The Bible holds profound wisdom for conducting business in a Christ-honoring way. Its timeless principles guide us to operate with integrity, serve others generously, and glorify God through our work. Though cultures and economies change, the Bible's business ethics remain relevant. God cares deeply about how we treat customers, employees, and business partners. He calls us to be shrewd yet gentle, ambitious yet humble. The Bible urges creativity and diligence while warning against greed and exploitation. Its teachings help shape business practices that are ethical, and fruitful, and bring glory to God. With the Bible's help, we can conduct commerce in a way that blesses people and honors the Lord.
Fellow believers, as we conduct business in this world, let us thoughtfully consider with whom we choose to partner. Though all are worthy of respect, we who share faith in Christ have a special bond that can strengthen our enterprises. By joining hands with those who share our values, we build upon a foundation of trust and common purpose.
Seeking out business relationships rooted in spiritual kinship allows us to uphold our principles as we prosper. With open communication and goodwill, commerce becomes a way for us to live out our beliefs.
Though some will argue only profit matters in business, we know better. When we trade and partner with those whose values align with ours, our work takes on a deeper meaning. Our businesses become vehicles for living with integrity while serving our customers and community.
I've found that the most fruitful business relationships are often those founded on a deep sense of shared purpose and vision. When partners are aligned not just professionally but spiritually - when they share a passion for their work and a drive to make a meaningful impact - this kinship of spirit fosters an extraordinary level of trust, creativity, and commitment. The alchemy of two minds working as one toward a higher goal is powerful. Of course, pragmatic factors still matter, but that spiritual bond enables partners to weather storms and thrive. It's ultimately about finding those who energize you and elevate your work. That's how real magic happens.
With the utmost conviction, we must embrace the divine providence that unites us through our belief in Christ. This sacred connection fortifies our collective mission, allowing us to realize our full potential. By tapping into the wellspring of spiritual empowerment, we gain the resolve to prevail against all adversity. Our faith is the bedrock on which we build our shared destiny.
In an increasingly fragmented world, we have a chance to model cooperation rooted in shared faith. Let us seize that opportunity and show how unity in Christ can lead to prosperity for all.
]]>It is a well-established fact that Jesus Christ was publicly executed in Judea in the 1st Century A.D., under Pontius Pilate, by means of crucifixion, at the behest of the Jewish Sanhedrin. The non-Christian historical accounts of Flavius Josephus, Cornelius Tacitus, Lucian of Samosata, Maimonides and even the Jewish Sanhedrin corroborate the early Christian eyewitness accounts of these important historical aspects of the death of Jesus Christ.
As for His resurrection, there are several lines of evidence which make for a compelling case. The late jurisprudential prodigy and international statesman Sir Lionel Luckhoo (of The Guinness Book of World Records fame for his unprecedented 245 consecutive defense murder trial acquittals) epitomized Christian enthusiasm and confidence in the strength of the case for the resurrection when he wrote, “I have spent more than 42 years as a defense trial lawyer appearing in many parts of the world and am still in active practice. I have been fortunate to secure a number of successes in jury trials and I say unequivocally the evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is so overwhelming that it compels acceptance by proof which leaves absolutely no room for doubt.”
The secular community’s response to the same evidence has been predictably apathetic in accordance with their steadfast commitment to methodological naturalism. For those unfamiliar with the term, methodological naturalism is the human endeavor of explaining everything in terms of natural causes and natural causes only. If an alleged historical event defies natural explanation (e.g., a miraculous resurrection), secular scholars generally treat it with overwhelming skepticism, regardless of the evidence, no matter how favorable and compelling it may be.
In our view, such an unwavering allegiance to natural causes regardless of substantive evidence to the contrary is not conducive to an impartial (and therefore adequate) investigation of the evidence. We agree with Dr. Wernher von Braun and numerous others who still believe that forcing a popular philosophical predisposition upon the evidence hinders objectivity. Or in the words of Dr. von Braun, “To be forced to believe only one conclusion… would violate the very objectivity of science itself.”
Having said that, let us now examine several lines of evidence for Christ’s resurrection.
The First Line of Evidence for Christ’s resurrection
To begin with, we have demonstrably sincere eyewitness testimony. Early Christian apologists cited hundreds of eyewitnesses, some of whom documented their own alleged experiences. Many of these eyewitnesses willfully and resolutely endured prolonged torture and death rather than repudiate their testimony. This fact attests to their sincerity, ruling out deception on their part. According to the historical record (The Book of Acts 4:1-17; Pliny’s Letters to Trajan X, 97, etc.) most Christians could end their suffering simply by renouncing the faith. Instead, it seems that most opted to endure the suffering and proclaim Christ’s resurrection unto death.
Granted, while martyrdom is remarkable, it is not necessarily compelling. It does not validate a belief so much as it authenticates a believer (by demonstrating his or her sincerity in a tangible way). What makes the earliest Christian martyrs remarkable is that they knew whether or not what they were professing was true. They either saw Jesus Christ alive-and-well after His death or they did not. This is extraordinary. If it was all just a lie, why would so many perpetuate it given their circumstances? Why would they all knowingly cling to such an unprofitable lie in the face of persecution, imprisonment, torture, and death?
While the September 11, 2001, suicide hijackers undoubtedly believed what they professed (as evidenced by their willingness to die for it), they could not and did not know if it was true. They put their faith in traditions passed down to them over many generations. In contrast, the early Christian martyrs were the first generation. Either they saw what they claimed to see, or they did not.
Among the most illustrious of the professed eyewitnesses were the Apostles. They collectively underwent an undeniable change following the alleged post-resurrection appearances of Christ. Immediately following His crucifixion, they hid in fear for their lives. Following the resurrection they took to the streets, boldly proclaiming the resurrection despite intensifying persecution. What accounts for their sudden and dramatic change? It certainly was not financial gain. The Apostles gave up everything they had to preach the resurrection, including their lives.
The Second Line of Evidence for Christ’s resurrection
A second line of evidence concerns the conversion of certain key skeptics, most notably Paul and James. Paul was, of his own admission a violent persecutor of the early Church. After what he described as an encounter with the resurrected Christ, Paul underwent an immediate and drastic change from a vicious persecutor of the Church to one of its most prolific and selfless defenders. Like many early Christians, Paul suffered impoverishment, persecution, beatings, imprisonment, and execution for his steadfast commitment to Christ’s resurrection.
