My Truth

Deuteronomy 4:2 “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”

One of the most frustrating responses I hear when sharing the gospel is when someone tells me “that’s your interpretation“.

God makes it very clear we are not to add to or take away from His Word, His commands, or His purposes. If I have an “interpretation” that differs with God’s Word, then my interpretation is wrong! Drawing a conclusion as if there might be more than one interpretation says that God’s Truth is relative to the listener.

A false narrative is when one assumes that we can interpret scripture to believe what we want it to say, usually because it works for my circumstances. The delusion continues for everyone who decides they want to fit the Word to their convictions. If the interpretation brings conviction against my lifestyle, then I’m going to look for a different interpretation that makes me feel at ease and comfortable.

Proverbs 30:6 “Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.”

So I ask, how can two people have two completely different interpretations of scripture and remain in agreement?

The answer is: they would both have to be wrong.

To clarify Truth, regardless of how hard the conviction, is to examine God’s Word in correct fashion. I have to go back to an expository understanding of how to rightly divide the Word of Truth.

This includes:

1. Observing the facts within the scripture.
2. Who were the original readers?
3. What was the message to the original readers?
4. What is the main point?
5. How should we apply the author’s message to our lives?

Along the way, the astute disciple must remember a simple but extremely important principle of Bible study….”Staying on the Line“.

The teacher or preacher of God’s Word must determine what God has said in His Word and then teach nothing more or nothing less than what God has said. We can draw out meaning, we can take that meaning and see how it applies to our lives today, we just don’t have the liberty to add any new meaning to what it originally said.

Deuteronomy 12:32 “So be careful to obey all the commands I give you. You must not add anything to them or subtract anything from them.”

If we go above the line in interpretation, we add more to the text than what it originally said. For instance, God told Moses in Leviticus 18:22 “You are not to sleep with a man as with a woman; it is detestable.” Advocates for justifying the LGBTQ movement will say:

“While the six passages that address same-sex eroticism in the ancient world are negative about the practices they mention, there is no evidence that these in any way speak to same-sex relationships of love and mutuality.”

Myles Markham

The advocates that believe that homosexual relationships in Moses’ day were more abusive or demonstrated sexual violence go above the line by adding additional meaning to scripture that was never demonstrated. The hope that committed gay relationships are actually approved by God is to hope that God’s laws are different if people are well intentioned.

Leviticus 20:13 “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.”

Does this scripture mean that every homosexual relationship was either abusive or violent?

These advocates will say they do and will also declare:

“The injunction that “man must not lie with man” (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13) coheres with the context of a society anxious about their health, continuing family lineages, and retaining the distinctiveness of Israel as a nation.”

Myles Markham

Can you hear the reasoning as it diverts off the crux of the passage?

A very subtle technique of diverting from the intent of the passage and instituting a false narrative is one that tries to move the listener toward a different understanding than the intent of the One proclaiming the edict, which in this case is…God. To say that God had an entirely different idea than what He said is adding to God’s Word, going above the line of God’s stated directive so that the Word doesn’t conflict with the lifestyle.

Please don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate gays, I know many very kind and considerate people who practice this lifestyle. Where I differ is the attempt at reconciling the Word of God to fit a lifestyle of sin.

What if I read “You shall not murder.” in Exodus 20:13 and decided that it only applied to people who didn’t deserve to die. Would I be able to determine God’s intent for those that did deserve to die versus those that didn’t?

Just like God determines the value of life, understanding what real love looks like is determined solely by God. We have a myriad of scripture that describes what real love looks like and it is this understanding we must make every effort to grasp lest we error in our judgement.

Justifying Sin

Sin by definition can be found in 1 John 3:4 “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.”

How do people try to justify breaking God’s laws?

• First, they can try to change the intent of the law. If they can somehow relate the cultural reasons for the law back to the time they were written, they can make a claim that the law is not justifiable today.
• Second, they attempt to blur the defined characteristics of God’s divine plan. They believe that God’s directive causes an obvious exclusion or injustice with destructive outcomes and so this should take Christians back to the text to consider a different perspective, “one which might better reflect the heart of God”. It’s not the heart of God the revisionist seeks, it’s their own hearts desires they seek with hopes to validate themselves by claiming insight into God’s heart.
• Third, they try to diminish scripture into a culturally sensitive model that makes everyone feel included. This universalist approach gives legitimacy to any lifestyle or expression of faith that reflects “God’s design”. “God’s design for Christian partnership is about reflecting the truest and sweetest love that anyone could know”, this quote is a summary of how secular pundits try to redefine marriage into a cultural worldview. They will then tag a nice scriptural anecdote on the end to give the listener a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling regarding God’s modernized view of sin.

In bold conclusive reminders these biblical revisionists will say that “All things considered, it is important to remember that throughout church history, new information about people and the world have frequently led Christians to reconsider their beliefs.“

I suppose they believe it would be easier for those who want to justify their lifestyles to just get others to stop believing in a God who condemns them.

Our Response

Any true believer knows that he or she doesn’t make up the rules of God’s law. Christians don’t follow God based off their own standard of conduct or formulate methods of practice to fit their own cultural ideas—Mind you, people have tried to do this but all such attempts just fall off into the long legacy of rebellion against God’s throne.

Psalm 102:25-28 “Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
They will perish, but You will endure;
Yes, they will all grow old like a garment;
Like a cloak You will change them,
And they will be changed.
But You are the same,
And Your years will have no end.
The children of Your servants will continue,
And their descendants will be established before You.”

Some key facts we know about God:

• God never changes.
• God doesn’t grow old nor do His laws.
• God establishes His people.
• Creation was made by God’s design and order.

If you want to know what the correct interpretation of Creation entails, understand the nature of God. Creation was made by Him and for Him.

Mankind wants to place himself at the center of Creation and define it according to his own self-righteous law.

I’m convinced the reason people will ultimately reject God’s call to salvation is not because they don’t want to be in a heavenly paradise or avoid hell, it’s because they want everything according to their own standard of belief—in other words—they want to be God.

Self Reflection

There have always been those who disagree with God’s inherent Truth. The sad reality is for those who don’t know any better and are duped by these charlatans of the faith. They subtly infuse a concoction of truth and errancy into a single cauldron of poison elixir and offer it up to the unsuspecting follower.

Do you truly want to know God?—-Know Jesus.

Hebrews 1:3 “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

• Jesus confronted religious falsity.
• Jesus exalted God’s laws and made them honorable.
• Jesus took on the form of a servant.
• Jesus gave His life for the lost.

As believers, we are not called to hate those who oppose God’s Truth but to simply reaffirm God’s Truth by the way we live and share the gospel. The world will do all it can to dissuade people from believing the Word of God accurately, they will call names, degrade, and even persecute those who take a stand for Truth.

Believers in Christ find wisdom in following the Word accurately, and consequently—-find Freedom. The destructive nature of sin doesn’t change just because someone applies a false narrative to it and labels it approved by God.

Real Truth is God’s truth.

All God’s people can do is shine the light of Christ and hope those who suffer in darkness will come to the light. We can rightly divide the Word of Truth and teach it accordingly.

God’s Truth supports itself and speaks for itself. We don’t need to add anything to build it up nor should we remove the parts that seem offensive. Truth is offensive because it is unyielding.

Truth doesn’t cave into cultural ideologies or change with the times, it remains steadfast—Just like God.

Therefore, God’s Truth is my Truth, not the other way around.