Greetings, this is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a moment of truth, where we challenge you to think through an issue of life and faith. And today, I'd like to take a break from the stressful year of elections here, the presidential cycle that we are in right now, and just decompress a little bit and reflect on a biblical issue that has always been a concern of mine, and that is biblical interpretation. So, I've entitled this particular message, Seven Bible Verses Every Lost Man Knows. Seven Bible Verses Every Lost Man Knows, because the Bible is ubiquitous in our culture.

Many cliches fall under the rubric of Bible citations, and I'd like to deal with that a little bit with you here today, so bear with me. And along those lines, there's a great analogy with the Constitution, because both documents are considered and held to be sacred. The Constitution if not literally sacred, then at least in the minds of constitutional conservatives, reverenced and revered very highly. So, let me make this analogy. How would you react to someone who asserts that the Constitution of the United States of America is a living, breathing document?

We've heard this phrase many times. And it falls under the rubric of interpretation, doesn't it? There is biblical interpretation, and there is constitutional interpretation. Both texts are revered by conservatives. But what do you say to the person who says that our United States Constitution is a living, breathing document?

If you're not familiar with this phrase, it is a distinct, cold phrase for an elastic interpretation of the Constitution for many issues facing us. Both the Bible and the Constitution is seen by many people as an elastic document. That is, we can interpret it pretty much any way we see. It means, for example, that although the founding fathers and the words of the Constitution itself make absolutely no provision for a right to privacy for the citizen, such a right can be read into the Constitution by justices so that the right to unrestricted abortion can be forced into the Constitution.

Perfect example of what the Constitution is, a living, breathing document to those who hold so. Another example is the so-called separation between church and state. Neither the phrase nor the concept is found in the Constitution. Both the words and the principle that is a separation between church and state are a later 20th century addition to constitutional law. Our founding fathers would be shocked at the silly use to which the First Amendment is put by the enemies of Christianity to keep out everything from Christmas crushes to Ten Commandments monuments in the public square.

Well, to find these non-existent rights and principles in a document that sometimes contradicts these same non-existent rights and principles, this flexible, elastic understanding of the Constitution must be imported into it. A living, breathing document. And so the euphemistic phrase, a living, breathing document, is employed to distinguish it from the more conservative, static view of the Constitution as a document with a fixed, understandable meaning. Instead, a Supreme Court judge today must be imaginative and creative when it comes to the law, seeing rights and principles where there were none before.

No longer is this judge a mere judge discerning the intent of an objective, static document. No, his role is now much more exciting and dynamic. The modern federal judge is now a social engineer, determining not law, but rather public policy. Many judges are frank about this, at least the honest ones are anyway. They determine public policy in place of the legislative and executive branch.

Some say he is even a prophet. James Solis of Philogus says, The logic of this position requires us to believe that the document can only be relevant if it contains somewhere within it the solution to every modern problem. If only we would allow this living, breathing document to speak like the oracle at Delphi through the black-robed prophets who sit on the court, unquote. Imaginatively put, but right on spot on, isn't it?

Well, if we continue to undercut the clear meaning of the Constitution, which, clarity, the Founding Fathers labored long and hard to achieve, successful, I would say, as well, well, if we continue to undercut the clear, static meaning of the Constitution, then we will soon find that all of our rights and institutions in America are shifting and ephemeral, even as we're finding today. If words do mean something, however, then the Constitution's meaning is clear and discernible.

If we can change or shift their meaning or substitute other meanings of our own making for these words, then we might as well change out our revered Constitution for the most recent position paper of the Democrat Party, or the most recent op-ed page of the New York Times. Once again, James Solis says, if the Constitution really is a living, breathing document, then there is no Constitution. If the meaning of the text changes over time, then the text really doesn't say anything. Consider the right to an abortion. Today, the living, breathing document gives us this right.

Tomorrow, this right could be gone, unquote. So, when Christians now, turning to another revered text, when Christians turn their eyes to their own precious document, that is, our founding covenantal Constitution, the Bible, we find that many people attempt to do precisely the same thing to it as liberals do to the Constitution. That is, shift and change the clear, precise meaning of the Bible's words to another set of meanings more compatible with a lost man's sensibilities. There is a living, breathing document approach to the Bible. That has been happening ever since the days of the Apostles, as evidenced by Peter's observation.

