Lesson 18-16 Happy Thanksgiving

Our number one desire for these Bible lessons are for them to be understandable, defendable, and for the Holy Spirit to bear witness that the conclusions are the true, and correct interpretation of the Holy Scriptures.

Guidelines for our Bible studies on this website:

1. We treat the living words of the living God as spoken by the Lord Jesus and given to the Apostle Paul for the Body of Christ the same importance, as the words of the Lord Jesus recorded in red letters in the books of Matthew – Acts Chp. 8, as what should be known as the instructions to the nation Israel.      

2. We will not be wresting the scriptures against each other, we will look at the verses in their context, and will not try to make the scriptures say anything, but what they say.

3. We will be using the verses out of the Authorized Version, commonly known as the KJV. It is fine if you want to look the verses up in other translations if you like, but we will consider the Authorized Version as our final written authority.

4. We do not and will not use the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, or Latin languages to prove any points, or give any indication that the Authorized Version has been incorrectly translated. 

I hope these studies are interesting enough to provoke you to study your Bible and for you to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We will resume our lessons on unlearning unsound doctrine after the Thanksgiving Holiday. But now we will look at the giving of thanks and it’s importance in the Christian’s life.

There is much in the history books on when Thanksgiving the holiday officially began in America, for the most part it is agreed that in 1621 when the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians, shared an autumn harvest feast, was one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies.

Officially Abraham Lincoln in 1863, at the height of the Civil War, in a proclamation entreating all Americans to ask God to “commend to his tender care to all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds of the nation” he made it an official American Holiday.

Now to start our study of what the Christian’s attitude should be toward the giving of thanks, I looked up all the verses where the word thanks, or one of it's derivatives appears in the New Testament.

What I found is that the word thank, thanks, thanked, thankful, thanksgiving, and thankworthy appears 71 times in the New Testament.

Out of those 71 times the word thank or one of it's derivatives only appears 18 times before the conversion of the Apostle Paul. Out of those eighteen times the word thank or a derivative of thank appears as repeats in the same recorded events in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and as such is used even less than 18 times. Just as an information point the word thank or a derivative of it is used in the Old Testament only 68 times, which is interesting in that the Old Testament is much larger in content than the New Testament.

Interestingly enough the actual word thanksgiving also does not appear in the New Testament, until it appears and is spoken by the Apostle Paul in his epistles.

After the Pauline epistles the word thanks is only used 3 times, thanksgiving 1 time and thankworthy 1 time.

For the record the Apostle Paul spoke or used the word thanks or thanksgiving 43 times when giving instructions to the Body of Christ, or Christians living in the dispensation of grace. 

Remember Paul is our Apostle and gives the instructions that Christians are to follow in this time period of history.

I would like to share a few of those verses with you where Paul gives thanks to God as an example of how I believe we as Christians should also be thankful, not just on Thanksgiving the holiday, but every day we should be giving the Lord Jesus thanks for the wonderful gift of life, not only in this world but in the world to come.

Acts.27 [35] And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat.

In the verse above we see the practice repeated by the Apostle Paul that we witnessed in the Gospel accounts of the Lord Jesus giving thanks for food before being received.

This practice of giving thanks before eating a meal was very common thirty or forty years ago among Christians.

Today if you see someone bow their head and give thanks before a meal it is a rarity and seems almost out of place when someone is seen in a restaurant giving thanks to the Lord Jesus for their meal.

I believe we as Christians are missing out on a great opportunity to share our faith with others by not bowing our heads and giving thanks to God for our food when we are out in public. I have had many people over the years come up to me after this practice to share with me how nice it was to see someone to give thanks for their meal.

1Cor.15 [57] But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

2Cor.2 [14] Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

In the verses above we see Paul giving thanks for our victory and triumph as Christians, which we have in the Lord Jesus. This is another good example of how we should be offering thanks to the Lord God/Jesus.

