In Timothy, we learn that God's Word states - 2 Timothy 2:15 - "Study to
show yourself approved unto God, a workman that doesn’t need to be ashamed,
Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth."
Religiosity is made up of three main ingredients:
The Doctrines of Men: These are based solely on the dogma of men.
Dogmatism is the assertion of man’s own ideas as though they were fact.
The Traditions of Men: Based solely on oral report handed down over a long
period of time, usually accepted as Historically True, but not
verifiable.
The Commandments of Men: These are the instructions given unto their
followers on what they should or should not do concerning their "Walk with
God." For the most part they are always based on the Doctrines and Traditions
of Men.
God’s Word calls Religion in -
Galatians 4:9 - "The weak and beggarly elements that
keep you under bondage".
Jesus Christ talked about Religion in:
Matthew 15:3 & 9 - "But he (Jesus Christ) answered and said unto them (the
religious leaders of that time) why do you also transgress the commandment of
God, by your tradition?
Then Christ summed it all up in -
Mark 7:13 (b) - "..... making the Word of God of no effect through your traditions
(religiosity), which you have delivered; and
many such things you do."
God even took the trouble to warn us of Religion in His Word as recorded in -
Colossians 2:8 - "Beware less any man spoil you through philosophy and vain
deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments (principles) of this world,
and not after (the teachings of) Christ.
(Which are God’s teachings as recorded in - John 7:16 - Jesus answered
them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me."
John 5:30 - I can of mine own self do nothing … but the will of the Father
which hath sent me.)
Even Daniel Webster in his famous dictionary calls Religion "MAN'S OWN
expression of his acknowledgement of the Divine."
The Ten Basic Steps to follow when Rightly Dividing
God's Word of Truth -
Chapters & Verses -
In the original manuscripts of the
Bible there were no such things as chapters or verses. The Word was written on
scrolls with no divisions of chapters and verses. These were added by man, as
were all the words that are in italics, to make the scriptures easier to
follow. However they constitute absolutely nothing to the Integrity, Accuracy,
or Simplicity of The Word of God. Chapters first appeared in a translation of
the Bible in 1250 A.D. Verses first appeared in the Geneva Bible translation of
1560 A.D. Both chapters and verses appeared together in the King James
translation of the Bible in 1611. Incidentally, over 97% of all English
translations of the Bible were translated from the King James Version. Thus, if
there are errors in the King James translation then obviously the others are
not accurate either. That is why God had 2 Timothy 2:15 put in His Word.
However the translators of King James' time had more Biblical Knowledge than
Grammatical Knowledge. Thus, the division of God's Word into chapters and
verses was very poorly done. Keep in mind, that for their day in time, they did
an exceptional job, with the knowledge they had.
Example-
John 7:53 - "And every man went unto his own
house."
John 8:1&2 - 1 - "Jesus went unto the mount of Olives 2 - "And early in the morning he came again into the temple "
The context of the end of chapter seven is where everyone went after their meeting. Chapter 8 verse one is still talking about where everyone went. Verse two starts with where Jesus went in the morning. This is a different context than that of where they went the night before. Thus, the proper division between chapter seven and eight should have been made between verse one and two of chapter eight. -
John 7:53 - "And every man went unto his own house,
Jesus went unto the mount of Olives"
John 8:1 - "And early in the morning he came again
into the temple ..... "
Scriptural Punctuation -
Mankind added the punctuation in translation. In a lot of scriptures, because of the punctuation, the meaning of the context of the verses are greatly distorted. Punctuation constitutes absolutely nothing to the accuracy, integrity and simplicity of God's Word. A prime example of a statement being distorted to the end that the majority of "religious" organizations teach that the minute you die you go to heaven is based on a comma wrongly placed in - Luke 23:43 - "And Jesus said unto him, (one of the malefactors), verily I say unto you, to day you will be with me in paradise."
In this reference a comma was put after you, which dictates that which Jesus said starts with "today you shall..." which suggests that the day on which Jesus was talking, the malefactor would go to paradise with Jesus. There are four major problems with this -
1 - Jesus was entombed for three days and three nights and got up 72 hrs. later without the malefactor.
2 - Jesus was alive and well for forty days after his resurrection before he went to sit at the right hand of God in heaven without the malefactor.
3 - Paradise is the new earth that is to come, it is in the future.
4 - If heaven was paradise and people went there the minute they died there would be no need for Christ to come back because every one would already be there.
Thus, if there was going to be any punctuation at all, it should have been inserted after today - "And Jesus said unto him, verily I say to you today, You will be (future tense) in paradise with me."
