It is man’s nature (Satan’s nature that man has embraced) to resist correction.  In 2 Timothy 3:14-16 the Apostle Paul tells Timothy the evangelist to stay focused on the Holy (Old Testament) Scriptures (the New Testament did not yet exist) in that they are Spirit-spoken and good “for forming doctrine, for REPROOF, for CORRECTION and for INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS” (vs 16).  If man cannot obey God’s Word unto righteousness (absence of sin) and if he is saved upon completion of a prescribed ritual, why did Timothy (and all saints) need to “continue in the Holy Scriptures which will make you wise UNTO (LEADING TO) SALVATION” (vs 15).  If, as we are told, sin is unavoidable due to Adam’s fall, why do we need to continue to study the Scriptures?  Why become wise unto salvation if we already have salvation?  Why be instructed in righteousness if righteousness is impossible?  Why study for perfection if perfection is not possible?  Why be reproofed (told we are wrong) when we have no choice but to be wrong?  Why be corrected if correction has no effect?  If, as we are assured, faith is all that is needed to take care of our inevitable sins, why do any of the above?  If salvation is guaranteed upon believing in Christ, why study the Scriptures in order to be saved?  This paragraph is designed for both reproof and correction for all self-professed “sinners saved by grace.” The other 1% of Christendom already know the Truth, believe it and obey it.

No matter who we are, we all need to be reproved and corrected by God’s Word from time to time.  God calls His Word the “sword of the Spirit” that opens us up and exposes what is wrong in us, then mercifully shows us how to get right.  The Institutional Church needs to be reproofed and corrected concerning the vast majority of her doctrines and practices.  This ministry is designed to do exactly that.  Doing so is like swimming up a waterfall.  Religious man hates and rejects reproof and correction.  Pride and fear prevent him from admitting he is wrong, then getting right.  Because of what I do I am a spiritual pariah within my family and among my social friends and former churchmates.  Having “fallen from grace” I am the butt of jokes.  “Friends” deliberately avoid me in public.  I do not get invited to preach in local churches.  No one, including my wife, children and grandchildren, agrees with me on any level.  This is business as usual for God’s people who know the Words of Jesus Christ Who warned that if we obeyed Him the world would hate us, especially the religious world.  The rejection of my very religious family and friends, along with the calls, letters and emails from religionists I do not know, proves that I am on the right track.  As God said about persecution: “Count it all joy.”

Concerning rejection, I am in good company.  Jesus Christ was hated, despised and nailed to a stake for saying what I say and write.  Eleven of the twelve apostles met similar fates for the same reason.  Millions have been martyred for simply believing what the apostles told them.  My little bit of persecution is nothing compared to what they endured at the hands of the religionists of their day.  But there is a Biblical “sign” connected to persecution by the religious elite.  IF YOU ARE NOT HATED, DESPISED AND PERSECUTED FOR YOUR CHRISTIAN WALK, YOU ARE NOT A TRUE CHRISTIAN: “ALL who will live godly in Christ Jesus WILL SUFFER PERSECUTION” (2 Tim. 3:12).  “It is through MUCH TRIBULATION that we enter the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).  The Apostle James tells us to “count it all joy” when tribulation, persecution, etc. come our way for it leads to our perfection (1:2-4), without which there will be no salvation.  The Apostle Peter affirms this Truth in 1 Peter 4:17,18.  Persecution puts an sharp edge on us.  Iron sharpens iron.  Having sharpened many an iron field hoe using an iron hand file I know about such things.  Using a very rough and jagged metal instrument to put a smooth, sharp edge on another metal surface makes no human sense.  The “files” that smooth and sharpen us are very rough.  But we must count each thrust as joy because we know the end product will be a razor-sharp instrument fit for the Master’s use.  I praise God for the opportunity to be so sharpened and so used by Him.

SIN IS A CHOICE.  Regardless of the situation, our response to it is in our hands alone. The two voices will always be present.  Fortunately (for us) we have a long history to look back on when it comes to temptation and how not to handle it.  Adam and Eve heard two voices.  The “irony of Eden” is that God had given them carte blanc choice relative to food.  They had an endless supply of ever-ready, ever present fruit.  They could eat of EVERY TREE IN THE GARDEN–with one exception.  Because God referred to “EVERY” tree, there must have been a variety of foods from which to choose (Gen. 1:29).  So why did they choose to partake of the only tree in paradise that was forbidden to them, a tree they had never seen.  THE ONLY THINGS THEY KNEW ABOUT IT WAS ITS LOCATION AND THAT IT WAS FORBIDDEN.  Think about their mind-set: they chose the ONLY fruit their Creator and food Supplier had forbidden them to eat.  Having been provided specifically for them by God, the available fruit had to be good.  Question: how did Satan so easily manipulate the two members of God’s  first church into defying the One Who had given them life and Who could take it away?  Answer: the same way he controls their spiritual descendants today.

Jesus warned us about Satan’s wiles in Matthew 24:4: “Take heed that no man DECEIVE you ….”  Satan deceived Adam and Eve into believing a lie.  The only way he could do this was to discredit God in their eyes using their faith–the spiritual foundation upon which all believers base their present and future lives.  Romans 10:19 explains the origin and foundation of Christian faith: “Faith comes from hearing the Word of God.”  Therefore, faith and God’s Word cannot be separated.  FAITH IS TAKING GOD AT HIS WORD.  Any other type of “faith” is false faith/dead faith.  Faith that is not “worked” (put into action) is dead (Jam. 2:14,17,18,20,24,26).  “Works” always refers to obedience to that in which we have faith.  If, as we are told, man has no say relative to the choice between holiness and sin, then the faith of all mankind is dead.  Jesus said we must “live (now) by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Mat. 4:4).  To “live by” means to obey (“work”).  How can we obey God if Adam’s sin makes it impossible?  We are “dead men walking.”

Think about this: God’s Word is the sum total of everything we know about Him.  Without the Bible man knows NOTHING about God.  God and His Word are synonymous, inseparable.  The Bible is God in written form.  We will all be judged by God’s Word (Jn. 12:48).  Since God and His Word are one, He is only as good as His Word.  People have no problem applying that truth to mankind.  After all, “A man is only as good as His Word” which, we are told, is his “bond.”  However, those same people refuse to apply that rule to God.  They reject His Word, and therefore Him, which is what Jesus said in Luke 10:16.  Sinners saved by grace claim that God has lied to them.  This in spite of His saying that, “… all liars shall burn in the Lake of Fire” (Rev. 21:8).  Would that not include Himself and His Son?  Could Satan have anything to do with this moral paradox?  The Scriptures tell us that he is the creator of it.  L.J.