2Cor.4 [15] For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

2Cor.8 [16] But thanks be to God, which put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you.

2Cor.9 [15] Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

Just think how wonderful it will be when we spend an eternity with the one who loved us and died for us and has given us the gift of eternal life. Tit.1 [2] In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

Eph.1 [15] Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, [16] Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

Eph.5 [3] But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; [4] Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

Here in Ephesians we see a list of behaviors that are common among us today, Paul said we should not be partakes of those things as Christians, but we should rather be giving thanks.

Recently I made a decision to quit watching a TV show that I enjoyed watching, but due to the filthy language being used I just felt like I could no longer as a Christian justify exposing myself to that type of language. I thought of Lot who vexed his righteous soul daily with the unlawful deeds of the Sodomites.  In 1Cor.15 verse 33 it is written “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” Our society has seen the use of communication devices explode over the last thirty years with the advent of Computers, Cell Phones, IPads, etc. and as wonderful as these devices are, much of what they are used for is to promote a lifestyle that is contrary to the Lord Jesus and living a righteous life.

Eph.5 [20] Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Phil.4 [6] Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Col.1 [3] We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

Col.1 [12] Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

Col.2 [7] Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

Col.3 [17] And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

1Thes.1 [2] We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;

1Thes.3 [9] For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God;

1Thes.5 [18] In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

2Thes.2 [13] But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

When we look at the Holy Scriptures to determine what the Christians attitude should be toward thanksgiving we can only come to one conclusion, we should be a very thankful people not only on Thanksgiving the Holiday but every day!

I said this before and I say it again, the study of the Bible will affect how you live your life, how you treat your friends, family, enemies, how you drive, work, and behave yourself every day.

When you trust in the Lord Jesus as your savior you will be a different person!

What a great day that will be when Jesus Christ returns in all his glory, friend don’t let that day take you unawares. Today Jesus has his arms outstretched and open to sinners to put their trust in him. One day we will all stand before him either as our savior or our judge, don’t put it off invite Jesus to save you today!

"The crowd that will not accept one truth will decay to the point that it does not accept one God: many denominations, many translations, many gods."

All of the confusion among Christianity/Christians today can be attributed to the simple fact that the church, the Body of Christ, does not recognize the separate, distinct, and unique apostleship, ministry, and message of Paul.

If you have never trusted the Lord Jesus as your savior, I encourage you to believe in him and invite him to save you today! All one needs to do is to trust and believe in the Lord Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins to be made new in him.

Gal.2

[16] Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified

Eph.3

[17] That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, [19] And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

The words of our Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles!

2Tim.2 [15] Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Come join with us as we study God’s Holy Word!

Remember most unsound Bible Doctrine, is sound Bible Doctrine misapplied to the wrong time period, or wrong group of people.

The next lesson is in work, and will be posted when done!  

Please Subscribe by email, and you will be notified when new lessons are posted 

Remember if you like these lessons, don't just like them, share them!

Contact us at: biblerightlydivided@gmail.com

Lesson 17-16 Unlearning Unsound Bible Doctrine Part 1

Our number one desire for these Bible lessons are for them to be understandable, defendable, and for the Holy Spirit to bear witness that the conclusions are the true, and correct interpretation of the Holy Scriptures.

Guidelines for our Bible studies on this website:

1. We treat the living words of the living God as spoken by the Lord Jesus and given to the Apostle Paul for the Body of Christ the same importance, as the words of the Lord Jesus recorded in red letters in the books of Matthew – Acts Chp. 8, as what should be known as the instructions to the nation Israel.      

2. We will not be wresting the scriptures against each other, we will look at the verses in their context, and will not try to make the scriptures say anything, but what they say.

3. We will be using the verses out of the Authorized Version, commonly known as the KJV. It is fine if you want to look the verses up in other translations if you like, but we will consider the Authorized Version as our final written authority.

4. We do not and will not use the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, or Latin languages to prove any points, or give any indication that the Authorized Version has been incorrectly translated. 

