What is Context?

Context means the setting in which a quote is placed. For example, we say it's raining cats and dogs when a downpour occurs. We don't mean that domesticated pets are falling out of the sky but that the rain is coming down in torrents.

A classic example of misunderstanding the context of a verse is Matthew 18:18. Pentecostal Christians believe it means we can bind and loose demons. This is most certainly not the case since demons aren't even mentioned in the chapter.

We see that the chapter starts off with the disciples asking who will be the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. As Matthew 18:3 (BBE) says, "And said, Truly, I say to you, If you do not have a change of heart and become like little children, you will not go into the kingdom of heaven."

We read next in Matthew 18:6 (BBE) how Christ felt about those who mislead believers who trust in him. "But whoever is a cause of trouble to one of these little ones who have faith in me, it would be better for him to have a great stone fixed to his neck, and to come to his end in the deep sea."

After explaining how people should get rid of believers who mislead others, Christ spoke about how the heavenly Father seeks the lost. Matthew 18:12 (BBE) records this parable. "What would you say now? if a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone wandering away, will he not let the ninety-nine be, and go to the mountains in search of the wandering one?"

In Matthew 18:15 (BBE), Jesus starts a conversation about disciplining sinful church members. "And if your brother does wrong to you, go, make clear to him his error between you and him in private: if he gives ear to you, you have got your brother back again.

And just as there are no mentions of evil spirits in the chapter, there is no mention of poorly-attended prayer meetings. Matthew 18:20 (BBE) is often misunderstood to mean that Jesus will be in our midst when we gather. It actually means that he'll lend his authority to the decision of church elders who exercise church discipline. In Judaism, the word of one witness isn't enough to bring a case against somebody.

Look at what Hebrews 10:28 (BBE) says regarding how wayward and unrepentant believers were punished under the law. "A man who has gone against the law of Moses is put to death without pity on the word of two or three witnesses:"

These are just two examples of scriptures being wrenched out of context. The first was the supposed binding and loosing of demons. The second was twisted to mean a gathering to worship or pray when it actually means meeting to judge a wayward Christian.

I'll be dealing with this in my You Think You're Going to Heaven? book. Pastors, often without realizing it, are misleading their flocks. May the Lord use my writing to straighten them out.

On Thursday, I'll deal with the topic of biblical customs and why they were done. I'll also point out the reason we need to know the instructional purpose of these ancient rites.

The Deliverance Ministry Error

Another presumption on God's sovereignty is the deliverance ministry movement. People get the idea that they can just name the name of Jesus and the demon or demons have to leave.

These Charismatic preachers wrest Matthew 18:18 far out of it's context and use it as a pretext for supposedly driving demons out of people. The verse reads, "Mat 18:18  Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

If they had studied the passage, they'd see that this binding and loosing has to do with church discipline of errant members. And why would anybody want to loose demons?

Many people who have gone to these quacks have never been delivered of anything except of their money. Through hypnotist tricks and autosuggestion, people think they've been delivered of something. The truth is that people can't be delivered from what they should repent of. There are no demons of over-eating or other human failings.

But aren't there real demons occupying real people? It has happen to unsaved individuals. In fact, scripture tells of one deliverance which went horribly wrong. Seven sons tried to cast out a demon and they thought that using Jesus' name  would automatically do the job. Acts 19:15 (KJV) shows what happens when fakes attempt folly. "And the evil spirit answered and said, 'Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?'" The man than tore off the clothes of those fools and beat them severely.

I've written before about what a sham modern-day deliverence preachers are. I'll also touch on that in my next book. People need to know this truth from John 15:13 (KJV), "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

My next post will be about a song regarding accepting God's will for our departed loved ones. Hang in for that one.

The Spiritual Warfare Error

 Among all the errors I've pointed out so far, this is one of the most ridiculous doctrines preached by charismatic ministers. But had they studied the subject correctly, they'd have noticed it isn't about chasing demons.

So what is spiritual warfare? Simply put, it's preaching the truth from scripture. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10:4 (KJV), "(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;"

The context of this chapter shows plainly that we battle lies and faulty human reasoning with God's Word. It isn't done by binding and rebuking Satan. Matthew 18:18 clearly is in the context of church discipline, not, as charismatics claim, sending demons to the abyss. They preach utter nonsense and are deluded into thinking they're serving Christ.

And as Paul admonished in 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV), "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

The sixth chapter of Ephesians lists the spiritual Armour which we must wear at all times. Each part is needed for the destruction of Satan's lies, one of those being that demon-chasing doctrine. As C. S. Lewis noted in his book, The Screwtape Letters, people have two equal and opposite errors about demons. Either they don't believe there are any or they're obsessed by them to the point where they aren't preaching the gospel.

I need to write my book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Satan has millions of lies, all designed to pull people off the narrow way. My intent and mission is to pull people onto that straight way.

Stay tuned for more excellent Bible teaching. I have many more errors to comment on next month.

How Do Cults Twist Scriptures?

 As I've blogged before, there's a proper way to read the Bible. When we take culture, history, and genre of each book into account, we won't go wrong.

Unfortunately for many new Christians, they don't know the difference between studying the Bible and twisting it to fit one's own ideas. This is why cults seek out new believers since they're easy to fool.

Here's one of the most-often-twisted verses:

(Matthew 18:18 KJV)  Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Charismatic preachers and deliverance ministries take this to mean that we have the power to bind and loose demons. That's completely wrong. Look at the context and you'll see that Jesus was speaking about disciplining errant believers. Nothing in that verse even hints at demons.

Some fools have even taken the following verse to mean that they should cut off limbs that "offend" them:

(Mat 5:30 KJV)  And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

Christ used that as a graphic metaphor to say that whatever lures us into sin should be shunned. Sadly for some, they took the verse literally instead of literately.

I was one of those naive seekers who ended up in a cult. Nobody taught me how to read the Bible correctly. Check out my account of finding out the truth in How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity. You'll easily see  that the false teacher taught me complete rubbish.

In my next blog post, I'll explain how cults get away with misleading people.