We must consider ALL of Scripture, and we must learn the basics of biblical interpretation. The cults and heretics are involved in twisting truth and skewing Scripture. We must do otherwise. We must accept all that the Bible teaches, but properly understood and interpreted.

God did not give us just some books of the Bible, or parts of some books. He gave us 66 entire books and he expects us to take them all seriously and see them all as authoritative. Sure, we must interpret Scripture rightly, and Paul commands us to ‘rightly divide the word of truth’ (2 Timothy 2:15).
For example, we understand that some things from the Old Testament do not carry over into the New Testament. The sacrificial system in the OT is one such thing. Not only is it now fully fulfilled in Christ and his work at the cross, but even if Christians today wanted to get into those OT sacrifices, there is no temple in Jerusalem to do them in!
Other things come to mind. Physical circumcision – a requirement for male Jews in the OT – is NOT binding on Christians today. Indeed, we run with what it signified: the circumcision of the heart. So to say we need the whole Bible does not mean we are careless and reckless as to how we understand and interpret and apply the whole Bible.
What I mean by being a ‘whole Bible Christian’ is that we are not to pick and choose those bits which we like and simply ignore those bits that we find to be not so appealing. That works fine in a cafeteria for lunch, but it does not work for the Christian when he approaches God’s word.
A. W. Tozer put it this way in his book Of God and Men: “The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.”
Yet the problem is not just believers picking those bits they want to believe and obey. Far too many Christians hardly even read the entire Bible. How many for example have ever read the whole Bible – cover to cover? How many regularly read the Old Testament? How many even regularly read the New?
But assuming some do read the whole Bible, it is still rather easy to be quite selective in what we run with. Or we can fail two of the major rules of biblical interpretation: one, every text has a context and must be read in that context; and two, we must compare Scripture with Scripture.
Since I am now reading through the book of Deuteronomy once again, let me share a few examples of how selective reading or poor hermeneutics (interpretation) can skew how we understand the Bible. The first one comes from Deut. 26. Verse 15 offers this prayer to God: “Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
That text sounds really neat, and many Christians today might want to ‘name and claim’ it – at least in a spiritual sense. But one simply has to read the verses before and after verse 15 to see the full context – and that is obedience. As we read in verse 16: “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul.”
In other words, these wonderful promises of blessing to ancient Israel were conditional. IF Israel fully obeys all that God commanded them to do, THEN these blessings would follow. But they certainly should NOT expect such blessings if they refused to fully obey Yahweh.
We find the same in chapter 27. Verse 3 says this: “when you cross over to enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you.”
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We as preachers must always remember the aim of our proclamation is nothing short of the redemption of eternal souls (1 Timothy 4:15-16). The judgment that we preach is not a sadistic message of savage brutalism. The judgment that we preach is the righteousness of God, with the hope and aim of demonstrating the grace of God to sinners in Christ Jesus.

Let’s answer that question with a few things today, first, a few passages in scripture, second, with a story, and third, with a few statements for us as listeners of sermons and as preachers of sermons.
First, let’s look at scripture.
What does Scripture say about God Judging?
Hebrews 12:23 shows that God is the judge of all: You have come to God, the Judge of all,
Acts 10:42 shows that the Apostle Peter understood Jesus to be the judge of all, Jesus having been given that role by God: He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.
2 Timothy 4:8 reveals that as he neared the end of his earthly life the Apostle Paul spoke of the Lord Jesus as judge: Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Hebrews 9:27 speaks about judgment as coming after death in a final eternal decree regarding the state of individuals: Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.
Daniel 7:13-14 prophetically recounts the vision of Daniel regarding the authority of the Christ to come: In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
John 5:26-27 connects the trail of authority prophetically spoken of by Daniel by which Jesus (the Son) has received authority to judge: For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
This is just a brief smattering of passages. There are worthwhile longer studies examining more passages in depth. Even from these few verses, it is very apparent, that the scriptures speak of God as being the ultimate judge, and specifically, Christ Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth (Matthew 28:19-20). Anyone who makes a statement like “God doesn’t judge” is speaking either ignorantly (not knowing the truth of God’s Word), or in blatant rebellion against God’s word.
A Story of a Preacher Speaking about God’s Judgement
It was dark on the cold streets of downtown St. Louis. While the region didn’t often get much snow, there was some accumulation on the sides of the roads. Not the beautiful glistening snow of hallmark movies. It was the dirty, muddy snow covered in the excess filth of a thousand traveling cars. I turned my car from the main street into the driveway and parking lot of a 4 or 5-story brick building. It had a distinctive feature that many in Old North St. Louis knew well, a towering dark chimney stack rising high into the sky. What once was a building filled with the fire and smoke of industry, was now a building filled with men spit up and chewed out by choices, addictions, and hard knocks. The mission shelter had 44 beds available for up to 44 overnight homeless guests.
I walked past the line of men who had gathered near the side entrance of the building. I nodded and said hello to a few of the regulars whom I had gained something of a relationship with. In the summer there wasn’t much of a line, and often we would have “extra” open beds, maybe averaging something between 20-30 men each night at the shelter. In the cold winter though, it was different. It’s much easier to find a place to stay for the night when it’s 80 degrees, than when it’s 30 degrees. When the winter was cold, the line would be long. More than 44 men would line up. Starting with the 45th man there would be hope that someone earlier in the line would lose their place for the night due to poor behavior, intoxication, or some other unknown reason.
My role that night was not to preach, but instead to help cook and serve. There was a meal served, and then a 30-minute chapel service each night at the shelter before the men were marched upstairs to the showers and bunk room. While we had volunteers (individuals and groups) come in and lead chapel, I learned from my time serving (and from the wise words of a faithful man of God, who I will call Randy, who worked at the shelter) to always have a sermon ready. Sometimes volunteers didn’t show up. Randy had always told me “The man of God must be prepared in season and out of season”. If the volunteers didn’t show up, it was my role to lead the chapel that night.
I asked one of the homeless regulars, whom I will call Greg, who had been there every shift I had worked, “Who is coming to lead chapel tonight?”. “12 Shot” Greg answered. I did a double-take. I thought “12 Shot? What is he? Some kind of vigilante preacher loaded with shotguns coming to the hood of St. Louis?”. I followed up with another question “What sort of preacher is he?”. “The best,” he said. I raised my eyebrows. The elaboration from Greg was brief: “He preaches fire and brimstone and grace”.
After dinner was served the volunteer to lead chapel did show up. He visited with a few of the men who clearly recognized him. He shook hands with some and sat down to talk with others. When it came time for chapel I listened and marveled. “12 Shot” told how at one time he was a “scientific drunk”. He had figured out how he would maintain his buzz throughout the day. 12 Shot would use various mouthwashes and sprays he would mask his breath, and he would take 12 shots each day at intervals to never allow himself sobriety. He proclaimed with boldness that he was a man justly deserving of God’s righteous wrath. He shared many of his sins that he engaged in carelessly against God and with full diligence and care to the satiating of his own desires.
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We do wish the church could completely break free of the seeming barrier of race. We can personally attest that Blacks and Whites both make wonderful friends and Blacks and Whites, on the downside, are all just sinners saved by grace. We need to remember the wonderful and freeing truth that “If God be for us, then who can be against us?”  Who indeed? For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:27-29) As believers, we are to honor and serve other believers regardless of ethnicity or gender, treating them as we would our savior, Jesus Christ.

