Top 10 Misunderstood Bible Verses, Part 2
Last week, I covered 5 commonly misunderstood Bible passages.
Today, I’ll be covering the next 5 in this series …
… & today’s are all going to be – in one form or another – centered around the Gospel & the doctrines of Salvation …
… starting with Matthew 4:17: “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
John the Baptist says essentially the same thing.
Matthew 3:1-2 says:
1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
& so for the first passage today, I’ll be dealing with the REPENT OF SINS issue.
A lot of people today are preaching that you have to REPENT OF YOUR SINS to be saved …
… and when they say this, they don’t mean what the Bible means when it says “REPENT”.
They don’t mean that you have to ACKNOWLEDGE that you’re a SINNER …
… THAT ALL HAVE SINNED & come short of the GLORY OF GOD.
& that all you have to do is put your faith in Jesus as your Savior.
If that’s all they meant by REPENT OF YOUR SINS …
… I would have no problem with it – other than that it would be POOR SEMANTICS.
But most people today when they say that you have to “REPENT OF SINS” …
… what they literally mean is that you have to TURN from SINS in order to be saved …
… or that you have to BE at least WILLING TO TURN FROM YOUR SINS …
… or that you have to at least cease from known HABITUAL SINS …
in order to be saved.
That if you’re living in fornication, then before you can get saved, you have to stop fornicating …
… that if you’re an adulterer that you have to break off that adulterous relationship BEFORE you can be saved.
And while those are things that you most definitely SHOULD DO …
… because they’re wicked things …
… if we had to stop sinning to be saved, that would be a WORKS-BASED GOSPEL.
If you have to TURN from your SINS … to be saved …
… that’s essentially saying that you have to KEEP THE LAW in order to be saved.
& THAT’S CONTRADICTORY to the GOSPEL OF GRACE.
What the TRUE GOSPEL teaches is that you have to come to JESUS AS YOU ARE …
… come in your present state and be saved …
… & then God will give you the POWER to turn from your sins …
… but whether you do or not, your salvation depends on one thing & one thing alone:
And that is RESTING in JESUS for your salvation, apart from the works of the LAW.
When someone says that you have to REPENT OF YOUR SINS (turn from your sins ) …
… AND PUT YOUR FAITH ON JESUS …
they’re really saying that you have to do the GOOD WORK of not sinning & not breaking the LAW …
& That would mean that SALVATION is not by GRACE, but by WORKS.
… but by WORKS + FAITH.
… but by TURNING FROM SINS + HAVING FAITH.
… but by KEEPING THE LAW + HAVING FAITH.
… by BEING SINLESS + HAVING FAITH.
… And when you ADD FAITH + ANYTHING ELSE, the Bible says that = ALL WORKS.
Paul explains this in Romans 11:6 in a very logical way: “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”
& IT DOESN’T HELP that some modern Bible translations, such as the NLT …
… ADD WORDS that aren’t there TO THE BIBLE …
… THE NLT adds the phrase “OF SINS” to “REPENT” in these passages …
… spoken by Jesus & John the Baptist.
THE NLT puts words in their mouth that they never uttered.
Again, the KJV says: “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
But in the NLT, it says: “From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”
The NLT is PREACHING outright WORKS-SALVATION.
The NLT does the same w/ Matthew 3:2.
It says: “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”
BUT the phrase “OF SINS” is ADDED …
… & is not in the KJV OR in the ORIGINAL BIBLE MANUSCRIPTS.
In the ORIGINAL GREEK manuscripts, it’s 1 word: “metanoeō” – REPENT.
In the NLT it’s 3 words: “REPENT OF SINS”.
This is extra-Biblical & ADDING to GOD’S PURE WORD.
People also misuse Matthew 9:13, which says: “But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
& some people do VERY LAZY reading with this verse …
They associate the idea of calling “sinners to repentance” with “repenting of sins” …
See, SINNERS are being CALLED TO REPENTANCE.
… Lazy-readers linguistically associate the words, “REPENTANCE” and “SINS” …
… by blending them together to teach that you have to REPENT OF SINS.
But that’s not what the verse is saying.
It’s saying that Jesus came to call SINNERS TO REPENTANCE.
REPENTANCE FROM WHAT?
FROM SIN?