James was skeptical, though not as hostile as Paul. A purported post-resurrection encounter with Christ turned him into an inimitable believer, a leader of the Church in Jerusalem. We still have what scholars generally accept to be one of his letters to the early Church. Like Paul, James willingly suffered and died for his testimony, a fact which attests to the sincerity of his belief (see The Book of Acts and Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews XX, ix, 1).
The Third and Fourth Lines of Evidence for Christ’s resurrection
A third line and fourth line of evidence concern enemy attestation to the empty tomb and the fact that faith in the resurrection took root in Jerusalem. Jesus was publicly executed and buried in Jerusalem. It would have been impossible for faith in His resurrection to take root in Jerusalem while His body was still in the tomb where the Sanhedrin could exhume it, put it on public display, and thereby expose the hoax. Instead, the Sanhedrin accused the disciples of stealing the body, apparently in an effort to explain its disappearance (and therefore an empty tomb). How do we explain the fact of the empty tomb? Here are the three most common explanations:
First, the disciples stole the body. If this were the case, they would have known the resurrection was a hoax. They would not therefore have been so willing to suffer and die for it. (See the first line of evidence concerning demonstrably sincere eyewitness testimony.) All the professed eyewitnesses would have known that they hadn’t really seen Christ and were therefore lying. With so many conspirators, surely someone would have confessed, if not to end his own suffering, then at least to end the suffering of his friends and family. The first generation of Christians were absolutely brutalized, especially following the conflagration in Rome in A.D. 64 (a fire which Nero allegedly ordered to make room for the expansion of his palace, but which he blamed on the Christians in Rome in an effort to exculpate himself). As the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus recounted in his Annals of Imperial Rome (published just a generation after the fire):
“Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.” (Annals, XV, 44)
Nero illuminated his garden parties with Christians whom he burnt alive. Surely someone would have confessed the truth under the threat of such terrible pain. The fact is, however, we have no record of any early Christian denouncing the faith to end his suffering. Instead, we have multiple accounts of post-resurrection appearances and hundreds of eyewitnesses willing to suffer and die for it.
If the disciples didn’t steal the body, how else do we explain the empty tomb? Some have suggested that Christ faked His death and later escaped from the tomb. This is patently absurd. According to the eyewitness testimony, Christ was beaten, tortured, lacerated, and stabbed. He suffered internal damage, massive blood loss, asphyxiation, and a spear through His heart. There is no good reason to believe that Jesus Christ (or any other man for that matter) could survive such an ordeal, fake His death, sit in a tomb for three days and nights without medical attention, food or water, remove the massive stone which sealed His tomb, escape undetected (without leaving behind a trail of blood), convince hundreds of eyewitnesses that He was resurrected from the death and in good health, and then disappear without a trace. Such a notion is ridiculous.
The Fifth Line of Evidence for Christ’s resurrection
Finally, a fifth line of evidence concerns a peculiarity of the eyewitness testimony. In all of the major resurrection narratives, women are credited as the first and primary eyewitnesses. This would be an odd invention since in both the ancient Jewish and Roman cultures women were severely disesteemed. Their testimony was regarded as insubstantial and dismissible. Given this fact, it is highly unlikely that any perpetrators of a hoax in 1st Century Judea would elect women to be their primary witnesses. Of all the male disciples who claimed to see Jesus resurrected, if they all were lying and the resurrection was a scam, why did they pick the most ill-perceived, distrusted witnesses they could find?
Dr. William Lane Craig explains, “When you understand the role of women in first-century Jewish society, what’s really extraordinary is that this empty tomb story should feature women as the discoverers of the empty tomb in the first place. Women were on a very low rung of the social ladder in first-century Israel. There are old rabbinical sayings that said, ‘Let the words of Law be burned rather than delivered to women’ and ‘blessed is he whose children are male, but woe to him whose children are female.’ Women’s testimony was regarded as so worthless that they weren’t even allowed to serve as legal witnesses in a Jewish court of Law. In light of this, it’s absolutely remarkable that the chief witnesses to the empty tomb are these women… Any later legendary account would have certainly portrayed male disciples as discovering the tomb – Peter or John, for example. The fact that women are the first witnesses to the empty tomb is most plausibly explained by the reality that – like it or not – they were the discoverers of the empty tomb! This shows that the Gospel writers faithfully recorded what happened, even if it was embarrassing. This bespeaks the historicity of this tradition rather than its legendary status.” (Dr. William Lane Craig, quoted by Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998, p. 293)
In Summary
These lines of evidence: the demonstrable sincerity of the eyewitnesses (and in the Apostles’ case, compelling, inexplicable change), the conversion and demonstrable sincerity of key antagonists- and skeptics-turned-martyrs, the fact of the empty tomb, enemy attestation to the empty tomb, the fact that all of this took place in Jerusalem where faith in the resurrection began and thrived, the testimony of the women, the significance of such testimony given the historical context; all of these strongly attest to the historicity of the resurrection. We encourage our readers to thoughtfully consider these evidences. What do they suggest to you? Having pondered them ourselves, we resolutely affirm Sir Lionel’s declaration:
“The evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is so overwhelming that it compels acceptance by proof which leaves absolutely no room for doubt.”
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Did Jesus really exist? That’s a very good question. The Bible may be full of stories, but how reliable is a 2000-year-old book? And are there any other sources that confirm Jesus’ existence?
Let’s start with the Bible. The New Testament is full of stories and sayings of Jesus. For clarity: Jesus did not write the Bible himself. This second part of the Bible was written by close friends of Jesus or written down later by followers based on well researched eyewitness accounts. It is important to know that the storytelling culture was very strong at the time. Because few people could read and write, storytelling was very much part of the culture. Stories were often remembered and passed on very accurately. The first parts of the New Testament were written less than 25 years after Jesus’ death. Many eyewitnesses were still alive when the stories were written down. In other books from the Classical Antiquity this time is much longer, and these documents are also considered important historical books.
Manuscripts
There are over 5,600 manuscripts of the New Testament (or parts of it). This is far more than any other historical document which are all widely accepted as accurate and reliable sources. This indicates that the original text of the New Testament can be reconstructed with far greater accuracy. Researchers indicate that if you look closely at the text and the background information, you can only come to one conclusion; and that is that there is only a maximum of 30 years between the actual events and the time when the four Gospels were written.
