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Unbiblical Statements
9 Unbiblical
Statements Christians Believe
By Shane Pruitt
One of the greatest gifts
that God gave mankind was the Holy Bible because the Bible is literally God
revealing Himself, and communicating Himself to mankind in written word.
Anything and everything that
we know about God comes from these Holy Scriptures, and they contain the
totality of what we need to know about becoming a Christian, and everything
that we need to know about living the Christian life.
Orthodox Christianity teaches
that the Bible was inspired and authored by the Holy Spirit of God using human
instruments.
It also believes that in its
original languages of Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic; it is without error and fault.
However, there are many
things that Jesus-following, church-going, Bible-believing Christians believe
that are completely unbiblical.
How does this happen?
Often, we’ll hear someone
quote a statement that sounds nice to us, and we’ll begin repeating it as
though it’s biblical truth without ever researching it in the Scriptures.
Several of these unbiblical
statements have gained enough traction that many people believe they’re
actually Bible verses.
Not only are the statements
unbiblical; most of them teach the opposite of what the Bible teaches.
Here is a list of nine popular unbiblical statements that
Bible-loving Christians tend to believe:
1. God helps those who help themselves.
This statement is actually
anti-Gospel.
Self-reliance and
self-righteousness, or the attitude of trying harder and doing better, actually
gets in the way of the work of God.
Jesus
saves those who die to themselves: “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone
would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’”
(Matthew 16:24).
2. God wants me to be happy.
It’s a common belief that God
exists to be our “personal genie,” waiting to give us our every wish.
It’s
amazing how we will justify our sinful actions by saying, “God just wants me to be happy.”
Happiness is tied to feelings
and emotions that are often based on circumstances, and those change all the
time.
God wants us to be obedient
to Him, trust Him and know that everything He does is for our good, even if it
doesn’t make me feel “happy” in that
moment.
“And
we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for
those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans
8:28).
3. We’re all God’s children.
Although God has created
everyone … not everyone relationally belongs to Him.
Only
those who have repented of sin, placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their
Lord and Savior, and possess the Holy Spirit of God inside of them can claim
Him as their Father: “But you have received the Spirit of
adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ;Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears
witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans
8:15b–16).
However,
those who don’t have Jesus as their Savior, nor have the Holy Spirit of God
inside of them, actually belong to Satan: “And you were dead in the trespasses and
sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following
the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons
of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:1 – 2).
“By
this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the
devil: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one
who does not love his brother” (1
John 3:10).
4. Cleanliness is next to godliness.
The people around you may
appreciate you staying clean, but this is not Scripture.
Parents may use this
unbiblical statement to motivate their kids to clean their rooms.
However,
I’d suggest using an actual biblical statement: “Honor your father and your
mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving
you” (Exodus 20:12).
5. God won’t give
you more than you can handle.
Actually, all of life is more
than we can handle.
The point of living in a
fallen world is not for us to try really hard to carry our heavy burden, but
rather give-up, quit and surrender to God, that’s what faith is all about.
Everything
is more than I can handle, but not more than Jesus can handle: “For
we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in
Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of
life itself” (2 Corinthians 1:8).
“Come
to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew
11:28).
6. We all worship the same God.
Yes,
there is only one true and living God: “Know therefore today, and lay it to your
heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is
no other” (Deuteronomy 4:39).
However,
He only accepts worship that comes through Jesus Christ, not Muhammad, Buddha,
Joseph Smith, etc: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name
under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts
4:12).
7. Bad things
happen to good people.
Often we place ourselves in
the judgment seat of what is good and bad, or who is good and bad.
The most popular way to make
that judgment is by comparison.
For example, Bob is a good
guy, because he is not as bad as Sam.
However,
according to the Bible, we’re all on equal ground because none of us is
inherently good: “As it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one’” (Romans
3:10).
8. When you die,
God gains another angel.
Plain and simple. Humans are
humans, and angels are angels.
This remains so even in
eternity.
In
fact, angels are intrigued by the interaction between God and His
“image-bearing” humans: “It was revealed to them that they were
serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to
you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent
from heaven, things into which angels long to look” (1
Peter 1:12).
9. We’re all going
to the same place when we die.
There are two possible
destinations when we pass: Heaven and Hell.
However,
only those who are in Christ will be with Him for all eternity when they
physically die: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6).
The fact that many of us
Christians believe these unbiblical statements shows our unfortunate overall
biblical illiteracy.
Instead of swallowing popular
statements hook-line-and-sinker, may we be like the Bereans in the Book of
Acts.
When
they heard Paul preach, they wanted to research the Scriptures themselves to
authenticate what he was saying: “The brothers immediately sent Paul and
Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the Jewish
synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they
received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if
these things were so” (Acts 17:10 – 11).
What are some more unbiblical
statements that you’ve heard Christians commonly use?
Shane
serves as the Director of Evangelism for the Southern Baptists of Texas
Convention. He and his wife, Kasi, reside in Rockwall, TX with their five
children – Raygen, Harper, Titus, Elliot, & Glory. He has been in ministry
for over 15 years as a church planter, lead pastor, associate pastor, and
student pastor. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biblical Studies, a Master’s
Degree in History, and a PhD in Clinical Christian Counseling.
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