That would be WORKS.
& That’s where the misunderstanding is.
We don’t deny that Jesus told sinners to repent.
Sinners DO need to REPENT.
But what do SINNERS need to REPENT OF?
DO SINNERS need to REPENT OF SINS?
Or do SINNERS need to REPENT of NOT BELIEVING the GOSPEL?
Do they need to REPENT OF SINS?
… or do they need to REPENT from their OWN DEAD WORKS …
& from trying to save themselves?
In other words, the OBJECT of REPENTANCE is JESUS, not turning from sins.
& TO CLEAR this up, all you have to do is look up all the instances of the word, “REPENT”, in the Bible.
Genesis 6:6 is the first time that REPENT appears in the Bible: “And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”
The 1st time the word “repent” is used in the Bible, it’s GOD who is repenting.
WHAT is God repenting of here?
We know that GOD cannot sin!
So he’s definitely not REPENTING OF SIN.
God has changed His mind & His heart about making man.
So REPENT is defined here as CHANGING THE MIND & HEART about something.
Exodus 13:17 is the next time that “REPENT” is mentioned in the Bible:
(This was when God was leading out the children of Israel out of Egypt).
And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:
What does REPENT mean in this context?
Were the children of Israel going to turn from sins when they saw WAR?
OR where they going to CHANGE THEIR MIND about the exodus out of Egypt if they saw WAR?
Obviousy, turning from sin when they saw war wouldn’t even make sense.
So you can’t just add “OF SINS” to repent.
So, again, REPENT in the Bible, means to CHANGE THE MIND.
After the children of Israel had grieved God, Moses pleads to God in Exodus 32:12 and says: “… Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.”
This is MOSES asking God to repent.
& in v. 14 it says: “And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.”
So what did God repent of in Exodus 32?
He repented of destroying the Israelites.
When He was entreated by Moses, God changed His mind about destroying Israel …
Numbers 23:19 says: “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”
Here, God not repenting means that God won’t change His mind once He has determined to do something.
1 Samuel 15:35 says: “And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.”
Again, God changed his mind, because Saul had disobeyed Him.
In all these passages …
… there’s never a mention of repenting of sins … turning from sins …
… that’s just an after-thought added to the Bible by those who preach WORKS.
& if it’s not enough, Paul tells us PLAINLY what John the Baptist meant when he said to REPENT.
Acts 19:4: “Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”
Repenting, according to Paul, is BELIEVING on Jesus Christ & receiving Him as Savior.
That IS Repentance.
It’s turning from every false belief system that REPLACES CHRIST as the SAVIOR.
Now, as believers, we should strive to REPENT of our sins …
… but this has nothing to do with salvation.
It has to do with DISCIPLESHIP & CHRISTIAN LIVING for the ALREADY SAVED.
THE WRITER of Hebrews tell us also what REPENTANCE means in Hebrews 6:1: “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,”
When we get saved, we’re repenting from DEAD WORKS …
… & from trying to save ourselves.
It’s repenting from thinking that our own unregenerate works can save us.
REPENT OF SINS is just another HERESY.
The NEXT MISUNDERSTOOD BIBLE VERSE is also related to SALVATION & it come from John 14:15: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
& this VERSE when misunderstood gets into the ERROR of LORDSHIP SALVATION.
What is LORDSHIP SALVATION?
LORDSHIP SALVATION is the idea that SIMPLE FAITH IN JESUS is not ENOUGH …
… that you have to OBEY JESUS & follow Him as the Lord of your life in order to be saved.
Now, at the outset some may think that’s true
Isn’t Jesus Lord? Isn’t He our Lord?
Yes, JESUS IS THE LORD.
& I’ve chosen to make JESUS LORD of my life.
But I am an IMPERFECT SERVANT, meaning that I DO NOT always obey Him …
… as much as I would like to obey & make it my life’s goal to obey Him …
… I am still stuck in this SINFUL BODY – and it’s IMPOSSIBLE for me to obey God perfectly.
LORDSHIP SALVATION demands that you LIVE A LIFE OF OBEDIENCE to CHRIST as a part of your SALVATION.
It goes HAND-IN-HAND w/ the REPENT OF SINS GOSPEL.
