Can the Holy Spirit Trump the Bible?

Many read the bible as if God spoke and man wrote it down verbatim. Sure, in the Old Testament, a lot of that was done, especially when Moses took down the words on Mount Sinai, or maybe a prophet had to write down what God wanted him to speak to the people, but in the New Testament, it was written as letters to the Church and to the pastors.  It was never intended to be dogmatic scriptures to be canonized.  Had the writers thought for a moment that their letters were going to be canonized as scriptures for future reading by people of another country, speaking a totally different and unknown language 1500 to 2000 years later, they would have freaked out and never written it down! They wrote down their walk, their faith, their understanding at the time for the people of their time. The New Testament, or the letters to their contemporary church, was written to encourage them and keep them focused on and in Jesus Christ.

The King James Bible was basically the same thing.  It was translated to the best of their ability into the contemporary or modern language of its day. To say that the King James Version is “The authoritative bible and the very word of God” and cannot be modernized or brought to current understanding is to say that we cannot be dynamic in following the Holy Spirit.  Yes, it was the authorized bible, but only to King James who had it brought to current standards for the modern Church of his day. He authorized it for his people under his rule to use. He was the authority behind the translation to reject the Catholic Church’s bible, which was unreadable unless you and your people can read Latin.  Not that many people could read in the first place, let alone Latin. The Holy Spirit is dynamic and helps us to grow. We cannot keep getting stuck in the middle ages of understanding.  

Speaking of unreadable, if you put the "Authorized King James Version" that first came out in front of most people today, they will have trouble understanding it anyway due to archaic language that is not used today, not to mention the spelling, the shapes of letters, etc.   It had to be modernized for our language today, as well as languages around the world. Even the early Church had to change, move, and grow in understanding.  As Paul quoted, “We live, move and have our being in Him (Christ).” For example, in Acts 10, Peters visit to the gentiles would have been completely shut down had he just looked at the scriptures and say that nothing can be done.  Instead, he allowed God via the Holy Spirit to help overcome his fears of social and "scriptural" dogma. Giving Peter some credit, he did try to divert it by quoting scripture, saying that he has never eaten anything that is common or unclean, and in his current social and scriptural understanding, he was correct.  He could have responded with "The bible says it, I believe it and that settles it!"  But he also knew that the Holy Spirit trumped social and scriptural dogma.  We use the scriptures as the foundation and beginning of truth, but we allow the Holy Spirit to move us beyond what we see and hear.

I hear people say “We are a bible believing church” as if others don’t use the bible.  But what they are really saying is “We use the King James Bible and nothing else, and if you use anything else, you must not be a bible believing church”.  I find when churches use only the King James and nothing else, as if The King James IS the very word of God himself, even praying to God using old English language, they are often very legalistic and stuck in their beliefs.
I am NOT saying that the King James Bible is wrong and should not be used. I use it too, but I also use The New American Standard Bible (NASB), New International Bible (NIV), The New Living Translation (NLT), The Revised Standard (RSV) and new versions of the King James (NKJV).  I use whatever the individual can understand and will accept in their current position and faith in life.  I will not pull out a KJV and pound it over their heads, nor will I pull out the International Version when all they are willing to read is the KJV.

 

When the disciples (now apostles) received the Holy Spirit that day of Pentecost, they spoke to the people who had different languages and they heard the apostles speak in their own native language even though the apostles were speaking in their own Aramaic language. It reminds me of the Swedish Chef on the Muppet Show who, on the international special, told a joke to the international group back stage. The Swedish Chef had a language all his own that is a mix of broken English and something else nobody knows. Kermit (the frog) never did understand the Swedish Chef since they met, but everyone in the group (Chinese, German, Italian, Russian, French, etc.) all understood him and laughed at his joke!

Acts 2:5-12  Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.  When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.  Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?  Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?   Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontusand Asia,  Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome  (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”   Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

The scene on that day of Pentecost was the beginning of what we now know as “Speaking in tongues”.  It is speaking in the spirit, which allows the Holy Spirit to translate not only the language, but the meaning behind what is trying to be said with truth so the person in the other language can understand.  If five different languages were present in the hearing, then all five would have heard the message via the Holy Spirit, in their own language and understanding.

Today, we have professional translators, those who can speak in many different languages and are capable of speaking to others without having to resort to “speaking in tongues”, even though that is exactly what they are doing on a physical level.   Translators of the bible are learning the old language better and know how to better translate into our modern language and as a result, we can get a better understanding of what is being said. But with that said, keep in mind, that even the early church still had a long way to go to understanding, and what they wrote, they did so in the understanding of their day.  Maybe it was a good thing that they waited thirty or more years before they wrote what we see today, or the canonized letters and gospels would be different than what we see now.  Even Pauls’ letters show growth in understanding over the years.

