The Most Misused Scripture

Today I have just a few very important notes on the most misused scripture in the Bible today. But first I want to take a detailed look at a passage that says the exact same thing as the verse I’m talking about: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, IF ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (I Cor. 15:1-4). Now I want you to consider why the apostle Paul made such a statement to the saints in Corinth. For the next fifty four verses of the same chapter, the apostle debunked the false teaching that there would be no resurrection of the dead, and that Jesus Christ himself had not truly risen from the dead. You can read it for yourself, that is what the chapter is about. This passage tells the story: “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” (I Cor. 15:12-14). That kind of false teaching had become common among those who were attempting to subvert the faith of God’s people in that day. The same apostle spoke of that doctrine in another place in this manner: “And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some” (II Tim. 2:17,18). The devil will always try to find some subtle way of eliminating or perverting the truth that Jesus died for our sins, and/or that he did not physically rise from the dead. As the apostle stated in the opening text here, those are the core elements of the faith of Christ, and if Satan is able to pervert the fact and reality of these things to believers, then he manages to turn them into UNbelievers. As I said earlier, the death and resurrection of Jesus is the heart and foundation of the faith, and that is why Paul told the saints in Corinth that they would be saved if they retained the faith of those things. Any doctrine that changes anything about the physical death of Jesus for our sins, and/or his physical resurrection, is antichrist and gives occasion of apostasy for someone who has already believed the truth of these things and received the Spirit of God as a result (Jn. 7:38,39; Acts 5:32). 

It is very important also to note here that any teaching that denies in any way that the man Jesus was and is THE ONLY ‘Christ,’ is antichrist as well, and occasions the same possibility of apostasy to someone who has formerly believed this reality (I Jn. 2:22,23). I should also point out that ‘apostasy’ is the blasphemy of the holy Ghost, which Jesus said is the one unforgivable sin. It is also the “sin unto death” that the beloved apostle mentioned as the sin that could not be prayed for, meaning it can’t be forgiven (Mat. 12:32; I Jn. 5:16). So if someone fully accepts a teaching that says Jesus did not raise from the dead physically, that means he is still dead, and therefore cannot be the Lord and “mediator between God and men” (I Tim. 2:5). If that kind of teaching has been accepted, then Jesus Christ has been renounced for who he truly is, and in that case the former believer who does this has no one left to forgive their sins, seeing it is Jesus alone who can do that for anyone. That is the meaning of these passages: “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they [redeemed believers] shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame… For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins” (Heb. 6:4-6; Heb. 10:26). This is why in our opening text the apostle Paul told the believers in Corinth that they would be saved if they continued in the core elements of the faith. Many in the body of Christ at that time were being led astray to various forms of the teaching that he was reproving and warning the Corinthians about, and were throwing away the hope of their salvation in doing so. Now that brings me full circle back to the verse that I referred to as the most misused scripture in the world today. That verse is found in Romans chapter 10, and it goes like this: “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:8-10). Verse 9 there has been and is used by Christian ministers everywhere as a means of getting sinners to be born again. If a sinner will just confess that Jesus is the Lord, and say that they believe God raised him from the dead, that means they “get saved.” 

Well, honestly that whole thing is really messed up. First of all there is no record in the scriptures of anyone that ever “got saved.” Secondly it is clear that the apostle was admonishing the already born again saints in Rome with the exact same admonition that he gave to the Corinthians that we have seen here. He clearly stated that “the word of faith” that he was talking about was ALREADY IN the hearts and the mouths of these believers, and that the same word of faith is that Jesus is the Lord and that God raised him from the dead. So these believers already having this faith and this confession, were reminded that this faith of their hearts and confession of their mouths would lead to salvation if they maintained it and did not ‘fall away’ from it. Not to mention that the apostle had said to those he was writing to in the first chapter, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world” (Rom. 1:8). These people were already “in Christ” by means of believing the Gospel unto being baptized by Jesus with the holy Ghost INTO him” (I Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:27; II Cor. 5:17). That is the new birth experience, and they had been there and done that. The gross misusage of Romans 10:9 has also been instrumental in the erroneous teaching that someone receives salvation at the BEGINNING of their faith, rather than at the “END of their faith” as the scriptures plainly and consistently show (I Pet. 1:9; Rom. 13:11; Mat. 24:13; Acts 15:11; Rom. 8:24,25; Heb. 2:1-3; Heb. 3:6,14; Heb. 4:1,11; etc.). That heresy is wrapped up in the ‘getting saved’ tradition, which Romans 10:9 has been used extensively and erroneously to support. Salvation is the resurrection of the dead and subsequent glorification of the body at the second coming of Christ. That is why throughout the scriptures salvation is said to be a ‘hope,’ and in fact it is the “ONE hope” of the Gospel (Eph. 4:4; I Thess. 5:8). Paul said in another place regarding that one hope of the Gospel, “Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question” (Acts 23:6). So it is evident that the believers in Rome were being exhorted by Paul to continue in the faith that they had begun in, even as he exhorted those in Corinth to do the same. It is just as evident that using Romans 10:9 as a means of getting sinners to be born again is a country mile out of context, and an introduction of mass confusion to everyone who names the name of Christ, or is seeking to do so. Keep the faith my friend, that Jesus died for our sins and rose again on the third day. If you keep that truth and love it, you will also keep the results of it, which is, “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the holy Ghost” (Rom. 14:17). Amen.

Original Post at By One Spirit Ministries Facebook page August 31, 2014.