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Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Revealing Our teen/young adult bible study just finished up
the book of Revelation tonight, and no one was left behind ;-). Seriously,
though, we had a good time reading the real message of the book which is more
about the need for repentance, and the final glory which awaits those who follow
Christ, than it is about almost anything in the Left Behind series. At the very
end of chapter 22, we see the warning about what will happen to those who either
add to, or take away from, the words of the prophecy of that book. Some groups
use this as a club to beat up on the Roman Catholic Church over the historically
absurd accusation that they added the deuterocanonicals to the Bible during the
reformation. In reality, we need to understand the warning as being consistent
with the warning that St. Paul gives us regarding those who preach a different
Gospel. After all, the words of the prophecy are all about repentance, obedience
to God, doing good works, and persevering to the end, the result of which is
eternal life in the presence of God. Failure to do so leads one to life on the
"outside" in the lake of fire. That is the Gospel. People who have, through the
centuries, taught a variety of heresies that either all are saved, or certain
behaviors are not sin (think the serpent in the garden as the first example), or
that belief in Jesus is not necessary for salvation, are just some examples of
those who are taking away from the words of the prophecy, and are therefore
teaching a different Gospel.
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