It is possible, of course, to make the Bible say anything you want it to say, and that is something that is quite common in Christian circles. All that is necessary is to find a verse that seems to support your point, and then ignore its context—either its immediate context (of the surrounding verses), or its larger context within its passage, chapter, book or Testament.

Examples of this error are endless. Here’s one you’ve no doubt heard: Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount: “Do not judge so that you will not be judged” (Matt. 7:1). If that was the only verse in the Bible, we might conclude that Christians should never make a judgment about anyone. And that is what some professing Christians actually think. (I’ve even heard some claim that no Christian can serve on a jury, or earn a living as a judge.)

From an often-overlooked verse in Mark’s Gospel, we can learn something very valuable about Jesus’ character, and about ourselves. Here’s the verse:

Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them (Mark 6:48).

The incident almost seems a bit comical. The Twelve were simply trying to accomplish the task Jesus had given them. We can read just a few verses earlier: “Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida” (Mark 6:45). And off they went. As they obeyed, however, they ran into opposition. “The wind was against them.”

Imagine that you were one of the twelve men who spent three-and-a-half years following Jesus, seeing His every miracle and listening to His every word. Near the end of those years, you celebrate an annual feast with Him known as “Passover” that you’ve celebrated every year of your life and that has been part of your culture for hundreds of years.

At some point during that meal, imagine Jesus taking some of the bread (probably unleavened), blessing and breaking it, and then giving everyone pieces to eat, which He explains is “My body which is given for you” (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 14:24). He also tells everyone that they should do this in His remembrance (Luke 22:19). Finally, imagine Him then taking a cup of wine, giving thanks, and then similarly passing it around as He explains that it “is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:28). What would you have been thinking? Years later, the apostle Paul would retell that story and its significance:

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes (1 Cor. 11:23-26).

Clearly, from what both Jesus and Paul said, the central symbolism of the Lord’s Supper revolves around Jesus’ sacrificial death. His body was broken and His blood was shed. And clearly, Jesus wanted all of His disciples to remember His sacrificial death, perpetually into the future, in the bread and wine. All Christians agree on those fundamental facts.

The title of “Lord”—which denotes someone who should be obeyed—is found over 350 times within the 3,180 verses of Romans through Revelation, and most often in reference to Jesus. So, at least one out of ten New Testament verses written to Christians mentions Jesus as Lord, that is, as one to obey. Remember Jesus once asked: “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:36).

Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter (Matt. 7:21, NASB).

That well-known warning from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ—spoken near the end of His Sermon on the Mount—could not be clearer. He was, indisputably, talking about what is required to enter heaven. Calling Him Lord is not enough. Rather, one must “do the will” of Jesus’ Father “who is in heaven.” That is, to enter heaven, one must do the will of the One who rules heaven. Heaven is for the holy.

In my Christian life over the past 49 years, at least three times I’ve watched a wave of “deliverance ministry” sweep through a segment of the church. The first time was when I was just a relatively new Christian, in the late 1970s. A man named Don Basham, who was part of a group of five popular teachers based in Ft. Lauderdale who jointly published a magazine called “New Wine,” wrote a book titled Deliver Us from Evil. It became quite popular within the growing “Charismatic Renewal” that was sweeping through the denominational world.

I read that book and learned that I could actually cast demons out of myself. As an adolescent male, I also realized from reading that book that I had a demon of lust. So, I followed its instructions for self-deliverance.

The book explained that, as any demons came out of me, I might choke, gag or even vomit. Sure enough, when I commanded the demon of lust to come out of me, I gagged. Wow! I felt it! It was the real thing! I was delivered from the demon of lust!

But there was just one small problem. It wasn’t very long before I realized the demon wasn’t gone. I found myself still struggling with immodest women. Had the demon returned? How did it gain entrance back into me so quickly? Should I do another self-deliverance?