Bad Doctrine Deity

Did you ever notice and lament that the Bible does not specifically refute any specific heresy? Wouldn’t it be nice, for instance, if it specifically said something like, “Abortion is wrong?” Or maybe a specific rebuke to those who deny the Trinity?

But, if it did that, then any oddball idea that was not specifically refuted could claim that since it wasn’t mentioned, it must be okay. (Incidentally, a lot of the erroneous ideas do claim that now, but without any probative force. If a grocery list of errors were included, those omitted would have a more powerful and persuasive position.)

Instead, the Bible just presents good doctrine and allows that to decimate false teaching. Aside: The US government trains forgery agents to recognize fake bills by having them study genuine ones. If they know the real thing well enough, a forgery jumps out at them like monopoly money. The Holy Spirit, in inspiring the writers to record God’s message did the same thing. He imbedded Truth into the body of the text so that it would point out error as we read.

Here is a new example. Hebrews 7:23 and 24 in describing the Priesthood of Jesus says:
The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, 24 but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently.

Did something jump out at you? The author of Hebrews was comparing Jesus and his priestly ministry to that of Melchizedek in Genesis 14. He noted that the Levitical priests died and did not continue their ministry. But that Jesus will continue forever to be a priest, the Priest. That idea is continued for a couple of chapters, but the focus today is this phrase: “He continues forever....”

That was just casually stated as if it were no big deal. And to the writer, it was not. He knew that Jesus was eternal, and would never die. In fact, He had always existed. That, my friends, is one of the attributes of God. The chapter headings and explanations are not inspired text, but often help to point us to the truth. Chapter 7, in my Bible, is introduced by, “Melchizedek’s Priesthood Like Christ’s.” Notice the order listed. Melchizedek was LIKE Christ. But Jesus didn’t show up until the New Testament, and as we noted, Mel was in Genesis 14.

Even the chapter titles point to the eternality of the Lord. Notice that I used the Name, Lord. We will circle back to that later. I will briefly list six references that explicitly state that He is eternal. Let’s begin with Habakkuk 1:12.
Are You not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, my Holy One?

Isaiah 26:4
“Trust in the Lord forever, For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.

Psalm 48:14
For such is God, Our God forever and ever; He will guide us until death.

Psalm 93:2
Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.

Deuteronomy 32:39, 40
“See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand. 40 ‘Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven, And say, as I live forever....’”

Jude 25
...to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Clear, unmistakable, incontestable, unimpeachable, and explicit would be a simple way to describe that argument. God is, and claims to be eternal. So when Hebrews says that Jesus is eternal, well, I guess that kind of hints at the Trinity, doesn’t it? In fact a careful reading of those verses also interchanges the Name “Lord” with “God” almost deliberately, it would seem. This is not just a single “proof text” to point out that Jesus is God, it is woven into the warp and woof of the text from Deuteronomy to Jude. And more, if we wanted to explore it.

This does not merely represent an assumption that it is true, hoping to sneak it in under the radar. It is a bold, declarative statement. Any doubt of this must include a dismissal of massive portions of the body of Scripture. That is a dangerous theological and spiritual path. It only leads to disaster and destruction.

So the Bible does not specifically warn us against following a “Moses cult.” I made that up years ago in a discussion and just recently I discovered that there is, indeed, a Moses cult. (Maybe I ought to get royalties.) (Nah.) They take the first five books of the Bible and discount the rest. Guess they forgot to read them. Just in passing, “Thou shalt have no other gods before (beside) Me.” Ignoring the other 61 books in favor of Moses is placing him above the LORD. Busted!

That is beside the point. Specific pronouncements against a false doctrine are not necessary. Even such things as idol worship are not singled out for specific denunciation. God does declare that some of the more egregious ones are abominable to Him, but that is just in the context of claiming that He is The One and Only God. And just in case you missed the point, He will single out specific grievous and heinous examples of false gods. Ravi Zacharias points out that there are millions of gods in Indian religions. So God lumps them all into one trash bin. He does the same with false doctrines.

The Bible continues to be the best commentary on what the Bible says.

FYI. This list is not exhaustive. Just representative.