Scientists
What do leading scientists and archaeologists who don’t identify as Christians say about the question: Did Jesus really exist? The details of his existence have been disputed for centuries, but almost all scientists and archaeologists agree that the person Jesus actually walked the
Non-Christian sources
At the time when Jesus is said to have lived, there were historians who recorded in detail everything about what happened in their days. The most famous Jewish historian of that time is Flavius Josephus, who wrote down some phrases about Jesus, such as that he was a wise man, had Jewish and Gentile followers, and he also described his death. Four other sources have been found that tell about the life of Jesus. Many historical scholars confirm that Jesus was born a Jew between 6 and 2 BC. He spent his childhood in Nazareth. He was baptized by John the Baptist. He gathered students around him and taught them and others about the faith. About year 30 he went to Jerusalem for the Jewish Passover and caused a stir in the temple. He was captured and interrogated by Jewish authorities and executed by Pontius Pilate. He was sentenced to death and crucified and buried.
Did Jesus really exist? You can safely assume that Jesus really lived. But where does his story end? At his death or does the story continue? That’s a question for you to discover the answer and the answers can be discovered in the Bible..
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The gospel is the “good news” about what Jesus Christ has done to reconcile sinners (i.e., violators of God’s 10 Commandments such as lying, lusting, hating, coveting, etc. – see Exodus 20) to God and to provide the way to salvation. To enhance the explanation of the gospel message, we have incorporated colorful and descriptive illustrations as shown below. We hope you enjoy it, but more importantly we pray you gain a deeper understanding of this powerful, all-important, and life-changing message!
To begin, the Bible tells us we are all sinners (Romans 3:23) and that our sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2). In other words, because of God’s holy and righteous nature, He cannot associate with sin, which is evil, impure, and wicked. The Bible continues to tell us that the wages, or penalty, of sin is death, which means eternal separation from God in a terrible place called hell (Romans 6:23).
Many people try to find or earn their way back to God by doing good deeds, trying to be religious, and other similar efforts. The problem is none of these activities or approaches can get us reconciled back to God, and they ultimately all lead to the same death penalty (eternal separation from God in a terrible place called hell). The Bible states there is only one way to God, which is through His son Jesus Christ (John 14:6).
Fortunately, our great Creator, God, loves us and does not want any of us to perish. Therefore, He devised an inconceivable rescue plan. God sent His son Jesus to die on a cross approximately 2,000 years ago to pay the penalty for our sin (His sinless blood shed on the cross provides atonement for our transgressions) (John 3:16). In other words, we (sinners) broke God’s Law, but Jesus paid our fine, which allows God, the Almighty Judge, to legally dismiss our criminal case. Jesus was then buried and raised from the dead, which demonstrated that God accepted his sacrifice. Now, Jesus becomes the way or the “bridge” to God (2 Corinthians 5:18)!
Friends, this is the “gospel” story, and it is indeed “good news”!
The Bible states if we repent (turn away from our sinful ways and turn towards God and His ways) (Acts 3:19) and put our full trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31) and confess Him as our Lord (surrender to God’s will and ways) (Romans 10:9) and Savior, God provides His supernatural and saving grace upon us. When this transformational process happens,) states we are born again into a new life (1 Peter 1:23), become children of God (John 1:12-13), receive the Holy Spirit within us along with many extraordinary gifts (Ephesians 1:13-14; Galatians 5:22-23), and will spend eternal life in heaven with God (John 3:16).
Finally, it’s important to realize that being a Christian is a lifelong and exciting journey that entails many other activities beyond receiving God’s precious gift of salvation such as getting baptized (Matthew 28:19), reading and studying your Bible (Joshua 1:8), praying and talking to God (1 Thessalonians 5:17), learning to be obedient to God’s commandments (Matthew 28:20), joining a Bible-based church (1 Corinthians 12:21-26), etc.
So, there’s more good news! In addition to saving us from the “penalty” of sin (hell and eternal separation from God), Jesus also provides us salvation from the on-going “power” of sin. In other words, we can now have victorious living due to the Holy Spirit indwelling within us, which gives us the power to conquer sin when it comes knocking (tempting). In fact, the Bible states we have died to sin and thus we are no longer slaves to sin (Romans 6:6, 11-12).
Ok, friends, there’s still more good news! Did you know that joining God’s family (repenting and believing/receiving Jesus as your Lord) comes with many “family benefits”? Some of these include:
♥ Eternity in heaven (clearly the #1 benefit)
♥ Joy (divine “joy” which is deep and lasting and not based on circumstances)
♥ Peace (divine “peace” which is deep and lasting and not based on circumstances)
♥ Love (divine “love” that is selfless, unconditional, and never-ending)
♥ God’s Presence (via the Holy Spirit indwelling us)
♥ God’s Power
♥ God’s Protection
♥ God’s Provisions
♥ God’s Promises
♥ God’s Mercy and Blessing
♥ Divine Healing and Deliverance
In summary, it’s no wonder Jesus told us that he came to not only give us life, but also to give it to us more fully and abundantly (John 10:10)! Thank you, Lord!
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Some of us have a natural tendency to be harsh in response to attacks. Like any part of our personality, there's a way for God to use that for good (1 Timothy 4:4; Romans 12:4–5). Offense can be a side effect of telling the truth. That's not the same as speaking with the express intent of insulting someone. The distinction only matters when we're actively trying to avoid offense. If we gauge our words with sincerity, then even if they're blunt or difficult, the other person's reaction is a response to truth, not to us. When someone is angered by the truth itself, that's not our problem. To emphasize, however, that means we need to try not to offend (1 Corinthians 10:32; 2 Corinthians 6:3). Overcoming the urge to "scorn" others starts with recognizing our own condition. That's the point of the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:23–35).
Consider a doctor speaking to a patient. They might say, "I know it's hard to make changes, but you're carrying an unhealthy amount of weight, and you would feel better if you lost 30 pounds." If that makes the patient angry, is it the doctor's fault? Or is the patient simply angry that truth is not what they prefer? In contrast, imagine the doctor saying, "of course you don't feel good; look at you! Stop being fat and lazy and lose weight or quit complaining." Even if the core point is true, the doctor is deliberately being rude—or at least being extremely careless. If the patient is offended, in that case, the doctor bears blame.