I hope these studies are interesting enough to provoke you to study your Bible and for you to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Matt.15

[1] Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, [2] Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. [3] But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? [4] For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. [5] But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; [6] And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. [7] Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, [8] This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. [9] But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

In this lesson we look at some reasons people when confronted with sound doctrine have a tendency to reject it.

I personally have experienced the difficulty of unlearning unsound doctrine and believe I have a good understanding on this subject.

In the passage above we see the scribes and Pharisees question the Lord Jesus about one of the traditions of the elders concerning eating without washing their hands first. To which Jesus responds with a question as to why they transgressed the commandment of God by their tradition.

One of the most common reasons that people tend to reject sound doctrine is because many times the traditions which they learned from their parents, teachers in school, preachers, seminary professors, religious leaders, etc. is in direct opposition to sound doctrine.

We all have a tendency to respect people who have authority over us, which is not a bad thing. The problem comes in when we reach a point where we cannot think or reason for ourselves and just blindly follow traditions and doctrines of men. When we are confronted with truth from the word of God that differs from things that we have been taught and believed for years we all have a tendency to reject the truth of God's word.

Jesus told that group of people, that they were worshipping the Lord in vain by “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

I was reading an article about the Amish recently and thought it was a good example of what happens when people are taught to blindly follow their leaders and not have the liberty to question why they believe the things they believe.

“The Pennsylvania Amish believe that community harmony is threatened by secular values such as individualism and pride, which permeate the modern world. Thus, the Amish of Pennsylvania curb interaction with outsiders and insulate themselves from modern technology and mass media. They also prohibit habits that feed individualism and greed, as displayed through their plain dress style and prohibition of personal photographs. Personal Bible study and devotions are discouraged because individual interpretations may challenge traditional doctrine.”

Notice in the quote which I did not write or change in any way but only copied and pasted for this lesson.

Personal Bible study and devotions are discouraged because individual interpretations may challenge traditional doctrine.

This statement is the heart of how all the different denominations are able to maintain their particular set of false doctrine.

They like the Pharisees have their particular set of beliefs which they defend even when confronted with the truth from God’s Holy Word.

They all have an established hierarchy that keeps and protects their particular doctrines. They all have a system to discredit anyone in their particular denomination when confronted with the truth of God’s Holy Word where it disagrees with their traditions or doctrine.

1Cor.1

[10] Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

The only way we can follow the Apostle Paul's admonition is when we Christians are able to reason together, study the same Bible, in the same way. I have had the privilege to study the Bible with many different Christians from many different denominations. It has been my experience, that more often than not we are able to come to the same understanding, when we look at the Bible verses in context, and do not wrest the scriptures against each other.

As I approach my 43rd birthday as a Christian, in the Body of Christ, I would like to share that when I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior I had no loyalty to any one denomination, but only to the Lord Jesus Christ and the truth of his Holy Word.

I had such an eye opening experience after being saved, I fell in love with studying and memorizing the Bible.

It was in those early days that I set out to discover why there are so many different Christian denominations, all teaching so many different doctrines, while all claiming to believe the same book.

My conclusion after all these years is all the denominations are based on one simple platform. They all pick out a set of Bible verses, from all over the Bible, Old Testament, New Testament and then document it as the “Things They Believe”! They then defend those things even when they can easily be disproved with a little Bible Study.

The entire Bible is for our learning, but the entire Bible does not apply to the Body of Christ doctrinally, as defined in the Pauline Epistles. If you believe the entire Bible applies doctrinally to Body of Christ, you’ll be confused and unable to discern truth from false doctrine.

Example; we can learn about King David’s experiences with the Lord, but that does not mean our experiences with the Lord will be the same as his.

Psalm 37

[25] I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

I have heard many people claim and quote verse 25 in Psalm 37 which I love, but just because King David didn’t see the righteous begging bread doesn’t mean it never happens.

