Do you believe a Hyper-Spiritual Doctrine?

Something that is 'hyper' is extended beyond normal and safe limits.  A hyper-active child is in constant motion and a danger to themselves and those around him.  During times of hyper-inflation, paper money becomes worthless.  For example, we are told of people taking wheelbarrows full of money to the grocery store in Germany after World War-I.

A hyper-spiritual doctrine goes beyond the limits set by the Bible.  This type of doctrine comes from the devil and is attractive to the world and to our flesh.  It pretends to make the person 'more spiritual' than other people while really claiming to be 'more spiritual' that God and God's Word.  It tries to replace our personal relationship with God with a bunch of religious rules.  It tries to replace God's judgment with prideful fleshly measurements.  It tries to replace God's wisdom with the wisdom of this world.

We've all heard that Jesus rode a donkey.  The word donkey  is not in the Bible.  Matthew 21:2 tells us what Jesus said and says Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.  We find the same story in John 12.

The Doctrinal Error.

Notice that the hyper-spiritual would have us change the word ass  to donkey.  In Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4 we read But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.  This was the answer of Jesus when tempted by Satan.  We also know that Satan, and his ministers, can quote the Bible correctly for what they quote, but they leave part out.  So the problem isn't what they quote but what they leave our and what they substitute for what God said.  Thus, when we return to our original verse we find that:

1. We are told to take out the word ass,  which is following Satan's method of quoting the Bible.  That is disobeying Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4 and is tempting God  which will bring God's judgment upon us.  Since we need every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,  this denies us what God says that we need to live.  Further it will bring God's curse upon us because Deuteronomy 4:4; 12:32 and Jeremiah 26:2 all warn us to not diminish  God's Word.


2. It is adding in the word 'donkey'.  Deuteronomy 4:4; 12:32 and Revelation 22:18 tell us to not add to God's Word.

The Contextual Error.

1. In Matthew 21:4 and John 12:14 we are told All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet'.  The disciples, and most Bible readers of today, don't realize that if Jesus rode a 'donkey', He would have failed to fulfill a prophecy.  Such a failure would be a reason to doubt if Jesus was the true Son of God.  Thus, the first thing that Satan and the hyper-spiritual person does is get you to ignore support from other parts of the Bible so that you will think that the verse in contention stands alone.  When people don't understand how a verse has to match all of the rest of the Bible, they are easily persuaded to believe that a variation which satisfies our flesh is 'better'.


2. The verse quoted was a promise that the people waited a long time for.  The hyper-spiritual people want to steal your blessings from God so that you won't rely upon God.  Notice that John 12:16 says: These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.  They understood not  but they trusted and were rewarded.  If they had insisted on a 'better translation' they would have missed out on the revelation from the Holy Spirit that came later.  Notice that Matthew 12:6 says And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them.  They were blessed for simple obedience where the disobedient were cursed.


3. Matthew 21:9-10 says And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.  And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?  Obedience allowed them to participate in a great celebration that they would have missed by disobedience.


4. Matthew 21:9-12 says And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves.  These religious, but disobedient, people were judged by God.  In two more verses we read And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.  The obedient were blessed and healed while the people following hyper-spiritual doctrine were judged.


5. Matthew 21:15-16 says that the hyper-spiritual chief priests and scribes  missed the Life-Lesson, which we will cover next.  Matthew 21:17-22 tells us that Jesus lodged  with His friends and they returned with Him the next day.  On that return trip He taught them a Life-Lesson.

The Life-Lesson Error.

1. Matthew 21:18-22 tells us the story of the fig tree and people who don't consider the context of the entire chapter can miss the lesson of this story.  In the Bible, the fig tree is used as a type of God's people.  This tree was like the hyper-spiritual chief priests and scribes  who had all of the outward manifestations of religion and godly service (branches and leaves)  but had no fruit  (results of a personal relationship with God).  Please notice that Jesus cursed it at the same time that God blessed people with a personal relationship.
   