In his own day, in one of his letters, he says, ignorant and unstable men twist the Scriptures to their own destruction, unquote. Well, this works itself out in a whole array of ways in everyday life down to our own culture, distilled for this pastor, that is, me, in the numbers of Bible texts that have passed into our culture as sayings and cliches. Seven Bible verses every lost man knows. That's what I'm doing today, is articulating these.

Most of them are used in exactly the same way as the Constitution is used, that is, to find meanings and ideas where none existed before, and to even directly contradict the meanings originally given in the Bible. Seven Bible verses every lost man knows, and even some Christians misinterpret these texts. This is all done to assuage the lost sinful conscience, and perhaps even excuse the lost man in his behavior.

Therefore, in hopes of better equipping you to answer these things in the marketplace of ideas, dear listener, into which you are thrust every six-day workweek, I'm speaking to Christians in particular who at least take some responsibility for interpreting the Bible, for interpreting the text of the Bible according to its context. There is indeed a contest out there between right and wrong interpretations of the Bible, and hopefully we can help bring some clarity today as we look at seven Bible verses every lost man knows. So let's examine seven of the most egregious examples of Bible texts that are twisted and that every lost man knows.

So first of all, number one, one text that every lost man knows and often distorts is 1 John 4 and 8. That is, God is love. God is love, pastor, and he twists sit oftentimes to his own destruction. Here we have perhaps one of the greatest spiritual painkillers in all the world. This verse, God is love, has the potential to bring great comfort and assurance and power to the regenerate soul in Christ, to the Christian, to him who has been born in Christ, but it is often distorted and transformed into a conscience killer too, a kind of spiritual morphine by the lost man.

When the lost man uses the verse, God is love, it usually is in the context of assuring himself that ultimately he is in no danger of hellfire and judgment, since after all, God is love. How could a God of love send any of his creatures to hell? If that be the case, then surely he is safe. His life of sin and separation from his creator here is no reason to fret the afterlife because God is love. In fact, this is struggle enough for many Christians to understand.

Oh, I have a daughter who dialogues on a regular basis with a friend in England who's working through this question. But the lost man, the man with an unregenerate heart and mind, will intuitively distort the light of the gospel through his dark prism to make it shine favorably upon his own sin, so that, as our Lord put it, even their light is darkness. This happens so often, doesn't it? Therefore, extrapolating from a text that has been plucked unceremoniously from its context, the lost mind reasons out that, well, God is love.

That is a kind of maudlin, sentimental grandfather in the sky who sits up in heaven, wringing his hands over the poor creatures on the earth below and their welfare, wishing he could do more for them, waiting for them to go to a better place, right? And wondering why, in the words of that great moral philosopher Rodney King, why can't we all just get along? In the end, the lost man reasons, since God is love, we will all end up in a happy place, an undefined paradise where one may fill in one's own blank or write one's own ticket, perhaps shape his own designer bliss.

But such presumption, dear listener, neglects the sheer plain meaning of a text in its context. Number one, 1 John 4 and verse 8, note with me, contextually, God is love, is linked inextricably with our love for our Christian brothers and God's quelling of his own wrath against sinners. That's the context of 1 John 4, 8. It occurs amidst John's exhortation for Christians, and I'm talking about regenerate believers here, who are equipped in the new life to do so, to love one another, for love is from God. We, not non-Christians, are able to love one another precisely because the one bringing us new life is himself love.

How was this love made manifest? John tells us, not through candy canes, kisses, and warm fuzzy kittens, no. Verses 9 and 10 of chapter 4 go on to tell us that this love is made evident preeminently in God's Son, Jesus, such that in this is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. This is how God demonstrates his love. This is how he demonstrates that he is love.

In this word, propitiation, we have an indication of much more lurking in the nature of God than the warm fuzzies. Propitiation. Christian, if you don't know this word, go to the text. Propitiation means the quelling of wrath, the satisfaction made for righteous anger against the sin and transgression of a people. The lost sinner stands in the wrath and anger of a righteous God, apart from Christ.

