The Devil Twists the Words of God.

What does it say in the Bible about twisting God's word? 2 Peter 3:16. 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

What does the Bible say about distorting the word of God?In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul found it necessary to answer his critics: “We have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.

“‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'” – Genesis 3:4-5

There are a lot of religious fanatics out there spouting strange doctrine. At first, they may actually sound reasonable, because they quote from the Bible. But the problem is, these false prophets will take a verse out of context and base their whole theology around it. While this is often done unintentionally, there are some that will twist a few words on purpose, resulting in an interpretation bearing no resemblance, whatsoever, to God’s actual message.

This is an effective technique that the devil has mastered well. Think about the consequences for mankind when the devil twisted God’s words in the Garden of Eden! And remember how Satan tried to tempt Jesus in the beginning of His ministry? He twisted the Word of God just a little bit, making it seem that He was saying the exact opposite of the actual meaning.

Many claim to be Bible teachers. They claim to teach the Word of God accurately. But before you believe them, ask whether they are twisting the scriptures to their own advantage. That’s what Peter says in at the end of his last letter to the churches.

And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. (2 Peter 3:15-16).

The Scriptures are the inspired, authoritative, written Word of God.

Peter mentions something called the scriptures. This word literally means “the writings.” But what writings? They are the things that God said and were written down.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16).

“Given by inspiration” means that the original words God gave to us as written scripture were “God-breathed.” They were the very words spoken by God.

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2 Peter 1:21).

God chose certain men for this purpose. These men wrote the words of scripture “as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” The word “moved” means “born along,” as when a gust of wind blows on the sails of a ship, guiding it through the sea. This does not refer to mechanical dictation, in which the Holy Spirit moved the arms and hands of the writers as marionette puppets. Instead, it means that he guided their minds and wills to such a degree that they wrote the exact words he wanted to speak, exactly as he wanted to speak them.

Scripture is exactly what God wants us to know, from his mind to ours. That is why Paul could say in 1 Corinthians 2:16, “We have the mind of Christ.” That’s what we have with the 66 books of the Bible: the mind of Christ.

This includes both the Old and New Testaments.

The word scripture appears 50 times in the New Testament and always refers to the Old Testament. So how do we know to view the New Testament in the same way, as scripture? We see one key reason right here in 2 Peter 3:16, where Peter calls the letters that Paul wrote scripture. He mentions the letters that Paul wrote to the churches. In the same breath, he calls the Old Testament “the other scriptures.” So the Apostle Peter tells us that he, along with the early church, accepted Paul’s epistles as equal in quality and authority to the 39 books of the Old Testament.

For interest, take a look at 1 Timothy 5:18, an excerpt from one of Paul’s letters. In this sentence, he further expands our understanding of New Testament scripture.

You are responsible to understand the words of scripture accurately, even the difficult parts.

Peter makes a fascinating admission, that some of the things Paul wrote are “hard to understand.” If the apostle Peter says that some of the things Paul wrote in scripture are hard to understand, then don’t be surprised when you discover this for yourself in your daily Bible reading and personal study. The word hard to understand describes something that you can understand, but only with great effort and diligent study.

The word hard to understand describes something that you can understand, but only with great effort and diligent study.

It is my responsibility as a teaching pastor to help you understand the Bible more clearly, especially the difficult things that it says. And no matter how simple and easy I want the Bible to be for you, I must never give the impression that the entire Bible is easy to understand, because it isn’t. There are things in both the Old and New Testaments that are hard to understand. It is also my responsibility to help you study these difficult things for yourself.

As I do this, we need to be conscious of two sorts of people in a church.

1-Unlearned people: those who don’t know what the Bible says because no one has taught them.

2-Unstable people: those who are either prone to changing their mind a lot or are even psychologically unstable.

Why do we need to be aware of people like this? Why do you need to discern whether you have any of these qualities? Because a person like this will be most in danger of either 1) being led away by ideas and interpretations that are not based on clear Bible study or 2) twisting Bible truth to suit your own purposes.

You must never twist Scripture to suit your own purposes.

The word twist means “to bend, distort, misinterpret or change the meaning of something by explaining it in the wrong way.” And that is why Peter wrote this letter, 2 Peter – to warn and prepare churches throughout the world to recognize and respond properly to false teachers.

Who can count the false doctrines and wrong ideas that have been taught and written throughout the 2,000 year march of church history? They are many, and their wrong ideas are often based upon something in scripture. But these are based upon a twisted explanation of what the scripture actually says.

Who hasn’t heard that Jesus cannot be God because he is called “the firstborn” son of God? But such a claim is in complete disagreement with a plethora of Bible teaching that Jesus is God. And it reveals a total lack of knowledge (or disregard) for the what the firstborn actually means.

Why is this and other Bible teaching errors a problem?

Mishandling and misunderstanding the Scripture produces disastrous results.

Peter says that when anyone misinterprets the Bible the wrong way, it leads to destructive consequences. In particular, he is addressing a specific form of false teaching in this letter. There were people teaching that Jesus would not return to judge the world for its sins. As a result, they taught that they could live and behave however they pleased.

Where did these false teachers find basis for their errors? They used content from the letters of Paul and writings of the Old Testament to support their claims! People who didn’t know for themselves what Paul and the Old Testament actually said were influenced by these teachers. Along with these teachers, those who followed them would be in for a tragic surprise when Jesus did come to judge the world in the future Day of the Lord. Mishandling the Bible in this way was no small mistake. It was a tragic error.

We need to be reminded of the great importance of knowing our Bible. Listening to preaching on Sabbaths is important, but that’s not enough. We need to take in as much teaching as possible. We also need to take in as much as much as we can in our daily quiet time with the Lord and beyond. If you have a Bible question, study until you get the right answer. Need help? Then ask your pastor. He will be glad to help you get to the right answer from the Word of God.

How can you defend against this prostitution of God’s Word? Always study Scripture in light of Scripture. Study the Old Testament in light of the New Testament. Study the Gospels in light of the Epistles, so that you can have the theological and doctrinal understanding of the life of Christ, why He came, what He’s all about. You want to study a verse in the context of the chapter, and in the context of the book. The more you study the Bible, the easier it will be to defend yourself from false – or ignorant – prophets.