how the bible can kill you

7/31/2019 How the Bible Can Kill You

1/31

HOW THE BIBLE CAN KILL YOU(The Dead Letters)

BY Watchman DeanOctober 24 2012

This book is written as a follow upto my recent book "Rapture Now."

Proverbs 14:12

There is a way which seemeth right unto aman, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

In this article I shall prove using SCRIPTURE that if anyoneattempts to follow Christ solely based upon their knowledgeof the Bible, they have "fallen from the faith." This,

unfortunately, may include many who are currently caughtup in the Christian religions of this world! Just as in theproverb, it seems right to them that they must follow "theBible," yet I am about to prove that the "letter killeth," inother words the Apostles taught that relying solely upon"book learning" leads to "death."

No one loves the Bible more than me. From the time I was very young I immersed myself in it (my father becameconcerned that I was obsessed). If there is one thing my family knows about me, it's that I know the scriptures (somedon't really believe I understand them very well but they willall agree I know the Bible). Anyone who has read my booksand articles online will immediately notice that they are fullof quotes from the Bible. I truly do love the Bible but I do


2/31

not "worship" the Bible, neither do I call it God! Mostimportantly, I have never made the mistake of believing that by reading, studying, or applying scripture I can somehow "please" God.

There was a television event I saw years ago (and havementioned before in other writings). I have looked for a video clip of it many times online to no avail. It was in theearly 1980's and I was watching a sermon by Jimmy Swaggart. Jimmy was waving the Bible around saying "thisis God!" He said, "this is the word of God," then quoted "inthe beginning was the word and the word was with God and

the word was God," and each time he said "word" he lifted orshook the Bible. That the Christian world refers to the Bibleas "the word of God" there can be no debate. Jimmy's point was actually based upon inescapable logic. If the Bible is"the word of God" and the word of God IS God, then indeedthe Bible MUST be God. Since no one seems to havepreserved a video clip of this sermon (at least not on theinternet), evidently Swaggart's pronouncement of the Bible AS God did not alarm or upset anyone. You find no mentionof it anywhere on the web either. No one remembers thismoment as I do. We can only assume that I was one of theonly ones touched by the significance of Jimmy's error.

What is the Bible, really? If we look at it purely scientifically the Bible is a thing, an object that is created in a printingfactory somewhere. It consists of wood pulp (paper), somesort of binding, and ink fashioned into characters or letters.

Is the Bible a "living thing?" Of course not. The Bible is a book and it has a "message" that many believe is "God breathed" (I being one among this group), yet certainly theBible is not our God. What does the Bible itself SAY abouttaking an object that is created and "fashioned" by the handof man and calling it God? The Bible calls this "idolatry."


3/31

Isaiah 44: 9-17

9 They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shallnot profit; and they are their own witnesses;they see not, nor know; that they may beashamed.

10 Who hath formed a god, or molten a gravenimage that is profitable for nothing?

11 Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed:and the workmen, they are of men: let them allbe gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamedtogether.

12 The smith with the tongs both worketh inthe coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, andworketh it with the strength of his arms: yea,he is hungry, and his strength faileth: hedrinketh no water, and is faint.

13 The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he

marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with thecompass, and maketh it after the figure of aman, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.


4/31

14 He heweth him down cedars, and taketh thecypress and the oak, which he strengthenethfor himself among the trees of the forest: he

planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.15 Then shall it be for a man to burn: for hewill take thereof, and warm himself; yea, hekindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketha god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it agraven image, and falleth down thereto.

16 He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, andis satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, andsaith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:

17 And the residue thereof he maketh a god,even his graven image: he falleth down unto it,and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, andsaith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.

Jeremiah 10: 2-5

2 Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of theheathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of

heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.


5/31

4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it

move not.5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to dogood.

