Are All Biblical Examples Meant for Us to Follow?

In 1963, a movie called Heavens Above, starring Peter Sellers, came out. It was about a vicar who took scriptures literally rather than literately. This foolish minister ended up bankrupting the local businesses and his church.

This film also shows how foolish Christians can be when they spout scriptures without knowing their contexts and meanings. One example is the rich, young ruler who came to Christ and asked how he might enter the kingdom of heaven. Imagine if everybody did what Jesus said to him in Mark 10:21 (BBE). "And Jesus, looking on him and loving him, said, 'There is one thing needed: go, get money for your goods, and give it to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven: and come with me.'"

Who would have the money to support missions if we all sold our possessions? How would churches exist without donations? Governments certainly wouldn't help us out, given their hostility to Christianity.

The reason Jesus said this to that man was because he loved his riches more than God. We could say that wealth was his god.

Some people do the flip-and-point method of finding out God's will for them in Scripture. This is a foolish way to read the Bible. Like what the butler said to the vicar in Heavens Above, he was to Apply Matthew 27:5 (BBE) to himself. It reads, "And he put down the silver in the Temple and went out, and put himself to death by hanging." Would those foolish Christians do that if their finger landed on that verse?

Then the butler quoted John 13:27 (BBE) which reads, "And when Judas took the bread Satan went into him. Then Jesus said to him, 'Do quickly what you have to do.'"

This is a silly example but some folks have actually maimed themselves. I've heard that a man in a bad marriage cut off his right hand because he read Mark 9:43 (BBE) which instructs, "And if your hand is a cause of trouble to you, let it be cut off; it is better for you to go into life with one hand than to have two hands and go into hell, into the eternal fire."

For this and other reasons, I'm writing a book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? I don't want anybody to assume they're going there and then find out at death that they're sentenced to eternal damnation.

On Thursday, I'll be addressing the subject of how not to misquote Scripture.

Who Was the World's Biggest Loser?

I've written about sanctification but I only touched on what happens when it doesn't happen. The world's biggest loser, as John MacArthur has pointed out, is Judas Iscariot.

From all outward appearances, this disciple seemed to be a good man. But Jesus wasn't fooled. John 6:70 and 71 (BBE) records, "Then Jesus said, 'Did I not make a selection of you, the twelve, and one of you is a son of the Evil One?' He was talking of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. It was he who was to be false to Jesus--one of the twelve."

Even so, he partook in everything Christ did. Any time the disciples went to do something, he never was excluded nor did he excuse himself. The only exception we know of was when he betrayed the Lord.

Judas even feigned outrage when a woman poured expensive perfume on Jesus. John 12:3-6 (BBE)records, "Then Mary, taking a pound of perfumed oil of great value, put it on the feet of Jesus and made them dry with her hair: and the house became full of the smell of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot (who was to give him up), said, 'Why was not this perfume traded for three hundred pence, and the money given to the poor?' (He said this, not because he had any love for the poor; but because he was a thief, and, having the money-bag, took for himself what was put into it.)"

But how could a person be in Christ's presence for so long without becoming truly devoted to him? The answer is in 1 John 2:19 (BBE) which explains, "They went out from us but they were not of us; if they had been of us they would still be with us: but they went out from us so that it might be made clear that they were not of us."

And even though Judas repented of his decision to betray Christ, he never asked forgiveness of the Lord. As we read in Matthew 27:5 (BBE), "And he put down the silver in the Temple and went out, and put himself to death by hanging."

I hope to point out Judas' huge mistake in my next book, You Think You're Going to Heaven? Even the worst of sins can be forgiven, except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. I'll explain what that blasphemy is in my book as well.

The song I'll post about on Saturday is a beautiful portrayal of God's creation and how it renews itself each spring.

Saturday Song: Simon and Garfunkel, "Save the Life of My Child"

One thing I loved about the sixties was that artists started singing about substantial subjects. There were still plenty of what Paul McCartney called "silly love songs," on the air but songwriters became more introspective than in previous decades.

One song which touched me during my teenage years was "Save the Life of My Child." It's about a boy on a building ledge about to commit suicide. The reactions of the bystanders, police, and the crowd of curious onlookers were most revealing.

Listen to the song here.

This might not seem obvious to some but suicide is self murder. People feel so desperate that they see no other way out of their emotional pain.

But ending it all is a terrible idea. Matthew 27:5 (KJV) shows Judas' irrevocable mistake. "And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself."

Judas would have been better off doing what Peter did in Matthew 26:75 (KJV). "And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, 'Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.' And he went out, and wept bitterly." Peter was forgiven but Judas could have been if he had repented.

People familiar with Luke chapter sixteen would also know that there's no turning back from one's sins after death. Though I can't say for sure what happens to Christians who kill themselves, I do know that those who rebel against Christ's dominion end up forever in hell.

What do you think of this song and what I wrote? I'd love to hear from you. Have a great weekend as well.

Was Judas Substituted for Christ?

Here's another incorrect doctrine. According to The Bible Answer Man, some Muslims believe that Judas was substituted for Christ and was crucified. They claim that Allah tricked the Roman soldiers and the Jewish officials into crucifying the wrong person.

This is manifestly wrong. The whole plan was for Christ to be the Christian's substitute on the cross. Jesus himself said in Luke 18:31 (KJV), "Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, 'Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished'.'"

Jesus also described what would happen to him in Mark 10:33 (KJV). "Saying, 'Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles':"

One of the clearest prophesies showing that it was Christ who would suffer is Isaiah 53:3 and 4 (KJV). "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted."

Nobody treated Judas like that. In fact, it was he who betrayed Christ for thirty pieces of silver. Matthew 27:5 (KJV) clearly states, "And he (Judas) cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself." So how could he be Christ's substitute if he hung himself?

No, it was Christ who, like the Passover lamb, shed his blood for us who believe in him. Romans 5:11 (KJV) says, "And not only so, but we also joy in God  through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." No mere mortal could have accomplished that.

Christ's substitutionary atonement is one of many doctrines I'll feature in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? As Paul pointed out in 1 Corinthians 15:19 (KJV), "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." If Jesus didn't pay the price for our sin, we would be facing eternity in hell and been found to be liars.