In the midst of the manufactured Liberal disgust against “taking kids from asylum- seeking parents”, those who hate US sovereignty and the Rule of Law have declared those of us in favor of enforced borders are: Nazis, Supporters of Japanese-American confinement, Racists, Immoral, and lacking normal human decency. Their latest desperate move is to try quoting Scripture to show how Eeee-Ville, Vile, and Un-Christian we are; quoting the Bible.
Never mind that this policy is from the Obama era. Never mind that the American justice system learned in the 1920’s the dangers of putting Juveniles in with adult criminals. Never mind that until the alleged “parents” are proven to be such, it’s a bad idea to leave minors with drug traffickers or the pimps who have brought them here for child prostitution purposes. Never mind that some “Parents” “rented” these kids in order to fake parentage and the rest of their “asylum” story. The Libs still cry that the fact they just suddenly noticed (after at least five years) the plight of these pitiful kids is NOT a cynical attempt to affect the DACA bills now in Congress.
During the Civil War, when people asked Lincoln whether God was on the North’s side, he replied, “I’m much more concerned whether we are on God’s side, rather than if He is on our side!” Indeed, in any political argument, those who claim to be Christians should first check to see: 1. Whether God has addressed the matter in the Bible, and 2. That they are on God’s side if God has stated an opinion about it.
In writing my book on the Bible and self-defense, A Time to Kill: The Myth of Christian Pacifism, I studied the Bible for 25 years, attempting to find every verse on the subject, pro and con, to determine God’s opinion on the matter. God has not given a commandment saying, “Thou shalt/shalt not commit self-defense” any more than He has stated a command on abortion. However, by careful study of Scripture, we can discern His will clearly on both subjects.
Therefore, we must first be sure that we are on God’s side. To my Liberal brothers and sisters in Christ, I offer some advice. If you are in a denomination or congregation that takes the Word of God lightly, i.e. places Man’s ideas on a par with Scripture in determining doctrine or formulating dogma, then you should be VERY careful when spouting verses to support your church’s “consensus” and claiming that it properly represents God’s opinion on a matter. If you do not hold that the Bible is God’s complete and final revelation to mankind showing THE way to salvation, then I wonder why you bother quoting it at all. Why not quote, Socrates, Nietsche, or Marx? If the Bible is NOT your ultimate authority on morality, why quote it to win a political point with those who hold the Bible as a guide for their actions?
To write A Time to Kill, I spent five years compiling my research from 25 years, read the Bible through five times in three translations, and used as many historical and linguistic resources as I could to find the TRUTH about the subject, rather than my predetermined conclusion. That is what you do when you are serious about God’s Word. Moreover, I used very few quotes from theologians because I wanted to let Scripture speak for Itself on the matter.
Having decided that the Bible IS God’s Word, there are 3 basic rules of interpretation. First is, NEVER take a verse out of context. Quoting the Bible without context to prove a point is mere pretext! Context means that you have the read the passage around the quoted verse (both before and after it) to make sure that your quote goes along with what the speaker or author meant to say. In this vein we all should memorize two verses from Timothy. Paul commands us to “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of Truth.” 2 Tim. 2:15. Our conclusions and teaching of Scripture MUST be “God approved” (“I’m on God’s side in this”), as must be our actions, attitudes, and professions based upon it.
For instance, when the verse starts with, “Therefore,” we must ask, “What’s it there for?”, and back up in our reading to determine what the author was talking about prior to his conclusion. That logically frames his conclusion so that we can understand it in context. For example, when Paul starts chapter twelve of Romans with, “I beg you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present you bodies as a living sacrifice, well-pleasing to God, which is your spiritual (or rational, logical) service of worship.” We see that we are to worship God by living our lives for Him, but why? Because of His mercies. What are His mercies? His Plan of Salvation that Paul says we’re to base our lives on, the “therefore” therefore refers to the first eleven chapters of Romans! THAT is Paul’s preliminary argument for the conclusions that we owe our lives and futures to God and worship Him through day-to-day obedience! That is context!
The second rule is like the first, it says, “Let Scripture explain Scripture.” The Bible uses the same terms for the same things. So, if you really want to know what God says about border control, go get a concordance. That’s a book that contains every word in the Bible and every verse in which that word is used. Then look up “aliens”, “strangers”, and “foreigners” (those are the words used in the King James version for “non-citizens”). Read EVERY verse on that subject, and you’ll begin to get a pretty good idea of what God has said about it and what His attitude is about it. Here’s the second verse everyone should memorize: “All Scripture is inspired by God [In Greek, the term is “God-breathed”] and is profitable for teaching, reproof [rebuttal of wrong concepts], for correction [of sinful practices], and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God should be mature, adequately equipped for every good work.” 2 Tim. 3:16-17.
The third rule in Scriptural interpretation is: “If the normal sense makes good sense, look for no other sense.” Again, “the normal sense” can only be determined by FIRST reading every verse regarding a certain subject in context to see what God has to say that “the normal sense” is! Then we have our baseline for what any verse refers to, and under what conditions, if any.
We know that Satan can quote Scripture. He tried to use the Bible against Jesus in the desert at the end of Jesus’ 40-day fast. He misquoted the Bible to tempt Jesus into the very kind of showy, “Hey everybody, dig me!” miracle that the Jewish leaders always asked Him for. Jesus refuted the Devil with three verses of Scripture in context and ran Satan off. “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” 2 Cor. 11:14. He is a liar and the father and the father of lies. John 8:44.
Therefore, (see what I did there?) before anyone starts spouting off random Bible verses about treatment of aliens, shouldn’t we first look at several things? How about reading all the Bible verses in context about aliens to see if it does endorse a carte-blanche endorsement of no border control, or if God gave the Jews laws that set up a Rule of Law governing the behavior of foreigners?
Next, look at the motives of the people you’re siding with. Is this a use of Scripture by THE PARTY THAT BOOED GOD at their national convention, on live TV? In the legal profession, we call this “a clue”. Does it make any sense that a group of people who do such things are sincere or careful about using God’s word in a political argument, or are they, like Satan, merely grabbing verses out of the air to fool the gullible into agreeing with them?
Next week, we will examine what the Bible says about foreigners, and whether they should be subject to our laws. Stay tuned, but until then, take the advice of the Jewish sage, Gamaliel, “…If this plan or action should be of men, it will be overthrown, but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.” Acts 5:38-39.
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