Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Hebrews 4:11-13

Why do we feel the need to dull the sharp edge off the word of God? His Word is powerful! But when we dilute it or remove the parts that might be hard to take it is no longer the word. It is no longer truth. It is dull, inactive, and appeasing. It allows people to blindly walk to Hell while they are deceived into thinking all is well.

The word must remain intact and sharp. Piercing to the depths it does is painful but necessary. A surgeon can’t remove a tumor without cutting into the body and revealing the problem in order to remove it.
Recognizing our sin is painful. Realizing our need of Jesus is painful. The lies propagated with pretty little sayings cover the pain and make people think they do not need the Great Physician or lead them to snake oil salesmen instead and in either case, death.

This is a small list of the one another commands in God’s word:

Love one another (John 13:34, John 13:35, John 15:12, John 15:17, 1 Peter 4:8)

Encourage one another (Hebrews 10:25)

Pray for one another (James 5:16)

Be at peace with one another (Mark 9:50 1 Peter 3:8)

Wash one another’s feet.  (John 13:14)

Be kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32)

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love (Romans 12:10)

Honor one another (Romans 12:10)

Instruct one another (Romans 15:14, Colossians 3:16)

Serve one another (Galatians 5:13)

Be patient to one another (Ephesians 4:2)

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:21)

Forgive one another. (Colossians 3:13)

Confess your sins to one another (James 5:16)

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. (Ephesians 5:19)

We have to have others in our lives in order to fulfill the law of Christ. Christianity is not meant to be a lone-wolf experience.

Do not miss out on the joy that pain can bring, by ignoring the lessons it teaches. Trying to get through your suffering too quickly, suppressing the sorrow, or disregarding the circumstances can lead to missing out on the blessings, wisdom, and transformation the pain could have brought you.

Romans 5:3-5 says,

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Perhaps it is because I am on a social network called Tsu http://tsu.co/DCBooks where people are often quoting scripture and people and encouraging one another to be better people living happier lives that this is getting my goat. I see it frequently.
I am almost always sick. I have several small medical problems that I cannot get treated and so I am often dealing with symptoms of pain, fatigue or malaise. People pray with me all the time for healing, and for that I am so grateful. But often those same people quote a line of scripture to declare that I will be healed. And if I didn’t know scripture I would be devastated because of it. I would think I was failing my Lord and that He didn’t heal me because I was doing something wrong.

The line they quote is “by His stripes we are healed.” It comes from Isaiah chapter 53 verse 5. The entire verse reads,

“But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.”

He (Jesus) was pierced for our transgressions, our sins. He was crushed for our iniquities, our sins. Upon Him was the chastisement, the punishment, that brought us peace, a restored relationship with God. And with His wounds we are healed, made whole. Why would the rest of the verse speak of removing sins and restoration with God and this one line talk about illness? It doesn’t. It is still in the same sentence of Jesus punishment bringing us to peace with God talking about that relationship. Jesus wounds were made to heal or restore our relationship with God. It is a spiritual healing, not a physical one.

God does heal physical illness, but not all illness. I have seen wonderful and miraculous healings. But He has reasons for letting some people have physical sickness and weakness. Look at Timothy. He suffered some sort of stomach problem. Paul didn’t chastise him and say, “Christians shouldn’t be sick!” He offered advice for alleviating the symptoms. He did this while he told him not to judge harshly the elders, or assume anything based on partiality. Timothy was leading a pure life and that and lend itself to legalism, self-righteousness, and bias. Paul encouraged him not to let that happen by adding some health counsel. 1 Timothy 5:22-23 reads,

“Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.23 (No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.)”

Paul himself suffered from something, we are not sure what it was but God allowed him to suffer with it in order to keep him from becoming prideful since he had been caught up to the third heaven and seen things no one else had or has. (2 Corinthians 12:1-10).

I hate being sick. But when you take scripture out of context and misuse it to claim promises that do not exist it hurts me. If I didn’t know God, and know scripture, hearing that misguided phrase would make me try to figure out what to do to get on God’s good side. It would make me try and be good enough for God and I would miss the beauty of the truth of Jesus.

Taking scripture out of context and offering it up as encouragement might seems harmless, but it isn’t.

People quote the first part of Psalm 112:7 to one another often it reads,

“He is not afraid of bad news;”

Giving this scripture on its own to an unbeliever or a shaky believer makes them think, God will not allow them to receive bad news if they trust in Him. And when they do receive bad news, they will call the Lord a liar and be angry and think He hates them.

Put the verse back in context and you find out that per verse 1 of the Psalm it is describing a man who fears the Lord and delights in His commands. Verse 1 reads,

“Praise the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
    who greatly delights in his commandments!”

Keep reading and you find out the reason he is not afraid of bad news is because,

“He is not afraid of bad news;
    his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
His heart is steady; he will not be afraid,
    until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.” (Psalm 112:7-8).