Many have quoted Isaiah 44: 14 and particularly Jeremiah 10and correlated them with fashioning a "Christmas tree" (andmake having a Christmas tree some sort of idolatry). It's nothard for some to see how a Christmas tree could beconstrued as an "idol" or graven image but those who make itso never consider that the Bible itself could be turned into anidol. Yet, when we have people saying the Bible is the "wordof God" (and therefore by logic is God being that the word of

God is God) they have turned the Bible into an idol evenmore than Christmas tree could ever be regarded so. Those who refuse to have Christmas trees in their home, ironically,still call the Bible "the word of God" and indeed look to theBible to "save" them. In fact, the same thing that can be saidof the Christmas tree and the Bible (both come into being by the cutting down of a tree) can also be said of the "cross." What Christian church does not have a cross hanging

somewhere? (Very few do not). Doesn't the cross come into being by cutting down a tree? Yet, do they say the cross istheir God? No, they do not, however they DO say that thecross "saves" them. They forget that it was not the CROSSthat was important. What was important was he who HUNGon the cross (and the purposes for which he did so). IT's


6/31

improtant to mention here that there is NO evidence thatJesus ever hung on a cross, neither scripturally norhistorically. There is no Roman historical documents whichshow that Romans ever used crosses to crucify. Romansused a pole, and several scriptures describe Christ'scrucifixion as "on a tree" or "on a pole." The word "cross" was translated later in scripture.

Just having an "image" or a graven image is not idolatry (otherwise artistic statues are all idols). It only becomesidolatry when you say "this is my God" or you rely upon thatimage to "save you," or you give "life" to the image. I submit

that when it comes to the Bible, Jimmy Swaggart's wordsring across the ages when he holds up a Bible and says "thisis God," especially when, upon examining Christian religion(especially fundamentalism and evangelism) you realize they do indeed teach and believe that the Bible saves them!

THE APOSTLE'S SCRIPTURES

People think of the scriptures as "the Bible." They don'trealize that when the writer's of the New Testament spoke of "scripture" the Bible didn't even exist. The Bible wascompiled over time and the first Bible came into existenceover a 300 to 400 year period following the first church age. When the Apostles say "the holy scriptures" they mean "theLaw and the Prophets" (or Old Testament). This is made upof the Torah which are the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, the Chronicles, the Psalms (songs) of David, the

writings of Solomon, and the the writings of the prophets.Christ referred to the then known scripture as "the law andthe prophets," and the Apostle Paul merely said "the law."The scriptures should not be confused with the Talmud which is the collection of the Rabbinical commentaries thatmake up Hebrew tradition. The Apostles did not regard the


7/31

Talmud as "canon" or "scripture" (in fact in severalreferences Christ himself and Paul made to the Talmud they call them "traditions of men").

I feel it is essential that I establish the truths I have juststated in order for us to fix firmly in our minds that "thescriptures" include "the law" and also that when Christ andthe Apostles referred to "the law" they included the entire body of scriptural text (including the prophetic books) incategory with "law." The reason this will be imperative willsoon come clear, for, if the many Christians who say the law is "irrelevant" are correct and if the prophetic scriptures of

the Old Testament are INCLUDED in "the law," then the OldTestament is now irrelevant to those Christians and onemust wonder why they still include them in their Bibles, butI'm jumping ahead here.

Galatians 4: 21-25

21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law,

do ye not hear the law?

22 For it is written, that Abraham had twosons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by afreewoman.

23 But he who was of the bondwoman wasborn after the flesh; but he of the freewomanwas by promise.

24 Which things are an allegory: for these arethe two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is


8/31

Agar.

25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and

answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is inbondage with her children.

Many who say Paul taught the law is "done away with" inChrist quote Paul's words to the Galatians (in many texts within that book). Here, Paul is still talking to the Galatiansabout "the law" and asks "do you not hear the law" then hequotes from the Torah (one of the first five books of the OldTestament) and the quote Paul uses comes, not from the Law that came in Moses' time but comes from an account of Abraham and his wife (long before "the law" of Moses).Thus, it is EASILY proved in the New Testament that whenPaul said "the law" he was including the OTHER SCRIPTURES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT as well. ThoseChristians who conclude, after reading Paul's statementsabout the law, that the "law is done away with" or that thelaw is "not relevant" to the Christian clearly do notunderstand what they teach, for they are saying that theENTIRE OLD TESTAMENT is irrelevant. If so, why do they read it and why do they include it in their Bible? Yet I willshow that if the Old Testament is irrelevant, the New Testament is also irrelevant (for the exact same reasonsgiven by Paul).

Matthew 5: 16-20

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify

your Father which is in heaven.