Paul gives the perfect refutation of LORDSHIP SALVATION in Romans 7:18-20:
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
This is speaking of the battle between our PERFECT SPIRIT & our IMPERFECT FLESH.
But people use John 14:15: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” to say that IF we are saved …
… we will obey God & we will keep His commandments.
But it doesn’t say that IF we are saved, we will obey His commandments.
Jesus is simply admonishing us to KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS IF we love Him.
But the LORDSHIP SALVATION claim is that OBEDIENCE TO GOD …
… is the MARK OF GENUINE SALVATION.
LORDSHIP SALVATIONISTS MIX UP SALVATION w/ DISCIPLESHIP.
Obedience to God is a mark of DISCIPLESHIP, not SALVATION.
And even then, it is imperfect obedience.
If we LOVE GOD, we SHOULD obey Jesus’ commandments.
& that’s what John 14:15 is admonishing us to do …
… that if we really love Jesus, we will show it by doing what He says.
& THIS PROBLEM IS COMPOUNDED by the MODERN BIBLE CORRUPTIONS …
… Whereas the KJV says: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
Modern versions like the ESV, say: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
The NASB does the same thing: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
Whereas the KJV depicts Jesus admonishing us & encouraging us to keep His commandments …
… the modern versions make it a requirement of loving Jesus.
Another passage that Lordship Salvationists use is Matthew 7:21: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
& so people use this, again, to promote LORDSHIP SALVATION …
In Matthew 7:21, Jesus teaches that those who do the will of the Father will be saved.
But what is the WILL OF THE FATHER?
This is answered in John 6:40, where Jesus says: “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
So the will of the Father is that you believe on Jesus.
It’s not following the commandments of the LAW or being obedient, but putting your faith in Jesus.
Again, obedience is a good thing, and we should all strive to be obedient to God & His Word …
…. but that’s not what saves us.
Romans 10:16 also defines OBEYING GOD as obeying the GOSPEL: “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?”
OBEYING THE GOSPEL is INTERCHANGED with BELIEVING in this passage …
…. making it abundantly clear that Jesus is not talking about obeying the LAW or the COMMANDMENTS for SALVATION …
… but BELIEVING THE GOSPEL.
Whereas Lordship Salvationists ultimately make the Gospel about WORKS & FOLLOWING JESUS …
It’s important to understand that SALVATION is a ONE-TIME EVENT …
… whereas DISCIPLESHIP is a LIFE-LONG process for the believer.
THE 8TH MISUNDERSTOOD BIBLE VERSE comes from James 2:20.
This is the #1 verse that WORKS-SALVATION like to quote: “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”
& a companion to this is James 2:19: “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”
Let’s tackle James 2:19 first, since that one’s really easy.
People quote James 2:19 to say that BELIEF is not enough –
… that even the devils believe.
& so the implication is that we can’t live like DEVILS & still be saved …
… that we have to have GOOD WORKS together with FAITH to be saved.
1ST OF ALL, JESUS DIDN’T DIE for devils.
The PLAN of SALVATION was never extended to Satan & his fallen angels.
2nd: The DEVILS haven’t put their FAITH ON Jesus for salvation, because they can’t.
Not even if they wanted to.
God did not give the fallen angels a 2nd chance, like He did with mankind.
So this is a classic STRAW-MAN argument.
As far as James 2:20: “… that faith without works is dead?”
WORKS-SALVATIONISTS use this to say that if you are truly saved you WILL have GOOD WORKS.
CALVINISM teaches this as well as Lordship Salvationists & just outright WORKS-HERETICS as well.
Now, every believer SHOULD do GOOD WORKS …
…. & MOST BELIEVES WILL have GOOD WORKS …
… but it’s not automatic.
We have a CHOICE to make every day …
… to WALK in the SPIRIT & or to WALK in the flesh.
& DEAD FAITH is still SAVING FAITH.
But DEAD FAITH is INACTIVE FAITH.
It’s FAITH that has become USELESS to anybody else, but the saved PERSON.
James was REBUKING SAVED BELIEVERS that he called BRETHREN …
… who had been saved but were not doing anything of value w/ their faith.
In James 1:1, we see that James is writing his epistle to saved Jewish believers.
He says: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.”
& in v. 2 he calls them: “My brethren …”
In all James uses the word “brethren” & “brothers” 19 times in his short letter!
