Most Misused Bible Verse

Since I've become a Reformed Christian, I have learned to pay very close attention to how Scripture is to be used in context. D. James Kennedy use to say that "a text without a context is a pretext". Many Christians treat Scripture like a self help book, quoting passages as platitudes, life verses, or anything except as the Word of the Living God, given to us for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.

Prompted by a recent board discussion, I thought this would be a valuable poll. (Perhaps you have caught yourself misusing some of these scriptures, and this poll will help you to consider the context of Scripture and increase understanding.)

I have included ten and the list goes as follows:

“Touch not my anointed ones…” (1 Chronicles 16:22) (Used by false prophets and charlatans to shield themselves from criticism).

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) (Used by modern “wonderful plan” evangelicals for promising vain temporal blessings to potential converts. Jeremiah 21:10 is not quite as popular. Works well in America, but not so well in Sudan.)

“Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!" And God granted what he asked.” (1 Chronicles 4:10) (See above. Also popular in the Word Faith movement.)

“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,” (Philippians 3:13) (Used by many churches to justify not dealing with problems or sin in the church.)

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matthew 18:20) (Used to ignore church government or as justification by many to start their own church.)

“Judge not, that you be not judged.” (Matthew 7:1) (A favorite of non-believers and antinomian church goers to justify their own wickedness.)

“My kingdom is not of this world…” (John 18:36) (Used as an excuse by spineless Christians to draw back into cultural retreat.)

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23) (Used to make light of sin, i.e. “Don’t feel guilty over your sin. After all, everybody does it.”)

“He who sits in the heavens laughs…” (Psalms 2:4) (This is speaks for itself. See how it is used in this article.)

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28). (Used to support egalitarianism in marriage and for the ordination of female pastors.)

I'm sure that this is not an exhaustive list. Feel free to add others and the way that they are misused.

What is the most misused Scripture in the Bible?
	1 Chronicles 16:22
	Jeremiah 29:11
	1 Chronicles 4:10
	Philippians 3:13
	Matthew 18:20
	Matthew 7:1
	John 18:36
	Romans 3:23
	Psalms 2:4
	Galatians 3:28
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Christ's Love to Poor Sinners

By Thomas Brooks

Let us stand still, and admire and wonder at the love of Jesus Christ to poor sinners; that Christ should rather die for us, than for the angels. They were creatures of a more noble extract, and in all probability might have brought greater revenues of glory to God: yet that Christ should pass by those golden vessels, and make us vessels of glory,-oh, what amazing and astonishing love is this! This is the envy of devils, and the admiration of angels and saints.

The angels were more honourable and excellent creatures than we. They were celestial spirits; we earthly bodies, dust and ashes: they were immediate attendants upon God, they were, as I may say, of his privy chamber; we servants of his in the lower house of this world, farther remote from his glorious presence: their office was to sing hallelujahs, songs of praise to God in the heavenly paradise; ours to dress the garden of Eden, which was but an earthly paradise: they sinned but once, and but in thought, as is commonly thought; but Adam sinned in thought by lusting, in deed by tasting, and in word by excusing. Why did not Christ suffer for their sins, as well as for ours? or if for any, why not for theirs rather than ours? 'Even so, O Father, for so it pleased thee,' Mat. xi. 26. We move this question, not as being curious to search thy secret counsels, O Lord, but that we may be the more swallowed up in the admiration of the 'breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.'

The apostle, being in a holy admiration of Christ's love, affirms it to pass knowledge, Eph. iii. 18, 19; that God, who is the eternal Being, should love man when he had scarce a being, Prov. viii. 30, 31, that he should be enamoured with deformity, that he should love us when in our blood, Ezek. xvi., that he should pity us when no eye pitied us, no, not our own. Oh, such was Christ's transcendent love, that man's extreme misery could not abate it. The deploredness of man's condition did but heighten the holy flame of Christ's love. It is as high as heaven, who can reach it? It is as low as hell, who can understand it? Heaven, through its glory, could not contain him, man being miserable, nor hell's torments make him refrain, such was his perfect matchless love to fallen man. That Christ's love should extend to the ungodly, to sinners, to enemies that were in arms of rebellion against him, Rom. v. 6, 8, 10; yea, not only so, but that he should hug them in his arms, lodge them in his bosom, dandle them upon his knees, and lay them to his breasts, that they may suck and be satisfied, is the highest improvement of love, Isa lxvi. 11-13.

