No one can serve
two masters;
for either he will
hate the one
and love the other,
or else he will
be loyal to one
and despise the other.
You cannot serve
God and mammon.
God and mammon.
Matthew 6:24
Mammon is an Aramaic word derived from "mononas" that means "confidence" or "wealth." This word has a Hebrew relationship that signifying "to be firm," "steadfast,"that which is to be trusted." In the above passage and in Luke 16:9, 11,13, the word is personified. This verse is often applied to mean we should not have two gods, one God of the Bible and one of wealth; this is not a bad rendering, but not good hermeneutics as this verse is more that just about 'wealth." It is that we are to not serve or have confidence in anything else than God and if we have confidence in a Bible that is based upon heretical views we are not serving the God of the Bible who demands that we serve just Him. The Bible reveals to us God, not a notion of a God, not just information that there is a God, but truly He is revealed to us and His purpose for all His creation. Jesus Christ is God! The Nicene Creed (325-381A.D.) states: "We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And on one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made...." (Nicene Creed). So, when I speak of Christology, I am speaking about God, the Godhead that includes the Holy Spirit, and if our Christology is amiss, then our understanding of God is amiss, and our understanding of the Holy Spirit is amiss. When it is said that the Scriptures reveal us God, and when we say it reveals us Jesus Christ, we are saying the same thing and not two separate beings. Yes, Jesus Christ the Wisdom of God was clothed in our humanity, but not as being separate from God, but as having included in His incarnation both elements, man and God. Therefore, when false theology is transcribed into our Scripture, or false ideas about how to translate Scripture, and when our Bible are not the whole truth about Jesus Christ, then those transcriptions, translations, insertion of false presuppositions, make the Bible not to reveal to us the truth of God. We must know, from our knowledge of and our experiences in, that many Churches and Church leaders adhere to versions of the Bible that are derived, translated from those manuscripts that are full of heretical theology. Gnosticism is just one such heresy, there is Docetism, Donatism, Jewish influence to include Jewish practices, etc., all this was being fought by the early Church; but God has promised to preserve His word, and this He has done, even when the original letters, writings, were transcribed. Man was given by God a brain, and we are to use our brains, when man transcribed the Bible and made changes, most of them only in letters, or word placement, we are not taken away from our humanity and our mistakes, but we are still human, not robots, God is providential, and He is a promise keeper, and uses man, even frail man to accomplish His purpose, and the Bible is one such purpose for by it He is revealed to us. Therefore, it is right, a right thing to do, to examine those manuscripts, and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit we are able to determine what is wrong, what is a wrong insertion and what is correct. It is the Holy Spirit that guides such textural criticism and we must not sit back and tacitly accept all that is given to us as truth, we must not be just pew sitters, we must be active, and determine from such writings of those scholars what is correct and what is false. This is why this blog is considering the Bible. Once we can say with certainty that the Bible we read, and believe in is the truth, then our faith we grow and deepen, and our devotion to God will not have been diminished by heretical views.
Liberal theology has hurt the Church in many ways, notice if you will the increase of divorce among those that claim to be Christian, the allowance of homosexual persons to partake of the communion, to be leaders and teachers in some Churches, the lack of respect by congregants that would not dress the way they do for Church if they were to meet with such as the President of the United States, they seem to be lazy, they cannot even take a few extra minutes to dress appropriately for Church, to show respect and then expect their children to learn respect. When the doctrines of the Bible are filtered by heresy then this all we truly can expect. But is this what God expects? No! When we are told to keep the ten commandments; do you? Or, do you keep most of them; you say, 'I don't steal, don't lie, don't covet, don't bow down to images, (well that is determined by what is your god), don't murder, don't take the name of God in vain, (that may be so, but to take the name of God in vain is not to just use the name by cussing), all this may be true, but one command is often missed and abused: the Sabbath. How often do you park your boat outside of Church so that you can go boating when the service is ended? How often to you require others to serve you lunch, making them work when they should be in fellowship, in Church? How often do we not do what the Sabbath was designed by God, to rest, and keep the day holy (Exodus 20:8)? This laxity comes about when we have a Bible that teaches views about Jesus Christ that are demeaning in many ways to Him, and allow us to just accept Him in that diminished way. When other doctrines of the Bible are so diminished and taught in an inferior manner is when all these unScriptural practices are brought into the Church. To love God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit, we must have a Bible that teaches us the truth, and is infallible, a thing that many so-called Christian scholars have scoffed at, and have notions of God, His Son, the Holy Spirit that are not revealing to us God. May I ask this before I move on? What day do you set aside for God, to fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ?
There may be questions that you need answers, such things as one translation includes certain things, others leave those things out, making you wonder, which one is correct, and why are there such discrepancies? For instance, the Lord's Prayer and the doxology, "For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen," (Matthew 6:13b), which is to be found in the King James Bible, the New King James Version, and is absent in the New International Version, among others. Then there is Mark's last chapter, 16: 9-20, which is included in the King James Version, the New King James Version and in the New International Version there is a line below verse eight and a statement: (The two most reliable early manuscripts do not have Mark 16:9-20), is this true? Some versions leave those verses out completely, and only give so reference as to why. Maybe you have wondered why? Another is 1John 5:7: "For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit: and these three are One." When the Apostle Thomas cried out: "and Thomas answered and said to Him, 'My Lord and my God" (John 20:28)!
Do you believe the Bible to be the infallible word of God, or do you believe that the Bible has some truths and some errors, and that it is just a good book by which we should know and apply to our lives? What is your doctrine in regards to the Bible? How is your view of the Bible guiding your life? Is it legalistic to teach and hold Christians to follow the Bible's teaching as to how we are to live? All this is determined by our view and understanding of the Bible. If we say, as we do, that the Christian Bible is the Word of God and all other religious books are not, we had better not just mouth this opinion, we better know that what we say is true. I cannot go on and teach about the attributes of God until you fully have an understanding of the Bible. It is the Bible from where we are taught about the attributes of God and how we are to live. We are not to become holier than though Christians, we are to as St. Augustine so aptly states: "Love God, and live life." Who is this God you are to love? How are we to live life? All is contained in the Bible! I will address some of the supposed discrepancies that some scholars, pastors, teachers, are lowered the infallibility of the Bible, and teach us what is not true.
For it seemed good to the
Holy Spirit, and to us,
to lay upon you no greater
burden that these necessary
things: that you abstain from
things offered to idols,
from blood, from things strangled,
and from sexual immorality.
If you keep yourselves from
these, you will do well. Farewell.
Acts 15:28-29
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
Richard L. Crumb
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