9/31

17 Think not that I am come to destroy thelaw, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy,but to fulfil.

18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven andearth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise

pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teachmen so, he shall be called the least in thekingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall doand teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousnessof the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in nocase enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Christ does not separate the law from the prophets butincludes them as one of the same stating that he did notcome to "destroy" or "do away" with them, but to fulfill them.Paul in the above quote from Galatians gives us a poignantexample of how Christ "fulfilled" some of what was written inthe Old Testament calling the story of Abraham and Hagar

"allegory."

Christ, in verse 20 says something very curious, that ourrighteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribesand Pharisees. I won't beat around the bush here. Thedeeper meaning of Christ's words was to state that your


10/31

righteousness cannot come from reading a book andmemorizing it! That is the ONLY righteousness the scribesand pharisees knew. The "letter" (as it was called by the Apostles). Christ states that OUR righteousness must besomething FAR GREATER than just studying the "law andthe prophets" (the scriptures, the Bible). Again, I jumpahead but this needed to be established in order to continueon.

Christ taught that our "keeping" of the "law and thescriptures" would not come "of ourselves" but would beestablished by LOVE! He stated this plainly and openly.

Matthew 22: 36-40

36 Master, which is the great commandment inthe law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love theLord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all thelaw and the prophets.

Christ fulfilled the law and the prophets by love and what'smore, his "new" commandment (which was not a new commandment but was the commandment we had heard


11/31

from the beginning of time) this commandment to "love oneanother" would deliver those who obeyed and walked thereinto serve God, not by "book learning" but by the Spirit and by truth. So, the law was not "done away with" the law was"fulfilled" in Christ and shall be "fulfilled in us" if we obey hiscommand to walk in LOVE! It's not that we don't KEEP thelaw anymore, it's that our keeping FAR EXCEEDS that of thescribes and pharisees who thought they could be "saved" by reading and studying and obeying in the flesh the writtenlaw!

So as it was with the scribes and pharisees, the hypocrites of

Christ's day, so is it now with the hypocrites of our day. They teach that the written word (the Bible) is God and that they shall be saved and walk as Christ walked by "studying" and believing (not necessarily obeying) the words of the Bible.They are just as confused as were the pharisees.

In Christianity today it is widely agreed upon by theologiansthat the "LAW" has been replaced by grace. They base thisopinion primarily upon Paul's writings in the New Testament. Christianity teaches we are no longer "under thelaw" and that if we return to the keeping of the "law" (Torah) we "fall from the faith." When one does read the New Testament teachings of the Apostles that exist today itappears they are on extremely solid ground to teach this ideathat Christ replaces the LAW. The Old Testament (especially the books that made up the Torah) then become"instructional" only in the Christian faith.

Some Christians go so far as to say "the law is dead" and they that keep it are likewise "dead." Christian extremists actually try to teach that sin is CAUSED by the law! (Something thatis completely unsubstantiated in the scriptures themselvesand is based entirely on their own human reasoning).


12/31

They quote such scriptures as found in 1 Corinthians "thestrength of sin is the law" and others like it to support theidea that the law actually causes one to sin (because theirreasoning is human beings inevitably want to do whatever itis they are prohibited from doing). Of course, suchextremists are preaching "lawlessness" but we will get intothat more in depth later.

The law does not CAUSE sin the law only EXPOSES sin and without the law there would BE NO sin! (Which is why thestrength of sin is the law).

These are the landmark New Testament scriptures which,themselves, speak of "the holy scriptures" and we mustremember when we read them they are speaking of the OldTestament, or Tanakh because the "law and the prophets" were the only scripture they knew when this following quote was written.

2 Peter 1: 20-21

20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of thescripture is of any private interpretation.

21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake asthey were moved by the Holy Ghost.

2 Timothy 3: 14-17

14 But continue thou in the things which thouhast learned and hast been assured of,knowing of whom thou hast learned them;


13/31

15 And that from a child thou hast known theholy scriptures, which are able to make thee

wise unto salvation through faith which is inChrist Jesus.

