That Isn’t Biblical: Part Two

The road to hell is paved with adding things to the Bible.

Also, the more lore-accurate way to say this would actually be the road to the Lake of Fire, but that’s a point for another study.

I see many street preachers going around condemning people for things that aren’t even sins!

“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly” (James 3:1 [ESV]).

This would also include believers like me, who teach that the church has increasingly lost its way as the years progress toward history’s ultimate climax.

God hates when we add to the Bible. He despises it as much as breaking the commandments that are in there. Jesus often had spats with the Pharisees and Sadducees, the former adding things to the Bible, the latter taking away the Prophets, Writings, and Psalms to favor only the Torah. Therefore, the Sadducees mocked the resurrection of the dead, because that notion is more often found in Daniel and Isaiah, as well as Ezekiel.

Either extreme is awful.

These sects broke one of the commandments of Deuteronomy 4:2 a piece.

But back to the street preachers.

They’ll ask random people on the street if they’ve ever stolen something. Good start. That IS a sin.

But then, if they haven’t done that, they’ll say, “Have you ever thought a woman was hot?”

Hold on a minute.

Where in the hundreds of pages of Scripture is that? Jesus said, “Don’t go after married (adultery is a marital status of the woman only) women even in your heart.” He did not say, “Don’t be attracted to pretty ladies I created.”

What kind of God would that be? To make either sex desirable to both sexes, and then condemning them for doing what He naturally placed inside of us. That wouldn’t be like Him at all.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying to goon your life away every day. But let's be real about what sin is and isn’t.

God doesn’t condemn us based on thoughts alone. Christians don’t like that, but Jews understand that point well.

Coveting is a thought sin, but that is an intense desire or envy for what another has, not thinking a random thought. We should never envy what another person has, as God has seen fit to give them what they have. God also loves you more than the sparrows, and will give you what is rightfully yours, which no one can snatch away. So, envy is pointless, at least to me.

“Man, that guy is so lucky. I wish I had something like that.” There’s no need for this when we walk with Christ.

“Man, she’s so pretty and put-together. I wish I were like her.” No need for that when God has a plan for your specific life.

The street preachers might then bring alcohol into the question, saying that drunkenness is a vile sin. Drinking heavily is compared to idolatry, sure, but drinking a smooth glass of wine or a few shots of whiskey will not send you to the Lake of Fire.

The Bible commands drinking strong liquor in the Torah during the tithe celebration, especially during the Feast Days.

“And spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household” (Deuteronomy 14:26 [ESV]).

Oddly, I thought drinking alcohol was a sin. Clear liquor and cloudy eyes aren’t the problem. It is pastors who make up sins that are the problem.

“But that’s the Old Testament! Jesus wouldn’t want you drinking!”

Strangely, Jesus drank wine all the time, even being accused of being a drunkard in multiple gospels. Hmm….

Also, Christians might hate this, but God doesn’t change.

He would cease to be God if He changed.

“For I the LORD change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6 [ESV]).

That loving side of Jesus? It’s been there since the Book of Genesis. God doesn’t change.

That means your definition of what makes up sin should be weighed against the Scriptures, not our opinions.

Sexual immorality is defined in the Torah and a few scattered verses; otherwise, it’s not sinful.

Pride is a sin. Thinking you know more than God and forbidding what He does not is a sin.

The lesbian pop anthems of Chappell Roan are not a sin. Forbidding music because you think it's evil is Gnosticism, which is heresy, by the way.

Being an ally to that community is not a sin, but adding sins besides sodomy IS a sin.

It’s easy to bash people when you don’t understand what sin is. It’s ironic, truly.

But, hey. I’m a sinner in need of a Savior, too, and the sins I’ve committed are just as bad.

I don’t think I’m better than anyone else on this planet. I need Jesus Christ just as much as the next man or woman.

But the street preachers should stop their questions that don’t line up with the Bible. I won’t name names because of the principle of the “evil tongue,” or lashon hara.

Though I must say I think Christians would fare better in apologetics and evangelism if they’d stop making sins up.

“That’s a watered-down gospel! You’re excusing sin!”

Nope.

I follow Jesus’s style of sticking only to what the written text says. When Satan misquoted Scripture, Jesus said, “IT IS WRITTEN.” He didn’t say, “MY PASTOR THINKS.”

If God commands that we never add or take away from His words, then let’s take Him seriously. ‌God is not answering ‌your ideas of what is wrong at the End of Time. You’re going to answer to Him.

May you be blessed and keep shalom about you.