We must not be so dogmatic that we cannot allow the Holy Spirit to guide us into truth. When we allow our local church to dictate to us, even to the point where we fear being ousted or lose our friends, we are not allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us where we need to be or to go.  We allow jobs and companies to move us, but not the Holy Spirit.

 Listening to and following the Holy Spirit is a scary thing and you may be in for an interesting way of life

But when we are given inspiration and feel the Holy Spirit is speaking to us, we have the bible to help us understand whether it is the Holy Spirit that is speaking to us or not. Even then, we may see what is right to do in the bible, but the Holy Spirit may be saying, “No, not right now” or “This is not the best time”.  Or maybe the Holy Spirit is teaching us that what we have perceived to be truth in the bible, and we go to it for that truth, may not be what we think it is at all.  In fact, it may be time to make some changes in our lives and the Holy Spirit is leading us to new truth that is not in conflict with the Bible even though it may be in conflict with your favorite church and your church friends and family.  Listening to and following the Holy Spirit is a scary thing and you may be in for an interesting way of life.  But that is why it requires faith.  Reading and just doing things that the bible says to do does not require near the faith as it does to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

It is the Truth that sets us free, and when you see that Jesus Christ is the Truth, the Way and the Life, then you know who and what really sets us free.

Be more than just a bible believer, be free in Jesus Christ by the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Boyd Merriman


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The Freedom to NOT Sin

Gwin (my wife) and I spoke at a small group recently, and the theme was Freedom in Christ.

One of the freedoms Gwin discussed was "freedom from sin" or "freedom to not sin".  That second one sounds a little strange since God told us to not sin in the first place. So how can freedom to not sin be an option?

Sin, once it entered into the world, into man, was stuck there until Christ.  All the sacrifices and law (Torah) keeping and such, will not do us a bit of good outside of our relationship in the Trinity.  Sin has kept us prisoners and any attempt to do otherwise will only cause us to be "sinless" outside of God (Trinity).  And any attempt at that is a sin.

 Yes.   That is a sin.  Sin is living our lives outside of who and what we are as God created us. Once man chose that path, all that he does is tainted with sin.  Our works are tainted with sin, our prayers, our fastings, our sacrifices and traditions are all tainted with sin. Even our repentance has a sin attached to it like a virus or a "Trojan horse" in an email.

 The story of what we call "The Prodigal Son" (though the story was about the Father) showed our sinful state inside the repentance.  The young man didn't truly repent until after he met up again with the Father.  The son went back because though he knew he did wrong, came back because he could get three meals a day, a clean place to live and a bath once in a while!  Think about this: If he had these things while slopping hogs, would  he have really returned?  Maybe, maybe not. Most likely not.  His "repentance" was to get him into a better place.  But he still would have accepted the position of a servant and relinquished his right as a son!  But the Father would not have that!  He did not even hear his request, his prayer (ever feel like God is not hearing your prayer?) He grabbed his son while his son was trying to give his little penance of a prayer, again, tainted with more sin of being other than who he is, and grabbed him in his filthy, dirty, pig smelling state and thew his own coat of authority as well as the family ring of authority on him and demanded a party for him!   THAT is what this story is all about!  It's about the Father and how MUCH he Love us!  How much He LOVES YOU!!!

The young man lived in sin because that is what he was in Adam! How could he be otherwise?

BUT....that was BEFORE Christ. What Churches today don't get is that Christ forgave that Sin of Adam, man.  He took humanity BACK into the realm of his Kingdom and righteousness "while we were yet sinners", or slopping hogs so to speak.  That doesn't mean we don't sin, nor does it mean we don't need to repent.  Of course we do. But NOW...we have an opportunity to live righteous lives, NOT because we did good stuff and God forgave us when we did these good works, but because of JESUS (Yeshua) who gave himself for our sins!  We are no longer stuck in the post Adamic/pre Christ world of Sin.   We are freed from that prison! Death no longer has us in it's grip unless we allow it!  We are freed from that Sin of Adam!

The belief and repentance factor comes in when we realize that and come to understand our freedom to live and rejoice inside the Trinity!  To dance in the Trinity. Just as the young man who came home didn't fully know the Father or what he would do until the Father showed him and took him unto himself. That was when repentance had it's full affect!  Forgiveness was there before the young man repented (while we were still in our sins)!  We come to the Father, not because we did good stuff to get there, but because of the goodness of Jesus Christ that brought us to repentance before the Father in His train of glory!

