Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

“The church is the pillar and ground of the truth. If she does not speak out, who will? If she is not faithful to Christ, who will be?” — Charles Spurgeon

We often think that when Scripture warns not to add to or take away from the Word of God, it is strictly that men will seek to take up their pen and spill ink where it does not belong, or rip pages (as some in history have) from Scripture that go against who they believe God to be.

We woefully, willfully, and ignorantly ignore the more subtle dangers where this is a present reality in many churches and among many Christians.

We don’t have to rip out pages of Scripture to do violence to the text and pervert its purity. We don’t have to pick up our pens and add to the text what we want it to say (as some have).

We merely need to learn—incorrectly—how to study our Bibles from false teachers. They disciple their followers to read Scripture through a narcissistic lens, whereby they remove anything that forces them to see what is in the text (context) and read into the text meanings never before held throughout the history of the church.

All the false prophet has to do is claim new revelation, go to Scripture, find a text he can do violence to by ripping it out of its context and forcing it into his supposed revelation, and then give a mandate for the church that must be obeyed—or else you are in disobedience to God.

Some ask, “Why can’t we all just get along?” Well, dear saint, when there are those who attack the purity of the Gospel, the sufficiency of Scripture, the authority of Scripture, and the heart of evangelism by corrupting the message and mission and anathematizing those who proclaim the true Gospel, it is not we who are causing division. We are obeying God in protecting what is pure, true, and holy. We warn of such blatant attacks against what is pure, and we will not live in a gray area that does not truly exist except in the deceived hearts of men.

Friend, if we fear man and just want peace that makes us feel comfortable, we will quickly find ourselves enemies of God. We cannot unite with that which perverts all that is holy and worship God with a pure devotion at the same time. Such worship is putrid to God, who is holy. Choose where we stand.

Grace and Peace, y’all.
Soli Deo Gloria