Scripture 1: Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

Why its misused: This is a statement from God to His people, the exiles at a particular time in history. It is not a general statement that necessarily applies to all Christians. In fact, this particular verse highlights a common misunderstanding of Scripture in that people often try to appropriate that which God says to others to themselves.

Scripture 2: Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”

Why its misused: This passage is often used to support the doctrine of eternal security but an analysis of the texts shows this may well be misguided. An analysis of the passage appears here.

Scripture 3: Romans 5:20 “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound”

Why its misused: Many people understand grace to be “God’s unlimited tolerance for sin” as suggested by this verse above. However two key points are necessary to understanding. First, God tells us what grace actually does “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:11-12). Second, the context here is to introduction of the law. This reflected a transition from the conscience against which man could be held accountable to a much more extensive set of laws. Hence, God’s grace increased to help men live according to the newly introduced and expanded law. It has nothing to do with the idea that God’s grace is designed to facilitate continuing and intentional sin.

Scripture 4: Romans 3:10-11 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.”

Why its misused: While there is no doubt that no one is righteous according to God’s standard, however what it does not mean is that no one ever does anything righteous. In fact in Scripture, God calls many people righteous. Why is this? Because they sought to follow God and trusted God for their salvation knowing they could not live up to what God required. But that did not mean that the people that God called righteous, never did anything righteous. Furthermore there are many in Scripture who have sought God with no explicit call of God. However, there are no people who sought Jesus Christ, nor have any truly sought God in the way in which God desires (and requires) people to come to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Scripture 5: Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Why its misused: The focus of this statement is not necessarily temporal or earthly good, but eternal good. Hence people can become frustrated if they believe that they should have the best in this world when they love God. Our God warns us that focus on earthly treasures is misplacing our focus. But even more important is to understand that God may elect to cause or allow to happen, bad things in our life, especially if these will draw us closer to Him spiritually.

Scripture 6: John 14:16“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever”

Why its misused: There are two issues with this passage. First, note here how the Holy Spirit and how He is described. He is not described as a controller yet many think, apart from the reading of the rest of of Scripture (ex. Acts 7:51, Ephesians 4:30, 1 Thessalonians 5:19), that the Holy Spirit and His leading is irresistible. But second, in the KJV rendering of this passage above, it states clearly that the Holy Spirit MAY abide with you forever. The word abide is in the subjunctive mood; the mood of possibility. It is certainly God’s intent that the Holy Spirit will remain with us forever but it is not a certainty. We have already seen others in Scripture drive the Holy Spirit off (ex. 1 Samuel 16:14). Yet many Bible versions rewrite the use of the verb tense showing possibility to certainty. We must be diligent not to resist, grieve, or quench the Holy Spirit.

Scripture 7: Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Why its misused: Proverbs are generally true statements, not exclusively true statements. Here our willingness to plant Godly seeds can have great value, providing a foundation for spiritual life, but every child must personally choose to walk with God. It is not true that EVERY child that is trained in the way he (or she) should go will never depart. Scripture addresses that people will indeed depart from the faith.

Scripture 8: Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”

Why its misused: Misuse of this verse actually occurs more by unbelievers than believers but it happens in both populations of individuals. This was never, in context, purely about not judging others. Read the rest of the context: “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” Note that the claim here is that a person is a hypocrite. But both products mentioned in this passage (beam, mote) are wood products. It is not hypocritical to tell someone not to get drunk so long as i don’t do it. But because the subtleties here have been missed many, including Christians believe what is being taught here is not to judge anyone else’s behavior if you have a single sin. This would make all the judging that Paul does of those in the churches who are sinning, also a sin. The context of hypocritical judging is what is being addressed as shown in other passages as well (ex. Romans 2:21-23). One final thing. When we judge the actions of others, it should never be to condemn, but to help. If we judge with a motive to exhibit our perceived self-righteousness, it is we who are in sin.

Scripture 9: Romans 9:15 “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”

Why its misused: When looking at this verse, it is critical to look at the underlying Greek verb tenses because many people take this for the tautology “I [God] will do whatever i want.” However the verb tense pairs are “future tense, present tense” here. Thus, instead of God saying He will do whatever He wants, it really says God will keep doing [future tense] what He is currently doing [present tense]. It therefore is a statement about the faithfulness of God, not about God randomly choosing those to whom He will extend mercy and compassion to.

Scripture 10: John 19:30 “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”

Why its misused: The words “it is finished” have been used by so many different people to mean so many different things, that it is the source of many errant doctrines. Some people understand “it is finished” to mean that all men are saved because Christ “has already done everything.” Some people understand “it is finished” to mean that all believers are saved regardless of what they do because Christ “has already done everything.” But this is not the essence of what “it is finished means.” What “it is finished” means, according to the lexicon, is “everything has been accomplished which by the appointment of the Father as revealed in the Scriptures I must do and bear.” Thus, the idea of “it is finished” means the work that God gave Jesus to do. As we state elsewhere, we still have a life to live before God and any idea that is irrelevant because “it is finished” ignores the breadth of Scripture.