What if I told you that the president took a Bible and carefully cut out the parts he liked? Then he pasted them to another paper, making his own Bible.
That probably wouldn’t turn many heads today.
Which president would do such a thing?
Who would do such a thing?
You would.
I would.
We do.
Thomas Jefferson isn’t the only person to do it. He was just the most deliberate about it.
Later in life, he took the Gospels and, using a razor and string, cut out the moral teachings of Jesus to make his own book. We call it the Jefferson Bible now, but only his family knew of it for a long time.
He left the parts he didn’t like. There are parts in the Bible none of us enjoy. I would like it if as soon as people were saved, they were transformed into the spiritual mirror image of Jesus with all his miracles and wisdom.
We’d need both since we would know what miracles would hurt more than they helped.
I don’t like the idea of Hell–solitary confinement away from God and everyone.
I prefer a just do this approach with a list of rules and live and let live.
This introspection isn’t fun. Just because I don’t like something doesn’t means it will go away. Reality doesn’t bend to my will.
Jesus still said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
He also said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'”
Jesus says some hard things we have to wrestle with. Cutting them out isn’t an option for a follower of Jesus. He is the King, after all.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17
Which parts would you cut out of the Bible and keep? What would you leave?
This tells us a lot about ourselves.
A Ronin's Journey 