   Matthew 21:21-22 tells us the lesson from Jesus is that this difference is due to whether people have true Biblical faith  or not.  All of Romans 11 is an expansion on this lesson.  Within Romans 11 we learn that in order to have fruit  we must receive life from our root  (Jesus) and not try to grow branches and leaves on our own.  True Biblical faith  requires us doing what the Bible tells us to do with the understanding and intention that our obedience only gives God permission to work in and through our life.  It does not dictate if God works, nor how God works, nor when God works.
   
   In contrast, the religious person obeys their religion (or the Bible) and believes that their actions produce the results because they believe that what they do dictate if God works, and/or how God works, and/or when God works.  When that does not work, many then become hyper-spiritual and insist that it takes works beyond what the Bible says in order to produce the Biblical results.  The hyper-spiritual believes that their much religious activity (branches and leaves) makes them more spiritual than the people God blesses.  The people that God blesses are purged (cut back in religious activity) so that more energy is put into producing fruit and less into leaves.  True spiritual fruit requires God working after we 'trust and obey' Him.


2. The rest of Matthew 21 uses a couple of parables and other things to tell us that the people who 'trust and obey' receive God's reward and those who refuse to 'trust and obey' but become religious and hyper-spiritual receive God's judgment.


3. John 12 uses different incidents and gives different lesson details but teaches the same thing.  The people who 'trust and obey' receive God's reward and those who refuse to 'trust and obey' but become religious and hyper-spiritual receive God's judgment.

Returning to the start of our lesson we see that God gave Jesus a job to do and a means to do it.  Jesus is our example of how to live in this flesh using the power of the Holy Ghost.  The job Jesus was given was to show the Jews their King.  The tool that God gave Him was an an ass's colt.  There is a lot of doctrinal truth in the saying of What Did Jesus Do?  However, we need to read the Gospels to see what He would actually do and not believe what some religious person tells us.  Thus, He did not buy a ride that He only needed for a short time but borrowed it.  Also, He did not seek the biggest and badest ride available  but He thanked God for a weak (colt)  ride that was the the meanest, nastiest, most rotten dispositioned ride available  (ass)  .  He did the job given to Him with the tool given to Him and had a thankful attitude.  The people who saw the lesson spiritually understood it.  Those who saw it physically or religiously did not understand it.  God often gives a single lesson that brings death  to one type of person while, at the same time, brings life  to another type of person (2Corinthians 2:16).

The Prideful Error.

1. All through these two chapters, and also throughout the Bible, we see religious men go beyond what God says to do and claim that their actions in this physical world makes them more spiritual than people who do less religious activity.  We also see God bringing destruction on people with that attitude while blessing people who believe God said what He meant and meant what He said.


2. The claim that we should substitute the word ass  with the word 'donkey' is pure pride and hyper-spiritual error.  Claiming that the word ass  is a cuss word is a claim that our God cusses.  Saying that our God does not cuss but that we should not use this word, when it is proper to do so, is a demand that we disobey our God's command for us to be like Him.  Claiming that correcting God's Word by using a 'more spiritual' word is being hyper-spiritual like the people who crucified our Lord.  God never applies this name to a person and neither should we.  However, God does properly identify this animal and so also should we.


3. The hyper-spiritual religious leaders acted like Satan did in Isaiah 14 when he claimed to know more than God and tried to become greater than God.  The Bible tells us the condemnation that Satan received.  History tells us the condemnation that these religious leaders received.  Romans 11 tells us the condemnation that we will receive.
   
   As we saw in these chapters of Matthew and John, the hyper-spiritual religious leaders concentrated on the physical religious actions which caused them to completely miss the spiritual lesson and miss out on the blessings.  When we substitute the word ass  with the word 'donkey' we miss the spiritual lesson.  The word 'donkey' supports the doctrine that we can demand that God gives us the tool that we think we need in order to do the job God gave us.  The word ass  supports the doctrine that we should have a thankful attitude while we do the job God gave us with the tool that God gave us even when that tool is the meanest, nastiest, most rotten dispositioned tool available. 

So: are you waiting for God to deliver the tool that you demand before you do the job he gave you or are you doing the job right now with a thankful heart? The truth of that answer shows if you are hyper-spiritual or not.

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