Jesus frequently told people “Offensive" things, of course. It's important to emulate Jesus, but not to impersonate Jesus. He was operating from perfect morality and perfect knowledge. As a parallel, it's great to emulate a sports hero, and to try to be like them. But we need to be aware of our limitations. Just because that athlete can safely perform some stunt doesn't mean we should carelessly attempt it. "Jesus did it" is not a universal excuse to take His words or actions out of context.
Harsh words can still be loving, but only if their harshness cannot be avoided. That's part of the message in this month's spotlight verse (2 Corinthians 2:1–4). Even when Jesus was speaking "harshly," His words were intended to enlighten or to speak truth. He didn't insult just for the sake of cutting people down. Nor did He criticize simply to make other people feel bad. He saw tough talk as a regrettable last resort, not an enjoyable first option.
An English proverb suggests, "when you can't say something nice, say nothing at all." With respect to whomever coined that phrase, "nice" is an awfully vague word. Love might be tough, and some truth is ugly. But there's wisdom in knowing our own limits. There's nothing especially complex or deep about that guideline: when we know we're not motivated by love, or incapable of speaking lovingly, we should probably choose silence (Proverbs 10:19; 15:1).
The Gospel
The entire Bible centers on a single, surprisingly simple theme: God loves you so much that He made a way to be forgiven for every sin, so you can spend eternity with Him. That’s the essence of the gospel, and the central subject of the Scriptures. The written Word of God is intended to help us understand this “good news.” By studying the Bible, we learn that each person needs to be saved (Romans 3:23), each person can be saved (Romans 1:16), and God wants each person to be saved (2 Peter 3:9).
What separates us from God is sin. No matter how good we think we are, every person is guilty of sin (1 John 1:10). Since God is absolutely perfect, no one deserves to spend eternity in heaven. Instead, we deserve to be separated from Him forever (Romans 5:16). No amount of effort, no good deeds, no money, no talent, no achievements are enough to take away this guilt (Isaiah 64:6). Fortunately, God doesn’t want us to be separated from Him, so He made a way to fix what’s broken (John 3:16-17).
That one and only way is through faith in Jesus Christ (John 14:6). God Himself came to earth, as a human, living a perfect and sinless life (Hebrews 4:15). He willingly died as a sacrifice to pay the debt for our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21). According to the Scriptures, anyone can be “saved”—forgiven by God and guaranteed heaven—through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 10:13). This isn’t a call for blind, ignorant belief (Acts 17:11; 1 John 4:1). It’s an invitation from the Holy Spirit to submission and trust (James 4:7). It’s a choice to let go of everything else in order to rely entirely on God.
There is nothing anyone can “do” in order to be saved. The only way a person can find salvation is by accepting Jesus Christ as their savior. This simply means believing that…
That’s it! Anyone who truly believes those things is forgiven, changed from the inside out (James 1:18; 2 Corinthians 5:17), and destined for heaven. The gospel is simple enough for anyone to understand (Matthew 18:13), but very difficult for people to accept (Romans 1:20-21). The truth of the gospel means we are not perfect. We are not in total control of our lives (Psalm 39:5). We cannot save ourselves. We need something “more” than us to make things right (1 Thessalonians 4:8).
Becoming a Christian is not about being better than others. The gospel is for those who admit they are weak and need to be rescued (2 Corinthians 12:9). That’s a hard truth, but everything we learn from the Bible proves this truth. Each theme explored in Scripture points towards this gospel message of sin, redemption, and salvation through faith.
It’s the most important decision a person will ever make: do I accept what God offers, or do I turn my back on it (Matthew 7:13)?
Which one will you choose (2 Corinthians 6:2)?
]]>Equity vs. Equality
Much of the current news cycle involves social justice, racism, equality, and discrimination. A term being used in some of those discussions is "equity." That's led many to ask what, if anything, the Bible says about this idea. As with many political and social ideas, the answer is balanced. Scripture upholds ideals of fairness and nondiscrimination but doesn't support every modern political preference.
When a question revolves around definitions, it makes sense to start with biblical words and meanings. There are two ways to do this. One is to look at Hebrew or Greek terms translators rendered into English as "equity." The other is to examine historic definitions of the English word "equity" to see how the Bible presents related ideas. As applied to social issues, intermingled concepts of justice, equality, equity, and fairness are promoted in biblical teachings. Scripture supports equality and equity as those concepts have been traditionally understood. Yet the Bible does not suggest society ought to rig every game such that everyone gets the same end results.
So far as it's relevant to social issues, "equity" has historically meant the opposite of "discrimination" or "bias." It includes that which is reasonable and moral, excluding favoritism and prejudice. It could be said that "justice" means doing according to the letter of the law, but "equity" means doing according to the spirit of the law. That is, "justice" stops where legal terminology ends; "equity" continues to further include that which is fair and right.
Modern discussions of social issues frequently re-define "equity," by shifting emphasis. Recent views suggest persons are not being treated fairly unless they arrive at the exact same outcomes as others. Per critical theory-influenced rhetoric, "equality" means giving people the same starting points or resources, but "equity" means giving individuals whatever is required to obtain identical end results. This goes well beyond translating good-faith efforts, despite disadvantages, into minimum standards. In practice, new attitudes about equity mandate absolute sameness in the end results. That might be disputed by a modern critical theory advocate, but, in practice, this is exactly where the conversations lead.
One area where modern "social justice" deviates from Scripture is insisting that different outcomes—in and of themselves—are evidence of inequity. In other words, modern social justice movements, especially those influenced by dominant forms of Critical Race Theory, suggest the only possible explanation for any difference in outcome is racism, prejudice, or discrimination: a lack of equity, as so defined.
Common social justice analogies for equity are giving people shoes that fit, rather than giving everyone the same size shoes. Or, giving children different-sized boxes to stand on to see over a fence instead of giving each child the same-sized platform. Those are, indeed, concepts that seem fair and sensible. However, those are examples of traditional "equity," not the version sought by critical theorists. It's equitable to give runners shoes that fit; but how they then place in the race should be up to them. Manipulating shoes and starting lines such that everyone crosses the finish at the same moment is not "fair," it's artificial same-ness.