In Christ, however, the just wrath against lost sinners is satisfied, and this satisfaction is made only and exclusively in Jesus Christ. Without it, the sinner still remains outside of the love of God and yet stands condemned and in danger of hellfire and judgment. Thus, for the lost man to take relief in the idea that God is love, apart from faith in Jesus Christ, is a great illusion, and you must strive to disillusion this lost man. Secondly, note with me in this text, theologically, God is love is linked inextricably to his other attributes. God is not only love.

The attribute of love is not the only attribute God possesses and expresses. As we have been seeing in our concise theology series, the attribute of God's love is a part of the larger rubric of God's goodness. What the lost man neglects is that God is also just and therefore also demonstrates wrath and anger against injustice and sin against his law in person. If God were monoattributal, that is, consisting only and exclusively in the attribute of love, the lost man might have hope in the illusion that God is love in the way that the lost man conceives it.

But as it stands, he does not want to hear, nor does he tolerate the notion, the lost man, that God is angry with the wicked every day, as Psalm 711 says, and that apart from Christ, we are by nature children of wrath, as Ephesians 2 and verse 3 put it. Therefore, the lost man distorts this text, God is love, to his own destruction. You, O Christian, with genuine love and concern for the lost man's welfare, you are now better able to minister the salutary medicine of the text to his soul. Well, are there other areas to which we can address our ministrations?

Yes, because there are other texts that lost men know and distort to their own destruction. Matthew 7.1, for example, the lost man distorts, judge not that ye be not judged, and he distorts it to his own destruction. Judge not that you be not judged. Every lost man knows this one, doesn't he? Here in the hands of a clever worldling, we have one of the great pieces of dark spiritual armor.

This piece of text, plucked glibly from its context, is artfully employed when the lost man is confronted with his own sin, usually by some poor Christian who's seen to be self-righteous and judgmental for pointing it out. Have you ever had this happen? Thus, the judgmentalism and the self-righteousness is deflected right back at the accuser. Judge not that ye be not judged. Since the accuser is presumed to be laced with his own sin, faults, and foibles, he becomes one of the great defensive shields for the conscience and scruples of the sinner.

When confronted with his own lost state apart from Christ, the worldling comes back with, don't judge me, judge not that ye be not judged. When he is confronted with his own thievery, adultery, and blasphemy, the lost man comes back with, don't judge me, judge not that ye be not judged. I remember confronting a fellow co-worker many years ago who claimed to be a Christian, at least, with his own use of blasphemous speech, not just foul language, but the regular use of God's name in vain. He came right back at me with, I don't mean anything by it, and besides, judge not that ye be not judged.

Oh, the look of satisfaction that stole across his face. Boy, had he trumped me with a verse from the very book I drew my authority for life and salvation. At no time does the lost man gloat with glee more than when he can hoist the Christian with his own petard. In addition to providing a succinct definition of taking God's name in vain, that is, not meaning anything by it, my friend distorted this text from the Sermon on the Mount, which is where Matthew 7 verse 1 comes from, that is, judge not that ye be not judged. But note a couple of things here with me as we put this text in its context.

Contextually, number one, Jesus is promulgating the law and the stipulation of the new covenant. When he says, judge not that ye be not judged, Jesus is promulgating the law and stipulation of the new covenant. If Jesus is the new Moses and is speaking on the Mount, even as Moses spoke from Mount Sinai, then our Lord is unfolding first and foremost the heart and soul of the new covenant. In that context, we note that Jesus is speaking to those in the bonds of that covenant.

Jesus cautions the assumption that we can correct the faults of a brother, and we're talking about a brother here, a fellow Christian who has a circumcised heart and is living under the covenant and its stipulations. Then he cautions us, Jesus does, that we can correct the faults of a brother before correcting our own sins. Proper context, judge not that ye be not judged is a caution against the imperious pharisaic rush to judgment to which we are all liable, not a prohibition against judgment altogether. We are not to be naive Pollyannas who cannot discern between right and wrong.