Stop taking scripture out of context. Stop giving just half the truth. Stop taking the salt out of the Gospel and twisting scripture into tasty little bites of feel good sayings. You may make a person feel good now, but maybe they needed to deal with a broken heart in order to turn to God. Rather than being rescued from weakness, pain, and persecution, maybe they needed to hear that going through those things bring about spiritual growth.

Twisting the Word of God, is what Satan does. He did it in the garden of Eden, he did it when he tempted Jesus, he does it when he tempts us. Do not join in the work of Satan by doing the same thing. When you share a verse, or a good work, make sure it is the whole truth. Because half a truth is called a lie.

Believer, do you love the way God loves? Do you love others as Jesus loved you? Jesus loved you by laying down His life and paying the price for you to have eternal life. Revelation 21:6-7 tells us what He did.

“And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

But for those who do not believe and accept that awesome gift, there is another end. Revelation 20:15 says,

 “And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

If you seek God’s will and love people are you really going to be okay with them running toward eternal damnation? 

In Philippians Chapter 3 verse 6 Paul describes himself this way “…as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” In the first chapter of 1 Timothy Paul says, “…that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” (Verse 15b). How can Paul be both the foremost of sinners and blameless under the law? They seem to contradict one another, but they don’t. Following the law, even perfectly has nothing to do with salvation.

Paul was the epitome of the Jewish man. If the law could save anyone, it could save Paul. Philippians 3:4-6 reads,

“though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”

He had it all down pat. He knew his lineage and could tell people his ancestry made him a member of the tribe of Benjamin. He had been circumcised exactly as the law prescribed. He was a Pharisee. And let me tell you it was tough to become a Pharisee. The Pharisees were devoted to the law. They studied it, memorized it, and methodized it. They made sure the rest of the Jews were following the law by putting rituals and rules to their lives that ensured they would not break any of the numerous laws. And Paul wasn’t just any old ordinary Pharisee, he was fervent and passionate to the point that he wanted to bring down the Christians who seemed to have no regard for the law. He was blameless under the law. He observed the Torah with absoluteness. He had every law down pat.

So how could Paul refer to himself as the foremost of sinners? If he had followed the law so perfectly how could he be the chief of sinners? Paul describes his sin in 1 Timothy 1:12-13.

“I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,”

Paul was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent opponent. Paul cursed God when he cursed the church, he spoke about Christ and Christians with hatred and disdain. He hounded and oppressed the church and therefore Christ.  Paul was an enemy of the church, and an enemy of Christ. We all were enemies of Christ before Jesus saved us. Romans 10:5 reads,

“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

1 Timothy 1:13-14 reads,

“though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ.”

Paul was a sinner, an enemy of God, He had thought he was acting for God, when really it was for the law. His actions made him not just an enemy but an enemy who pursued and hunted Christians and Christ with the intent of wiping them out. But Jesus knew Paul. He understood and so He was merciful and He forgave Paul completely. When Jesus forgave Paul he flooded him with faith and love.

Paul followed the law to the letter, but there was no love in it. There was no love for God, and there was no love for his fellow man. Paul had passion for the law and he believed that passion for the law meant passion for God. But God doesn’t ask for us to have zeal for the law. He never asked us to have ardor for the law. He asked us to adore Him. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 reads,

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

In Leviticus Chapter 19 Moses has given a long list of laws that are somewhat reminiscent of many of the Ten Commandments and he ends it with verse 18.

“You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

When the Sadducees came to Jesus and asked Him what the greatest commandment was He said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-39).

He said that all the commandments and the Prophets depended on those two commandments. If you love the Lord with your entire being (body, mind, and heart) and you love your neighbor, then you will by your faith keep the law.

But the Pharisees hadn’t put laws like love God into a ritual. There is no way to make actual love a ritual. 1. Pucker lips. 2. Open arms 3. Say, “mwah.” Or 1. Take your money out of the bank. 2. Donate it to the poor. There is no love in following a set of directions. They had been keen to keep the law, so keen that they forgot God in the process. In their fervor they replaced The Lord with the idol of law.

Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 on a couple of occasions. It reads,

“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
    the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

When Paul was saved he knew all his perfect following of the law meant nothing. He may have followed the letter of the law but without love it was only ritual. Without love and knowing God, his sacrifices and offerings were absurd. Whatever righteousness he had was worldly and didn’t matter when it came to knowing Jesus. Philippians 3:7-9 reads,

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—“

You just can’t be good enough to be saved. Salvation by the law is unachievable. If it were possible to be saved outside of Christ, Saul would have been saved and never become Paul. If it were doable, Jesus never would have needed to come.

Romans 3:23-24 reads,

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”

Salvation can only be attained through Jesus. It is a gift. It cannot be earned. It is by grace, there is no one who can deserve it.

That is how Paul could be righteous to the world and the worst of sinners in the Kingdom of God.