That Christ should come from the eternal bosom of his Father, to a region of sorrow and death, John i. 18; that God should be manifested in the flesh, the Creator made a creature, Isa. liii. 4; that he that was clothed with glory, should be wrapped with rags of flesh, 1 Tim. iii. 16; that he that filled heaven, should be cradled in a manger, John xvii. 5; that the God of Israel should fly into Egypt, Mat. ii. 14; that the God of strength should be weary; that the judge of all flesh should be condemned; that the God of life should be put to death, John xix. 41; that he that is one with his Father, should cry out of misery, 'O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me!' Mat. xxvi. 39: that he that had the keys of hell and death, Rev. i. 18, should lie imprisoned in the sepulchre of another, having, in his lifetime, nowhere to lay his head; nor after death, to lay his body, John xix. 41, 42; and all this for man, for fallen man, for miserable man, for worthless man, is beyond the thoughts of created natures. The sharp, the universal and continual sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ, from the cradle to the cross, does above all other things speak out the transcendent love of Jesus Christ to poor sinners. That wrath, that great wrath, that fierce wrath, that pure wrath, that infinite wrath, that matchless wrath of an angry God, that was so terribly impressed upon the soul of Christ, quickly spent his natural strength, and turned his moisture into the drought of summer, Ps. xxxii. 4; and yet all this wrath he patiently underwent, that sinners might be saved, and that 'he might bring many sons unto glory,' Heb. ii. 10.

Oh wonder of love! Love is submissive, it enables to suffer. The Curtii laid down their lives for the Romans, because they loved them; so it was love that made our dear Lord Jesus lay down his life, to save us from hell and to bring us to heaven. As the pelican, out of her love to her young ones, when they are bitten with serpents, feeds them with her own blood to recover them again; so when we were bitten by the old serpent, and our wound incurable, and we in danger of eternal death, then did our dear Lord Jesus, that he might recover us and heal us, feed us with his own blood, Gen. iii. 15; John vi. 53-56. Oh love unspeakable! This made [Bernard] cry out, 'Lord, thou hast loved me more than thyself; for thou hast laid down thy life for me.'

It was only the golden link of love that fastened Christ to the cross, John x. 17, and that made him die freely for us, and that made him willing 'to be numbered among transgressors,' Isa. liii. 12, that we might be numbered among [the] 'general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,' Heb. xii. 23. If Jonathan's love to David was wonderful, 2 Sam. i. 26, how wonderful must the love of Christ be to us, which led him by the hand to make himself an offering for us, Heb. x. 10, which Jonathan never did for David: for though Jonathan loved David's life and safety well, yet he loved his own better; for when his father cast a javelin at him to smite him, he flies for it, and would not abide his father's fury, being very willing to sleep in a whole skin, notwithstanding his wonderful love to David, 1 Sam. xx. 33-35; making good the philosopher's notion, that man is a life-lover.

Christ's love is like his name, and that is Wonderful, Isa. ix. 6; yea, it is so wonderful, that it is supra omnem creaturam, ultra omnem measuram, contra omnem naturam, above all creatures, beyond all measure, contrary to all nature. It is above all creatures, for it is above the angels, and therefore above all others. It is beyond all measure, for time did not begin it, and time shall never end it; place doth not bound it, sin doth not exceed it, no estate, no age, no sex is denied it, tongues cannot express it, understandings cannot conceive it: and it is contrary to all nature; for what nature can love where it is hated? What nature can forgive where it is provoked? What nature can offer reconciliation where it receiveth wrong? What nature can heap up kindness upon contempt, favour upon ingratitude, mercy upon sin? And yet Christ's love hath led him to all this; so that well may we spend all our days in admiring and adoring of this wonderful love, and be always ravished with the thoughts of it.

