Tampering with the Word of God
"Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God." -2 Corinthians 4:1-2 (ESV)
Every believer has a ministry and a responsibility in that ministry to teach and to share the Word of God with others, primarily the Gospel. As Paul was writing to the Corinthian believers, one thing he emphasized was the he and other teachers of the Scriptures had refused to tamper with them calling that type of practice "disgraceful" and "underhanded." This was to say that they had forbidden (renounced - Greek: apeipon) to engage in the practice of hidden, shameful lives of sin - lives lived in hypocrisy (disgraceful/underhanded - Greek: kryptos).
As part of living such a life for the Lord, Paul further exclaims that they "refuse to practice cunning or tampering" with God's Word. This is where I'd like to camp briefly and this is the purpose of my writing today.
Led by the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote using two key words to reference the hypocritical, secret, hidden, shameful life of one who chooses to misuse and/or misrepresent God's Word; "cunning" and "tampering."
To practice "cunning" is to operate with craftiness; to use careful skill (Greek: panourgia).
To "tamper" is to corrupt or, in a stronger sense, adulterate (Greek: doloO).
The point being made here is that ministers (and Christians in general) are not to live lives of hypocrisy, especially when it comes to handling God's Word. The call of the preacher and the believer is simple: "Preach the Word." (2 Tim. 4:2) As Christians, it's often tempting, as cultural trends take shape and the voices of this world begin to rise, to cater to society's demands. After all, we want to be portrayed as loving and filled with grace, right? Although we are instructed, "If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone" (Rom. 12:18), we cannot do this at the expense of the truth found in God's Word. When we decide to "tamper" with God's Word or to "practice cunning" in our handling of the Scriptures, we're allowing culture and the voices of this world to dictate the message of the Church. We're allowing the culture to say that God is wrong and we're, in turn, showing ourselves to agree with them.
As ambassadors for Christ, we must stand with Paul renouncing and refusing this practice.
Even if it means the culture gets upset.
Today, as has been with each passing generation, the Word of God has come under attack yet again. Today, the attack is found in various cultural movements, which, in and of themselves are not necessarily evil ideas however, they have begun calling for the Church to essentially change the message or else! We are hearing proclamations calling for the Church to disregard, edit, or redefine various terms and teachings, particularly those pertaining to homosexuality and the Christian, marriage, gender, social justice, placing woman, not equal or complementary, but above man, and the that the Gospel itself is not enough to change the hearts of man and bring about true social reform.
Each of these movements has one thing in common: They proclaim that Scripture isn't sufficient for change, it isn't inerrant nor infallible, and it is no longer authoritative.
At the core of all of this, we have the same attack against Scripture that Satan has been using since the Fall with Adam and Eve: "Did God really say....." (Gen. 3:1).
Reader, bringing Scripture into question because the culture is throwing a fit isn't progressive or liberating, it's Satanic. Practicing craftiness and tampering with the Word of God is dangerous, deadly, and demonic which will only lead to lives of sin and hypocrisy. May we as the Church always stand firm on the established Word of God.
And by the way, did you notice in the beginning how Satan was described in Genesis 3:1?
"Now the serpent was more CRAFTY than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made...."
Every believer has a ministry and a responsibility in that ministry to teach and to share the Word of God with others, primarily the Gospel. As Paul was writing to the Corinthian believers, one thing he emphasized was the he and other teachers of the Scriptures had refused to tamper with them calling that type of practice "disgraceful" and "underhanded." This was to say that they had forbidden (renounced - Greek: apeipon) to engage in the practice of hidden, shameful lives of sin - lives lived in hypocrisy (disgraceful/underhanded - Greek: kryptos).
As part of living such a life for the Lord, Paul further exclaims that they "refuse to practice cunning or tampering" with God's Word. This is where I'd like to camp briefly and this is the purpose of my writing today.
Led by the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote using two key words to reference the hypocritical, secret, hidden, shameful life of one who chooses to misuse and/or misrepresent God's Word; "cunning" and "tampering."
To practice "cunning" is to operate with craftiness; to use careful skill (Greek: panourgia).
To "tamper" is to corrupt or, in a stronger sense, adulterate (Greek: doloO).
The point being made here is that ministers (and Christians in general) are not to live lives of hypocrisy, especially when it comes to handling God's Word. The call of the preacher and the believer is simple: "Preach the Word." (2 Tim. 4:2) As Christians, it's often tempting, as cultural trends take shape and the voices of this world begin to rise, to cater to society's demands. After all, we want to be portrayed as loving and filled with grace, right? Although we are instructed, "If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone" (Rom. 12:18), we cannot do this at the expense of the truth found in God's Word. When we decide to "tamper" with God's Word or to "practice cunning" in our handling of the Scriptures, we're allowing culture and the voices of this world to dictate the message of the Church. We're allowing the culture to say that God is wrong and we're, in turn, showing ourselves to agree with them.
As ambassadors for Christ, we must stand with Paul renouncing and refusing this practice.
Even if it means the culture gets upset.
Today, as has been with each passing generation, the Word of God has come under attack yet again. Today, the attack is found in various cultural movements, which, in and of themselves are not necessarily evil ideas however, they have begun calling for the Church to essentially change the message or else! We are hearing proclamations calling for the Church to disregard, edit, or redefine various terms and teachings, particularly those pertaining to homosexuality and the Christian, marriage, gender, social justice, placing woman, not equal or complementary, but above man, and the that the Gospel itself is not enough to change the hearts of man and bring about true social reform.
Each of these movements has one thing in common: They proclaim that Scripture isn't sufficient for change, it isn't inerrant nor infallible, and it is no longer authoritative.
At the core of all of this, we have the same attack against Scripture that Satan has been using since the Fall with Adam and Eve: "Did God really say....." (Gen. 3:1).
Reader, bringing Scripture into question because the culture is throwing a fit isn't progressive or liberating, it's Satanic. Practicing craftiness and tampering with the Word of God is dangerous, deadly, and demonic which will only lead to lives of sin and hypocrisy. May we as the Church always stand firm on the established Word of God.
And by the way, did you notice in the beginning how Satan was described in Genesis 3:1?
"Now the serpent was more CRAFTY than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made...."
Comments
Post a Comment