|
Freeme2.co.za |
|
You will know the truth and the truth will set you free |
|
Interpreting the Bible Exegetically or Forcing the Bible to Speak Church Dogma Eisegetically?
Renette Vermeulen
© COPYRIGHT NOW UNBANNED PUBLICATIONS; ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
[Image on right: acknowledgement to Dan Lietha] “Exegesis” means, “drawing the actual meaning out of the text” “Eisegesis” means, “a process that introduces one's own presuppositions, agendas, or biases into and onto the text” “Hermeneutic” means: “broad or general, non-specific, personal interpretation of Scripture.”
SUBJECTS DISCUSSED IN THIS STUDY: · The Bible is incorruptible if interpreted exegetically and contextually! · Only the “entirety of truth is God’s Word,” Psalm 119:160 · Salvation, redemption and blessing in Christ are our own personal choices and responsibility · God the Holy Spirit leads all those who follow Him “into all truth” · Testing Everything as God commanded · Truth of Scripture applies to the following questions ——————————————————————— —--
[Acknowledgement to the people who published these images] Above left: Though the Morality of the Old Testament Covenant must not be rejected, (Jn. 13:34,) Jesus commanded in John 4:21-24, “[After the cross and Pentecost, true believers] will worship neither on this mountain, [this denomination nor any other,] nor in Jerusalem [in Israel.] God is Spirit, and [all Scripturally, spiritually born again believers in Jesus] will worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth, [the truth of His Word in the Bible as taught by the Holy Spirit of Truth dwelling in them,]” (1 Cor. 6:15-20.) This is so because God’s Old Testament Covenant with the Hebrew nation was done away with at the cross to establish Jesus’ eternal, unchangeable, New Testament Covenant with believers from across the whole globe, (Jn. 3:16; Heb. 8:713 & chapters 7-9.) Thus, the Kingdom-Now-here-on-earth doctrine is a great deception. Above right: At the cross, Jesus redeemed all His New Testament/Covenant believers “from every tribe, tongue and nation,” (the Israeli nation as well,) with His own blood, (Eph. 1:7! Jn. 3:16; Rev. 5:9-10.) This spiritual nation of the New Covenant, believing Jews included, (1 Peter 2-9-10,) must forsake all their traditions, politics, national feasts, culture and pagan rituals, to worship, follow, and serve Jesus in His Spiritual Kingdom of Light, (Jn. 4:21-24; Heb. Ch. 7-10.)
INTRODUCTION: I am only interested in the “Entire Truth” or the whole, contextual Truth of God’s Word and everything else that pertains to our lives on earth and in heaven. Thus, all my work is done from the perspective of the New Testament Covenant, written in the blood-atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ for His international body of believers, whom He “redeemed from every tribe, tongue, and nation, [Israelis too,]” (Jn. 3:16; Rev. 5:9-10; Heb. 8:7,13 & chapters 7-9.) “Are you the [political] king of the Jews?” Pontius Pilate demanded from Jesus. The Lord Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If My Kingdom were of this world, My servants would [physically] fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My Kingdom is not from here. [It has no earthly origin, source, or political aspirations.]” Unlike physical Israel during the Old Testament Covenant, The Lord Jesus’ New Covenant is an Eternal Spiritual Kingdom. “within” all sincere believers, (Luke 17:20-21 KJV! Jn. 18:36; Heb. 8:7,14; 7:11-19; 9:8-15; 10:1-26; Acts 7:44-50!) Þ Under the New Testament Covenant of Christ, the only function of the Old Testament is as follows, “All these things [in the Old Testament] happened to [Old Israel] as EXAMPLES, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages, [The New Testament Covenant era,] has come, (1 Cor. 10:11.)
