One of God's chief characteristics is that he is consistent. He does not contradict Himself, (2 Timothy 2:13). As believers in Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ, we are expressly commanded to become imitators of our Heavenly Father (Ephesians 5:1). That is our goal and objective as God's children.
Unfortunately, there are huge glaring inconsistencies in the way that Christians today are taught to apply the Scriptures. For the most part, modern-day Christians are NOT taught to apply Scripture consistently across the board, based upon what Scripture actually says, but by tradition and practice, we have trained ourselves to apply Scripture, SOLELY on the basis of the Roman Catholic traditions of men, various modern cultural mores, and our personal preferences, instead of what Scripture actually says.
All too often we fall into inconsistent application of Scripture, and it doesn't seem to matter much whether we're dealing with Old Testament Scripture or New Testament Scripture. The rules of God that we happen to personally favor, those we keep. The scriptural teachings which we do not personally favor, those we tend to simply reject, and say it has been done away with at the cross, in the name of GRACE. I will give an example of how modern-day Christendom practices this selective obedience and applying both Testaments of Scripture. It's a dangerous practice from which we should repent.
Part of the problem with obeying the traditions of human beings and disobeying the word of God (which is worshiping God in vain (Matthew 15:9; Mark 13:1-7), is that, when we follow our own human traditions and disobey God's word, we become noticeably inconsistent in how we apply the word of God.
When we develop such habits, we gradually and progressively begin to do what seems right in our own eyes instead of what God actually says. That's dangerous, (Deuteronomy 12:8; Psalm 81:12; Proverbs 3:7, 14:12, 16:25; Isaiah 5:20-24; Romans 11:25).
These glaring inconsistencies only serve to hurt our own stability in the Lord, and it also harms our witness to those who are uninformed because we are inconsistent, so they assume that God's word cannot be true because of how we live and how we present God's principles to them.
One perfect example of this "Selective Application" or "Cafeteria theology" is in the area of tithes and offerings. I have been a Christian for almost 25 years, and I've served in various capacities of ministry for 20 years, in multiple denominations throughout Christendom. In all that time I have rarely seen a single year go by without hearing at least one, and many times two sermons a year on the benefits of tithing. For those unfamiliar with tithing, it is the Scriptural practice of setting aside the first 10% of one's income (or anything else of value that one receives), to the service of God, and the support of ministry, church, and benevolence. During "Stewardship" weeks as they are now often affectionately called, modern Christian pastors are fond of reverting to Old Testament teachings when it favors their cause, for rarely has a stewardship week gone by where the preacher will not use Malachi chapter 3, in order to extricate believers from their wallets. That's because Almighty God speaking through the prophet Malachi sends an awesome conviction and at once makes an awesome promise to God's people:
Malachi 3:8-12 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. 11 "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field," Says the LORD of hosts; 12 "And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land," Says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 3:8-12 NKJV)
The Conviction: The tithes and offerings belong to God. Anyone withholding those things from God is both robbing God and also preventing God from righteously being able to bless them. So, people are sinning (even to the point of being under a curse) when they do not tithe.
The Promise of Blessings: As a principle, tithing has some great promises. When we tithe, Almighty God will open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing upon us which we will not be able to contain. Almighty God will rebuke the devourer from us. The works of our hands will produce good results. God will cause our reputations to improve in the eyes of other nations when His people tithe. Moreover, it is the only place in Scripture where we are told to put God to the test and see how faithful He is. So believers can use tithing to grow their faith and build intimacy with God so they can see how faithful He is to provide for them. All of that is great.
For the record, yes, I still believe in tithing. I do personally tithe, Gladly, because I have experienced many of these blessings in various ways throughout the years, but there is a glaring inconsistency in the way that we are taught to treat and apply Scripture within modern-day Christendom.
Think about it for a moment. The tithes and offerings are still valid and binding on the believer, but the Sabbath (one of the 10 Commandments was changed or altogether abolished at the cross? That makes no sense!
In modern-day Christendom, they correctly teach and treat the tithes and offerings as though they are still binding upon and beneficial to the believer today, (which they are), but they teach that honoring the Sabbath of the LORD (which God says identifies us as belonging to Almighty God, Exodus 31:13; Ezekiel 20:12; cf. Genesis 2:1-3); the Sabbaths of the Lord, (one of the 10 Commandments), are no longer valid or binding? How does that work?! Putting God first with your money by being faithful to the tithes and offerings is still valid and beneficial to the believer today, but remembering to rest on the LORD'S Sabbath Days, and remembering to keep them holy unto the Lord, this our Preachers teach is not valid and has no value anymore?
So, resting on the LORD's Sabbath days is supposedly a burden which supposedly has been abolished through the freedom purchased for us in the death of Christ Jesus, but tithing is still a blessing which we must still respect, and obey as a matter of faithful discipleship? How inconsistent is that?! The same prophet, who reminds us to be faithful to remember God with our increase, also commands us by God's word to remember the law given to Moses (Malachi 4:4). So, Malachi 3:8-12 is still valid and beneficial to the believer today, but Malachi 4:4, which honors Almighty God is deemed to be no longer valid? Beloved that makes no sense.