Giving each child an appropriate-sized boost so they can see a baseball game is equitable; but if a child isn't paying attention and misses catching a foul ball, he's not being discriminated against. He's been given the "fair chance" just as much as the others. Following a modern social justice-driven view of equity would mean that less-attentive children should be given a net to catch balls with, or especially sharp children should be forced to wear eyepatches.
The Bible has much to say about equality and prejudice, but those ideals don't support modern re-definitions of terms like "equity." Let's look directly at some of the terms found in the Bible:
New Testament perspectives on equity include Ephesians 6:9, James 2:1, and James 2:9. Those condemn something framed with the root word prosopolepsia, which refers to partiality between persons. 1 Timothy 5:21 also forbids this, as well as the concept of prokrima, which means a literal pre-judging, or to form a decision before considering the facts. In English, the terms we'd say are being denounced are "prejudice," and "discrimination."
The spiritual concepts found in Revelation 7:9 and Galatians 3:28 apply to issues like racial prejudice, not literally to social justice. Still, the idea of being impartial and fair—as opposed to racially biased—is an inescapable outworking of those concepts.
There's a temptation to think the Old Testament would emphasize justice more than equity. However, the two concepts are not easily separated, either in the New or Old Testaments. This is because of God's own nature; that which is "legally required" and that which is "morally right" are only different in the human sphere. In God's attributes and character, they converge. Since the Old Testament includes civil laws for Israel, it deals with these ideas frequently. These references obligate those who honor God to concepts like equality and equity—but not in the way those terms are being re-defined.
Leviticus 19:15; condemns any judgment which includes 'avel, meaning "injustice," or hadar, meaning "partiality," whether in favor of the rich or the poor.
Isaiah 10:1–2 speaks against unjust decisions and those who would deprive the needy of justice. The term for "justice" in verse 2 is literally used for concepts such as "judgment," "government," and "cause." It also speaks of protecting the poor people's mishpat, which refers to their legal rights.
Exodus 23:2–3, interestingly, starts off by forbidding Israel from participating in "mob justice." It denounces a phrase literally meaning "to follow the many in doing evil." It then forbids giving testimony meant to "follow the crowd to what is crooked." Verse 3 then condemns partiality towards the poor—using the same root word found in Leviticus 19:15, which covers bias of all kinds. The same passage in Exodus continues to forbid warping judgment in favor of someone "needy" (Exodus 23:6), in the same sense as it forbids oppressing travelers—literally meaning non-resident aliens—and taking bribes.
Proverbs 1:3 and 2:9 "equity" is from meyshar, also seen in Psalm 9:9, where it's used to describe how God judges.
Proverbs 29:14 is interesting in that it commends a king for using shaphat for the poor. That word literally means "judgment" and is closely related to the word used for "legal rights" in Isaiah 10:2. The term is modified by the word 'emeth which implies truth and trustworthiness.
In short, the Bible supports those who say a godly society is fair, just, and equitable. At the same time, it indicates that "rigging the game" to ensure identical results is none of those things. Difference in outcome is not de facto evidence of discrimination, nor is always a situation contrary to Scripture.
Recently someone asked, "How can I identify a false teacher if I don't know the truth?" Around the same topic, someone asked, "Even if someone was a false teacher, shouldn't we listen to them with charity?" These are important questions and I'll do my best to answer them biblically.
1: You need to know the basics of the Christian faith.
Just like if you didn't know what real money was, you'd fall for any counterfeit. If you don't know the core basics of the Christian faith, you are likely going to fall for false teaching. It doesn't take long to learn the fundamentals of the faith, but laziness and ignorance are not your friends when you're new to the faith. Know the basics. And like a solid foundation underneath a house, it will keep you grounded.
Now, before I give you a further answer than that, I do want to remind you that the Holy Spirit is inside of you if you are a believer. You have a built-in radar system, if you will, for discernment. You will feel, if you will, a subjective hesitancy. People tell me this all the time. I've experienced it. You'll hear about it. Where you would say, "Perhaps I can't quite put my finger on it, but something's not right about this." That is the Spirit of God working within you, if you're a true believer, causing you to then go to the Word of God. He builds in these moments of discernment.
Don't you think if you have the 1 Corinthians 2 "mind of Christ", and as 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, "we are the temple of the Holy Spirit," that you're not going to have some sort of braking system? You may not completely know what the Bible says about that particular thing, but when the Holy Spirit is inside of you, you are going to have some hesitation. When you have hesitation, go to the Word.
2: Go to your pastor, but make sure he's a faithful one.
Here's a simple test. Go to your pastor and ask him if the following people are false teachers:
And then ask him this: Are other religions like Roman Catholicism, Mormonism, and Jehovah's Witnesses all the same thing as the genuine Christian faith? Now, this may bother some people, but this is the truth. If he wavers on these, I'm so sorry, but you are going to need a new pastor.
Don't be discouraged. Just like some restaurants advertise quality food and then serve a one-star Yelp meal. Some pastors and churches are just trying to stay in business by luring people in, but they don't speak the hard truth when people need it the most. True friends tell you when there is danger to avoid. True pastors will too.
3: Ask mature Christians for help with discernment.
Now, you might not know many. But being diligent to seek out a mature Christian in your church, or even following ministries like ours, is going to help you. If I had to list some accounts you should be following on social media right now, off the top of my head, I would say follow:
4: Get used to the concept of spiritual warfare.
The devil hates that Jesus saved you. Since he can't steal what God has sealed, he is going to try to distract and delay your growth by using false teachers and confusing theology to lead you into sin. The devil is a cheap shot specialist. He loves to take popular and feel-good, hype-filled content and dangle it in front of you. Like a young fish in a new pond, you need to get used to the reality of fake lures posing as the real thing. This is spiritual warfare. Souls are on the line.
You can be experiencing the blessings of God in many material ways, but the devil will try to confuse you spiritually. Or you might go through a trial, like job loss, sickness, or relationship pain and the devil wants you to think God doesn't love you anymore. Watch out for stuff like that. That's the Prosperity Gospel. Those are the guys, and women as well, who tell you, "If you just believe in Jesus, you're going to have health, wealth, and happiness."
And while you're at it, watch out for preachers who say the sky is falling every day, too. You are in a spiritual war, but Christ has won the victory. So look to Him and walk in His truth, no matter what hooks the devil throws your way.
