02/04/22 A PLAY ON WORDS

02/04/22 A PLAY ON WORDS

Q. WHAT IS A DOOR WHEN IT IS NOT CLOSED?
A. IT IS AJAR!
(Yes, I know I changed the riddle. But it seems appropriate for a comment that addresses the problem of people changing the word of God

Okay, some wordplay is silly. But some wordplay is dangerous. When people play games with God's word or the words God uses in His revelation, they are playing games with God's will and His way. Not only do people jeopardize their own well-being, but they are also endangering the spiritual and the eternal well-being of the people who trust them.

I should not have to point this out, but let me make it clear that I realize that English is not the same as Greek or Hebrew. In fact, English is not the same on both sides of the pond. However, when the Bible is translated then the legitimate intent is to put the ideas and or words of one language into the ideas and words of another language. If we are talking about the use of words, such as PERFECT, PERFECTION, HOLY, RIGHTEOUS, PURE, GOOD, then we must use those words in a way that agrees with the original usage and also as it is used in the translation.

If we don't use Biblical terms in Biblical ways then we won't have Biblical understanding.
If we use extra-Biblical terms for Biblical truths, there is a greater possibility that we will misrepresent Biblical truths.

"Perfect" is a good Biblical word to use when used in the Biblical context. However, Christians (for the most part in the western world), have allowed people with a dishonest theological agenda to prejudice them against God's word and God's plan concerning perfection in the Christian life. The gainsayers want to redefine the word, "Perfection," to mean what God never intended for the word to mean, and they want to rob the Biblical word, "Perfection," of the meaning God intended when He used the word.

There are Biblical passages that associate a given form of PERFECTION to believers (such as PERFECT LOVE). No place in the Bible calls for any believer to be Absolutely PERFECT, Angelically Perfect, or Adamically Perfect, and I have never known anyone who preaches such lunacy. Yet, I am often falsely accused of such nonsense, simply because I preach the Biblical view of Perfection; because I preach the unsearchable riches of God's grace that saves us from all sin, in this present evil world. People also attack the Biblical teaching about God's transforming grace and power that makes us more than triumphant conquerors in Christ.

Those with an errant agenda denounce Christians who seek to live godly lives as being self-righteous and legalistic. They deny that God's word enables anyone to obey God's commands.

These points also apply to other words and concepts in the Bible, such as; being HOLY, being PURE, being RIGHTEOUS, being GOOD, even though the Bible bears witness to such truths. Select verses are taken out of context and used as "proof" that no one is PERFECT, HOLY, PURE, RIGHTEOUS, GOOD, in the Biblical sense of the words.

PURITY is not the same as MATURITY, therefore they cannot always be used interchangeably, yet that is what some folks do, in their attack on Biblical truth. But remember, Jesus called His disciples to be perfect in love, even as our Father is perfect in love. Perfect means complete. In this passage, it does not mean complete in immensity. It means moral completeness, it means love without corruption. The passage does not call anyone to have the same quantity of love like God, but it does mean we should have the same quality of love as God.

There is a Biblical and clear meaning to the phrase, SIN NOT. We should understand God's thoughts and think God's thoughts behind Him, and we should communicate God's thoughts to others, clearly. Remember, Christ came to save us from our sins, not to save us in our sins.