THE BIBLE IS INCORRUPTIBLE IF INTERPRETED EXEGETICALLY AND CONTEXTUALLY! All church doctrines are based on eisegesis and hermeneutic lies, which corrupt the Scriptures to say what church clergies want people to hear. That is why there are so many different Christian divisions that sprang from their mother, the Roman Catholic church. Each denomination is controlled by its own dogmas, while it remains connected to the church system. However, the Lord Jesus’ holy body of believers CANNOT be divided into Christian denominations, (1 Cor. 3:16-17.) Just as a natural body cannot live if it is chopped into pieces, the church can never be the ever-living, spiritual body of Christ. In fact, Acts 7:44-50 emphatically states, “God does NOT dwell in a temple/church made with hands!” (1 Cor. 3:16-17!) Drawing the real contextual meaning exegetically out of the Truth of Scripture versus interpreting Scripture eisegetically or hermeneutically out of context to suit false dogmas, is aptly demonstrated by the following. ► If I want to spread a dogma that states, ‘There is no God; we can all burn our Bibles and live as we choose,’ I can use Psalm 14:1 to ‘confirm’ what I am teaching. Yes, it is actually written, “There is no God!” Ah, but let us read Psalm 14:1 for ourselves! Exegetically and in context it is really written, “The fool said in his heart, ‘There is no God!’ They are corrupt and have done abominable works. There is none [among those false teachers] who does good.’” [Unknown source.] ► Psychopathic church clergies from all denominations, (see Hebrews 7:11-19,) bargain on the fact that billions of believers accept every word they say and never read the Bible exegetically and in context for themselves. E.g., in the Lord Jesus’ Parable Of The Sower in Luke 8:4-18 & Matthew 13:1-23, they completely change the meaning of His teachings to extort money from gullible believers. These portions of Scripture are NOT about money at all. JESUS CLEARLY SAID THE SEED IS THE WORD OF GOD! ‘Seed that fell by the wayside is not understanding the Word so Satan to steal God’s Truth from hearers. Seed that fell on shallow ground are those who believe for a while but fall away once persecution comes. Seed that fell among thorns are those who accept the Word but it is choked with cares, riches, and pleasures. Seed that fell on good ground are those who have “noble hearts and bear fruit with patience. [So,] he who received seeds on the good ground is he who hears the WORD, UNDERSTANDS IT AND PRODUCES FRUIT; [good behavior according to personal abilities,] hundred, sixty, and thirtyfold.” The same goes for the criminal extortion of God’s Word to force ousted Old Testament tithes on church members so clergies can super enrich themselves. (See Heb. 8:7,13; 7:11-19; 9:8-15; 10:1-7! 1 Tim. 6:1-16!) Here are the links to the absolute truth about NEW COVENANT GIVING AND SO-CALLED ‘TITHING!’ (Gal. 3:10-14!)
ONLY THE “ENTIRETY OF GOD’S WORD IS TRUTH,” (Ps. 119:160.) To understand the whole truth of Gods’ Word, the Bible must be read, interpreted, and understood according to the entire context of both the Old and the New Testaments or Covenants — which is interpreting the Scriptures not only exegetically but also contextually from the Lord Jesus’ eternal New Testament Covenant, (see Heb. 8:7,13!) To surrender our minds to eisegetical teaching is to surrender to manmade religion, not to the truth of God’s Word. Such careless shortsightedness will cause us to “perish through a lack of knowledge” of God’s genuine Word and Truth, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, (John 1:1-14; 14:6.) Manmade doctrines result in “having our understanding [of God’s Word, will, and the leading of the Holy Spirit] darkened,” which, in turn, “alienate us from the [spiritual] life of God, because of the ignorance [in our minds] and the blindness of our hearts…” (Jn. 14:6; Eph. 4:17-24.) ► Someone wisely said, ‘Searching Scripture [exegetically] is not a matter of merely acquiring mind- knowledge, [even so-called ‘higher, secret’ knowledge, or atheist ‘gnosis,’] but of [true, eternal, spiritual] life, (Jn. 6:63!)’ Our Lord Jesus Christ, The Truth, Light, Life, and Way, Is God Himself “Who became flesh and dwelt among men,” and He declared, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away,” (Mark 13:31; Col. 2:9-10; Jn. 1:1-14.) ► Sadly, the truth of, and obedience to the full context of Biblical Scripture is progressively exchanged for “rhema” or the spoken word: so-called “new revelation knowledge,” which does not fit into the context of Scriptural truth, (see Heb. 1:1-3; Jn. 1:1-3.) Such extra-Scriptural ‘revelation’ usually comes from self-ordained ‘angelic’ or ‘divine’ apostles and ‘prophets,’ where reliance on the True Word of Christ is replaced with the false teachings of so-called ‘divine’ christ-men and women, who bind people to lukewarm religious comfort zones; the Christian church system and its false spiritual ‘authority.’