How the Word Explains Itself in Its Verse:
Romans 10:9 - "That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved"
How the Word Explains Itself in its Context:
Romans 10:10 - "For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made for salvation"
How The Word Explains Itself in Its Previous Usage:
Luke 2:22 - "And when the days of her purification according to the Law of Moses were accomplished."
Previous Usage - Leviticus 12:1-4 - "And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary; until the days of her purifying be fulfilled."
To Whom Are Certain Scriptures Written:
Malachi 1:1 - " ..... the Word of the Lord to Israel..." Obviously, the book of Malachi is written to all of Israel.
James 1:1 - "... to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad .." As you can see James is written to the twelve tribes of Israel who are scattered abroad, not just those in Jerusalem.
Romans 1:7 - "To all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints” This book is not addressed to Israel, but to the born again believers who by God are called saints.
The book of Hebrews is written to those who live, in this, The Grace Period, but, because of the lack of knowledge still live under The Law Period - Ten Commandments.
Old Testament Aramaic (Hebrew) Words -
Have they been properly translated into English with their proper meanings? Even a small dot verses two dots over the same word mean different things.
Example-
Numbers 25:4 - "And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun .." In this scripture it sounds like God is telling Moses to kill all the people and then hang their heads on poles in the sun, doesn't it? When we examine the Peshitta Text which is the original text we find the following word similarities - which translates into the word "reshey" which in English means "chiefs." There are two dots over the word. Another word also translates into the word "reshey" but is translated to mean "heads. There is only one dot over the Aramaic word. When we further examine and translate the rest of the scripture accurately into English from the Aramaic we have the following accurate translation of - Numbers 25:4 - "And the Lord said to Moses, Take all the chiefs of the people and expose them before the Lord in the daylight .. "
New Testament Greek Words - are they properly translated into English with their proper meanings?
Example - Matthew 19:24 - "And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle ... " It seems a little far-fetched for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, doesn’t it?
The original New Testament Greek from which the word camel was translated is this word gamla means rope. The same word gamla also means camel. The translators in 1250, 1560 and 1611, because of their lack of communications with the Bible Lands did not know that the ancient people made rope from camels hair. Thus, they inserted gamla as meaning camel instead of rope. Thus, accurately translated Matthew 19:24 states - "And again I say unto you, it is easier for a rope, to go through the eye of a needle ...."
Orientalisms - The Thought, Culture and Philosophy of Biblical Times. If these are not understood, then all you have is an Eastern Cultural book in a Western Society that is hard to understand.
Example - Isaiah 40:1&2 - "Comfort yourself, comfort yourself my people, says your God. Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she has received of ...... the Lord's hand double for all her sins."
To receive double, in the English language, means to receive twice as much. If a man is paid double wages for working on Sunday or holidays as is required in many of the union contracts, he gets twice as much as he does for a regular work day. If a judge requires double punishment for an infraction of-the law to a two-time perpetrator, the sentence might be sixty days instead of the normal thirty. Based on the thinking of the Western mind many people are convinced that God was dishing out double punishment for the sins of the people of Jerusalem. I assure you that this interpretation of this passage is simply not true. Once again, when you deal only with the language, it is very easy to misunderstand the scriptures. But once you know something of the cultural background, the seeming contradictions will disappear. This statement under consideration is a good example just how important it is to have a general knowledge of the thought, culture and philosophy of Biblical times. This scripture plainly states prophetically that the warfare of Jerusalem is over. Her iniquity is pardoned. Then in almost the same breath the Word says that Jerusalem has received double for all her sins. If that means double punishment, we do indeed have a problem. And, yet, we know that God Almighty does not pardon and then punish, even once, let alone twice. God removes our sin and forgets it. The answer is with "The Elders of the Gate." These men are elected by the people, and they have a chairman. They meet in a building just inside the gate of the city. They have certain hours for consideration of the cases brought before them. It might be a matter of a quarrelling husband and wife, disobedient children, lawbreakers, or a disagreement between neighbors or business associates. The elders of the gate consider each case and decide what is to be done in regard to settlements and punishment for each case. The chairman of the elders of the gate keeps his mind open to God and depends on Him for leadership in rendering the proper judgment. Often you will see him scribbling in the sand with his finger. This is the manner used by people in the East in practicing the art of shutting out everything, and keeping the mind concentrated on God. This was what Jesus was doing when the woman who was accused of adultery was brought before him. He was waiting for revelation, or wisdom from God on what to do or say. The gate of the city is used as a "public bulletin board." Suppose someone had become so indebted that he could not satisfy his creditors. In today's society you could find out this kind of information about people through the credit bureau and public court records, but the people of the East could find out if a man was a good credit risk or not by going to the gate of the city. There they would find all his debts listed. They were in full view of everyone. The humiliation is unbelievable. And the record hangs there, on the gate, until the creditors were paid. Usually a man could never pay off these accounts by himself. There just was not the possibility that he could pull himself up by his own boot straps. At least the possibility would be remote. But if someone—and it would usually be a kinsman—came along who was willing to "bail him out," then they brought the evidence of the satisfaction to his creditors to the elders of the gate. They then would take the sheet on which was listed his debts and fold it in two or double it over and tack it back to the gate. Now anyone who looks can find nothing against him. He has a clean slate, a fresh start. Everything from the past is done away. It makes quite a difference when you understand the customs and culture of Biblical times, doesn't it???