Being open-minded about people's sinful lifestyles, and this is what the sinner wants us to be, open to his sinful lifestyles. But even sewers have greats, dear listeners, don't they? We are not to be so open-minded that we let unrighteousness pour in. Jesus implies judgmentally, even a few verses later, that some men are indeed dogs and pigs. That's chapter 7, verse 6, and that we must therefore avoid exposing the truths of Scripture over and over to them for their ridicule.

Well, secondly, notice that this verse, judge not that ye be not judged. Theologically, we are commanded to judge others in many other contexts. This is not the only verse in the Bible, judge not that ye be not judged. If this were the only text that spoke of judging others, the lost man might have a place to hide and avoid the glare of the spotlight of conviction. In 1 Corinthians 5, we have a case in point.

Paul commands the Corinthians to deliver the scandalous adulterer over to Satan for destruction. That sounds pretty judgmental to me. Paul says he has already pronounced judgment on such a one and poses the rhetorical question to the Corinthians. Is it not those inside the church, that is, covenant brothers, whom you are to judge? Well, in fact, the whole implication for discipline in the life of the church, symbolized by the keys of the kingdom, lie in the hands of the church, and apply the exercise of judgment, albeit wise and humble judgment.

So, this text, judge not that ye be not judged, in the hands of a lost man, is a classic example of my favorite rule of thumb, and that is, a text without a context is just a pretext for a proof text. This is a perfect example of that. The lost man twists this text, judge not that ye be not judged. He twists this text to his own destruction, not to his own defense. Well, thirdly, the third verse that we see so often used in the life of the lost man, we're looking at seven Bible verses every lost man knows.

Number three, the lost man distorts, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and he distorts it to his own destruction. This is from the Sermon on the Mount, again, from Matthew 7, verse 12. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The lost man distorts this verse to his own destruction. This verse has become iconic in our culture for good behavior among all citizens and peoples, whether we are closing a business deal or in traffic or standing in the grocery line.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In other words, don't cut them off in traffic, but let the guy who wants to move into your lane in order to exit, enter that lane, right? When you're moving to be in the checkout at the grocery and you see someone else with two carts, each filled with a mountain of groceries moving towards the line you're entering, do not speed up to cut them off, but let them go first, right? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That's the kind of meaning that is derived from our Lord's saying here in the Sermon on the Mount by the lost man.

It has become a cultural nostrum, a cure-all for the selfish tendencies of human nature. When the lost man sees you about to cut him off in traffic or beat you to the checkout line or get the best of you in a business deal, he may well come back with the adage, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Perhaps in his better moments, he might even use it as a rule of thumb for himself and behave generously and magnanimously towards his fellow man in society. And thus, he can burnish his own righteousness and add this to his list of good works whereby he can justify himself before God.

After all, he may tell himself, am I not living by the golden rule? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Well, let's look at this verse in its context, shall we? First of all, number one, contextually. Jesus, once again, is promulgating the law and stipulation of the new covenant.

There is law and stipulation in every covenant, even the covenant of grace. Jesus here is promulgating the law and stipulation of the new covenant. Once more, this verse is primarily designed for believers who have regenerate hearts and have put themselves under the bonds of the new covenant in Jesus Christ. And as Jesus does at several points during the promulgation of the stipulations of the new covenant, in his sermon on the mount, he pauses to summarize what he's covered thus far. This is such a point.

Do unto others the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you is a summary of what he's covered thus far. The lost man does not include in his golden rule what Jesus includes. For this is the law and the prophets, he says. You go on and read.

For this is the law and the prophets. That is, the golden rule is a summary of the heart of the law and prophets, it's not a nice sentiment to feel when you've just returned the dollar someone dropped in front of you. The believer is to guide his life in the community of the church according to the covenant life with one another, not life in the lawless heart of stone world of the lost man. No, this is particular language to a particular people. This is covenant language to the covenant man.

