- Apr 9, 2011
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There has been a rash of charges lately that the Bible has contradictions. I’d like to address any of them and invite others who believe that the Bible doesn’t have contradictions to join me. I’d also like to invite those who believe the Bible has contradictions to openly present them. Not in a challenging manner; if you are looking to prove your point, you are going to come into any explanation already with doubt. If you already have the opinion that the Bible has error and contradictions, and you don’t want to believe otherwise, then go on your own way. No hard feelings, but I’m not going to able to help you, neither is anyone else who may offer a response, and neither is the Bible going to be able to help you. I don’t even think the Holy Spirit (which is the spirit of Truth) can help you, but I may be wrong.
But at least give us a chance. We may not be able to answer every question…. I certainly can’t. I don’t have answers to all of the alledged Bible contradictions. But I got some. So I encourage those who believe there is error or contradictions to seek answers (Hello Prentis, Robbie, Fire 7) and those who know there’s a Bible answer and it doesn’t to contribute (Hi, Duckybill, Biblescribe, and others).
So let me begin with Acts 5 vs. Romans 13. Should we obey men or God? At first glance, people have seen these verses as contradictory. Taking a closer look, they aren’t actually contradictory. At third glance, its clear that they are saying the same thing. Let me present the text that is in question:
Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. (KJV)
Romans 13:1 let every sould be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God. the powers that be are ordained of God. (KJV)
Where things go wrong is assuming that Romans 13 is talking about governments. It isn’t. It’s talking about Church authority, not government authority. The Holy Spirit told me this not through private revelation, but through the scriptures. Because as you read on through Rom 13 you come across an identifying thing… It’s not talking about kings, presidents, congresses or earthly rulers. It’s talking about ministers of God. That is your Apostle, Preacher, Pastor, Evangelist, Teacher or whatever you want to call him.
People will reject that because they hate the idea of Church authority. But there is a Church authority. It doesn’t mean the pastor is any holier than the sheep, but it does mean there is a leadership.
If you go through Romans 13 you will see that twice this person is identified as a minister of God. It does not say a king or president of the earth. People are often thrown off track by talk of a sword and other things. However that sword is the Word. That is the sword a pastor wields.
Hebrews 13:7 backs that up. Government officials are not watching for your soul. They are appointed by God, but not for his ministry. That’s how the Holy Spirit shows me the Truth about this so called contradiction… By backing up scripture with scripture.
Now, the minister of God doesn’t speak on his own behalf. He speaks for the Lord, and does the Lord’s work. Thus when you obey him, you are obeying God. I know full well there are many false preachers and false ministers out there. I’m not talking about them. Romans was written by Paul. Is there anyone here that denies that Paul was Christ’s ambassador, spokesman, and Apostle (one called)? I am fully persuaded that everything Paul said was given and ordained by Christ.
Is that true today? I believe that some are. Well, a few and a precious few. But my point is that Romans 13 is saying submit to a man of God (and thus you are submitting to God, as the man of God is the mouthpiece of God) and not gov’t officials. Now you can find verses in the Bible that state obey Magistrates and gov’t officials. However, Romans 13 ain’t it. Furthermore, those verses that do say obey gov’ts don’t suggest a contradiction. We obey gov’t so we don’t cause an uproar and bring reproach to God. But when a choice is made, we obey God first. As much as we can, we live by the law of the land.
Now, if you believe the Bible has contradictions and error, chances are you certainly aren’t going to agree with me on Romans 13. However, I’m not giving my interpretation…. Look at the verses that follow it. It identifies this person as a minister of God. That’s not an interpretation! That’s what it says.
I don’t even know if people who believe the Bible is the final authority, and without contradiction, will agree with me on that. But that is what the scripture says. It never was a contradiction to begin with and there is no better interpretation (and I suggest it isn’t an interpretation, but word for word what it says the higher powers are) than what I have said, by my own opinion.