But if you don't believe, you will still be in the trinity, but miserable because you insist on trying to be someone you are not.  Like being at a wedding party and refusing to enjoy it because you hate the groom!  You are still at the party,  you are still free to choose either to rejoice or to be miserable. Or it's like being in prison, or hell itself, and refusing to come out. You lock the gates of hell from the inside.

You have FREEDOM, not TO sin, but to actually NOT sin!  Before, in Adam, you had no choice. No matter what you did, you were a sinner, you were under the curse of Adam, under the law, the curse of the Law.  But NOW, in the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, you are FREE from that curse, you are FREE from that world of Adamic Sin, you are FREE to actually live a life of no sin!  Why? Because of  the works of  Jesus, not our good works!

Rejoice in the LORD, Rejoice because you ARE in freedom of the LORD!
Blessings and Freedom to all!

Boyd Merriman

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A Christian is Free -- And That Scares People

A Christian is free.  They are free from prejudice, are free to talk to Jews, to talk to Muslims, to Tax Collectors and Samaritans.
---And that is the problem. Christians are free and that scares people.--- I am free to be what God created me to be.  But do I act on it?
I don’t listen to the spirit enough as it is, and when I do listen, do I obey?
--- Do I scare you? Sorry to hear that, because Jesus will scare you even more. Too many Christians live in fear.
Jesus had the audacity to walk on water when we know as a fact that it cannot be done! Jesus knows we can't walk on water either.  In fact, he never asked the disciples to walk on water.  Sure, Peter challenged Jesus and he stepped out, but his faith was not on the lack of ability to walk on water, but trusting Jesus to be able to walk on water in spite of our abilities or faith.  He does not ask nor force us to walk on water. He just asks us to let him walk on water. And, like Peter, he allows us to join him in HIS walk on water. Will you let me walk on water too? Or will you stop me and say “It cannot and should not be done because it’s socially, politically, scientifically and religiously incorrect”?

Peter was free to ask the question about walking on water.  Jesus simply said "come".  But when Peter began walking (which was successful), he began to take his eyes off of Jesus and putting it into his own ability (or lack thereof), to walk on water.   About half way through his walk, he started questioning his rationality by thinking that this is impossible..."What am I doing?"  Jesus never asked Peter to walk on water, but he allowed him to participate with Jesus in His walk.  So why did Jesus say "Ye of little faith"?  Was it because Peter lacked the faith to walk on water?  Or was it that Peter didn't have enough faith to stay in the boat in the first place?  Or was it that he didn't have the faith to let Jesus do the walking and trusting Him to be who and what he is outside of Peters ability to reason or understand?   So we don't have the faith to do certain things, but then our faith should be in Jesus' ability and faith to do it and participate with Jesus.


So if we see someone (like Peter) began to "walk on water", is it our responsibility to tell them that it cannot or should not be done because of our paradigm?  Notice that none of the disciples on the boat stepped out, but then again, they didn't stop Peter either!  I'm not sure if that was good or bad, but no mention of their doubting talk.

Jesus has a habit of doing things in his humanity (flesh) that we cannot do.  Not that we don't have the desire, but our fear of failure and the thought of being told that we "lack faith" can stop us in our tracks and freeze. Or we do what the Israelite did when some marched against the "giants" when told not to.  We don't have the faith to let Jesus do it for us.

---He raised the dead when the body was in the grave for four days, while we say, “Well, he’s dead now, I guess that was God’s will” and never try.
---He turned water into wine, when we turn wine into water.

One man said “Here is some water, what is keeping me from being baptized?”; Jesus says “Here is some water, let’s take a walk together”.

Wow he scares me!
“I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly” ~ Jesus

Lets scare the hell out of people with the help of Jesus Christ!

Boyd Merriman

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Are We Really Free?

Gal. 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

To many, freedom is like winning the lottery: It's something that happens to someone else you don't know. "It will never happen to me" we say.

So when you are given freedom (and  you were), most of the time, we don't act on it. We think we are free intellectually (as we were thus told), but in reality, in our daily lives, we refuse to live out that freedom. Often it's social pressure that forces us (or so we think and allow) to not live in that freedom. Like crabs that are put into buckets, one crab can crawl it's way out to freedom, but put other crabs in the bucket with it, they will grab at the first crab and keep it pulled down into its prison. Each crab trying for freedom, but all the others, (ironically, including the first one) will pull it down.

Freedom has been given to us in Jesus Christ. Question is, will we believe and live it, or allow social pressures (church, state, family or friends) keep you down? Just keep in mind, we are all guilty of pulling others down into our subjective reality. Lift others up so they too can find freedom, and in their freedom, reach down and lift you up with them.

Be free my friends!

Boyd Merriman

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