I hope those help you think more about how to grow in discernment. And as for whether or not we should listen to false teachers with charity, I'll leave you with the words of Paul the Apostle when he was instructing Titus on how to view false teachers at that time.
He says in Titus 1:9-16, "Holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he", he's talking about elders, "will be able to both exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict." He then says, "For there are many rebellious men, they're empty talkers and deceivers", he's referring to false teachers at that time. And he goes all the way through some strong words to say then, "They profess to know God, their deeds, they deny Him, they are detestable, they're disobedient, and they're worthless for any good deed." In verse 13, he says, "For this reason reprove them severely."
We don't listen to false teachers with charity. We call them out on their error. If there is one way we can be charitable, it's by calling them to repentance from their sinful deception and calling them to follow the real Jesus and preach the real gospel. That's the ultimate charity that we offer.
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As we prepare to celebrate Easter, let's reflect on God's amazing mercy. We all sin, individually, and sin came into the world because of man's choice. Yet God came to earth, in the form of a man, and suffered so we could be forgiven of those sins. That God would go to such lengths is amazing. That doesn't mean His mercy comes to us free of all possible confusions or questions. At times, we get tangled in details or irrelevant questions and miss the clear, main point.
For example, I was recently asked about how God could hold Adam and Eve responsible for their sin in the garden. This person, a sincere believer, was struggling to understand how people in their situation could be expected to react. To paraphrase his words, he asked,
When they ate the fruit, how did they know they were sinning against God? Until they did, they didn't know good from evil or right from wrong. Did they even know what death was, or how it worked? That seems like telling a baby not to stick a fork into the electrical outlet; the baby doesn't know what "electrocution" means or whether it's bad or good. Parents know the dangers, but a child doesn't know right from wrong. Reading the account of the fall, it seems God never gave Adam and Eve examples of the destruction that follows disobedience like He gave the Israelites in following after their pagan neighbors. I'm not questioning God, I just don't understand why the bible isn't clearer on this first act of sin.
We should all sympathize with wanting more clarity in Genesis chapter 3. Much of Scriptures is that way: we get just enough information, but not nearly as much as we'd like. What's important is to handle the information with accuracy. In this case, tweaking how we frame the situation can take a lot of the angst out the passage.
One view of the fall of man would be to compare it to an infant with a fork near an electrical outlet. In that case, the child has no meaningful understanding. They have zero experience or decision-making skills, little to no self-control, and zero grasp of how serious the situation is. It's reasonable to blame the parent if tragedy strikes there, not the child. If that's a fair parallel to Adam and Eve, it would be because they were infantile: lacking control, understanding, and decision-making.
However, the full context of the story shows the infant analogy is not appropriate. Man was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). That includes the capacity for reason, rather than pure instinct (2 Peter 2:12; Jude 1:19). Man was intelligent enough to be able to name animals (Genesis 2:19). Man was given enough knowledge, decision-making skill, and responsibility to "tend" to the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15) and to reproduce and spread over the entire earth (Genesis 1:28). When man sinned, the process involved conversation, reasoning, and intellect (Genesis 3:1–6).
The sin in question did not involve something described as "the tree that allowed man to know the difference between good and evil." There was knowledge involved (Genesis 2:17), but that does not mean the tree, itself, was what gave man moral reasoning.
Christians debate the extent to which death was present before the fall. If "normal" animal relationships existed, man would have already seen what death was. Consider that God barred man from the garden specifically to keep them from the tree of life (Genesis 3:22–23). What reason would there be to have such a tree, if there was not death, of any kind, at all? Even if there was no animal death, plants and other lesser creatures would have had to die (Genesis 1:29). And even if Adam and Eve didn't make that association, there's nothing in Scripture saying, "God never told them what death meant."
A more realistic analogy, then, would be a parent telling a teenager, "when you get home from your after-school job, don't drink from my coffee mug or you'll go into anaphylaxis; you can eat or drink anything else, just not that." The teen gulps down what's in the mug, anyway, and ends up in the hospital for an allergic reaction.
Would the excuse, "I didn't know that would happen" change who is responsible? Would saying, "I didn't know the meaning of that fancy medical term" make it the parent's fault? Not at all: even if those claims of ignorance are true, the teen knew very clearly what not to do, and chose to do it anyway.
Satan played a subtle trick on Eve in the garden, one which he repeats today. His ruse suggests everything God tells us is subject to our personal approval and judgment. Satan convinced man that breaking God's clear instructions was "worth it." It wasn't. Picking and choosing whether to obey based on consequences isn't obedience, at all, just temporary cooperation.
We do the same to ourselves, even today. We blame authority figures by saying, "Yes, I broke that rule, but I didn't know the consequences would be so bad." What we really mean is "It's my preference, not your authority, that really matters to me." Or, "unless I sense personal risk, I'll ignore your authority." It would be unthinkable for a soldier to be told "move left," only to move right, then offer the excuse, "but you didn't explicitly tell me there were enemies on the right, so it's your fault I was maimed." When clear authority's clear instructions are clearly disobeyed, assigning blame is not subject to debate. If we know it's wrong to disobey, how deeply we grasp consequences is irrelevant.
We don't know every tiny detail of the fall, but we know enough. So did Adam and Eve. They knew God, directly and personally, as Creator. They knew exactly what they were forbidden to do. They were even given the added incentive of being warned about unhappy consequences. Instead of obedience, they overrode God, inserting their will over His. They said, "I'll be the judge of what I can or cannot do." Then, in typical human fashion, they immediately blamed everyone but themselves for their own choice (Genesis 3:12–13).
God gave Adam exactly one "do not". In broad terms, everything was permissible for Adam but that one thing. Yet, that one thing is exactly what he did. He had everything mankind could ever want, nothing to gain, and everything to lose, but he put his authority above God's and disobeyed. The lesson, further echoed in the Bible and real-life experience, is that no matter how low we set the bar, each of us will fail sooner or later (Romans 7:21–24). God tells us "enough," and we find reasons to disobey anyway.
As it happens, the vagueness of Genesis 3 might be deliberate. Humanity loves to turn details into loopholes. Presenting our first parents' disobedience in the simplest of terms makes it the clearest of lessons: when God says, "do not," then "do not," period. When He says "do," then "do." No further conditions or excuses need be applied. Likewise, when it comes to the more obscure details of His death and resurrection, the primary lesson is clear enough: He is risen (Matthew 28:6), so we are forgiven (John 3:16)!
