Believe It and You Will Get It?
Recently I saw on a church sign these words: "Believe it and you will get it", with the scripture reference of Matthew 21:22, which says, "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."
Context plays perhaps the most critical role in trying to gain an understanding of God's word. Without it, we can make the Bible say anything we desire. Paul warned the church at Corinth against this very thing when he shamed them by saying "every one… hath a doctrine” (I Corinthians 14:26). This was and still is the cause of division; everyone wanting to believe and do their own thing according to their own personal preference.
The verse above, by itself, could allow for a very broad interpretation; an interpretation favored by many who espouse the idea of 'name it and claim it'. But leaving the verse in context, where God intended it to be, narrows the interpretation substantially; showing us that the apostles would be given such ability that they could speak to a fig tree and exercise power over it or something even more monumental. The context doesn't allow us today to place ourselves within it, but it does help us learn more about the apostles, their purpose, and the power they had in that day.
These things go hand in hand: faithfulness to God, faithfulness to His word, and faithfulness to sound doctrine. If we could get ourselves out of the way, how much less division there might be in the world of Christianity.
- Elder Matt Jordan
This👆 is right division and it avoids a thousand lies that arise from mishandling the bible's testimony. Reducing scripture to decontextualized sound bites creates the fertile soil where seemingly "biblical" false doctrines are cultivated and sold to the naive. The downstream effects plotted over time lead to.... American Christianity, among other things. Bottom line: the word of God MUST be understood in context to be rightly divided. Stated more plainly: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13) does not mean that "We can do whatever we set our hearts upon." The fact that so many use this verse in this way and that so many Christians believe it is proof that many are more grounded in the faith once delivered by Walt Disney than in "the faith... once delivered to the saints." (Jude 1:3)
- Elder Daniel Samons