This was a message to SAVED BELIEVERS.
James was admonishing them to DO GOOD WORKS & to BE USEFUL to the BODY OF CHRIST.
CONTEXT is KEY to understanding James 2:20.
Back up to James 2:14 to get the context:
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
James 2:20 is a rebuke.
It’s saying that a prayer & a spiritual blessing for a brother or a sister who is destitute …
… is useless …
… it will not SAVE that brother or sister physically.
This passage is not about SPIRITUAL SALVATION …
… but about caring for the physical, practical needs of your spiritual brothers & sisters.
The kind of faith that is SPIRITUAL ONLY, but neglects to care for the needs of a brother or sister …
… is DEAD FAITH.
Galatians 2:21: “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”
Again, the LAW has nothing to do with SALVATION.
& doing GOOD WORKS is by definition adherence to the LAW.
Titus 3:5 says: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”
Romans 3:28 says: “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”
These verses apply to all 3 misunderstood Bible passages & topics that we’ve covered so far today …
… from REPENT OF SINS for SALVATION (which says you have to turn from sins to be saved) …
… to LORDSHIP SALVATION (which mixes salvation w/ discipleship) …
… and to verses like FAITH WITHOUT WORKS is DEAD …
… (which muddies the Gospel of pure faith by claiming that a demonstration of our Faith by Works is required for salvation).
THE 9TH MISUNDERSTOOD BIBLE PASSAGE comes from ROMANS 1.
… in reference to the REPROBATE DOCTRINE …
This is a FALSE DOCTRINE which teaches that GOD has GIVEN UP on certain people in this life …
& Some use ROMANS 1 to teach that entire groups of sinners that they deem unworthy of God’s grace …
… like HOMOSEXUALS CANNOT BE SAVED.
… that it is impossible for them to CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD for salvation.
… because GOD has GIVEN UP on them.
The claim is that HOMOSEXUALITY is a CLEAR SIGN of having become a “REPROBATE” …
… & that if you’re a homosexual, you CANNOT, therefore be SAVED …
… because you are NO LONGER CAPABLE of believing the Gospel.
Here’s the ARGUMENT they put forth:
They use passages like Romans 1, Jeremiah 6, John 12, & passages about Pharaoh to weave an elaborate doctrine …
… that restricts homosexuals & others they deem unworthy from getting saved …
Let’s look @ ROMANS 1:18-32.
Notice first of all – who is being addressed here?
WHO is the SUBJECT in totality of this PASSAGE?
Romans 1:18 says: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;”
This is speaking in general of ALL MEN who deny God’s existence as manifest in the CREATION …
… it’s a list of ALL UNGODLINESS and UNRIGHTEOUS OF MEN …
In other words, a GENERAL LIST of ALL THE SINS that UNREGENERATE MEN are CAPABLE OF.
Paul is talking about the nature of SINFUL MAN.
But they take the word “REPROBATE”…
… & they jump back to a passage in Jeremiah 6:30, which isn’t even talking about homosexuals to conclude that REPROBATES & therefore HOMOSEXUALS are UNSAVABLE.
Jeremiah 6:30 says: “Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.”
& they say that REPROBATE means REJECTED, therefore God has rejected the homosexual …
… and that REPROBATES, being REJECTED, can no longer be saved.
But JEREMIAH 6 isn’t even talking about SALVATION …
… & it’s not even a reference to HOMOSEXUALS.
THE CONTEXT of JEREMIAH 6 is the PROPHET JEREMIAH prophesy JUDGMENT against the NATION OF ISRAEL.
He’s speaking about the BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY.
Israel – as a whole – as a nation – had fallen into IDOLATRY …
This was CHASTISEMENT of GOD’S PEOPLE.
It’s in no way talking about SALVATION or PEOPLE BEING UNSAVABLE …
… God had REJECTED the NATION OF ISRAEL.
& IF YOU GO TO JEREMIAH 7 …
… God tells the same people that he called reprobate that they can REPENT.
JEREMIAH 7:5-7:
5 For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
6 If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:
7 Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.
THIS WASN’T EVER ABOUT SALVATION …
… IT WAS about CHASTISEMENT of God’s own people!
