You are in error

The text of today's message is from Matthew 22:29 NIV, " Jesus replied, 'You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God'". This was Jesus' pronouncement to the Sadducees who had asked Him a question that related to the law. If you read the preceding verses, you will get the drift of the entire story. The Sadducees knew what the law said, they in this case, interpreted it correctly but they failed to apply it appropriately. As far as the Scriptures are concerned, knowledge must be followed by accurate interpretation and then by appropriate application. Complete knowledge of the Scriptures must go beyond just head knowledge to revelation knowledge. That is what will make the word produce fruit in you and for you. There are two points to note from the reference verse above and they are: If you fail to look to the Scriptures for guidance, you will be more prone to error. When you fail to look to the Scriptures for guidance, you are already in error. Essentially, there are three major mediums of the transfer of the word of God to us: Revelation - It exposes the hidden truth of the word to you (Galatians 1:11-12). Jesus is the word personified (John 1:1) and He is the best person to reveal the hidden truth of the word to you (Hebrews 1:1-2). God is still in the business of revealing the truth in His word to us. We must desire revelation knowledge, revelation understanding and revelation wisdom of the word as we make out time to study the word and know what God is saying to us. Inspiration - It enriches your understanding of the truth as the Spirit teaches you the exact words to speak and use (2 Tim 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:21, 1 Corinthians 2:13). The Bible clearly says that we speak words (the word of God) taught us not by human wisdom but by the Spirit. If all Scripture is by the inspiration of God, do you not think it will also require inspiration to understand it? The Holy Spirit is willing to teach us the word as that is His work (John 14:26). Illumination - opens your mind and heart to the truth of the word (Luke 24:45, 2 Cor. 4:4, 6, Acts 16:14). The Bible is more of a spiritual book than it is a physical book. That is why we need the Spirit of God to illuminate our hearts and minds that we may understand the word of God. When light shines on your heart and mind, it causes understanding to flood every nook and cranny therein thus making it easy to embrace the light of the gospel. In essence, God reveals the word, the Spirit acts on it and it produces fruit in us and for us.

Common Misinterpretations/Misconceptions We will examine four very popular misinterpretations in the light of the general thrust of the Scriptures to see what the accurate picture really is: Ministry of reconciliation vs. Message of reconciliation - It is common to hear people say that we all have a common ministry, which is that of reconciliation. The ministry of reconciliation is simply that God reconciled men to Himself through Jesus Christ by not counting their sins against them, thus giving them justification. (2 Cor. 5:17-20 NIV, emphasis mine). We also are beneficiaries of that reconciliation so how then can we be the source of reconciliation. (Romans 5:10-11). Our work is to make men know that there is an offer of reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ, that is why the message of reconciliation was committed to us (2 Cor. 5:20). If you like, our ministry is to preach the message of reconciliation! The message of reconciliation is to proclaim the ministry of reconciliation, which is that Jesus died for our sins and gave His life for us that we might live new lives under God. The ministry of reconciliation is Jesus Christ's since He is the only person who shed His blood for our sins and reconciled us to God, while the message of reconciliation is what has been committed to us, which is to preach the gospel of reconciliation to everyone (Mark 16:15,Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8). Grace - It is a divine influence on the heart, which finds expression in the life. The Bible clearly says that we have received abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness that we might reign in life (Romans 5:17, emphasis mine). In essence, we have received more grace than we can use and we have been declared righteous by faith in Jesus Christ. This is not because of our righteous acts but because of one man's obedience to death on the cross. The word abundance signifies surplus, surfeit, excess, plentiful, more than required etc so why then do we ask God for grace when all we should be doing is to receive from that never-ending supply of grace that He has made available (James 4:5-6). Simply put, God does not need you to ask Him for grace because He knows you cannot survive without it; this is why He gave you an abundant supply in the first place. The Scriptures say that we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand and this through Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1-2). When we ask God for grace, we make it look like the grace is not there and we show an ignorance of what the Scriptures say. Even when Paul had, a 'thorn in the flesh' for which He prayed to God about, God responded by saying, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness' (2 Cor. 12:6-10). We should be busy receiving of that supply of grace by faith and not asking! Love in our hearts - If you are a believer then the Spirit of God dwells inside of you and God has poured His love into your heart by His Spirit thus giving you the ability to love like He would (1 Cor. 3:16, Romans 5:5, John 15:12, Romans 13:8). Why then do Christians ask God to pour His love into their hearts? It is not that the prayer is not valid

but that it is not a believer's prayer. Anyone asking God to do that is simply saying he or she is not a believer and sadly, we find many Christians praying like this. Remember you are in error, because you do not know the Scriptures! If at all you have any issues expressing the depth of the love of God to anyone, then the issue is not that God has not poured His love into your heart but that your heart needs to be judged and tried by the substance of the word (Hebrews 4:12). God would not command us to love one another if He had not given us the ability and capacity to do so. Give and it shall be given - More often than not, when we quote this verse it is used as a charge to others to give sizeable offerings in church but have we ever considered the real reason the statement was made. Jesus himself made this statement in Luke 6:37-38 but to fully understand the import of His statement, we should look at what the Bible says in Matthew 7:1-2, which is a second account of the same thing. A closer look at both references will tell any discerning reader that the focus was not on giving offerings so why do we take Jesus' words out of context and ignore the message inherent in that statement? Jesus was saying if you judge or condemn men, you would get that back in even greater measure. We seem eager to overlook this salient point, which is itself a troubling situation. In order to understand Scriptures, it is important to ask the following questions: Where was it first mentioned in the Bible? Are there other instances where the Scriptures record the same thing? Does it agree with the central theme of the passage in question? Sometimes, the underlying issue here is ignorance of the Scriptures caused by inadequate study and poor preparation. That is not an excuse before God anyway as He expects us to know and understand all that He has given to us (Philemon v6, 1 Cor. 2:12).

Authors note: This message was first preached at the Parish Youth Chapel, Church of the Pentecost (Anglican Communion), 21 Road, Festac Town, Lagos on Sunday, 25th September 2011 and Sunday, 2nd October (10am service) in my capacity as Coordinator.