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God,and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

17 That the man of God may be perfect,thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

When you realize that Paul tells Timothy that "all scripture"is "profitable" for instruction in righteousness and realizethat the ONLY scriptures they had at the time were the LAW (we have seen that Paul includes ALL of the Tanakh when hespeaks of "the law" and "the scriptures") you begin to realize just what deceivers they are who say Paul taught the law "nolonger applies" to the Christian and is "nullified" by graceand faith! Paul says no such thing and in fact states that theLAW (scriptures) are "able to make you wise unto salvationthrough faith." Paul says God GAVE us the scriptures(including the law) so that the man of God "may be perfect"and "furnished unto all good works." How can they justify throwing out the law and saying that grace somehow nullifiesthe law?

They have completely misunderstood Paul's teaching on thesubject, not realizing that even though Paul taught "by thelaw no flesh can be saved" and taught that "the letter kills" he was not NULLIFYING the law but was stating that youcannot obey and KEEP the law by FLESHLY STUDY and


14/31

OBSERVANCE, it must come by the Spirit (which is love).This was the same thing Christ taught and his disciplesmerely echoed it! It's not that we don't keep the law, it'sHOW we keep it that has changed under Christ! They whoattempt to keep and obey scripture by the power of their ownflesh and intellect do not really KEEP the law, and they whokeep the law "in Spirit and in truth" indeed DO keep the law and are no longer UNDER the law for they KEEP IT!

Galatians 5: 22-25

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such thereis no law.

24 And they that are Christ's have crucified theflesh with the affections and lusts.

25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in theSpirit.

The key in the above quote is "against such there is no law."Consider if you will that many Christians have CREATED alaw, whereby, a human being cannot actually LIVE withoutsin (living in the Spirit). They call Paul a liar who stated

emphatically there IS NO LAW that prevents us from livingthis way. Instead they take the idea of "original sin" and the"sin nature" to the ultimate extreme and establish a "law of the flesh" which prevents them from living in the Spirit incomplete contradiction to the teachings of the Apostles.


15/31

That is not the point of this study. I am attempting to bringforth a universal truth that was repeated by every Apostle inevery letter they wrote, and according to their gospelaccounts was taught by our Lord himself. Namely, that NOONE can achieve to Spiritual perfection through love by reading, memorizing, or following a book, or a list of rulesand regulations. If we could attain to the Spiritual stature of Christ (walking in love) through reading the scripture thenChrist died in VAIN! (Paul actually says this).

Galatians 2: 20-21

20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless Ilive; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and thelife which I now live in the flesh I live by thefaith of the Son of God, who loved me, andgave himself for me.

21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if

righteousness come by the law, then Christ isdead in vain.

We do not seek righteousness, nor do we seek to live "inChrist" by "the law" (the scriptures or Bible study). How many teachers within organized Christianity have missed thepoint entirely and instead teach that our "walk" of faith mustcome from reading the Bible? If I had just one dollar forevery time I have heard that preached I truly would be a wealthy man (honestly, quite wealthy). What's truly ironicis that ALL of these teachers are quick to go to the words of Paul, yet they ONLY apply this principle to the MORALLAWS of God (to show how we are under grace not rules andregulations). They NEVER really understand the message of


16/31

Paul, for while they promise liberty from the law, they turnright back around and preach righteous living throughreading the BIBLE, lift their Bibles up from the pulpit andshout "this is our God!"

When I was younger it used to anger me, now it only breaksmy heart.

Romans 3: 19-22

19 Now we know that what things soever thelaw saith, it saith to them who are under thelaw: that every mouth may be stopped, and allthe world may become guilty before God.

20 Therefore by the deeds of the law thereshall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by thelaw is the knowledge of sin.

21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by thelaw and the prophets;

22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all themthat believe: for there is no difference:

The scriptures are the "witness" of the "righteousness of God" WITHOUT the law. No flesh shall be justified by reading the law and following (the scripture, the Bible). This was the iron clad message of Paul which they now confuseand turn the walk of Christ into a walk of faith only with NO


17/31

WORKS! (In complete contradiction to the very scripturesthey claim to live by for those same scriptures state that faith without works is DEAD, being alone). The scriptures are for"reproof" and for "edification" (this includes the law) andprovide TESTIMONY (witness) of the true righteousness thatis to be had by FAITH in the son of God (through the Holy Spirit). That righteousness is born, not out of reading,memorizing, studying and learning the scripture but isrealized by FAITH and through the WALK of the Spirit(love). That is the reason Paul said that "the letter kills."

