Introduction
One of the most precious and important gifts that God has given humanity is the Bible. The Bible is literally God revealing who He is, and communicating Himself to humanity in written form. Everything we do know, and everything we need to know, about God comes from Scripture, and these Scriptures hold the complete explanation of what we need to know about becoming a Christian. Not only that, the Bible also tells us everything we need to know about living life as a Christian.
True, historic, authentic Christianity teaches that the Bible was inspired and written by the Holy Spirit while using human instruments. Christianity also believes that the original manuscripts, in their original languages (Hebrew, Greek and some Aramaic), are completely without error.
With that said, there are many things that those who follow Jesus, go to church, and believe the Bible adhere to that are absolutelty unbiblical. One of the ways this comes about is that we hear someone quote something that sounds good to us, and pretty soon we start repeating it often enough that we buy into it being a biblical truth. Sadly, we do so without ever digging into the Scriptures ourselves regarding whatever topic it may be. Many of these unbiblical statements have gained enough attention and momentum that lots of people actually believe they are verses from the Bible. Not only are the comments unbiblical; most of them teach the direct opposite of what Scripture has to say.
I present to you a short list of nine popular comments that many Christians believe, but shouldn’t:
1. God helps those who help themselves.
This saying is actually just the opposite of the Gospel. Relying only on oneself, self-righteousness, and the attitude that one needs to try harder and do better, actually interferes with the work of God. Jesus says he saves those who DIE to themselves: “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).
2. God wants me to be happy.
Unfortunately, it has become common to believe that God exists to be our own “personal genie,” just waiting around to grant us our every wish when we ask. This is especially common to those who adhere to Word Faith and/or Prosperity teaching. It’s incredible how so many Christians will justify their sins by saying, “God just wants me to be happy,” or, “as long as I’m happy that’s all that matters. This excuse seems especially prevalent among those who want to divorce their spouse for no legitimate reason.
Happiness is merely a feeling, an emotion, and these are usually based on circumstances, but our circumstances are continually in a state of flux. God wants us to obey Him, to trust Him, and to know that everything He does is for our good. Even if it doesn’t make us feel “happy,” in fact it may make us feel quite the opposite, God wants us to have faith in Him regardless of our circumstances and how we feel: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
3. We are all God’s children.
Although God has created everyone, not everyone is actually in a relationship with Him. Only those He has called to repentance of sin, to put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and therefore have the Holy Spirit living within them are able to consider Him as their Father: “But you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:15b–16).
So, those who have not been elected to recognize Jesus is their Savior and Lord, and who do not have the Holy Spirit living within them, are actually said to be children of the Devil: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:1 – 2). “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:10).
4. Cleanliness is next to godliness.
Those who are around you often may be quite pleased you are clean and pay attention to your hygiene, but cleanliness being next to godliness is found nowhere in the Scriptures. Although it’s a very good idea, it is in no way whatsoever a Biblical mandate.
5. God won’t give you more than you can handle.
To be honest, all of life is more than we can handle on our own. Part of the reason for living in a fallen world is not for us to try really hard to handle our burdens, but instead to give-up trying in our own power, to surrender to God, that’s what authentic faith is all about. Everything we go through is more than we can handle, but not more than Jesus can handle: “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself” (2 Corinthians 1:8). “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
6. We all worship the same God.
Yes, there is only one true Creator and living God: “Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other” (Deuteronomy 4:39). However, He only receives worship that comes through those who are in Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ alone that brings us into the “throne room” of God, it’s not Muhammad, Buddha, Joseph Smith, or anyone else for that matter. Check their graves, their bones are all still there. Check the tomb of Christ though, and you will find he has risen: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
7. Bad things happen to good people.
This one may seem as though I’m nit-picking, but let me explain. Far too often we put ourselves in the judgment seat of what is good and bad, or who is good and bad. The way we tend to do this is by comparison. For example, Joe is a good dude, because he is not as bad as Ralph. But, according to the Bible, we should consider ourselves as equals because not a single one of us is good in and of ourselves: “As it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one’” (Romans 3:10).
8. When you die, God gains another angel.
To be quite blunt about it, human beings are human beings, not angels; and angels are angels, not human beings. This is true now and will continue to be true in the future. As a matter of fact, angels are curious about the relationship and interaction we humans have with God: “It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look” (1 Peter 1:12).
9. We all go to the same place when we die.
There are only two possible places where we go when we die: Heaven or Hell. However, only those whom God has called to be in Christ, and therefore have put their faith in him and have repented of their old self, will be with the Triune God forever when they die: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6). Jesus Christ is the only “door” to heaven. Those who are not in Christ, are separated from God forever and are sent to hell when they die.
Conclusion
The fact that many of us Christians believe these unbiblical comments sadly shows our lack of biblical literacy. We are becoming a body of biblical illiterates. Instead of just buying into popular comments, we need to be like the Bereans found in the Book of Acts. When they heard Paul preach, they wanted to search the Scriptures themselves in order to validate what he was saying: “The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:10 – 11). Sadly, we live in a time where many believers have abandoned this exercise and choose to follow feelings and experiences instead.
Can you think of more unbiblical comments or sayings that you’ve heard Christians use on a regular basis?
*This article was adapted, with permission, from an article by Shane Pruitt, which can be found on www.alreadyam.com.
This was a guest post from Dr. Jeff Hagan.
Jeff is an ordained Christian minister with over 23 years of ministry experience. He has attended Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Luther Rice Seminary, Tyndale Seminary and a handful of other institutes as well. He has earned several degrees including the Doctor of Christian Education and the Doctor of Theology.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In