Figures of Speech - A figure of speech is an unusual, essentially metaphorical mode of expression used for effect in speech and writing to clarify or deepen a meaning by suggesting similitude's which provoke thought. The study of figures of speech is very important to an in-depth understanding of God's Word. There are 212 different figures of speech used in the Bible, and up to forty variations of one kind. Jesus Christ used figures of speech a lot when he talked to the general populous
Matthew Chapter 13 is full of them -
- the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man which sowed good seed in his field ..
- the kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed ....
- the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven ....
In Conjunction with These Ten Basic Steps To Rightly Dividing, even the numbers, the sounds, the music, the colors, physiology, chemistry, the vegetable kingdom, nature, The Heavens and chronology that are used in God's Word all have Supernatural Design and Spiritual Significance that rounds out the complete truth in God's glorious, matchless, rightly divided Word of Truth.
PLUS, the Word of God is divided into seven different time periods, or administrations, consisting of the past, present & future.
The Alpha Period - covers the beginning when God originally created the Heavens and earth, plus Adam and Eve. Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 6:1
The Patriotic Administration - From Noah to The Ten Commandments Genesis 6:1 to Exodus 20
The Law Period - Covers The Ten Commandments until the receiving of the Holy Spirit in man on the Day of Pentecost Exodus 20 to Acts 2:1
Christ's Administration - It overlaps the last half of the Law Period until the Day of Ascension Matthew 1:1 to Acts 1:9
The Grace Period - Began on the Day of Pentecost, Acts 2:1, and ends when Christ comes back at the beginning of the fourth millennium according to Christ Himself, as written. This is the Period we are now living in, at present.
The Appearing Administration - When Christ comes back to collect his saints (those who have received the Holy Spirit of Promise by following the step by step instructions in God's Rightly Divided Word of Truth.) This is the Future
The Judgment or Omega Administration - The time when everyone except the born-again believers, are judged. Some will go to hell and some to life eternal on the new earth in God’s Kingdom. The Future
The time period or administration in which we live is The Grace Period. There are only certain books of the Bible that apply to that Period. These books are our guideline to live by. Anything that was written before this was written for the general knowledge of who, where, why and how as recorded in - Romans 15:4 - "For what so ever things were written a foretime (before the Grace Period) were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."
Each administration has its own individual God given "rules and regulations" that govern it. Unless you know the difference between them, then your worshipping is of no value to you or anyone else, let alone the enhancement of your personal walk with God.
There are only certain books written for the Grace Period Each book was written for a sole purpose.
Acts - It was written by Luke for general doctrine. !t is also the bridge between the end of the Law Period, Chris’s Administration, and the beginning of the Grace Period
Romans: It was written by Tertios for Paul. It was written to teach How To Believe properly. This is not the first revelation given to Paul by God Almighty.
1& 2 Corinthians: These books are written to correct practical error that sneaks into the church of the body of Christ because the people did not adhere to what was written in the book of Romans. It was basically written for Reproof.
Galatians: Written to correct the doctrinal error due to wrong practices and failure by not adhering to the instructions given for the Grace Period.
Ephesians: The greatest revelation of all time, given to the church of the body of Christ. It completely completes everything in the Grace Period.
Philippians: Corrects practical error that creeps into the church of the body of Christ when people did not adhere to the revelation given in the book of Ephesians.
Colossians: For the correction of Doctrinal Error when people would not adhere to Ephesians
1 & 2 Thessalonians: This was the first revelation to Paul and it concerns the return of Jesus Christ
1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon: These books were to Timothy by Paul for instruction on how to build the believing of the Church.
Hebrews: It was written for correction to those who wish to or are living under the Law Period instead of the Grace Period.
James, 1&2 Peter, 1,2&3 John and Jude: Are written to expound more perfectly on your personal walk with God.
When all these steps have been done to each and every chapter, verse and word pertaining to that which one may be studying, then, and only then can one say that they have the Rightly Divided Word of Truth and be set free from the rudiments of this world, and accurately say -
"Thus, sayeth the Lord God Almighty".
Always Remember John 8:32
"And YOU shall know the truth and the truth shall make ou free."
To get a general understanding of Rightly Dividing Click Here
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