The Dangers of Being A Biblical Neophyte

Ramon Arias | June 6, 2016

Obama relentlessly defends his decision to have schools open their bathrooms to both sexes permitting the student’s to use them according to their gender preferences. During his town hall meeting, June 2, in Elkhart, Indiana, he mentioned his “Christian faith” as the basis for making the decision, “My reading of scripture tells me that [the] Golden Rule is pretty high up there in terms of my Christian belief.”

We have known of Obama’s inaccurate use of the Bible to push his leftist ideology in support of the ongoing fundamental transformation of America. When his audiences are not knowledgeable of the true Christian faith, he trashes the Bible and Christians. Have you seen a pattern of him doing this? In 2006 he mocked the Scriptures and the teachings of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. See it here.

In Elkhart, Obama mentioned the “Golden Rule” as being a top priority of his “Christian beliefs.” He must not know that the Sermon on the Mount covers three entire chapters in Matthew 5, 6 and 7. He thinks the Golden Rule: “whatever you wish that others would do to you” is meant to say all moral absolutes must be thrown out the window. Jesus’ Golden Rule is not a license to overrule God’s moral law.  

Christ’s full statement says: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12, ESV); this means we have to be knowledgeable of what the full context of God’s law is and what the prophets had to say.

Before mentioning the Golden Rule in the same message, Jesus said:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-20, ESV)  (Emphasis added)

God’s moral law is not subject to the cultural trends of society; violation of those absolutes is the reason nations are in constant turmoil in all areas of life. When one biblical verse is isolated with the purpose of making it say what we want to say, and our perspective opposes the full counsel of God’s revealed truth, the damage is significant. Let us read the complete perspective of this rule in Matthew 7:12-16 (ESV):

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?”

A meaningful life with true purpose can only be understood and experienced under God’s conditions. The love of neighbor demands that they know if their lifestyle travels on the broad way that leads to destruction. We must lovingly share with them a better choice and show them the way out to move to the more secure narrow road that goes against what the majority does. It is sad to say that it is the throngs that are determined to drag others into a meaningless life here and now with eternal consequences. The New Testament letters are full of warnings to those whose lifestyle is contrary to God’s design; the following are some examples: Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:5-7; 1 Timothy 1:9; Revelation 22:15; Hebrews 2:14.

Obama is the perfect mirror image of what is wrong with most Christians in America. Misguided interpretation of the Scriptures is always a certainty for social chaos. Two thousand years ago, the Apostle Peter wrote in his second letter to the believers of his time:

“Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21, ESV)

We humans are fallible, and only the Word of God is infallible. We should always verify everything we hear and read in the Scriptures. Why is this important? The Bible is the only authority to interpret the Bible; this means we must become serious students of God’s Word, nothing less satisfies our hunger for knowledge, and I mean all knowledge.

All of us are neophytes in many things, but none of us should ever be neophytes when it comes to understanding the biblical worldview.

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.’” (Jeremiah 9:23-24, ESV)

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