“IS THAT IN THE BIBLE?”
INTRODUCTION: I came across an article by Shane Pruitt titled, “Nine unbiblical statements Christians believe”. I decided to take some of these and present them to you today. It’s important for us to gain clarity on these statements not only for ourselves but also so we don’t go around repeating them as if they were gospel. But, as we will see, though the following statements are not in the bible, they do hold some elements of truth.
1) “Cleanliness is next to godliness”. Though we might think this statement was started by some discouraged mom who wanted to instill in her grimy child the importance of a good scrub down by making it into a holy ordinance, it is attributed to Rabbi Phineas ben Yair considering it one of the doctrines of religion. John Wesley used the phrase, “Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness” in one of his sermons.
Although being clean is a healthy concept to follow, this statement is not a biblical one. I don’t think there’s a passage that reads, “seek first the kingdom of God, seek second some soap and water.”
It appears as if the religious leaders of Jesus’ day thought that cleanliness was next to godliness. Matt. 15:1-6, 17-20. Luke 11:37-39, “When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised. Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.”
The religious leaders were thinking being clean on the outside was an indicator of being clean on the inside but Jesus corrected them. Jesus wasn’t saying being clean is not important, he was clarifying that it wasn’t ungodly if you ate without cleaning your hands. They were placing importance on the wrong thing-paying more attention to being clean on the outside than on the inside.
We can be that way today-placing more emphasis on looking good on the outside (what people see) than on looking good on the inside (what people don’t see). Like the religious leaders, we can go to great lengths to look clean but all the while we are deceiving ourselves and others if we are neglecting the more important things-like having a pure heart. So we can conclude that cleanliness is godliness when we have cleanliness on the inside.
2) “God helps those who help themselves”. This phrase is not in the bible. Although Ben Franklin is attributed with coining this phrase it’s understood to originate many years before that. In a way, this is actually anti-biblical. God helps those who recognize that they can’t help themselves. This is especially true when it comes to salvation.
Matt. 19:16-26. The rich man was looking to help himself into heaven but Jesus showed him it wasn’t going to happen like that. He probably thought he was good since he said he had kept all those other commandments. But when Jesus focused on what his stronghold was he went away sad probably because he wasn’t being told he was already doing everything he should or that he wasn’t given something much easier for him to do.
Perhaps the disciples were thinking, “This guy seemed like he was doing everything right except one thing and he’s not getting in. Who then can be saved?” Jesus highlights that it is impossible for man to save himself; only God has the power to save. The man thought he could do something to be saved.
People have that same misconception today. They think they can help themselves; work their way into heaven. But there’s only one name under heaven by which we can be saved and it isn’t our own-it’s Jesus. He did everything because we could do nothing.
If I subscribe to, ‘God helps those who help themselves’ then I have a pride problem. I make myself out to be self-sufficient, able to do things out of my own power. Pull myself up by my own bootstraps type of thinking.
However, with that said, the statement does hold some truth. God won’t help those who are unwilling to do what he wants them to do. He isn’t going to reward laziness. If I ask God for help finding a job but am unwilling to look for one it’s unlikely he will drop one in my lap.
That works in a practical way as well as a spiritual way. If I think spiritual growth is just going to automatically happen without any effort on my part I’m sadly mistaken. If I expect God to just automatically remove sin from my life or just snap his fingers and make me more wise and patient and loving then I have a wrong understanding. Out of his great mercy God may do some things without any effort on my part but most of the time these things involve a partnership-God doing his part and me doing mine.
If I want to be a better Christian I need to change some things and put some things into practice. You can’t keep in step with the spirit when you won’t move your feet.
3) “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” You might think this is a bible verse but it’s not. This might’ve stemmed from what it says in 1st Cor. 10:13, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” God is faithful-we can be sure that no matter how strong the temptation is to sin-we always have a way out.
Satan wants to convince us that there isn’t a way out but there is. He wants to convince us that there’s no rescue possible-best to just give in and get it over with; he wants to take the fight right out of us and convince us that there is no way to victory. But, God has a different plan. He will always show us the way out if we are willing to look for it.
