The truth matters. God’s truth matters. If God tells us something it must be important. As His followers we must never take for granted the fact that Satan will never stop trying to subvert the Bible. Furthermore, it is vital that we impress upon others the absolute necessity of believing and following His Word as written without taint and mixture. Satan is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44) and has mastered the vile art of using God’s own inspired scriptures to deceive the word. How is this possible? Is it possible? Yes it is and anyone can do it.
In 2 Peter 3:16 the apostle writes of “the ignorant and unstable [who] twist [Paul’s inspired writings] to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures”. Peter makes it known that the Bible can be ‘twisted’. The Greek word for twist means ‘put to the rack’, a form of torture, and, figuratively, to wrest the truth from words.
God’s words are meant to give life. The rack on the other hand was meant to wring life out of things. If the Bible is ‘put to the rack’ can the life be wrung out of them? Peter says that those who twist the scriptures do so to their own destruction. Are those who willingly follow in danger? 2 Thess. 2:10-12 indicates, to me anyway, that people are held responsible for choosing to believe a lie, having not received a love of the truth.
This is why rightly dividing God’s Word is so critical—and why the contributors to this website seem to continually harp on this point in both their articles and responses to questions. Lives, quite literally, are at stake. If the truth sets us free, per our Lord, what do falsehoods do? Something serious to ponder before casually dismissing the point I am making.
And no one in history has twisted the scriptures more often and to better, or I should say worse effect than the Devil himself. Consider Matthew 4 and Luke 4 as he tempts Jesus. These passages probably represent the best examples in the Bible of how easy it is to twist the scriptures—he’s even quoting them, proof of his familiarity with God’s Word. Fortunately, Jesus is equipped for just such an occasion.
We must strive to be. We begin, as Paul told the Thessalonians, by receiving a love of the truth. We continue by studying the Bible as a good workman and taking these truths to heart. We also help others to see. It’s important. The truth matters.