1 John 2:2 and Limited Atonement

“He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2)

The preceding passage is often cited as a case against Limited Atonement, and has caused much confusion for the Calvinist. What does this passage mean?

The heart of John’s Epistles concerns the Judaist heresy. Over and over again, he warns that “No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.” (1 John 2:23). It also appears as if he was writing to Jewish Christians in particular, those who had been “anointed by the Holy One” (1 John 2:20) and knew the truth (1 John 2:21). John was writing to those who had the “old commandment … from the beginning” (1 John 2:7), most likely referring to Jewish converts (the Gentiles did not have the old commandment from the beginning).

So when John tells us that Christ “is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only”, he is using the pronoun “ours” to refer to Jewish Christians. Those who push this passage to favor unlimited atonement must assume that “ours” and “the whole world” consists of a dividing line between Christians and non-Christians, and that is a huge assumption. John Gill comments:

“1Jn 2:2 - And he is the propitiation for our sins,.... For the sins of us who now believe, and are Jews:

and not for ours only; but for the sins of Old Testament saints, and of those who shall hereafter believe in Christ, and of the Gentiles also, signified in the next clause:

but also for the sins of the whole world; the Syriac version renders it, "not for us only, but also for the whole world"; that is, not for the Jews only, for John was a Jew, and so were those he wrote unto, but for the Gentiles also. Nothing is more common in Jewish writings than to call the Gentiles עלמא, "the world"; and כל העולם, "the whole world"; and אומות העולם, "the nations of the world"”.

We have, on many occasions, examined the phrase “the world” in it’s limited sense. For example, if “the world” in 2 Corinthians 5:19 were meant to refer to every single individual on planet earth, we are stuck with universal salvation.

John, in his gospel, was a little clearer in his belief concerning the atonement.

“He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.” (John 11:51-52)

It is quite clear that John did not hold that Christ died for every single individual, but for “ours” (the nation – Israel), and not only for “ours” (this nation only), but for the “whole world”, (the children of God who are scattered abroad.) 1 John 2:2, when taken in context, is no threat to the Biblical doctrine of Particular Redemption, but instead is a powerful passage supporting Unconditional Election. Christ's death on the cross has secured eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12), and His work saves all that He intended to save.

R.C. Sproul & Al Mohler discuss the "Seeker Sensitive" Movement

A Must See!!!

Modern Church Lexicon

I have been building this list slowly for a few weeks now. Feel free to add more...

Christmas – A holiday that is so important to families that, if it falls on Sunday, we should cancel church services.

Church – A community of people whose sole purpose to meet each others felt needs.

Communion – A meal that you can take by yourself that heals you.

Doctrine – An unimportant part of Christianity that should be avoided because it causes division and denominations.

Evangelism – Methods that are used to get people to an altar to repeat a prayer. Success depends on finding out what unchurched sinners really want in a church.

Faith – Something that man obtains by his own virtuous resources. If you have enough of it, you can make God do anything.

God – A powerful Being who loves everyone just the way they are, and has a wonderful plan for their life. He was mean and wrathful in the Old Testament, but got wiser and mellowed after His Son was killed.

Guilt – A harmful feeling that people need to overcome. The church should help.

Holy Spirit – Something that you should try to get after you get saved. Some denominations are totally filled with it, while others only have a little bit.

Jesus – A Divine person (or mode) that died in order to show us the way of salvation. Through his death, we can have better relationships, better sex, more money, and an all around better self image.

Legalism – Any Commandment in the Bible that we don’t want to obey.

Man – All important being who was created so that God would no longer be lonely.

Money – The root of all evil. Send it all to a televangelist before it destroys you.

Pharisees – Jesus chastised them because they obeyed the Law.

Prayer – Placing a demand on one’s heart so that God is obliged to meet it.

Preaching – An optional part of worship that sometimes gets in the way of what the Holy Spirit really wants to do.

Sin – A bad habit that is caused by past hurts, poor emotional health, and low self-esteem. Behavior modification methods and therapy can help.

Worship – Something we do in church that helps us draw close to God. Choose the style that best suits you.