2 Corinthians 3:1-9

1 Do we begin again to commend ourselves?or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?

2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts,

known and read of all men:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared tobe the epistle of Christ ministered by us,written not with ink, but with the Spirit of theliving God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

4 And such trust have we through Christ toGod-ward:

5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves tothink any thing as of ourselves; but our


18/31

sufficiency is of God;

6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the

new testament; not of the letter, but of thespirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit givethlife.

7 But if the ministration of death, written andengraven in stones, was glorious, so that thechildren of Israel could not stedfastly beholdthe face of Moses for the glory of hiscountenance; which glory was to be doneaway:

8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit berather glorious?

9 For if the ministration of condemnation beglory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

Paul truly says it all in verse 6 above. The Apostles were notthe ministers of the new testament "by letter," but by theSpirit. The New Covenant is not a book written in stone orparchment but is God BREATHED in us by the infilling of the Holy Spirit and by our walk in that love. He who's walk

consists of studying the Bible and interpreting scripture (orhaving it interpreted to him or her) is no different than thescribes and pharisees and as Christ said our "righteousnessmust exceed the righteousness" of them or we are NOT hisdisciple! They who apply Paul's denouncement of following by "letter" only to the LAWS have revealed themselves! They


19/31

seek to destroy sinlessness and set in it's place a GRACE thatis no grace, in which we have NO RULES and can live as weplease (and all the while preaching that one must live by thescriptures, something that the Apostle Paul ironically statedCOULD not happen). You cannot live by Bible reading, youcannot walk in Christ by Bible reading and if you do, it willKILL you. Paul made this clear as crystal (yet they do not seeafter thousands of years of reading and quoting his words).That is truly astounding.

Do the denouncements of "The letter" apply to the New Testament scriptures? Absolutely! How can they not? The

New Testament is made up primarily of the "epistles" andthe gospels of the Apostles. Are they any less "scripture"than the "law and the prophets" which Paul has stated clearly "killeth?" Are the law and the prophets somehow "lessscripture" than the New Testament? We have already readthey are not for the Apostles all stated that the Holy Scriptures came not from man but from God (speaking of thelaw and the prophets). So, what applies to them also appliesto the LETTERS or EPISTLES found in the New Testament.Notice Paul says to the Corinthians that THEY are the "livingepistles" of the Apostles. This is KEY to our understanding.Paul expounds upon this elsewhere:7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but untoholiness.

1 Thessalonians 4: 8-11

8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us hisholy Spirit.

9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not


20/31

that I write unto you: for ye yourselves aretaught of God to love one another.

10 And indeed ye do it toward all the brethrenwhich are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more andmore;

11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your ownhands, as we commanded you;

Paul tells the Thessalonians they did not need him to "write"to them as touching "brotherly love," but that they were"taught of God." When you consider the New Testament ismade up predominantly of Paul's "writings" this statementitself sheds light on our walk, that it is by love and not by reading the NEW TESTAMENT of the BIBLE! If you have to be taught by Paul's writings to "love one another" there is

SOMETHING WRONG and Paul himself bears this out! When they apply this edict of "Freedom from the law" only tothe OLD TESTAMENT (and specifically the moral laws of Moses) they manifest their ulterior motive, which is to live,not according to the spirit but according to the flesh, in thelusts thereof, for if they TRULY understood what it means tolive "in" and "by" the Spirit they would not make such acolossal error of teaching we achieve right standing with God

by studying our BIBLES! In the grand irony of ironies they only quote verse 11 "study to be quiet" and apply this toreading the Bible (which shows they missed the entire pointPaul was making to begin with). We do study the Bible and yes all the scriptures but we do not WALK nor do we STAND by them. The Bible is NOT going to save anyone (any more


21/31

than the LAW could save). If studying the Bible could saveus we wouldn't have NEEDED the crucifixion of Christ!

No wonder the Apostles said of this group "the dog hasreturned to his own vomit again." They preach freedomfrom the law and righteousness by the Spirit but then returnonce again to the same sort of righteousness that the scribesand pharisees had, which is a righteousness born out of reading and imitating what they read in their Bibles! What'smore, they preach this is how a person is "approved" andquote the following scripture:

2 Timothy 2: 13-1613 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: hecannot deny himself.

14 Of these things put them in remembrance,charging them before the Lord that they strivenot about words to no profit, but to thesubverting of the hearers.