Once you understand this, the whole REPROBATE DOCTRINE FALLS APART.
& all you have to do is read BEYOND ROMANS 1 …
… just a few more verses to ROMANS 2 …
… & get the WHOLE CONTEXT …
… & it says that those listed in ROMANS 1, the so-called REPROBATES …
… can also REPENT & BELIEVE THE GOSPEL!
Just like JEREMIAH 7 does!
Romans 2:1-4:
1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
OK, then they say, what about PHARAOH!
They say: God hardened PHAROAH’s heart so that he couldn’t believe, because he was a REPROBATE!
But again, God didn’t harden Pharaoh’s heart against salvation.
That’s not what the passage is about.
God hardened Pharaoh’s heart AFTER Pharaoh hardened his own heart repeatedly …
… in refusing to let GOD’S PEOPLE GO.
Again, the example of PHARAOH doesn’t even apply to the REPORBATE DOCTRINE …
… because it’s not even speaking about Pharaoh’s salvation.
Are you seeing a pattern emerging here?
None of the examples they use are about SALVATION.
God hardened Pharaoh’s heart in order to REVEAL His POWER & His GLORY to the WORLD.
Exodus 7:3-5 says:
3 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
4 But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.
5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.
SO THEN THEY JUMP TO JOHN 12 & use the Pharisees as examples of reprobates.
John 12:39-40:
39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,
40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
The argument is that God had hardened their hearts & blinded their spiritual eyes …
… & given them over to a reprobate mind.
1st of all, the word “REPROBATE”, is never used here.
… & all you have to do is keeping reading & you get to VERSE 42, which says: “Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him …”
Wait, so SOME of the REPROBATES believed?
Obviously, this passage is not talking about people who are unsavable …
… because some of the so-called reprobates in this passage BELIEVED.
John 12 is a prophecy given by Isaiah about the rulers of the nation of Israel …
… and really the NATION OF ISRAEL as a whole, who rejected their own Messiah …
The preceding verses in John 37-38 says:
37 But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:
38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
So, in general, ISRAEL rejected Christ … & that’s the context of John 12.
It’s a PROPHECY about the nation of Israel.
… & Again this was not speaking of individual salvation, because as we saw in VERSE 42 …
… some of the chief rulers DID BELIEVE.
So, again, this is a FAIL for the REPROBATE DOCTRINE.
It’s verse after verse & passage after passage of MISINTERPRETATION ….
THE FACT IS that HOMOSEXUALITY would not be LISTED in the LAW …
… if it was something that a man did not have the capacity to commit.
& If it’s in the LAW, then JESUS’ BLOOD covers that transgression.
In the END, saying that a HOMOSEXUAL cannot be SAVED …
& that’s WORKS – no matter how you disguise it.
Ultimately, they’re saying that you have to NOT commit certain SINS or you can’t be saved.
That you have to be FREE of CERTAIN SINS before & after salvation in order to be saved.
THE FALSE REPROBATE DOCTRINE ultimately teaches …
… that you have to NOT BREAK Certain Parts of the LAW in order to quality for salvation.
They’re teaching that you have to DO THE GOOD WORK of not being a homosexual …
… in order to be ELIGIBLE FOR SALVATION.
THE LAST PASSAGE in this series is 1 Corinthians 6:9.
1 Corinthians 6:9 is also closely associated with the REPROBATE DOCTRINE …
1 Corinthians 6:9 says: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,”
& I’ll just keep reading:
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
& people MISINTERPRET “ABUSERS OF THEMSELVES WITH MANKIND”.
& I believe that this is a WILLFUL MISINTERPRETATION …
People don’t want to accept the natural reading of this phrase …
… because it doesn’t support their false reprobate teaching.
Now anyone reading this on its own ….
…. without a pre-conceived notion, would conclude that “ABUSERS OF THEMSELVES with MANKIND” is referring to HOMOSEXUALS …
… unless they were taught differently at the outset.
Because v. 11 says: “AND SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU … but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus …”
Those who hold to the REPROBATE DOCTRINE have no other choice …
… but to ALTER the meaning of “ABUSERS OF THEMSELVES WITH MANKIND” …
… otherwise their false reprobate doctrine that claims homosexuals can’t be saved FALLS APART.
