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Using Bible Phrases Perhaps
you saw the article in the local newspaper that talked about the Bible’s
influence on our language. In a book
titled “Biblical Literacy: The Essential Bible Stories Everybody Needs to
Know”, numerous Bible phrases are mentioned.
Many of those phrases are a part of our rhetoric, but a lot of people do
not realize where the phrases came from. Some
of the phrases mentioned in the article are: “Woe is me!” from Job, “All
things to all people”, from 1 Corinthians, and “Many are called, but few are
chosen” from Matthew. The
author made the point that people who are unfamiliar with the Bible are missing
out on a lot. The
sad fact is many do not study their Bible and are totally ignorant of what it
says. This can lead to abuses of the
Bible. Taking
a Bible verse out of context is often done today.
How many times have you heard somebody roughly quote Matthew 7.1 “Judge
not that you be not judged.” Usually
this is invoked to say that we should never make a judgment on anything or
anyone. People quoting this passage
often use it to condemn those that they believe to have made a judgment.
So we have them making the judgment that we should not make judgments.
The thought does not end at verse one, but continues on through verse 5. Jesus
is teaching that we need to first look at the sin in our own lives and afterward
we can look at the sin in the lives of others.
This passage is dealing with hypocrisy and all types of judgments.
In which case we need to, “First remove the plank from your own eye,
and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye”
(Matthew 7.5). Later on Jesus told the Jews to judge righteously in John 7.24.
The church at Sometimes
one Bible passage is quoted and other Bible verses are ignored. “For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes
in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3.16).
Those teaching salvation by faith only will often go to John 3.16 to
teach that this is the only thing a person must do to be saved.
If such is true then every person that believed Jesus to be the Son of
God must have been saved. However, I
can read of those that believed and were not saved.
“Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because
of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the
synagogue” (John Not
knowing what the Bible says means a quote can be taken to directly contradict
other Bible passages. Those that
believe in once saved always saved will quote “And I will give them eternal
life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My
hand” (John 10.28). Does this mean
that a child of God can never sin so as to be lost?
Or, does it mean that no one or outside force can separate us from God
except ourselves? I submit to you
that it is the later and not the former idea.
We are warned of falling away in many Bible passages. Read Hebrews 6.4-6
and 2 Peter 2.20-23 for two such passages. Finally,
our lack of knowledge of the Bible may allow someone to quote what may sound
like a Bible verse, but not actually be in the Bible.
Here are some such sayings. Spare
the rod, spoil the child; Cleanliness is next to Godliness; God helps those who
help themselves; Money is the root of all evil, and so on.
Some of these are rough translations of what the Bible says and others
are just plain wrong. While it may
be true that not disciplining our children will cause them to be spoiled,
Proverbs 13.24 actually is saying that parents that do not discipline their
children are showing hatred toward those children.
1 Timothy 6.10 teaches not that money is evil, but the love of money is
the cause of many evils. Proverbs
16.18 is not exactly pride comes before a great fall, but it does speak of the
evil of pride. I
agree with the author of the book that not knowing the Bible causes many people
to not understand a lot of what is going on in the world today.
Worse yet it will cause many to lose out on heaven.
Dennis Tucker |