Who Is Afraid of the Bible?

      No book has been subjected to so much ferocious attacks by satan and his agents as the Holy Bible. These offensives are either subtle or blatant. For instance, some people within the church assert that those who compiled the Bible deliberately dropped certain books; hence, they argue that the Holy book is not complete without them. Others, especially people of other faiths contend that some Christian fundamentalists have corrupted the Bible over time, in their quest to promote the deity of Jesus Christ. Even within Evangelical circles, there are those who caution against presenting the Bible as the word of God. This group argues that the Bible is inspired in the sense that the authors were men of God, but that this does mean that God Himself spoke directly through such prophets or ministers.

         Expectedly, this dissension has affected the confidence of some people in the word of God; which is actually the motive of satan in fuelling it. In the United States of America for example, the pastors of some churches do not believe in the virgin birth of Christ or His resurrection from the dead. It is difficult to imagine what they are feeding their congregation. In effect, they call God Himself a liar. Surprisingly, human beings with their full faculty sit under these charlatans. What a shame!

        There are also denominations that reject certain books in the Bible. Some years ago, I was at a big church in Lagos, Nigeria where a ‘Reverend Brother asserted that the first eleven chapters of Genesis are fiction. He also described the burning bush story involving Moses in Exodus Chapter 3 as childish. At another gathering of believers in Abuja, also in Nigeria, some of them declared that fasting is part of Judaism; hence not applicable to ‘Christians.’ They dismissed all Scriptures dealing with fasting in both the Old and New Testaments, adding that the early apostles, including Paul fasted in error.

       Currently, many preachers in the country, especially the younger generation have twisted Scriptures out of context in support of teachings centring on ‘Spirit Cities.’ They draw their inspiration from the New Age movement to promote spiritism, including ‘soaking prayers’, manifestation of gold flakes during worship and undue emphasis on angelic ministration. These ministers promote the falsehood that believers can activate angels to do their bidding, since they (the believers) are gods.

        The demonic doctrines that present man as ‘god’ is linked to Jesus’ response to the Jews in John 10:34, where He posed the question, “It is not written in your law: ‘I have said ye are gods?” Unfortunately, not many Christians have bothered to read Psalm 82 where Jesus quoted the Scripture, but have chosen to run with the lie that humans are called gods. To put the record straight, the entire Psalm is presented below:

1. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; He judgeth among the gods.
2. How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked?
3. Defend the poor and needy: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
5. They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth Are out of course.
6. I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
7. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
8. Arise, O God, judge the earth: for Thou shalt inherit all nations.

Anyone who is familiar with the book of Job knows that God does hold court with angels, described as “sons of God”. Job 1:6 says, “One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD. Job 2:1 also recorded a similar convocation, “Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD.” Clearly, Psalm 82 gives us a glimpse of the kind of things discussed at such fora. If the Psalm referred to humans as gods, why did God say in verse 7 that the people He is talking to will “die like men?”

 In the Old Testament, God interacted with ancient Israel from the temple in Jerusalem. Under the New Testament or the dispensation of grace, He dwells in human temples. In 1 Corinthians 3:16, Paul posed the question, “Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” Jesus Himself said in John 14:23, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and my Father will love him, and we will come and make our dwelling with him.” There is no Scripture in the Bible that refers to the temple in Jerusalem as ‘God’. How do we believers now call ourselves ‘gods’ just because God lives in us?

 What is our status in relation to the Godhead? We are sons of God by redemption (John 1:12). We are connected to God by our adoption in Christ. Ephesians 1:4 says that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Verse 5 is more explicit, “He (God) predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will.’ There is nonetheless a caveat to our sonship – we must be led by the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:14 is emphatic that only those who are led by the Spirit of God are His children. Does hosting the Holy Spirit make us gods? How ridiculous! Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”

           We are children of God because Jesus Christ, the Son of God lives in us. This is the source of our strength and hope. Colossians 1:27 states, “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”. Chapter 3 verse 3 of Colossians is my favourite, especially when I am resisting the devil. It says, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid in Christ in God.” The Bible is clear that there is only one God. He however manifests Himself in three personalities – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

         On satan’s lies that we can activate angels, it is quite obvious that this is intended to open up believers to infiltration by demons. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 state; “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also pose as servants of righteousness.” If the people who are deceived into believing that they can activate angels read the Bible, the truth in them would have consumed this lie. Alas, most of them have outsourced their thinking faculties and their eyes to their pastors. In all the places where angels appeared in both the Old and New Testaments, it is specified that they were sent by God. According to Hebrews 1:14, “angels are ministering spirits sent to serve those who shall receive salvation.” There is no Scriptural basis for the fixation with angelic ministry by gullible believers.

These are just a few of the doctrines of devils that have permeated Christendom due to believers taking undue liberties with God’s word in the Bible. The root cause of this on the part of believers is lack of fear of God and His word. On the other hand, satan is bent on portraying the Bible in bad light to cause those without deep spiritual roots to err. When people no longer have confidence in the word of God, they are susceptible to manipulation by demons. The word of God is not only our safety net; it is the anchor of our faith in Him. After all, none of us could have received God’s mercy in Christ without the agency of His word. In fact, 1 Peter 1:23 states that we were “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” My candid advice to all believers is that they should study the Bible themselves through the illumination of the Holy Spirit. If people allow satan and his demons into their lives through exposure to doctrines of devils, their folly will lead them to destruction.