Above all, this verse is not to be understood as a utilitarian maxim, the scholar Donald Carson says. I studied under him in seminary. Carson says, above all, this verse is not to be understood as a utilitarian maxim like honesty pays. We are to do to others what we would have them do to us, not just because we expect the same in return, but because such conduct is the goal of the law and the prophets. Carson says, unquote.

And secondly, note contextually with me, the verse, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Theologically, the heart and will of the lost man intends the opposite of that of the regenerate man. Theologically, the heart and will of the lost man intends the opposite of that of the regenerate man. Ultimately, the lost man is opposed to the kingdom of God and the economy through which God works his covenant. Therefore, when it comes to that thing, which he would have done unto him, that thing is in opposition to the kingdom and the will of its king, God and his Christ.

The mind that is set on the flesh, Paul says, the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God, Paul says in Romans 8, verse 8. Therefore, what the lost man would have done unto him is more often than not a thing that the regenerate man would not want done unto him. Does the lost man want a life bathed in sin and rebellion against God?

Yes, he does. Is this what the regenerate man wants done unto him? Ultimately, no. Does the regenerate man want a life of sanctification transformed by the righteousness of Christ? No, of course not.

Is this what the regenerate saved man wants? Yes, it is. Yes, it is. So when the Christian considers this verse in the hands of lost men and women, it is, as my professor, Dr. Carson would put it, nothing more than a utilitarian maxim. That is a nice sentiment to help us get along in our sin in order to help us get the most from a lost world for our lost selves.

So while the Christian may appreciate a clear path home and traffic for himself and his neighbor in his car, he ultimately is far more concerned with a clear path home in his pilgrimage to the new Jerusalem, the city of God, to his life with the Father and the Son, for both himself and those whom God has called from a lost race of men. This is what he wants done unto himself and for others. While we have four other verses that we want to touch on, and we'll do that in a subsequent lecture, but I am treating here of a very important issue in the life of the church, and that is proper interpretation of the biblical text.

We've looked at three different verses which the lost man twists to his own destruction, have we not? That is, God is love, right? And judge not that you be not judged, and do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And we put them in their proper context and understanding for you today so that you're better able to love and to minister and to witness to that lost man who twists the Bible to his own destruction. And perhaps you're a Christian who has misunderstood these verses in the past as well, and you have a better understanding of them now.

And I hope that that is the case for all of us. Indeed, we've taken a break from the political fever, from the political atmosphere of this presidential election cycle, and we're just going to pause and get back to basics, and that is biblical interpretation. We've seen how the Constitution, another revered document, has been twisted in our own culture with great harm to our culture and to our nation. And this happens also in the life of the church, where the Bible gets twisted and misunderstood to the destruction of many. Hopefully, we can help clear some of these things up.

We will be treating of this in several weeks to come, finishing the other four verses that the lost man misunderstands and twists. But we want to also let you know that we have been cataloging many of our past sermons. If you want to go back and review any of them, we have a brand new website devoted exclusively to this radio program. And there we have cataloged, oh, a little over a year's worth of past messages that you can graze among at your leisure. And that website is omnisprotestas.org.

Let me spell that for you. Needless to say, this domain name hadn't been taken yet. It's omnisprotestas, O-M-N-I-S dash, P-O-T-E-S-T-A-S dot org, omnisprotestas.org. O-M-N-I-S dash, P-O-T-E-S-T-A-S dot org. And we're continuing to work on the website.

We're going to bring some graphics to it. And we're going to have some other links. And we may have some written articles too. But this is a work in progress. But you can access at least the audio of most of the programs that we have had for the past year.

And I would encourage you to do so because you will get a perspective, a biblical perspective on culture and politics and religious faith here in our country as you do so. And you'll get my perspective, which has been a broad one and a long one over this past year or so. But we also have then our regular website, which is newgenevaopc.org. And this has been Pastor David Bass. New Geneva meets for holy worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard.

I encourage you to visit us. Some of you have been intending to, been meaning to visit us. And I encourage you to break the ice and to finally take that step. You'll find a warm welcome and you'll find an opportunity to worship the Lord your God in spirit and in truth. That's New Geneva OPC.

And we meet for holy worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. You can call us for input or feedback at 523-0196. 523-0196.