Folks, search the scriptures. There has always been a leader of the Church or at least a few leaders. The only time is when man did what was right in his own eyes. That is when God divorced Israel and didn’t come again until Christ…. That period was about 400 years. That’s when the iron and clay empire of Rome took over.
So, to conclude…. Bring your contradictions with a willingness to learn. If you want to believe that the Bible contains errors and contradictions, please stay away. You won’t like what you hear….
But at least give us a chance. We may not be able to answer every question…. I certainly can’t. I don’t have answers to all of the alledged Bible contradictions. But I got some. So I encourage those who believe there is error or contradictions to seek answers (Hello Prentis, Robbie, Fire 7) and those who know there’s a Bible answer and it doesn’t to contribute (Hi, Duckybill, Biblescribe, and others).
So let me begin with Acts 5 vs. Romans 13. Should we obey men or God? At first glance, people have seen these verses as contradictory. Taking a closer look, they aren’t actually contradictory. At third glance, its clear that they are saying the same thing. Let me present the text that is in question:
Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. (KJV)
Romans 13:1 let every sould be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God. the powers that be are ordained of God. (KJV)
Where things go wrong is assuming that Romans 13 is talking about governments. It isn’t. It’s talking about Church authority, not government authority. The Holy Spirit told me this not through private revelation, but through the scriptures. Because as you read on through Rom 13 you come across an identifying thing… It’s not talking about kings, presidents, congresses or earthly rulers. It’s talking about ministers of God. That is your Apostle, Preacher, Pastor, Evangelist, Teacher or whatever you want to call him.
People will reject that because they hate the idea of Church authority. But there is a Church authority. It doesn’t mean the pastor is any holier than the sheep, but it does mean there is a leadership.
If you go through Romans 13 you will see that twice this person is identified as a minister of God. It does not say a king or president of the earth. People are often thrown off track by talk of a sword and other things. However that sword is the Word. That is the sword a pastor wields.
Hebrews 13:7 backs that up. Government officials are not watching for your soul. They are appointed by God, but not for his ministry. That’s how the Holy Spirit shows me the Truth about this so called contradiction… By backing up scripture with scripture.
Now, the minister of God doesn’t speak on his own behalf. He speaks for the Lord, and does the Lord’s work. Thus when you obey him, you are obeying God. I know full well there are many false preachers and false ministers out there. I’m not talking about them. Romans was written by Paul. Is there anyone here that denies that Paul was Christ’s ambassador, spokesman, and Apostle (one called)? I am fully persuaded that everything Paul said was given and ordained by Christ.
Is that true today? I believe that some are. Well, a few and a precious few. But my point is that Romans 13 is saying submit to a man of God (and thus you are submitting to God, as the man of God is the mouthpiece of God) and not gov’t officials. Now you can find verses in the Bible that state obey Magistrates and gov’t officials. However, Romans 13 ain’t it. Furthermore, those verses that do say obey gov’ts don’t suggest a contradiction. We obey gov’t so we don’t cause an uproar and bring reproach to God. But when a choice is made, we obey God first. As much as we can, we live by the law of the land.
Now, if you believe the Bible has contradictions and error, chances are you certainly aren’t going to agree with me on Romans 13. However, I’m not giving my interpretation…. Look at the verses that follow it. It identifies this person as a minister of God. That’s not an interpretation! That’s what it says.
I don’t even know if people who believe the Bible is the final authority, and without contradiction, will agree with me on that. But that is what the scripture says. It never was a contradiction to begin with and there is no better interpretation (and I suggest it isn’t an interpretation, but word for word what it says the higher powers are) than what I have said, by my own opinion.
Folks, search the scriptures. There has always been a leader of the Church or at least a few leaders. The only time is when man did what was right in his own eyes. That is when God divorced Israel and didn’t come again until Christ…. That period was about 400 years. That’s when the iron and clay empire of Rome took over.
So, to conclude…. Bring your contradictions with a willingness to learn. If you want to believe that the Bible contains errors and contradictions, please stay away. You won’t like what you hear….