SALVATION, REDEMPTION AND BLESSING IN CHRIST ARE OUR OWN PERSONAL CHOICES AND RESPONSIBILITY In discerning between Scriptural truth and false church teaching, thus allowing God to protect us against deception and demonic manifestations, we need to accept our personal responsibility to obey the full context of God’s Word, which commands us to ‘flee from immorality; flee from idolatry; flee from the love of money…’ flee from false teaching, false teachers, and false spiritual manifestations! (1 Jn. 5:18-19! 1 Ths. 5:21-22; 1 Jn. 1:1-4; 1 Tim. 6:1-10!!!) God forbade us to join falsehoods of any kind, or to try to change idolatrous church systems by becoming members of their organizations, (2 Jn. v. 9-11; 1 Tim. 3-5; 11-12; Eph. 5:15-21; Col. 3:14-17.) ► 2 John Verses 9-10 explained, “Whoever… does not abide in the [full contextual truth of the Bible,] the [real Gospel] of Christ, does NOT have God. He who abides in the [entire truth of the Word] of Christ has both the Father and the Son. [God the omnipresent Father in heaven Who indwelt the Divinely begotten not created man, the Lord Jesus Christ, to fully atone for all the sins of true believers on a physical level: John 3:16-18.] Verse 10, “If anyone comes to you and does NOT bring the [true teachings] of Christ, do not receive him [or her] into your house [as a fellow believer,] nor greet him [as a child of God,] for he who greets him [as a brother in Christ,] shares in his evil deeds.” Hence, God commanded in Revelation 18:4, “Come out of her, [the divisions of the Roman Catholic church system,) lest you share in her sins and receive of her plagues!”
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH, LEADS ALL THOSE WHO FOLLOW HIM “INTO ALL TRUTH” “All truth” pertains to the entire context and exegetic truth of God’s Word, as well as to the truth concerning our particular situations in the world, (Jn. 16:13; 8-11! 1 Cor. 6:15-20; Rev. 18:4.) Consequently, the Holy Spirit will never lead His believers outside the protective, punitive, saving Word and will of God, (1 Ths. 5:21-23; 1 Jn. 4:1-4.) Even so, all Christians and their affiliates such as Jehovah Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists claim to be ‘Bible believers,’ while their clergies abuse the Bible to join them to churches and to make more members for their deceptive religions, (2 John 8-10.) To protect ourselves against such trickery, we need to determine what true, Scriptural faith and obedience actually mean, to constantly “train ourselves in Godliness.” This is the only way to follow the Lord Jesus Christ to the end of our lives on earth, (Jn. 8:31-32! Mt. 28:19-20! 1 & 2 Tim. 4:7-8!) ► In this great ‘race’ through this world where we must ‘keep our faith’ despite all opposition, we have to understand that following God in His Entire Truth is a decided, personal choice, (2 Tim. 4:7-8.) We can never separate the Spirit or His teaching, works, and gifts from obedience to Jesus, Who Is The True Word of God, (1 Cor. 12:1-11; Rom. 8:5-11 KJV!) Paul explained, we must not only be “filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit,” [or submit fully to His reign over us and in our lives.] We also have to surrender fully God to let “His Word dwell richly in us in all wisdom…” (Col. 3:16.) ► While enduring in faith under trial is a gift of the Holy Spirit, faith is also a sincere decision to believe, study, understand, and apply God’s genuine Word to every area of our lives, (Heb. 11:3; 1 Cor. 12:7-11.) Additionally, real understanding of Scripture, which is mere “grace upon grace” from God, can never be obtained without the necessary self-discipline to persist in following Him “in His entire truth” to the end of this world, (Mt. 28:19-20; Rom. 12:1-2; Jn. 1:12-16!)