It’s encouraging to know that through Christ I have power over Satan’s tricks and temptations-I simply need to utilize the power of the Holy Spirit to resist any and every temptation. But the key phrase is “through Christ”.
One reason why the statement “God will not give you more than you can handle” is incorrect is because God will give you more than you can handle-on your own. This kind of goes along with the ‘God helps those who help themselves’. We can’t help ourselves; we need God. Likewise, we can’t handle difficult situations correctly without God.
Part of the reason we feel overwhelmed, stressed and anxious when we face difficulties is because we’re trying to handle it on our own. One of the reasons these situations are allowed to invade our lives is to show how much we need him. So, the proper way to phrase it is-God will not give you more than you can handle-with him.
There are times when we think we have been given more than we can handle. We think God is expecting too much out of us. We think we know what our limitations are. We think we know how much we can handle. But the reality is only God knows what our limitations are so we can trust that he will not let us deal with a situation that would be too much for us to handle-as long as we rely on his power and wisdom to enable us to persevere. If God brings you to it he will bring you through it.
4) “God just wants me to be happy”. We might think this is the case when we see verses like Ecc. 3:12, “I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.” But the important thing to consider is having a proper understanding of what constitutes true happiness.
God is okay with me being happy, but happy in what? God isn’t concerned about my happiness if my happiness is found in anything other than him. Ecc. 2:26, “To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
We see that God gives happiness to the one who pleases him. We see that God also gives wealth to sinners. We see that happening all the time. But, are they truly happy? No. Because they don’t have wisdom; they don’t know God. If I’m only happy when I have money and material things then I’ve missed the boat on having true happiness. That’s not the kind of happiness God wants for me. My happiness is not a concern to God if there’s a lesson I need to learn.
Jonah 4:1-11. The vine made Jonah happy. That’s all God wanted was for Jonah to be happy, right? Not quite. Otherwise he wouldn’t have allowed it to wither and die, knowing that would make Jonah angry. God’s purpose was not to make Jonah happy but to teach him a lesson. Our happiness is not God’s priority-our sanctification is. And whatever it takes for that to happen is the priority. Jonah got angry but it allowed him to learn a valuable lesson. God is okay with us not being happy if it teaches us a valuable lesson and causes us to grow and mature.
As Shane shared in his article, “Happiness is tied to feelings and emotions that are often based in circumstances, and these change all the time. God wants us to be obedient to him, trust him and know that everything he does is for our good, even if it doesn’t make us feel “happy” in that moment.” Happiness is found in God, not in getting what we want. So, God does want me to be happy when my happiness is dependent on and found in him. God does want us to enjoy life and enjoy the blessings he gives us but only in the right perspective. The focus shouldn’t be my happiness it should be praising, worshipping and glorifying God for his love and generosity.
5) “We’re all God’s children”. We’re all God’s creation but we’re not all his children. It’s nice to think that we are since we would conclude that if I’m his child then I’m going to heaven-which is true-but the misconception would be in how one becomes a child of God. Being a child of God is not an automatic thing. We were all created by God but in order to become a child of God we need to become born-again.
John 1:12-13, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” When do we become children of God? When we receive Christ and believe in who he is and are in agreement with his teachings. Our natural birth makes us children of our parents but in order to be children of God we need to be born of the Spirit-we need to be born-again.
Jesus said later in chapter three that flesh gives birth to flesh but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. This happens when we put our faith in Jesus and put him on in baptism. Gal. 3:26-27, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” God created everyone and he loves everyone but not everyone is his child. That is a special privilege reserved for those who would accept Christ as Savior and Lord.
CONCLUSION: There are statements we have heard along the way that we think come from the word of God but they don’t. There might be an element of truth to them but it’s important to clarify the meanings and origins behind these statements not only for our own benefit but also for those we know or meet along the way so that they can know and understand the truth about these statements and those like them. It’s important to know what is in the bible but it’s also important to know what is not in the bible.
