The Bible is God’s Word to us and teaches us about Him, show us how to be saved, and guides us through life. It is foundational to Christian living and without it there is no truth. Because the Bible is so important, the devil works hard to change, warp, and discredit it. He used this approach with Eve in the Garden and Jesus when He was being tempted (Mt 4:1-11). He does it today by planting thoughts in your mind, through false teachers, through theologians, through pastors teaching poorly, and through the world.
Do not listen to lies about God’s Word or you will get into trouble like Eve:
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen 3:1-5)
In the Garden, the devil attacked Scripture in three ways:
- He questioned and clouded what it says – “Did God really say” (vs 1)
- He denied it was true – “No! You will not die” (vs 4)
- He lied about it with a half-truth – “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God” (vs 5)
The devil uses these same tactics today … even among ‘Christian’ theologians and pastors. Some of the greatest enemies, deniers, and manipulators of the Bible are in the ‘church’. They deny simple things like the definition of day in the Creation account saying it isn’t a ‘day’, or saying Rev 20:1-7 doesn’t really mean 1,000 years even though in seven verses it mentions 1,000 years six times, and some say it has secret codes in it that predict what is happening now but only they know the code. I’m thinking of one person in particular who has written books and made lots of money by manipulating and misinterpreting the Bible in this way.
This is VERY important everybody. The Bible is always under attack, and you need to constantly be on guard against bad teaching that warp, deny, or manipulate it. Those things are of the devil, and when you listen to them you are following the devil’s version of the Bible … don’t follow Satan’s version of the Bible.
Remember that from cover to cover the Bible is God’s perfect Word (2 Tim 3:16-17) and the truth (Jn 17:17). Jesus quoted it, referenced it, lived according to it, believed it, and made it clear it was God’s Word.
Read the Bible yourself and interpret it simply in the way it was written. Don’t try to read anything into it. Take it literally as much as possible unless it is obviously using hyperbole like when Jesus said if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
Weigh what you hear about the Bible against Scripture itself. When the devil or anybody else tries to misstate or warp God’s Word, fight back like Jesus did. The devil manipulated God’s Word while testing Jesus (Mt 4) but the Lord fought the lies with Scripture! When the devil twisted God’s Word to Eve she should have fired back, “No, you are wrong. God said we would die if we eat it” and ended the conversation. If you are not sure, study the Bible, pray about the issue, and talk to some strong believers you trust about it. Squash the attack before it becomes a large problem like in Eve’s life.
Think about it
What lies does the world tell you about the Bible?
Have you heard preachers or ‘Christians’ misstating, warping, and teaching wrongly from Scripture?
Name some differing beliefs about Scripture among ‘Christians’.
Do you understand how important the Bible is to your faith and way you live?
Do you understand that its importance is exactly why the devil tries to warp and undermine it?
Does the enemy ever get you to question the Bible, deny parts of it, or warp it with half-truths?
How can you recognize bad Biblical teaching and interpretation?
How can you fight against it when the Bible is being warped or denied to your harm? Do you read and follow the Bible? Do you treasure and guard it as God’s Word in your life?
BIBLE DEVOTIONS FOR LIVING 