Biblical Illiteracy

And how what we know, or don't know, about God's word can lead to condemnation and destruction | Random Thoughts | Jesus Christ | Christianity

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Love God, Love His Word

The Conversation that Sparked this Post

Our neighbor, who loves Jesus, shared what a friend of hers had recently said, and I was shocked.

For a bit of background, our neighbor is—in our eyes—a modern-day Job. She tragically lost every member of her nuclear family: Husband and all young adult children.

Think about that.

Despite her very profound losses she still loves God with passion, proclaims Jesus, and serves her neighbors and friends selflessly in His name. And, she loves God’s word.

This was our conversation this past week:

Neighbor (N): “My friend said that I lost my husband and my children because that was a part of the contract I signed with God before I was born.”

Me: “What? Your friend said what?”

N: That I lost my family, that my husband and my children died, because of a contract I had signed with God before I was born.”

Me: “That’s not biblical, not biblical at all.”

N: “That’s what I think, too. But, why would she say that to me?”

Me: “Is your friend a Mormon?”

N: “Funny you’d ask that. Yes, she’s a Mormon.”

If you’re a not-yet follower of Jesus Christ, please come along on this journey with us. You are welcome here.

And, I invite you to read my series on the book “What Does God Want?”.

After I recovered from the shock of what her friend said, something so heartless, so weird, the Holy Spirit quietly reminded me that biblical illiteracy is not only “a thing”, it’s something we who are Jesus followers need to shout from the roof tops to others:

Don’t be illiterate!
Know the Bible! Know God’s word!
Know His eternal life!

Members of “Christian cults” (e.g., Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc.) may read the Bible but they don’t rightly divide God’s word of truth. No one “signs a contract with God” before they’re born. This isn’t in the Tanakh (Old Testament) and it’s certainly not in the New Testament. It’s a horrible lie straight from our enemy.

As God Leads You, Please Share

As faithful Jesus followers, dear readers, you may already know about biblical illiteracy. You may know of the lies people come up with regarding God’s word. You may have debated some of these people. You understand, and care about, the issue of biblical literacy. But, not everyone cares, and that includes others who call themselves believers in Jesus. Our enemy takes advantage of this carelessness, deceiving even those who call themselves followers of Jesus and go to churches that teach from the Bible.

Please, feel free to share this post with others to shine the light on biblical illiteracy.

Biblical Illiteracy Distorts God’s Word

This list is only three of many ways our enemy can (and will) take advantage of a person’s faulty knowledge of God’s word:

• Asking “Did God really say?”

• Adding to God’s word

• Twisting God’s Truth through Deception

Did God Really Say?

Our enemy has been using this phrase, this “argument”, since the entire history of humanity, beginning in the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 3:1 (BSB)
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”

The enemy misquoted Yahweh, who did not say “any tree”. Biblical literacy, knowing what God has actually said and living it, will keep people from damnation and eternal condemnation. The woman corrected the enemy’s “Did God really say?” approach, but sadly something else occurred in her response.

Adding to God’s Word

Genesis 3:2-3 (BSB)
2 The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, 3 but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’”

Eve added something God did not say: “or you will die”. The enemy grabbed onto that addition, and used it against them. We need to watch ourselves, that we do not add to what God has clearly said. We also need to call out teachers who add to God’s word what He never meant; anything contrary to His truth. If we don’t call them out, then the enemy could use the “addition” to lead listeners away from God’s saving truth.

Twisting God’s Truth through Deception

Genesis 3:4-5 (BSB)
4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent told the woman. 5 “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Our enemy knows God’s word. Look at how he tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness with “It is written….”. In the Garden of Eden, the enemy twisted God’s truth to deceive the Lord’s precious human image bearers. He twisted the humans’ understanding of what God had said. The enemy’s deception led them to disobey God. They immediately suffered the consequences of their disobedience: Sin, death, and separation from the God who created them.

Condemnation. Destruction.

Heart breaking.

Today’s Examples

Here are a few things others who misinterpret God’s word say due to biblical illiteracy:

• “Love your neighbor” becomes “accept everything your neighbor believes or does”

• “Do not judge” becomes “you can’t tell me I’m a sinner because you’re a sinner, too”

• “God so loved the world” becomes “I can continue in my sin because He loves me”

Each one of the statements after the word “becomes” are statements that, sadly, leave people lost in their sins. Biblical literacy in what and how we teach reveals the true God to them and leads them to His saving grace through Jesus Christ. Biblical literacy reveals the One who took their sins upon Himself, and Whose power can—and will—transform them into new creations by the will of Father God.

How would you respond to the statements in the list above?

Here’s a YouTube “Short” video that’s great at showing biblical literacy in action. Watch as this Christian scholar answers a student’s question:

“Why would you choose to worship a creator God who forbade men to actually eat from the tree of knowledge, one which you have obviously eaten from, because you are a rather knowledgeable man. Why would you choose to worship this sort of deity who would have kept you down?”

I love this demonstration of how knowing the full counsel of God, and lovingly declaring the truth of His word, shuts down biblical illiteracy and shatters the lies of the enemy.

The enemy steals, kills, and destroys.

God and His word bring life, “and that more abundantly” in Jesus alone.

Your Turn

Here’s a suggested five-day “study plan” for you this week. Choose whatever you can read based on your schedule; no pressure to do all five days. If only one day, that’s fine; then pray the remainder of the week, asking God how you can increase your biblical literacy, and how you can encourage fellow believers to do the same.

Day 1

Watch this video [3 mins 19 secs] and take notes on what jumps out at you. Then, pray over your notes and ask your Abba Father for His specific wisdom for you, and what He would like you to do in response.

Day 2

Open your hard copy or online Bible and read the entire book of 2 Timothy. Then, pray over this well-known verse (you may already have memorized it):

2 Timothy 3:16 (BSB)
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.

Pray and ask your Abba Father what He would like you to do so that you are fully equipped for every good work.

Day 3

Open your hard copy or online Bible and read Hosea chapter 4, and then focus on this verse:

Hosea 4:6 (BSB)
6 My people are destroyed
for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,
I will also reject you as My priests.

Since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I will also forget your children. [Emphasis in bold mine]

Ask yourself the hard question: “Have I forgotten God’s word?” Pray and ask your Abba Father to guide you into His truth. Make it your daily goal to set aside quiet time with Him in His word.

Day 4

Open your hard copy or online Bible and read Luke 4:1-3, the account of Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness and the enemy’s attempts to use God’s word against our Lord. Select this link to read Luke 4:1-3. When you’re done, ask yourself:

“How would I respond to someone who says ‘It is written’ and quotes scripture to justify something that’s not God’s will?”

Pray throughout this day, asking your Abba Father for His wisdom, knowing and trusting He will provide. Write down how He answers and guides you.

Day 5

Open a new browser window (or browser tab) and select this link to go to BibleHub’s Topical Bible on the topic “Reading God’s Word”.

Pray as you read, and ask your Abba Father to guide you to one scripture, or one concept, on the page. Then, ask why you think He guided you to that verse or that text, and ask yourself how will you apply it to your life.

Maranatha, come (again) Lord Jesus.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Conversation & Community

This is a long post. Let us know what did God speak to you as you read it.

If you have encouragement for others, please feel free to share it.

As always, feel free to send me an email:

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