Matthew 6:1 and the basis of morality
This spotlight verse (Matthew 6:1) “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven”. underscores one of the most challenging claims of Christian morality: that motive is just as important as action. According to God's Word, it's not "good enough" to do the right thing, regardless of why you do it. In fact, as Jesus will point out, there's a toxic quality to doing the right thing for the wrong reason. This closely relates to the idea of purpose: that there is an intended use for all things. In a random, godless universe, there is no purpose, therefore there is no "wrong" thing to do or a "wrong" reason to do it. In a universe created by God, it matters very much that we act according to His purposes, and "on purpose."
Purpose is essential for understanding morality, justice, and meaning. If we don't know the purpose of an object, we can't say whether it's being "used" or "abused". Knowing the purpose for which a screwdriver is intended, for example, lets us see some actions as abuses of the tool. For instance, you could use a screwdriver to clean your teeth, or to stir a jar of acid. Even if those choices work in some sense, abuse of the tool will cause more harm than good. The screwdriver wasn't "purposed" for such things. Following the intended purpose of a screwdriver stops us from committing abuses and suffering the consequences.
This applies even more to people, and our actions. Without understanding purpose, we have no way to say what is right, wrong, good, or bad. From a historical perspective, we can't identify progress unless we know what the right direction is. We can only determine this if we understand the purpose of this world, and of human existence.
Some philosophers reject the idea of God; they advocate viewing the universe as meaningless and non-purposed. Atheists have been blatant in their view, being a liberation from social or moral constraints. However, this also makes it impossible to call any action better or worse than another. Nietzsche said this would "wipe away the entire horizon", removing all sense of up, down, or distance. The worst atrocities in human history were committed by governments that rejected the ultimate purpose of mankind, using the vacuum of power as leverage for abuse. Whenever purpose is ignored, whether in an individual's life, or in a culture, misery will follow.
Personally, understanding purpose is critical to morality and life issues. As an analogy, consider the captain of a ship. The captain has many choices to make; he or she can direct the ship in thousands of different ways. Yet, in every decision a captain makes, the first consideration must be why the boat is out there. Without knowing the ship's purpose, any decision by the captain will be random, possibly deadly, and ultimately pointless. Life decisions, both major and minor, must be made with our purpose in mind, or we risk making terrible mistakes.
Historically, collectively, and personally, we see that acting according to the purpose for which we were created produces a better life, a better society, and true "progress". This is why God emphasized that His guidelines are meant for our benefit (John 10:10, 2 Timothy 3:16). He knows the purpose for which we were created (Psalm 139:13, 16), and He has a goal in mind for every human life (2 Peter 3:9, Ephesians 1:11). We need to recognize and submit to this purpose if we want to be truly successful (Proverbs 19:21, Romans 8:28). And, if we expect God to approve of our deeds, we have to more than "do" good—we must "desire" good and act with the right motives (Matthew 6:1).
It is impossible to understand the Bible, Christian living, the structure of the church or our own relationship with God without understanding the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not an “it.” The Holy Spirit is a person. The Bible says that He is not something. He is Someone. He is God.
To understand this better, let’s talk about the Trinity. There are three persons in the Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Christians do not worship multiple gods. God the Son, or Jesus Christ, was God in human form. The Holy Spirit lives inside us when we accept Christ and helps us grow closer to God.
The moment we receive Christ as Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to live in our hearts. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is all-powerful and present everywhere. The Holy Spirit teaches us and takes us deeper into God’s truth as we go along in our Christian life.
There is not a person anywhere who can be a Christian without the Holy Spirit. There is not a person who can follow Christ without the help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit sees everything that goes on. He knows what goes on in our hearts. He knows what goes on in our minds. Nothing is hidden from Him.
The Holy Spirit sees everything that goes on. He knows what goes on in our hearts. He knows what goes on in our minds. Nothing is hidden from Him.
The Holy Spirit is also called holy. The Bible says, “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). One of the Holy Spirit’s ministries is to help make us holy—to become more like Christ.
How Does the Holy Spirit Work?
First, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin.
“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8, NKJV). He uses a mother’s prayers, or a tragic experience, or a pastor’s sermon, or some other experience to convict us of sin and of our need to give our lives to Jesus Christ. He points to us and says, “You are a sinner. You need to repent.”
We don’t like to hear that, but without conviction, we could never have our sins forgiven, we could never be saved, and we could never go to Heaven.
Second, the Holy Spirit gives new life. The Bible says that we are dead in our sins (Ephesians 2:1). Our spirit within us, made in the image of God, is dead toward God. Mankind needs life. Yet, we have all sinned and, therefore, are dead toward God.
The Holy Spirit, however, gives us new life in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “No one can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again” (John 3:3).
But how is someone born again? What does that mean? The Holy Spirit is the one who makes you born again; it is a supernatural act. It isn’t the good things we’ve done, but God’s mercy through the Holy Spirit that saves us (Titus 3:5). We must accept the gift of salvation by accepting Christ.
Third, the Holy Spirit lives in us. As you read this, you may realize that you are spiritually dead, but God says, “I will put my Spirit in you. I will come to live in you.”
That’s the reason we should never take anything unclean into our bodies. That’s the reason we should discipline our bodies. God loves your body. He doesn’t want it polluted by fleshly lusts or harmful substances. The Bible says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).
Fourth, The Holy Spirit gives you power to serve Christ. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). Christ is coming back again, and He is ready to come into your heart by the Holy Spirit and make you a new person. Will you accept Christ as your Savior?
Experiencing the Holy Spirit
You now know how to receive the Spirit, but how do you notice more of him in your life? The Holy Spirit does not force himself into your life, you must give him space. The most important thing, therefore, is to pray. Ask him to come into your life and work in prayer. Ask for His help, wisdom, peace, and fulfillment. He will always accept your invitation, whether you notice it or not. In some people there are sudden, big changes. Others don’t see what the Spirit did until they look back on certain periods of their lives after a long time.
Another way is to use your gifts. Try some things out, test what gives you energy, what you get a positive reaction to, what you like to do. Quite a chance that you will encounter your gift that way. Then you can start working on that gift.
