Breaking Major Misconceptions About God's Word
Caleb Gibson
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Posts by Caleb Gibson
Karma – Is It Biblical?
01 year ago
by Caleb Gibson
in New Covenant
Is karma mentioned in the Bible? Karma is the theory that, “what goes around comes around.” Karma says, “If you do something bad today, something bad will happen to you tomorrow.” Some even have karma as a picture of a beaver being killed by a tree because beaver cut down trees all the time. The Christian idea of karma is the often quoted phrase, “what you sow is what you reap.” They believe that if you sow a bad deed, you will reap a bad deed, but is this really Biblical?
Don’t Build a Doctrine on One Verse
The word karma is not mentioned in the bible, but still some Christians hang on to the old covenant verse about sowing and reaping. To first understand if this is a part of the New Covenant, we need to gather up all of the New Covenant scriptures. So, let’s go! I am going to list all of the scriptures below…
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. – Galatians 6:7-8
There is one verse in the New Testament that is about sowing and reaping. This is interesting because you would think the Bible would have more scripture on this, for all of the sermons on this.
So, what is the context of this verse about? Verse 6, 9, and 10 are all talking about blessing especially those who are the household of faith (Pastors, etc.) and those who are teachers of the Bible (Pastors, etc.). People often wonder, why should I give to the church (organization)? It is because if we did not, the Pastors would not have food to eat. They (Pastors) would have to find a 2nd job, and the Sunday messages would decrease in value because they were busy working all week and not preparing a sermon. That is one of the reasons we give offerings/tithes to the church.
An Opinion from the Best
Joseph Prince had a great opinion on this, in his book “Unmerited Favor.”
“Don’t allow anyone to confuse you with faulty interpretations of the Word. The context of Galatians 6:7-8 is about sowing and reaping money. The verses before and after (verse 6 and verses 9 and 10) clearly show that the context is talking about blessing the teachers of God’s Word with all good things, and blessing the household of faith. Hence, sowing to the flesh here refers to using money for self-indulgence instead of being generous for the kingdom of God. The verse is saying that sowing money to indulge oneself leads to results that can decay, whereas sowing money into the kingdom leads to results that are eternal” (Prince 173).
The Big Difference
People quote Hosea 8:7, “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind…” And they quote Proverbs 22:8, “Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity…” But let’s not forget, there is a HUGE difference between the New and Old Covenant! Under the Old Covenant what sin you commit equals punishment; this is why you will find so many Old Testament scriptures on sowing and reaping sin. But, under this New Covenant, Jesus reaped all of the punishment that we sowed, and we reap all of the blessings that He sowed.
In the new covenant there is not one verse about karma or about sowing and reaping sin! Don’t let the world influence your beliefs. Take every belief with the finished work in mind. There is a big difference and it is the CROSS! The fact is that, karma is just not Biblical.
Is it better to go through your life expecting bad things to happen because of your sin (karma)? Or, is it better to expect good things to happen because Jesus paid the full punishment, we deserved?
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The True Fear Of The Lord
11 year ago
by Caleb Gibson
in Worship
Could you imagine if your dog (or pet) was always afraid of you? That would be horrible. Every time you go up to pet your precious puppy it jumps up and leaves, but yet this is the idea some people have in their mind when they think about fearing God. If you wouldn’t want your pet to be terrified of you, why would God want us to be terrified of Him?
So, what about the “fear” of the Lord? Are we to fear God with trembling?
Until God showed me the truth, this question boggled me for my entire life. The words, “fear” the Lord are scriptural; it is in the Bible, but does that mean that we need to tremble and be scared of God? I do not believe so. I just can’t imagine God wanting us to fear him like a scary movie.
Many pastors and teachers have come out of their study and taught that when the Bible says, “fear the Lord” it means to have a reverent fear. But, they provide no scripture for these claims. So today, I want to show you scripturally what this means.
Jesus Is the Best Bible Interpreter Ever
There is a little known theory that if you let Bible interpret the Bible, you will get your answer! So, let’s check out what Jesus has to say about fear.
“Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” – Matthew 4:10
In this passage Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy, but let’s see what the original translation says.
Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.” – Deuteronomy 6:13
Did you notice that He CHANGED one word? Can you tell the difference?
Original: Fear the Lord, serve him only
Jesus: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only
Fear Not, Worship a Lot
Jesus quoted the passage of, “Fear the Lord” and He said, “Worship the Lord.” It must be that fear and worship are synonyms in the mind of Christ! A synonym is A word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase. When we see the frightening word fear, God sees the beautiful word worship. Praise God!
God does not want you to be afraid of you heavenly father! He wants you to come boldly to Him. Who else to interpret the fear of the Lord than Jesus himself! Remember, when you are worshiping the Lord, you are really, “Fearing the Lord! My friend, it is time we fear not and worship a lot!
For God has not given us the spirit of fear… – 2 Timothy 1:7
Photo By: Martin Cathrae/ flickr.com
Is Grace A License To Sin?
21 year ago
by Caleb Gibson
in Law and Grace
If you preach that people are completely forgiven and are forever under grace, won’t that give people a license to sin?
That is a great question! Now, let’s make one thing crystal clear, I am completely against sin. The truth is people sin all the time. The problem is not, “Grace” the problem is that sin has dominion over them, and they cannot escape the prison of sin!
Grace is not a license to sin. People Drive Cars without Licenses, and people Sin whether they have a license or not, so it is not grace that is the problem. The problem is the Power of Sin.
Eliminate the Power of Sin
The new Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises is about a man named Bane. Bane is an extremely strong man, so let’s use Bane as, “Sin” and Batman as, “us.” If we are trying to defeat Bane, we need to defeat his Power! Bane’s power is his muscle, so if we can make him weak and fragile then we can defeat him. The same thing goes with sin; if we eliminate the Power, sin is a lot weaker and we sin less.
How to Stop the Power of Sin
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. – 1 Corinthians 15:56
The Bible is so clear. I wonder sometimes if people can read. According to 1 Corinthians 15:56, the power of sin is the law. It is as if, sin is a person and the law is the muscle of the person. Today, Christians are in a boxing ring trying to defeat sin; while, sin is overpowering the Christian with its muscle. Just eliminate the power of sin, and you will win more boxing fights! Hallelujah!
Lifestyle of Sin
A man who chooses to live in adultery saying, “it’s okay, we’re under grace” is still under the law. He is (quite obviously) under the power of sin, and he has not realized he has been made right with God. Some pastors think, “Oh man, I can’t preach grace or else people will have a license to sin.” When, (Hello) THEY ARE ALREADY IN THE CHURCH! Those pastors are preaching the law and giving people the power of sin!
For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. – Romans 6:14
Because you are no longer under the law, sin shall no longer control you! Notice it does not say because of Grace Sin shall no longer control you, but it says the law keeps you in sin. Grace is not the problem, but it is THE ANSWER!
People leave the church (organization) not because they are demonic, but because they give up! They can’t keep the law so why try. But, if the true gospel is preached people’s lives will be radically changed!
In the end, people sin because they are trying to keep the law. It is easier to sin against two cold rocks then to sin against a man who gave his life for you! If they only accepted the grace message, they would be released from the power of sin!
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