TWISTED SCRIPTURES: VERSES TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT
Excerpts were taken from renew.org
Oh-oh. We are all guilty of it, taking a scripture and making it fit our own purposes. We don't mean any harm, and they can sound so uplifting! Sometimes, we are simply trying to make sense out of a passage that is difficult to comprehend and we make it into something else. But when we take things out of context, well -- bad things can happen. At best, we aren't taking God's Word in the framework it was written. But worse still, we are not heeding other scriptures which caution us not to add or take away anything to what is written.
Here are some well-known verses that are used casually to spread encouragement, but let's examine the context of them to see if there are any surprises.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” JEREMIAH 29:11
We love to believe it’s all about us—that it means that God has plans to give us everything we could dream of and that the ultimate goal for our lives is happiness and prosperity. But the “you” in this letter is plural and the people Jeremiah writes to are the exiled Jews. It’s a response about a false prophet named Hananiah. Ironically, Hananiah had been prophesying prosperity to the Jews and he prophesied that it would be fulfilled within two years. In chapter 29, Jeremiah not only refutes this false prophecy, he also reveals that the Jews would not see freedom for more than seventy years. Not exactly the prosperous ideal we’d like to imagine!
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” ROMANS 8:28
The most common way to twist this verse is to read it like this: “In all things God works for the [material] good of everybody.” It’s amazing what you can do to Scripture when you form it to your own thoughts.
But this isn’t talking about the good of all people. It says that God works for the good of “those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” In other words, believers. And what exactly is the “good” that God works out for his people? The whole of Romans 8 is about the difference between life in the flesh and life in the Spirit. Our sin causes weaknesses that only belief in Jesus and the power of the Spirit can cover. So before looking at the good, it’s important to see what “all things” are that lead to this good in the first place. The “all things” emphasize the adverse things we experience that cause us weakness and suffering. So God uses seasons of weakness and suffering and “groaning” (vs. 18-23) to make us more like him. The good is becoming more like Christ!
“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” PHILIPPIANS 4:13
This popular verse is in many motivational images of people working out to get their best body and health. OK. It is saying, you are capable of doing anything you put your mind to. This scripture is NOT about our potential and our abilities. Or about mind over matter. Right before this, Paul speaks about the contentment believers can have in the face of the gravest trials and tribulations! As we find ourselves weak and dependent upon God, He can strengthen us and point us to model the life and teachings of Christ. God's best for us is when we are more like Jesus every day.