As mentioned before, living with the Holy Spirit is not always comfortable. The Spirit is going to clear up in your life, as it were. If you invite him to do that, he will heal old wounds and make things better. That can be uncomfortable at first, but in the end, it causes much less trouble, a real relief. This does not always happen super-fast; it can take years and memories of bad things may remain. But with God there, you can increasingly give this pain and these thoughts a place. The Holy Spirit has big plans for you, better than you can imagine right now.
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As professionals, we often face challenges and obstacles that can cause fear and doubt within us. But let me remind you, fear is just a temporary roadblock, not a permanent destination. The real solution lies in the unconditional love of God.
His love is powerful enough to conquer any fear and give us the courage to push through our struggles. It reminds us that we are capable of achieving anything we set our minds to.
So, let's not let fear hold us back from reaching our full potential. Instead, let's embrace God's love and use it as a driving force to overcome any obstacle that comes our way.
Remember, fear may be the problem, but God's love is the ultimate solution. Let's harness its strength and make our professional journey a fulfilling and successful one. #GodsLove #OvercomingFear #ProfessionalGrowth #Inspiration
]]>One of the biggest mistakes made in interpreting the Bible is trying to make it say "what it ought to" say. Or, perhaps, "what we want it to" say. More often than not, this is innocent enough. Everyone has preconceived notions of what the Bible says about certain topics. When a passage doesn’t completely agree with those biases, we start making assumptions. This really comes in two extremes, neither of which are sound methods for interpretation. Worse, even if we're ultimately correct about that issue, making these mistakes damages our credibility as Bible interpreters.
The first mistake is to "wing it." This is the careless, superficial approach. We "wing it" when we pull a verse out of the surrounding context. We find a phrase that more or less says what we want to hear, and run with it. It can mean taking an overly simplistic view. "Winging it" might also mean assuming a statement is a metaphor when it's meant to be literal, or vice versa, depending on which better aligns with what we want to believe. This is a more common mistake when we're trying to avoid some restriction, or claim a feel-good promise that's not necessarily meant for us. It's the easiest (incorrect) way to avoid a doctrinal position we can’t otherwise refute.
The other extreme is to "wring it." If you want the get the last bit of water out of a washcloth, you twist and squeeze it until you force those drops out. Some do the same with the Bible, with similar force required. In this case, we turn meanings inside out using convoluted explanations and circular assumptions. We bring out ad hoc arguments—suggestions which have no basis, other than the fact that they support the point at hand. "Wringing it" means contorting and overcomplicating what the Bible says to get what we want out of it. This is an especially common approach when we're trying to get the Bible to be more specific on some doctrinal point than it actually is. Or, when we're trying to make some interpretation seem more important than Scripture itself does.
Of course, these errors are two sides of the same coin: insisting that there is no possible way the Scriptures could be taken differently than we are taking them. At times, we are so convinced of the importance of an issue that we try to "help God out" through our method. In truth, the Bible sets certain boundaries, whether we like them or not. And yet, it's not always going to support our personal interpretations in explicit, unmistakable terms. Rather than "winging it," or "wringing it," we need to simply read it, carefully and humbly. That which it says, it says. That which is does not say, it does not say.
This is not only important for our personal study. It's also important for our ability to evangelize and disciple others. Both "winging it" and "wrinting it" are approaches which other people are liable to notice. They come across as insincere and insecure. Worse, if we're sloppy or obstinate in a particular topic, why would others think we're being fair-minded on the others? How we argue for something is critically important.
"Rightly handling the word of truth" means avoiding both of these mistakes. We can't afford to be superficial or hard-headed with the Scriptures. Rather, we should let the Word speak for itself, whether or not it says what we'd like it to say, or means what we'd like it to mean.
Critics have suggested the Bible cannot be the work of an all-knowing deity, since it's not always clear. The fact that people disagree on how to interpret Scripture is held up as proof that Scripture is fallible. In other words, skeptics claim a perfect God would make a book perfectly immune to misinterpretation. The mere existence of denominations, bible translations, and doctrinal debates is held up as evidence that the Bible is not what it claims to be.
Let's assume, for the sake of argument, I presented the world with a perfectly accurate, "crystal-clear" explanation of something important and controversial. Would every single person in the world understand, accept, and obey that, simply because it's "clear?" Of course not; people will still misinterpret and contradict it for all sorts of reasons:
• Some lack intellect or information.
• Some lack interest; they're apathetic or careless.
• Some don't like what it says and they'd rather it said something else.
• Some will deliberately lie about it for their own purposes.
• Some will be confused by people who misinterpreted the "crystal-clear" message for the above reasons.
The weak link in this process is not the Bible, it's us. Human beings are not infallible, so even an "omnipotent" God could never write a book that literally every person would automatically understand with perfect precision. "Imperfect" people by definition cannot "perfectly" understand. Likewise, in order for the Bible to never leave any possible question open, it would have to be infinitely long in order to explicitly cover all possible nuances of every situation.
Rather, what God did was give us a Bible that establishes the things we must know, in sufficient clarity that those crucial aspects can only be denied by those with deliberate intent. And He explicitly established a system of learning about that message which requires the involvement of other people who can help guide someone. And, all of that is meant to be done along with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
It's unavoidable that there will be room for the ignorant or hard-headed to misinterpret the Bible. And it's unavoidable that there will sometimes be issues for which there is no explicit instruction, only principles to be applied. The Christian concept of God, Scripture, morality, salvation, and discipleship takes all of that into account.
The same principles apply to Christian sects. Perfect people would have the same ideas all the time—but we're not perfect people. More importantly, honest examination shows most denominations are separated by preferences and not fundamental ideas. On most of those disagreements, and for most of those groups, other Christians simply consider them wrong on that point or points. They don't think of them as non-Christians. But when a group starts to cross "clear" lines, we see them more often labelled non-Christians, not members of a different sect.
Translations are necessary because there is no such thing as a simplistic one-to-one translation from one language to another. Language is also dynamic; the way people use words and grammar in any tongue changes over time. Different people have different needs or abilities, as well.
All in all, objecting to the Bible because we sometimes get it wrong is irrational. There's a reason Scripture warns us against useless arguments (Romans 14:1–4; Titus 3:9), and commands us to be patient with each other (Colossians 3:12–13). Even on secondary issues, someone is right, and someone is wrong, but we might not fully know which is which until we arrive in eternity. That's not God's fault, or Scripture's fault. It's ours.
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