Luke 16

[19] There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: [20] And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, [21] And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. [22] And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; [23] And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Jesus here in Luke 16 identifies Lazarus as a beggar, who ends up with Abraham in heaven, but if we had judged Lazarus based on David’s Old Testament statements we would have concluded that he was not a rightness man, because he was a beggar.

Also notice where the rich man ended up, in Hell in torments. Here again many people have made the mistake of looking at people who seem to have everything as being righteous and having God’s favor when in fact just the opposite may be true.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that the wicked or unrighteous don’t have anything to worry about, and will not know anything after they die. They teach that the dead cease to exist and base this train of thought on an Old Testament verse out of Ecclesiastes.

Ecclesiastes 9

[5] For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

Here again the Lord Jesus in Luke 16 gave further information on what happens when the living die. To ignore his teachings on this subject is to reject the Lord Jesus as God in the flesh.

Now another example is to look at the Old Testament restrictions God (Jesus) gave to Moses concerning the eating certain meats such as swine or pork, they are one in the same.

Lev.11

[1] And the LORD spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them, [2] Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. [3] Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.

[7] And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you. [8] Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.

Then compare this with the instructions the Lord Jesus (God) gave the Apostle Paul for the believers living today in the dispensation of grace.

1Tim.4

[1] Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; [2] Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; [3] Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

[4] For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: [5] For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

[6] If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. [7] But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

There are many religious organizations today that forbid people to marry and many of those groups command people to abstain from meats, they usually use the Old Testament to get their list of meats to abstain from.

The apostle Paul said that people who do these things are “giving heed to seducing spirts and doctrines of devils.” These words were written literally thousands of years ago and yet many religious organizations and people continue to ignore them so they can follow the traditions and doctrines of their particular group.

I encourage you to turn on your TV this Sunday watch and listen to all the different doctrines that are being taught by supposed Christian preachers and ask yourself how you can make sense of it all.

Some of them will be teaching you have to keep the Sabbath, you can’t eat pork, you got to be baptized, you have to speak in tongues, you can lose your salvation, you got to dress a certain way, you can only be saved if you join their group, and on and on it goes!

Now I am not saying everyone in these groups are lost. In fact I have found many people have come to know the Lord Jesus as their savior in-spite of their particulate religious affiliation. They trust in the Lord Jesus for their salvation and not their denomination.

There is only one way you can ever understand the Bible, it is by faith letting the Lord Jesus dwell in your heart. Start studying the Bible for yourself and let the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus help you to discern truth from error.

2Tim.4

[1] I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; [2] Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. [3] For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; [4] And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

What a great day that will be when Jesus Christ returns in all his glory, friend don’t let that day take you unawares. Today Jesus has his arms outstretched and open to sinners to put their trust in him. One day we will all stand before him either as our savior or our judge, don’t put it off invite Jesus to save you today!

"The crowd that will not accept one truth will decay to the point that it does not accept one God: many denominations, many translations, many gods."

All of the confusion among Christianity/Christians today can be attributed to the simple fact that the church, the Body of Christ, does not recognize the separate, distinct, and unique apostleship, ministry, and message of the apostle to the gentiles the Apostle Paul.

If you fail to understand, or fail to learn how to rightly divide the word of truth, you can never come to the knowledge of the truth, and sound doctrine.

If you have never trusted the Lord Jesus as your savior, I encourage you to believe in him and invite him to save you today! All one needs to do is to trust and believe in the Lord Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins to be made new in him.

Gal.2

[16] Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified

Eph.3

[17] That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, [19] And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God..

The words of our Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles!

2Tim.2 [15] Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Come join with us as we study God’s Holy Word!

Remember most unsound Bible Doctrine, is sound Bible Doctrine misapplied to the wrong time period, or wrong group of people.

The next lesson is in work, and will be posted when done!  

Please Subscribe by email, and you will be notified when new lessons are posted 

Remember if you like these lessons, don't just like them, share them!

Contact us at: biblerightlydivided@gmail.com