15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, aworkman that needeth not to be ashamed,rightly dividing the word of truth.

16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

When we study the scriptures we do so by "rightly dividingthe word of truth" by the HOLY SPIRIT! Just studying theBible does not show you are "approved" of God. Restassured the devil knows the scriptures, in fact when Christ


22/31

was tempted on the mountain after his baptism Satan did soUSING THE SCRIPTURES! Striving in "words" (thescriptures) has NO PROFIT and the end result is anINCREASE in ungodliness. Paul calls this "profane and vain" babbling!

How many times have you heard a non believer complainabout all the different versions of the Bible in existence today and even more so, have they not complained to you about allthe different interpretations of those scriptures? It is aCANKER SORE on the Body of Christ, I tell you. They arekilling the gospel and if they continue they are killing

themselves for Paul states clearly that "the letter killeth."How have they turned everything upside down? How havethey missed what it truly means to walk in the Spirit (that itdoes not come from studying the Bible)?

They have missed it because they seek only to promotethemselves, their own thinking, their own teachings and to be held in admiration by others for their "great knowledgeand understanding of scripture." It's a devilish trap, a "way that seems right" unto men but the end thereof is "death."

Yet, as I go about preaching this true gospel message I amattacked on all sides by them who call me an "egomaniac"and "arrogant" and a "know it all," when in fact I amadvocating a "know nothing" approach to the scriptures whereby I do not rely upon my own wisdom or

understanding but upon the HOLY SPIRIT leading (rightly dividing the word of truth). This was the same attack thatChrist himself experienced from the scribes and pharisees soit is nothing new and is to be expected. I've been called afool, disfellowshipped by pastors and by fellow members of my congregations, I am rebuffed, reviled and persecuted all


23/31

because I stick to the pure and simple message of the gospeland of the New Covenant which says "you have no need thatany man teach you but the same annointing which abides in you teaches you all things and is truth and is no lie."

This wisdom is not from me, nor is it from the earth it isfrom ABOVE and they miss it because they REJECT theSpirit who comes to bring this great gift of grace to them.They reject it because in order to receive it you have to besincere in your desire to OVERCOME SIN and plainly they are not, for the seek to re-establish the law (while at the sametime rejecting it). They replace the letter of the Old

Testament with the letter of the New Testament and fall intoa snare whereby they are "taught of men" and "taught by theprecepts of men" rather than taught of God. They shun thetruth for a dead letter that kills!

It is no coincidence that all of their teachings from scripturesend the same way, they are "locked" in a sin nature from which they cannot escape! They have created their ownprison with all of their doctrines and interpretations of the WORD. They make the WORD a "book" and thus canNEVER receive the truth that is God breathed by the Spirit(for they are in fact idolators), their minds become"reprobate" for they worship a book. They worship "thecreation" rather than the creator.

Romans 1: 21-23

21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful;but became vain in their imaginations, andtheir foolish heart was darkened.


24/31

22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptibleGod into an image made like to corruptibleman, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, andcreeping things.

What is the end for such as do this?

Romans 1: 28-32

28 And even as they did not like to retain Godin their knowledge, God gave them over to areprobate mind, to do those things which arenot convenient;

29 Being filled with all unrighteousness,

fornication, wickedness, covetousness,maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate,deceit, malignity; whisperers,

30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud,boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers,without natural affection, implacable,unmerciful:

32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that


25/31

they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasurein them that do them.

They do not "retain God in their knowledge" because theirknowledge is EARTHY it's of themselves, their own mindsand their own understanding of the BIBLE! When they make the BIBLE "the word of God" what they really havedone is made their OWN UNDERSTANDING God! They have made their own minds "God." Not only they, theconclusion to this error is that they make themselves "Gods"of their own bodies and deny the Lord who bought them.They end up with teachings which say that they cannot stopsinning and create a system whereby a person is approved by READING THE BIBLE and BELIEVING what they read (and what they are TAUGHT concerning what they read). This isthe SAME error of the scribes and pharisees which Pauldenounced saying "by the law no flesh shall be justified."

