Welcome to the Daily Blade . The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit , the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil . Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson , and they stand ready to equip men for the fight . Let's sharpen up .
Alright , guys . So this week we are doing a series of episodes called yeah , that's Not what that Means . So I was originally going to be going over the top five most common misapplied and misunderstood scriptures in all the biblical canon , but I'm doubling up today , so it'll end up being six by the time we get to the end of the week . So yesterday I talked about Philippians 4.13 and how we are to rely on Christ in us as opposed to our own strength . Okay , so today we're actually going to hit two separate passages because they have been misapplied and misunderstood in much the
same ways . So we're going to be doing Romans 8 , 28 , an incredibly popular verse , and then Jeremiah 29 , 11 . So I'll read them both now . So I'm going to read Romans 8 , 28 in the CSB . We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God , who are called according to his purpose . Now we've got Jeremiah 29 , 11 . I'm going to read that in the NASB , for I know the plans that I have for you , declares the Lord , plans for prosperity and not for disaster , to give you a future and a hope . And so these two verses , regardless of whatever translation you read them out of , these , have been used by prosperity gospel preachers and word of faith preachers and fake faith healers and people in churches all over the map . They use these things and they're supposed to be telling you like , oh , this is for
you and it doesn't really matter the context , because I'm telling it to you . Also , write me a huge check . But , in a nutshell , the fundamental misunderstanding of these verses is that we , as Christians , are somehow owed success and prosperity and that our lives will just go smoothly . And yeah , that's not what that means . You saw that one coming because in its correct context , neither verse is communicating that . Okay , so let's actually start with Jeremiah 29 , 11 .
Speaker 2So , guys , anytime it's just a good habit to get into Anytime you read a passage of scripture , you need to ask yourself who is this message to . Because in Jeremiah 29 , this is part of a specific promise to a specific group of people at a specific time in history . Okay , this promise was to the Jewish exiles in Babylon . So it was a promise from God that he would not forsake them and that he could and would restore them after 70 years . So let me read this entire section .
Speaker 2So Jeremiah 29 , verses 10 through 14 in the New American Standard Bible , For this is what the Lord says when 70 years for Babylon are complete , I will attend to you and will confirm my promise concerning you to restore you to this place , for I know the plans I have for you . This is the Lord's declaration plans for your well-being , not for disaster , to give you a future and a hope . You will call to me and come and pray to me , and I will listen to you . You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart . I will be found by you . This is the Lord's declaration . And I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you . This is the Lord's declaration I will restore you to the place from which I deported you .
Speaker 2Okay , so , guys , ultimately it's silly for us to use this verse , or this group of verses , as some sort of cover , all blessing for our personal
success in modernity . But now let's turn to Romans 8 , 28 . I'll read it again here . We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God , who are called according to his purpose . Okay , so it is shocking how many people can quote Romans 8 , 28 , but it seems clear that they have never read verses 29 and 30 . So let's go ahead and do that . For those whom he foreknew , he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son , so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren . And these whom he predestined he also called , and these whom he called he also justified . And these whom he justified he also justified , and these whom he justified he also glorified . So from this text we can surmise that Paul accepts that individual human agency is real , but that behind and through it all is God's sovereignty . So there's kind of that , you know , push and pull that a lot of us have struggled with , right , it is God's sovereign purpose to shape us into the image of Christ .
Speaker 2So I actually like this comment from the Holman New Testament commentary . Here the reason is that God and his purpose are the controlling elements of the verse . Paul is clearly subordinating all things to the purpose of God , regardless of how the verse is written . So what the application and context of Jeremiah 29 , 11 and Romans 8 , 28 , and the narrative of the whole Bible shows us is that we are not guaranteed worldly success just because we're Christians . Right , we aren't guaranteed smooth seas , in fact many Christians , as we see again the narrative of scripture , even the words of Jesus we're going to suffer , and we will suffer mightily and unjustly , and it's just going to happen to us . It's basically a guarantee , but the ultimate purpose of our lives is not to have whatever we deem as success
. We are to be conformed to the life God has for us , and that it will indeed be good . All right guys , come back here tomorrow and we'll wrap up with one of the most annoyingly misapplied passages in the entire Bible . And if you're a pacifist , please make sure you come back tomorrow .
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