05/08/2023
*JUDGMENT AT THE HOUSE OF GOD*
*1PETER 4:17*
*For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? (KJV)*
The harm, a wrong bible interpretation can cause is very great. If the message of salvation is wrongly interpreted, men will not be saved. When saved people are taught wrongly, they cannot grow and become effective ministers of Christ. A falsely interpreted scripture can stay and be passed on to generations without any of them noticing that error. An example is the interpretation of Deuteronomy 22:5, “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God”. A doctrine has been built on this verse to demonize women who put on trousers. This is a clear example of picking a verse out of context and making the verse say what it was not meant to say. There is no mention of trousers or skirts in this verse. Dressing is cultural. Reading the whole of chapter 25, you will notice many things Moses said that were for his specific audience not a general law for the man in Christ. It is hypocritical to pick verse 5 and make a huge doctrine out of it.
Another example of picking scripture out of context is our opening text. Our opening text has been interpreted to mean that judgment for sins will start
from the church. They often interpret the difficulties and misfortune of some believers as God’s judgment in the house of God. This interpretation is far from what is accurate. In order to rightly interpret a text, we must read the pretext and the post text to understand the context. Reading from verse 12, you will notice it was talking about the suffering of believers or the persecution they were facing. It was never about their sins or punishment from God. The judgment Apostle Peter was talking about was the persecution they were facing. They were being judged by
