The Word of God is an absolute necessity in the world today. (It is not just a collection of quotes.) All sixty-six books were inspired and authored by God using 40 human instruments. Christianity believes that in the scriptures in their original manuscripts are without fault. When the scriptures speak, your Heavenly Father is communicating to you.
That is why we must approach the Bible with extreme care. How it is read and memorized is of utmost importance. Christians often misunderstand, misquote, or misuse verses in the Bible. We may hear others misquoting verses. They sound right in the moment (so we begin spreading the misuse without taking the time to study the verse in its author-intended context).
As you can see, when stripped of their context, these verses can be made to fit many situations for which they were not intended. The harm is that when we mangle a verse to apply to something it was never meant to apply, we give that person a false hope or understanding of what God intends for them. Christians study scripture in small fragments all the time. By doing so, we alter the meaning without even realizing it. Here is a list of the most violated Bible verses in scripture:
1.
“Christ
is the one who gives me the strength I need to do whatever I must do.” (Philippians
4:13, ERV) How many times have you seen this on a bumper sticker?
This verse is often used as a rally cry to finish an endeavor. This
powerful verse refers to perseverance through need. The passage gets its
meaning amongst the context of contentment. Paul was sharing that he’d
learned to be content in all circumstances whether he was in prison, hungry,
poor, or full.
Paul was not writing to the church at Philippi that he could
attain anything. No he was writing that he could endure anything through Him
who strengthens. That is a fundamental difference. So, if you get put in
prison for preaching Christ, beaten, and learn to live with few possessions,
and you find yourself content because you have Christ. This verse should
definitely be quoted.
2.
“Don’t
judge other people, and you will not be judged. “ (Matthew
7:1,
ICB) It’s
one of the more referenced verses in the vocabulary of the church. Church
members will reproach other members for pointing out that someone may not be
exhibiting the godly character. The bottom line is that Christians are
absolutely called to judge other believers, but we must judge correctly not
hypocritically. We are not to judge non-believers. We are called to
preach the gospel to them at all times.
3.
“For where two or three are gathered in my
name, I’m there with them.” (Matthew
18:20,
CEB) This
verse is often used as an encouragement that God is with us in tough
circumstances. All we need are two to three people in a prayer group. This
passage doesn’t deal with random groups at all. What it really deals with
is the building of a testimony in the context of church discipline. In
the Jewish context, a proper, reliable testimony was critical.
This
verse was an encouragement to church leaders during tough times of church
discipline to say that God would be present with the witnesses as they
endeavored to restore a erring brother or sister. If you’re not in the middle
of some sort of church discipline, you’re likely taking this verse out of its
original context. Is God still with us where two or three are gathered?
Of course He is with us. He’s also with us when it’s just one or
one thousand.
4.
“So I
tell you, continue to ask, and God will give to you. Continue to search, and
you will find. Continue to knock, and the door will open for you.” (Luke
11:9,
ERV) This
happens to be one of the verses they twist until to take money from people.
Prosperity gospel teachers treat it as an ironclad promise. It doesn’t
matter what you ask for whether it be health, wealth, a promotion, or the
spouse you always wanted. God will provide it to you.
This passage is part of a much larger narrative where Jesus
already told us what to ask for. In the example of Mary and Martha, he
defended them for choosing being His disciple, a citizen of His Kingdom over
all else. Jesus’ followers ask Him how they should pray. He tells
them to ask for things such as daily bread, the beginning of His Kingdom, and
forgiveness for sins. It’s only after those examples that He says, “Ask,
and it will be given to you”. So, God is not a divine butler. Jesus isn’t
saying to ask for anything you want. He’s saying to ask for His Kingdom and you
will have it.
5.
“We
know that in everything God works for the good of those who love Him. These are
the people God chose because that was His plan.” (Romans 8:28,
ERV)Will someone please ban this verse from being printed on greeting cards? This passage is often used to encourage another
believer who’s going through a tough time, and to remind them that it will
eventually work out for something good in their life.
In other words, if you get cancer, or get fired don’t sweat
it because God has something better in store for you. Remember, all
things work out for good, right? When being true to the contextual position of
the text, we understand that the passage first deals with those who love Him.
That’s a very important distinction because it’s not for everyone. It’s
for the saved only. Secondly, the good of which Paul speaks has nothing
to do with our comfort and everything to do with our ultimate conformity in
Christ.
6.
“Where
there is no vision from God,
the people run wild, but those who adhere to God’s instruction know genuine
happiness.” (Proverbs
29:18,
VOICE) This is one of the more mangled verses in the seeker-sensitive church movement. Your church will not die if it
doesn’t have a vision statement. Vision statements are helpful. This
passage is not a divine reminder for pastors to build a better church.
This verse is often used to remind leaders that if they don’t dream big,
their people will be lost.
The
key word in this passage, “vision,” is actually the
word revelation and it points to the Word of God or the revelation of
God. In other words, a more accurate interpretation could be: Where there
is no revealed Word of God the people perish, but happy is he who obeys God’s
Word. This verse is a perfect example of what happened in Nehemiah. The
people rediscovered the Word of God and read it for everyone to hear and
understand. The result: revival. It had nothing to do with Nehemiah’s catchy
core values .It was the Word of God that brought life to the people. This
passage does not apply to the building project or your vision for future attendance.
It is a fitting reminder that God’s Word gives us life.
7.
I say
this because I know the plans that I have for you.” This message is from the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan
to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future. (Jeremiah 29:11, ERV) If
you ever wanted to market a motivational poster, this would be the verse to
use. This verse is often quoted during times of strife to inspire by
pointing us to the promise that God has specific plans to help us prosper.
So, don’t worry. When we read the passage in context, we
realize this verse is dealing with a particular promise given to Israel
from God. This promise points to the end of their Babylonian exile in
very specific terms, 70 years (Jeremiah 29:10) to be exact. In 597 BC,
King Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah. He rounded up 10,000
leading citizens of Jerusalem and dumped them in Babylon, 500 miles from home.
They lost everything. They didn’t know what to do next. So, the word
prosper doesn’t refer to material blessings, but physical and spiritual
salvation. Someone might say that God still wants us to prosper. In terms of
salvation, that’s correct. This passage is a great reminder of the fulfilled
prophecy and the perfect Word of God. This is an amazing story that points us
to a greater redemption for all of God’s people. This verse does not guarantee
your personal accomplishment.
“The proper worldview context for
interpreting the Bible is not evangelism, Catholicism, the Protestant
Reformation, the Puritans, or even the modern world. The proper context for
interpreting the Bible is the context in which it was written that of the
ancient biblical writers.” (Michael S. Heiser)[i]
[i] Sources used:
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