?
:11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
Folks, you want to get His title right, and that's
Colossians 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
I'm not saying it is always wrong to thus address the Lord, but be weary of it always being the case. Don't slight the Great King's deity. Kapich?
D) It over-emphasizes Jesus as the Jewish Messiah who roamed the shores of Galilee; the same vein as the "What Would Jesus Do?" stuff.
No mature believer takes that stuff seriously. And you will notice that believers on the milk are often overly concerned with Christ's "lost years" between 12 and 30.
2Corinthians 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
That gave some scholars some hard time a few years back. They tried to build socio-cultural analyses of the Biblical writings because of that verse. Those "dedicated scholars" (another pet peeve) didn't believe enough Bible, like all nominal Christians, to fully understand that Christ is no more a little baby in his mother's bosom, or a lowly carpenter, but that He is the Lord of Glory and Prince of Life seated at the right hand of God the Father far above every power and name that you might care to mention.
Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his (GOD's) glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high
Ephesians 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
My pastor often refers to the orginal languages and it really irritates me.
With regard to Simon the Sorceror, I think he was a carnal Christian who had fallen into apostasy.
The Bible says he believed, without qualifying the expression. Therefore he was saved by grace. However, if he did not listen to Peter's warning he would have perished for his sin (but not gone to hell).
Every Blessing in Christ
Matthew
This is the Spirit of God that burns in you when you see or hear something wrong.
Just yesterday morning, in Sunday School, Pastor Larry talked about how it bothers Him when people pray "O God". Like He is just some general figure out there, and not the Heavenly Father that has redeemed and adopted us.
Thank you for posting that.
We should be careful not to adopt teachings that originate in JWs and the Church of God who try to mitigate God's anger by denying the existence of hell.
He was baptized so, he probably showed the apostles that he had given up sorcery. He is only called a sorceror before he believed.
The only reason that people think he was not saved is because he loved power, the world and misunderstood God's ways. Many Christians sin in that way.
If he was not truly saved, why did Peter not tell him to trust in Jesus Christ for salvation?
No, he warns him of God's judgment.
Simon's conduct is very much in the order of Ananias and Saphirah. In both cases it is love of the world.
In order to establish that Simon was unsaved, one must question what the Bible means when it says 'believe.'
The danger with doing that is that nobody can be sure that they have really believed. If were to find that I loved the world too much, as our sinful flesh leads us to do sometimes, I might then question whether I had really believed.
Believing is believing. If we believe in Christ for salvation, we are secure in him, even if we do fall back into sinful habits and thoughts.
Simon is an example to Christians of the possibility of God's judgment if we do not put away the love of the world.
Every Blessing in Christ
Matthew
The case of Simon the sorcerer is not like Ananias or Sapphira in the least fashion.
This man was full of the devil although never mind that he was baptized. His conversion was not geniune. Peter diagnozed him rightfully when he said (Note the caps):
Thy money PERSIH with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. 21 Thou hast NEITHER PART NOR LOT in this matter: for thy heart is NOT RIGHT in the sight of God. ... 23 For I PERCEIVE that THOU ARE IN THE GALL OF BITTERNESS, and in the BOND OF INIQUITY.
All Simon could reply was:
Pray ye to the LORD for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.
Pray ye for me? He couldn't even approach the Lord to ask forgiveness.
'15 and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.'
It may be that Simon was requesting an intercession of this kind. Whether he prayed to the Lord himself for forgiveness we do not know.
'Thy money PERSIH with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.'
Peter is talking about physical death, the Lord's judgment. He cannot be talking about hell, because money cannot go to the grave with a person, but it can suffer physical destruction.
'Thou hast NEITHER PART NOR LOT in this matter: for thy heart is NOT RIGHT in the sight of God. ... '
Is a believer's heart always right with God? No. If we fall into the love of the world and become a 'double-minded man' like in James 1:8, we can receive nothing from the Lord.
In that part of the dispensation, the reception of the Holy Spirit came after conversion. Because of his sinful heart attitude, Simon had no part in receiving the Pentecostal experience (not eternal life, that is not even mentioned).
We are told in Acts 8:13 that Simon believed. If he was unsaved, then beleived means something other than 'believe' in the normal sense. The burden of proof lies upon one denying his salvation to show what 'believed' in Acts 8:13 really means.
The danger with saying that he was not really a believer is that a Christian can easily wonder if his faith is not really faith at all but some kind of 'false faith' that Simon supposedly had.