ABOUT “TESTING ALL THINGS AND THE SPIRITS” TO “ABSTAIN FROM ALL EVIL” The Lord Jesus Christ commanded continually, “…Take heed, [be on your guard,] that no one deceives you. For many will come in My Name… and deceive many… If anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it… The kingdom of God does not come with observation… For indeed, the kingdom of God is [constantly] within you, [meaning the Holy Spirit steadfastly indwells the sincerely born again disciples of Christ: 1 Jn. 2:20; Luke 17:20-21 KJV!] The days will come when you will desire to see one of the [miraculous] days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. [Not because true signs and miracles have ceased as traditional churches teach, but because the end of the end-times will be typified by deception and false signs and miracles!] And when they say to you ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ DO NOT go after them or follow them… ” (Mt. 24:4-5; 23-27; Lu. 17:20-24.) 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, “Test ALL THINGS, [prophesies, teaching, manifestations, etcetera;] hold fast what is good; ABSTAIN FROM EVERY FORM OF EVIL.” For our own protection, our obedience to these commandments is not optional. John continued in 1 John 4:1-4, “Do not believe every spirit, but TEST THE SPIRITS [according to the exegetical, contextual Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit,] to see whether they are of God. Many false prophets [and teachers, who are being used by demons,] have gone out into the world.” As soon as we accept teaching, prophecy, miracles, etcetera without asking who is speaking into our human spirits and souls (or minds,) and what are actually said and done here, we open ourselves to deception. (See Paul’s reaction to meeting Jesus: Acts 9:3-8.) · Our only reliable measure in the spirit world where human eyes cannot see, (pertaining to Biblical teaching, all spiritual manifestations, and to every other area of life,) is the entire truth of Scripture; the “lamp unto our feet.” · Mere feeling and human trust will betray us. For instance, when Roman Catholics knowingly or unknowingly worship ‘Mother’ Mary as the Holy Spirit, most never ‘feel’ condemned. This proves, we cannot test the spirits through our feelings and/or by the insistence of church clergies to submit to church doctrines and ceremonial practices. · Someone wrote that it would be foolish to test a spirit by asking God, “Father, if that strange manifestation is not of You, please do not allow me to laugh hysterically, be slain (or killed) in the spirit, etcetera, when they lay hands on me, pray over me, swipe their clothing over me, etcetera.” Such a prayer for protection, whilst disobediently entering into danger and chaos, would be as foolish as to ask God ‘not to allow’ you to steal when presented with the opportunity. The entire context of His Word forbids us to steal, because stealing, lying, etcetera, clearly violate the commandments of the Moral Law of Christ, which are written on every human mind, (Mt. 23:36-40; Heb. 10:16.) All manmade ideas and doctrines will lead us astray. However, if we truly follow Jesus, The Truth and The Light, we will never walk in darkness, just as Jesus had promised! (Jn. 8:12.) Accordingly, Paul taught in Eph. 4:8-17, “You were once in darkness, but now you are in the light of the Lord. Walk as children of light… And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them… See then that you walk circumspectly, [carefully,] not as fools but as wise… Therefore, understand what the will of the Lord is.”