& THEY GENERALLY PUT FORTH 2 INTERPRETATIONS:
1. That “abusers of themselves with mankind” means “FORNICATORS” or …
2. that it means “WHORES” (women who abuse themselves w/ mankind”)
But neither one of these definitions hold up to Biblical scrutiny.
FORNICATORS is already mentioned in that list …
… so it would be REDUNDANT to mention it again.
It starts with: “neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers” etc.
So we can rule out FORNICATORS.
We can also rule out the promiscuous …
… because that falls under the general heading of FORNICATORS.
So again, if it’s talking about WHORES, it would be REDUNDANT.
Some also say it’s WHORES because it’s talking about abusing themselves with MANKIND …
… and they say MANKIND is a reference to ALL HUMANITY or ALL MANKIND …
& so it’s talking about the promiscuous.
BUT THE BIBLE doesn’t define “MANKIND” in this way.
The Bible makes a distinction between MANKIND & WOMANKIND.
THE FIRST TIME that MANKIND is used in the Bible is LEVITICUS 18:22 – & it’s referring to homosexuality:
It says: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”
So the Bible defines MANKIND as MEN & WOMANKIND as WOMEN.
We see it again in Leviticus 20:13 says: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination …”
So when 1 Cor 6 talks about ABUSERS of THEMSELVES with MANKIND …
… it’s literally talking about those who ABUSE THEMSELVES with MEN …
… speaking of homosexuality.
& the Bible, when it refers generally to someone, in the BIBLICAL NARRATIVE …
… it’s generally written in the masculine form …
…. because it’s a PATRIARCHAL BOOK.
So when it says ABUSERS OF THEMSELVES (it’s talking about MEN) abusing themselves w/ MANKIND … (other men) …
… men who abuse themselves with men.
This same word appears also in 1 Timothy 1:10, this time as: “them who defile themselves with mankind”.
It’s the only natural, logical, sensible interpretation of: “ABUSERS OR DEFILERS OF THEMSELVES WITH MANKIND”
& the only reason people change it, is because they have an AGENDA to promote the REPROBATE DOCTRINE.
& WE EVEN HAVE SECONDARY SOURCES to support this from OLDER TEXTUS RECEIPTS ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS of the BIBLE …
We have a successive line of GOOD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS which LED UP TO THE KJV …
such as THE GENEVA BIBLE …
… which USES the word, “BUGGERERS” instead of “ABUSERS OF THEMSELVES with MANKIND”.
BUGGERERS is another word, it’s an old English word, for homosexuals.
But then people criticize me for using the Geneva Bible …
not as a PRIMARY SOURCE … but as a SECONDARY SOURCE …
… I first go to the King James … that’s sufficient for this doctrine.
But the GENEVA is also a GOOD ENGLISH BIBLE.
Are you telling me that God didn’t PRESERVE HIS WORD in English until 1611 when the KJV was published?
Did God abandon His church & deprive His people of His Word?
We also see that there’s a NATURAL PROGRESSION in the list of sins mentioned in 1 Cor 6:9 …
… leading up to the abomination of homosexuality.
“… Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,”
ABUSERS OF THEMSELVES with MANKIND comes right after EFFEMINATE …
… which is just 1 step removed from being a “gay”.
But they say “Anderson says” some homosexuals can be forgiven, IF …
… and then they come up with their own arbitrary reasons.
IF they were abused as children ….
… IF They were groomed into it …
… IF they were a byproduct of society …
… IF they didn’t like it when they did it ..
… & they come up with all these arbitrary reason …
BUT THE FACT IS that the Bible makes no distinction between those who commit homosexuality.
It’s called ABOMINATION no matter what the reason or the excuse.
Either the act of homosexuality is forgivable or it’s not.
And it makes no mention of how often you do it or whether you like it ….
… it’s an abomination to God.
It’s listed in the Law because it was something that men are capable of committing …
& if it’s listed in the Law as sin, it can be forgiven by the blood of Jesus.
The Bible teaches that judgment is reserved for after death … @ the WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT.
John 12:48 says: “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”
Until then, non-believers have until their DYING breath to put their faith on Jesus ….
Hebrews 9:27 also says: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”
Everyone has until their dying breath to repent of their unbelief and to put their faith ON JESUS for SALVATION!