Every Blessing in Christ
Matthew
Simon's belief falls in the following category (just like Judas):
James 2:19 - Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also BELIEVE, and tremble.
Are devils saved?
No way.
Peter's words to the sorcerer are very telling. This is God's summary dismissal of his faith.
All Simon could reply was:
Pray ye to the LORD for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.
Pray ye for me? He couldn't even approach the Lord to ask forgiveness.
Christians always ask fellow CHristians to pray for them. Even this extreme case is applicable. When David sinned, he asked NAthan to speak to the Lord on his behalf. Does that prove that David was not a "believer" (in whatever sense this word has been decided to mean.)?
As for the entire discussion, I would agree with Consecrated. THe judgements deemed by Peter would not be accorded to a true Christian because Christ's forgiving blood stands in the way. As Consecrated quoted, Simon was bound by iniquity. Is any Christian bound by iniquity? That is the very thing that the crucifiction freed us from. Saying Simon was a Christian regardless of that statement seems to mitigate the value of the cross before the Judge.
James' remark is a sarcastic comment that he uses to make a point. Chapter 2 of James is addressed to genuine believers in Christ who have saving faith. Teh whole discussion of the subject presupposes that his readers will understand what is meant by faith. Thus, there is nothing in the context of James chapter 2 to suggest that he is talking about some kind of false faith.
If there is a false, insincere faith, how can anybody be sure that they really believe? This is a dangerous idea.
What Peter says to Simon could be said to a believer walking in disobediance.
Christ died and rose to provide us with eternal life and to save us from hell. However, if we walk in the flesh, we will die, not spiritually, but physically.
A Christian can be in the bond of iniquity if he falls into immoraliy or is caught up in addictions. The lusts of the flesh can destroy a Christian who does not walk in the spirit.
Every Blessing in Christ
Matthew
Matthew,
If the Word of God cannot convince you that the man has neither part nor lot in this matter because (and I stress) his heart was not right before God, I cannot convince you that his heart was right.
I do not take away from the grace of God, nor do I dismiss the fact that truly saved Christians can be caught up in the temptations of this world, but it remains a fact that many wolves come into the church with sheep clothing. We cannot be naive about it.
Jesus said not everyone who calls me Lord will enter the Kingdom. He even goes on to say that many people will tell me in that day, Lord have we not done this and that in your name. But the Lord will answer "depart from me" you evil doers. I never knew you.
This Simon did not know the Lord.
I am not denying that his heart was not right. That is clear. However, his heart was wrong because of his bad attitude, not because he had not trusted in Christ. Essentially you are doing eisegesis, that is reading somethign into the Bible that is not clearly there.
We are not saved by knowing the Lord, we are saved by believing in Him. The verse you cite talks about the Lord knowing or not knowing people, not our knowing Him.
Knowing involves a relationship, rather than just simple knowledge and belief. This was absent in Simon.
The really sad thing is that there must be millions of Christians out there who are genuinely saved, many in Christian leadership, who have the same wicked attitude as Simon.
Yes, there are unsaved false teachers, however these are known by their fruits, namely there false doctrine.
We cannot combat these wolves by confusing the clear message of Scripture that he that 'beleiveth on the Son hath everlasting life.'
Once we start splitting hairs about what consitutes belief, we open the door for false teachers like John F MacArthur to insist that belief must involve works.
Every Blessing in Christ
Matthew
I personally agree with Leila and Rev.
"Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done." (Acts 8:13)
The Greek word, pisteuo, used for "believe" means "an intellectual faith; to think to be true, to be persuaded of; to credit." Same word used in James 2:19.
20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
21Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
22Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
23For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.
gall (chole) = wormwood
bitterness (pikria) = extreme wickedness
bond (sundesmos) = that which is bound together, a bundle
iniquity (adikia) = unrighteousness of heart and life
Ouch! Peter's scathing reply needs to make one stop and think.
That is also a pet peeve of mine (though I have been guilty of such things in the past).
Thanks for this post! Great discussion topics.
I fear sometimes that too much free grace theology can blind our eyes to the reality of the sinfulness of some. We should be able to draw the line between wickedness and carnal weakness.
Sorcerers and witches should be stoned to death, the Bible teaches. And yes you could argue that is Old Testament teaching, but I have yet to read of one true case of conversion of someone who practiced witchcraft. Normally people who do have a pact with the devil.
Matthew agreed with me Jesus did not die to save devils.
I insist Simon was a wicked one. Historically speaking, Simon the sorcerer is reported to have gone down to Alexandria, Egypt and contributed to propagating a false gospel.