They have had plenty of warning! Paul stated it over and

over and they quote his words from every pulpit (yetapplying those words ONLY to the moral law so that they areexcused from being righteous). Surely there can be noescape. Paul told us thousands of years ago that he whoseeks to rely on "the wisdom of men" (or their own wisdom)NULLIFIES the crucifixion of Christ. (If righteousness be by the law or scripture then Christ is dead in vain).

1 Corinthians 1: 17-2717 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to

preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words,lest the cross of Christ should be made of noneeffect.


26/31

18 For the preaching of the cross is to themthat perish foolishness; but unto us which are

saved it is the power of God.19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing theunderstanding of the prudent.

20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe?where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

21 For after that in the wisdom of God theworld by wisdom knew not God, it pleased Godby the foolishness of preaching to save themthat believe.

22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeksseek after wisdom:

23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeksfoolishness;

24 But unto them which are called, both Jewsand Greeks, Christ the power of God, and thewisdom of God.

25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser


27/31

than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hathchosen the weak things of the world toconfound the things which are mighty;

Paul reiterates this point again and again to the Corinthianchurch (who were splitting up into factions ordenominations).

1 Corinthians 2: 1-5

1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, camenot with excellency of speech or of wisdom,declaring unto you the testimony of God.

2 For I determined not to know any thingamong you, save Jesus Christ, and himcrucified.

3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear,and in much trembling.

4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in


28/31

demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

5 That your faith should not stand in the

wisdom of men, but in the power of God.How have they missed the central point of Paul's teachingsand now only apply his words to the keeping of the "morallaw" and do not perceive that Paul clearly taught you cannot be righteous or holy by READING and FOLLOWING a book?This was the SAME MESSAGE Christ gave.

John 5:3939 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think

ye have eternal life: and they are they whichtestify of me.

In light of all of this do you still think I'm making a mountainout of mole hill over Jimmy Swaggart's declaration that the

Bible is God? This was supposed to be a HOLY SPIRITpreacher, preaching the infilling of the Holy "Ghost" yet hedid not understand who his God is, did not understand thetrue nature of the Holy Spirit, did not understand theRUDIMENTS of the gospel!

2 Peter 3: 14-16

14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be foundof him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

15 And account that the longsuffering of our


29/31

Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given untohim hath written unto you;

16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in themof these things; in which are some things hardto be understood, which they that areunlearned and unstable wrest, as they do alsothe other scriptures, unto their owndestruction.

They misunderstand Paul's teachings and even the other Apostles observed this in their day, turning Paul's words intosome sort of license to IGNORE the moral law and live asthey please. Notice Peter says of Paul's letters that they arescripture. He says in verse 16 "as they do also THE OTHER scriptures." Yet, as we read earlier Paul said we have "noneed for him to write unto us." Paul was saying flatly that to walk in LOVE (and thus fulfill the scriptures as Christ

taught) we DO NOT EVEN NEED THE SCRIPTURES!

Yet, instead, they apply the principles Paul taught to the"moral law" only (and this they do to free themselves to sinand sin again rest assured). Yet Paul said to them whosought to conform unto righteousness by reading andfollowing scripture:

Galatians 3:33 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit,are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

How many times do the Apostles have to say in scripture that


30/31

we cannot rely ON the scripture to conform us to the imageof Christ? How many times did Christ have to say that wekeep the law BY LOVE (through the Spirit)? Yet, still, they continue to teach from the pulpit that we are saved by theSCRIPTURE, saved by their Bibles (and their interpretationof those Bibles). How are they any different than the scribesand pharisees? The same thing that Paul said to theGalatians who were about to get circumcised (and in sodoing trying to establish righteousness through keeping tothe scriptures). Paul said "he who is circumcised among youhas fallen from the faith." This same principle applies tothey who attempt to walk and follow Christ BY THE BIBLE!

They are doomed because it cannot be done.No wonder they say "you can't stop sinning in this life," they are trying to do it by memorizing and understanding withintheir own mind the words of the Bible. They have missed thepoint entirely.

Yet Solomon did not miss it.

Ecclesiastes 12: 11-14

11 The words of the wise are as goads, and asnails fastened by the masters of assemblies,which are given from one shepherd.

12 And further, by these, my son, be

admonished: of making many books there is noend; and much study is a weariness of theflesh.

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole


31/31

matter: Fear God, and keep hiscommandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

how the bible can kill you

Documents