We selectively obey the New Testament too
I wish that I could honestly tell you that our selective obedience or cafeteria theology was applied solely to Old Testament teaching and principles, but sadly we do the same thing with the New Testament. Sadly, we have come to define and apply key concepts of Scripture as WE choose, instead of what God says. I give you this example as follows:Please bear with me, because in a moment you will see that not only is this passage completely misapplied, but I will show you a passage where the modern body of Christ applies this exact same principle in reverse when it happens to fit in with the traditions that they prefer. This is one of the cornerstone passages for Whole Testament Theology, and it tends to drive those who choose to observe the Babylonian version of Christianity absolutely nuts:
Matthew 5:17-20 "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20 NASB)
What the Passage Actually Says:
According to Christ's own words three things must occur before any of the Laws of God can be deemed to have been annulled or done away with:1. Earth must pass away.
2. Heaven must pass away.
3. All of the Scripture and prophets must be completely fulfilled and accomplished.
Has our present earth passed away? No it has not.
Have the present heavens passed away? No they have not.
Has everything that was prophesied, predicted and promised in the Scriptures been completely fulfilled and accomplished? No it has not.
In fact, among many things, there are still promises of inheritances promise to Abraham which have not yet been granted to Israel. Therefore the whole Scripture has not been accomplished.
This "Passing away" event was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 65:17). It was confirmed and re-prophesied again by the apostle Peter (2 Peter 3:13), and the apostle John, (Revelation 21:1). Now this is significant because it means that the apostles understood that this provision of the Scriptures was NOT fulfilled completed or accomplished in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, because even after the death and resurrection of Messiah, believers were still looking forward to this event taking place.
Moreover, we have the promise that until this event occurs Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
The passage is extremely self-explanatory. Until the new heaven and new earth come and there is an end to all sin, (Isaiah 65:17; Revelation 21:1), until then we are not allowed to abolish the least Commandment from God's Law.
What we teach to excuse ourselves from obeying God
It's pretty clear. So how do people get around it? What have we train ourselves to believe that makes it seem okay in our minds to violate even the teachings of Jesus Christ, and so abolish God's Law and Commandments prematurely? Well, if it was not so sad, scary, rebellious and disobedient, it would ALMOST be kind of cute how we have managed to twist and manipulate God's word to give ourselves permission to do exactly what we please, instead of what God said.What we have done is we have REDEFINED the word FULFILL. You see, what Christendom has erroneously taught by upholding the traditions of human beings, is that after Jesus fulfilled them by obeying God's Law and Commandments, then supposedly Jesus Christ abolished them through His death.
The glaring contradiction is that even Messiah openly declared that this was not what He came to do. Therefore, the Law could not possibly be abolished at His death, since that is not what He came to do. Remember, Jesus only said and did as the Father told Him to do, and no more (John 16:15; John 8:29). So if even Messiah says that abolishing the Law or the prophets was NOT part of His mission, (Matthew 5:17-20), then how could God's Law and Commandments possibly have been abolished at the cross, when Christ successfully completed His mission? They couldn't have been, because even Messiah says they weren't.
Nevertheless, we continually incorrectly redefine fulfill to mean since Jesus "fulfilled" them, then we presume that this means that we can overtly prematurely abolish the Law and the Prophets. According to our own definitions, we presume to overtly deny and disobey God's Law based on our own human redefinitions of the term.
The word fulfill literally means to fill up and to bring to the forefront of our minds and our understanding. So what modern Christendom would have us believe is that Messiah came to fulfill; He came to fill up the Law, He came to bring the Law to the forefront of our minds and understanding, and then He would throw it all away by His death, even though He said that would not be the result of what He came to do.
Now that is a glaring contradiction by itself, but shockingly, I have an even bigger one. The reason that I know that this redefinition of the word "fulfill" as it is used in modern-day Christendom is purely a human fabrication, and not based on the word of God, is that modern-day Christendom uses the complete opposite meaning and application for the exact same word in other places. I offer this example:
Matthew 3:13-15 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. (Matthew 3:13-15 ESV)
Apparently the Word FULFILL Means Whatever WE Desire It to Mean on Any Given Day
Now, here is the kicker. The word FULFILL used in Matthew 3:13-15 above, is the EXACT SAME WORD FULFILL, in the exact same context as it is used in Matthew 5:17-20. In BOTH cases the word “FULFILL” is Greek Strong's #4137, (plêroô). Jesus required John the Baptist to baptize Him in order to "Fulfill all righteousness." Yet when it comes to baptism, do we have the audacity to tell the new believer that there is no need for them to be baptized because Jesus "fulfilled" it for them, and so now baptism has been abolished? Do we dare to teach such heresy?! Of course not! That would be absurd. Yet, we have the audacity to twist the exact same word in the exact same context when it comes to obeying the rest of the law and the prophets, as we are commanded by Christ, in Matthew 5:17-20.
Exactly how does the word fulfill come to mean that we should still follow Christ's example in baptism as in Matthew 3:13-15, but we pervert the same word fulfill has come to mean the direct opposite, and that somehow we should not follow His example as directed in Matthew 5:17-20?
When we apply God's word as WE choose, if we apply it one way when it suits us, and in a completely opposite manner when it does not suit us, then who exactly are we worshiping at that point? Are we not worshiping ourselves and our own desires instead of God? Are we not making an Idol of our own preferences and desires when we mistreat God's word this way?
If we know how to correctly apply the word when we require tithes and offerings and when we exhort believers to be baptized, should we not apply God's word with equal faithfulness and devotion to obey, when we read Matthew 5:17-20?
Brother Michel Lankford
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