If the Apostle John were to write his epistles today, perhaps 1 John 2:19 might read more like this:
They progressed from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.
Seems like a lot of people are progressing away from us today. By “us” we mean the Christian faith. We are not suggesting that those who have shifted toward or even fully embraced Progressivism are no longer Christians. That is, of course, between them and God alone and not something we can really judge. All of us are prone to sin, rebellion, and often judgmentalism for that matter. When we are addressing certain issues, we often think about the comment the late Dr. J. Vernon McGee made in one of his sermons:
If you knew J. Vernon McGee like I know J. Vernon McGee, you wouldn’t be listening to me. But don’t get up and leave because if I knew you like you know you; I wouldn’t be preaching to you.
Sometimes the church acts more like a circular firing squad than a family of believers, it seems. Yes, there is such a biblical remedy such as “Church discipline” for obvious sin. Yet, we are called to live holy lives and to keep our eyes less on the faults of others and more on “the founder and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2). And yet, an extremely essential area of our faith is the call to be like the Bereans in the Bible, practicing discernment and guarding ourselves and others against being deceived. And there are many deceivers out there, just as there were back in the first century. It has been said that to that end, all of the New Testament, with the exception of Philemon, was written to address and correct false teaching, false prophets, and bad behavior and to clarify sound teaching and proper behavior. The Apostle Paul took great pains to instruct and warn the Ephesian Elders:
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, (Acts 20:28-31a)
We note the Apostle started by telling them they must guard themselves first and then guard the flock against outside influences seeping in and from individuals in the sheepfold rising up among them with false teaching. The growing progressive movement within the evangelical church has changed the way many understand and interpret the word of God. As George Yancey points out:
For progressive Christians, Jesus is primarily the model of inclusion and tolerance. For example, one progressive Christian drew a cartoon of Jesus saying, “The difference between me and you is you use Scripture to determine what love means and I use love to determine what Scripture means.” Progressive Christians focus on the actions and teachings of Jesus that reinforce their values of tolerance and inclusion, which they see as examples of love.1
Feelings or “inner knowingness” about an issue are now asserted to be the truth. Elements like the context of a text, facts, evidence, and reason are jettisoned in favor of their new narrative. Dr. Thomas Sowell, a former Marxist who is now a prominent black conservative, addresses this issue:
It is usually futile to try to talk facts and analysis to people who are enjoying a sense of moral superiority in their ignorance.2
This moral superiority shows up in the claims of Southern Baptist Pastor J.D. Greer, who speaks of the “closet racists and neo-Confederates” inhabiting the Southern Baptist churches:
“We should mourn when closet racists and neo-Confederates feel more at home in our churches than do many of our people of color,” he thundered from the platform of the SBC’s national convention in 2021. Of course, the megachurch pastor did not back up this shocking accusation with evidence or identify these rank and unrepentant sinners.3
No evidence is offered, just assertions. Was J.D. Greer informed by an inner knowingness or some other magical power? The church closets may be inhabited by all sorts of miscreants, we might suppose. Because people in closets are somewhat difficult to see, let alone judge, we might think they should be given the benefit of the doubt as to whether they are worse than possible sinners in other closets if no evidence is presented. Because we are all sinners, saved by grace, correct?
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