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They say, “It’s acceptable for Christians to be in the military because Jesus never told the centurions to stop what they were doing.”

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When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment. Matthew:10-13

Jesus commended one centurion for his faith—not his occupation. Jesus also never told the “woman at the well” that she was wrong for having five husbands and divorces, as well as living with a man who was not her husband. Neither is there any record of Jesus directly telling prostitutes that they were in the wrong profession, but that doesn’t mean he commended it.  Each of these things is covered in his teachings, which he clearly had in mind for his followers to obey, whether he made a direct, personal application to them individually or not.

Jesus taught:

“Love your enemy” (Matthew 5:43-48).

“Bless those who curse you” (Luke 6:28).

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also” (Matthew 5:38-40).

“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” (John 18:36)

Peter said, “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:9).

Paul said, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world” (2 Corinthians 10:3, 4).

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).

Jesus expects his followers to be different because they’re not operating the way this world does, but in God’s way.  By not telling the centurion, just one man, that he shouldn’t be in the military, Jesus did not nullify all of his teachings about loving one’s enemy.

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8; 31, 32

 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” John 14:21

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” John 14:23, 24

They say, “It’s acceptable for Christians to be in the military because the Old Testament characters fought wars.”

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Is it true? No.

They certainly did fight wars, and God sometimes* told them to. However, they were under the Law of Moses and the Old Covenant, and we who are Christians are not. God also told them to marry their dead brother’s wife to have children for him if he didn’t have any—I have never yet heard any Christian clamoring to do that!

We are under the New Covenant with teachings by Jesus that are more profound and far-reaching. Jesus commanded his followers, “Love your enemy” (Matthew 5:43-48).

“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” (John 18:36)

Thank God, we’re not back in the Old Covenant! Jesus’ ways are different.

*At other times, he told them not to engage in physical warfare.

“Since Jesus was a Nazarite he didn’t drink alcohol.”

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Is it true? No.

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Jesus was a Nazarene—from Nazareth, not a Nazirite (a particular vow of Judaism that did not allow a man to even eat grapes or raisins—so no wine, not even Welch’s grape juice, or cut his hair). Jesus not only drank wine, but he also created a whole lot of wine at the wedding in Cana, after everyone had already had a lot to drink.

At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Mark 1:9

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of dedication to the Lord as a Nazirite,they must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or other fermented drink. They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. As long as they remain under their Nazirite vow, they must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.

‘During the entire period of their Nazirite vow, no razor may be used on their head. They must be holy until the period of their dedication to the Lord is over; they must let their hair grow long.” Numbers 6:1-5 and on through verse 21.

The giving of the instructions for those taking a Nazarite vow includes not being near a dead body; Jesus was often near dead people though they didn’t stay that way. If he’d been a Nazarite, he would have had to shave his head every time.

They say, “When Jesus said we are the salt of the earth he meant we’re to preserve the culture.”

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Is it true? No.

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The Bible interprets itself. It says that salt is a sign of the Covenant; God isn’t particularly interested in preserving human cultures, his mission is to spread his culture–the Kingdom of Heaven. Followers of Jesus are to be a sign to the world of the Kingdom of Heaven—and how to get there (John 8:31,32)

Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings. Leviticus 2:13

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 4:17

Cultures are set on earthly things. But the ultimate citizenship of followers of Jesus is in heaven.

Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.  Philippians 3:19-21

They say, “There is no unforgivable sin.”

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Is it true? No.“

Sorry, it sounds good, but Jesus said that there is only one sin that can’t be forgiven—unforgivable, is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. But the good news is, anything else, everything else, once repented of—turned away from, is forgivable.

And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.      Matthew 12:31,32

Set Apart by the Holy Spirit Joan C. Thomson

They say, “Jesus told parables to help people understand better.”

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No.

The opposite was true. Jesus put his teachings into parables so that the people would not understand—to fulfill prophecy.

The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;
    though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
    they hardly hear with their ears,
    and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’

Matthew 13:10-15

They say,”God allows sickness to teach us something.”

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I know of no New Testament scripture (since we “followers of Jesus” are people of the New Covenant) that even hints at this. The only one that is remotely close is John 9:3, the account of Jesus saying of the man born blind, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” Jesus immediately healed him. The work of God in this man’s life was his healing, not the blindness!

Jesus said that the devil comes to kill, steal and destroy but he (Jesus) came to give abundant life—not a lesson from sickness! (John 10:10)

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. I John 3:8

No, God permits sickness and other things that are of the devil to come into our lives so that we can fight it! That’s what the “full armor of God” is for (Ephesians 6:11-18). That’s what the “gifts of the Spirit” are for (1 Corinthians 12:7:11).

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4,5

When sickness comes your way, don’t embrace it—fight it!

Note: Of course, no teacher wants to let a “teachable moment” get by without using it for teaching. God certainly makes use of every opportunity, but why not be open to his teaching while you’re in health?!

But what about Paul’s “thorn in the flesh?” Read about it here: https://urbanlegendsbible.com/?s=thorn+in+flesh

They say,”God won’t give me more than I can handle.”

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It is said,”God won’t give you more than you can handle.”

The rest of the premise says, “So if you’re going through it, God must think you can handle it.”  The possible origin of this “thought for the day” is confusion about Paul’s earlier encouragement that, “And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:12-14)

Paul also said that he and his co-workers “were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.  Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” (2 Corinthians 1:8b,9)

God won’t let you be tempted with more than you can resist because he gives you a way out. Handling difficulties or trials is not about our ability but our reliance on God’s mighty power working in our behalf.

The Antichrist

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The Bible makes no mention of a “capital-a”, one person, Antichrist but many “antichrists” who had gone out from the first century church (yes, I checked the Greek). The term comes from John’s epistles in which he warns of the “Many deceivers who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh have gone out into the world.  Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.” (2 John 7)  Certainly there are also many today who persist in unbelief and those who “deny that Jesus is the Christ” (1 John 2:22) and/or “who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh” (2 John 7)—these have the same spirit of antichrist.

But these are the criteria, not as many believe today–having influence or being a persuasive speaker.  This misinterpretation of the Scriptures has led to slanderous accusations of nearly any man who has been an international leader, whether political or religious, in last 100 years or so.  If you’re a follower of Jesus going around fearfully pointing a finger at such men just because they have influence or a good speaking style—Stop it!  You will have to answer one day for every careless word. (Matthew 12:36)

Instead, make sure that you aren’t one of the ones who “runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ…” and that you don’t welcome the one who “does not bring this teaching”. (2 John 9,10) The Church is all too willing to welcome false teachers these days. Don’t be distracted by non-Biblical paranoia—just make sure you’re obeying Jesus’ teachings and urge others to do the same.

They say, “The Temple in Jerusalem has to be rebuilt before Jesus can come back.”

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It is said,“The Jerusalem Temple must be rebuilt before Jesus comes back.”It

The Bible doesn’t say this.  There are some people who, in past 150 or so years have built a template of eschatology through which they interpret the Bible. They project Ezekiel’s vision of rebuilding the Temple thousands of years into the future (as in any year now) but in fact, “Ezekiel’s” Temple was already rebuilt after the Babylonian exile. (Ezekiel chapters 40-43; see also the books of Ezra and Nehemiah)

Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, there is no longer a need for the Temple and its sacrificial system. (Hebrews 10:1; Ephesians 2:14)  Instead, those who follow Jesus are “God’s temple” and “God’s Spirit lives in you”. (I Corinthians 3:16; see also Acts 17:24, I Cor. 3:17, 6:19)

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