THE TRUTH OF SCRIPTURE APPLIES TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS · Could the Bible be false “because mere humans wrote the Scriptures, and the Roman Catholic Church and her Protestant daughters the Reformers the Bible books according to their church beliefs?” As the Lord Jesus Christ promised, the truth of His Word will never perish — despite the fact that Old Testament scribes as well as New Testament church clergies tampered with God’s Word to make their dogmas part of Scripture, (2 Pt. 2:-1-3.) That is why Jesus said to the Old Covenant Pharisees, “[You] make the Word of God of no effect through your tradition, which you have handed down. And many such things you do,” (Mark 7:13; Mt. 15:6-9; Col. 2:8.) Many people do not realize that God did not use any of the Bible writers as computers or secretaries. The Holy Spirit inspired God’s authors to write the Scriptures on papyrus; He did not dictate every word to them. So, early Bible writers certainly interpreted God’s motivated Word and the historic events of, (for instance,) Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, in the light of their Hebraic views. Yet, when we compare the four Gospels to one another, they fit into one. Still, it is a reality that some ‘discrepancies’ can be found in both Old and New Testament Scripture because Roman Catholic and Protestant church clergies also manipulated the Scriptures to justify their dogmas, just as clergies of all sorts are still doing today. ► As a result, the Bible cannot be interpreted verse-by-verse. It would be futile to seek the truth of Scripture (or anything else) by focusing on certain verses from the Bible without considering the fact that the “entirety of Truth is the Word of God” — while that is exactly what all Christian denominations do. ► Where we find inconsistencies it actually proves the validity of the Scriptures because overall, (studied in exegetical context,) the truth and accuracy of God’s Entire Word remained completely untainted through the ages, just as Jesus promised it would be, (Mark 13:31; Ps. 119:160.) Yet, it is true that everything the mother of all Christian churches, the Roman Catholic Church, touched, (referring to Christian doctrine, church forms, norms, unscriptural sacraments or ‘salvation’ through church rituals, etcetera,) were tainted by, and derived from the Vatican’s ‘Christianization’ of ousted Judaism and paganism, (Heb. Ch. 7-10!) ► Sadly, Protestants such as Martin Luther and John Calvin did not repent from Roman Catholic witchcraft, but simply “reformed” the most important doctrines of Catholicism to suit their Protestant taste. Hence, their doctrines, churches, and clerical hierarchies mimic Catholicism to this day.
► Confusing and blending the two separate Testaments of the Bible with each other led to almost all false dogma. When studying the Bible, we must remember that the Old and New Testaments are two completely different and separate Covenants. In the Old Testament, everything pertained to the physical nation of God, the Old Hebrews; the literal temple with its physical, hierarchical priesthood, sacramental laws and animal sacrifices, etcetera, (see Heb. 9:8-15; 10:1-26.) ► In the New Testament, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Law, (both the Ceremonial and Moral Law, Mt. 5:17-20,) in its entirety for all those who would sincerely believe in Him, accept Him personally, and follow Him obediently, (Jn. 1:12-13; 3:3-5; Gal. 4:6.) Thus, through the New Testament Covenant, Jesus spiritualized everything that was physical under the Old Testament Covenant. For instance, Jesus the One and Only Lamb of God redeemed with His blood-atonement a spiritually born again, spiritual nation and priesthood from every tribe, tongue, and nation in the world. The one and only, New Testament/Covenant temple of God is where the Holy Spirit now resides inside all sincere believers everywhere on earth, and so forth, (1 Cor. 3:16-17.) · To understand the context of a particular passage or verse from the Bible, it is also vital to ask, What were the writer’s historical/traditional background and his human mindset at the time it was written? How is it relevant to the overall picture of the Scriptures today? For instance, it is ridiculous to believe that the traditional dress-code, patriarch rule, and other traditions, customs, and conventional beliefs of Old Testament Hebrews, or even of first century Hebrews and Gentiles, can be forced upon the 21st century body of Christ, (1 Tim. 2:15; 1 Cor. 11:5.) Jesus said in Mark 7:9,13,18 “All too well you reject the [New Covenant] commandment of God, (Jn. 13:34,) that you may keep your tradition… making the Word of God of no effect… by [the things] which you have handed down... Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from the outside [like eating pork] cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” So, abstaining from eating pork or replacing the traditional, ceremonial wearing of a veil with the wearing of a hat is silly, to say the least. Salvation in Christ under the New Testament Covenant has nothing to do with outward things such as ceremonial meals, washings, feasts, and clothes, (1 Cor. 11:10-16.) (Continue) |
