Does the Bible condemn jewelry?
Here’s a background to "plaiting of hair, and of putting around of things of gold, or of putting on of garments," which some church leaders try to deploy to make many feel condemned for beautifying themselves with gold and such--
For believers: Did you notice that something was amiss where the devil quoted parts of Psalms 91 to our Saviour Jesus when he tempted Him in the wilderness (Matthew 4?) It reads:
"5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:
‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and,‘ In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
This passage that Satan quoted is from Psalms 91:11-12. The complete verses read:
11 “For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. 12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
The devil left out "To keep you in all your ways."!
You see, the devil and his agents cannot quote Scripture completely or in its correct context because it would be counterproductive to do so. People will be saved! Jumping down from the pinnacle of the temple to prove that He is the Son of God definitely wasn't on our Saviour's agenda. He knew that He is the Son of God and didn't have to kowtow to the demands of the world to prove it. Jumping to prove His Sonship isn't His way and God's angels "keep you in all your ways."
For us in Christ, the thoughts of the Holy Spirit in us become our action; for all who believe, having Christ as our righteousness, "your ways" is the path of righteousness which Christ our Shepherd put and leads us on; it is NEVER our own righteousnesses from works of the law or things that Satan and his ministers behind some church pulpits say we should do or not do in order to prove that we are children of God— such as attending public gatherings during a pandemic when we know that there is every chance of getting infected with a deadly virus.
The devil subtly left this crucial part of Psalm 91:11- "To keep you in all your ways" out of his persuasion tactic. This is what he still does through his agents in some places of worship today, questioning the righteousness and sonship of those whom our Lord God has made His children — righteous in Christ, by using the same "If you are the Son of God" refrain that he did with our Saviour, and pointing believers to the law and things to do to prove their sonship; his severely-religious and seemingly pious agents quote Bible passages out of context and omit parts for their own shady agenda—
Christ's situation in the wilderness where Satan tempted Him did not portray His glory and majesty as the Son of God. He was hungry. In the eyes of the world that did not know Him, this Man certainly could not be the Son of God. But His situation when He walked the earth as Man did not change the Truth of who He is. He is the Son of God and did not need to turn stones to bread or jump off the pinnacle of the Temple to prove it, just as we who are in Him today are children of God despite our many imperfections and "wilderness" situations where Satan's messengers in pastors’ clothing try to make us feel that we are not children of God with their “You call yourself a child of God yet you are still xyz…” accusations and quoting Scriptures out of context.
1 Peter 3:3 is a favourite of those who try to twist the Scripture to suit their own shady purposes, at least in Nigeria. It says of women:
"whose adorning -- let it not be that which is outward, of plaiting of hair, and of putting around of things of gold, or of putting on of garments,"
Many like to pounce on the "plaiting of hair" and "putting around of things of gold" parts, forbidding their church members from doing these things; but just like Satan the Accuser, they conveniently leave out "putting on of garments." If anyone is going to interpret this verse as meaning "don't do hair," and "don't wear jewellery" and such, then they must stick with it all and not wear any garments: go NAKED everywhere. The verses before and after give us the full context of this message. Take a text out of its context and you'll be left with a con. See vs. 1–4 (TPT) for the full context:
“And now let me speak to the wives. Be devoted to your own husbands, so that even if some of them do not obey the Word of God, your kind conduct may win them over without you saying a thing. 2 For when they observe your pure, godly life before God, it will impact them deeply.
3–4 Let your true beauty come from your inner personality, not a focus on the external. For lasting beauty comes from a gentle and peaceful spirit, which is precious in God’s sight and is much more important than the outward adornment of elaborate hair, jewelry, and fine clothes.”
In essence, it is more important for your residence to be safe, welcoming and beautiful on the inside, but that does not mean depriving the outside of beautification or adornment.
How we make our hair and what we wear cannot "improve our righteousness" before God neither can they make us stop being children of God. Good works are EVIDENCES of our becoming children of God, not CONDITIONS. Having Christ as your righteousness and not living right is as impossible as jumping into the sea naked without getting wet. When your believing is right, right living will follow; we GET TO be transformed to right living in all areas, including what we wear and how we talk, and not by human might or power but by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18)
See James 2:10. “For whosoever shall keep the whole law yet stumble at one point, he is guilty of all.” Of ourselves, everyone is guilty of all— Christ’s word to the rich young ruler shows us that there is always “one thing you lack” in everyone who is trying to inherit the kingdom of God by obeying the law. If one is keeping the law and doing things like these to become, remain or prove that he is a child of God, that one rejects the gift of righteousness that Christ died that we might FREELY have. Galatians 2:21 says:
“I refuse to reject the grace of God. But if a person is put right with God through the Law, it means that Christ died for nothing!”
The one under law, doing anything at all by his own human might or power in order to become right with God or to prove to the world that he is, has to keep ALL of the law or else face the curse (Deut. 28:15,) but no one can, “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands…” says Romans 3:20. Believers, this is how we are made (and remain) sons of God: John 1:
"12 but as many as did receive Him to them He gave authority to become sons of God -- to those believing in His name, 13 who -- not of blood nor of a will of flesh, nor of a will of man but -- of God were begotten."
See the NIRV: 12 "Some people did accept Him and did believe in His name. He gave them the right to become children of God. 13 To be a child of God has nothing to do with human parents. Children of God are not born because of human choice or because a husband wants them to be born. They are born because of what God does.”
To "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" is to believe Romans 4:25— “Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised back to life to prove that He had made us right with God!”
Jeremiah prophesied of our Saviour long ago saying of Christ "...And this is the name by which He will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”" (Jer.23:6)
To believe entails receiving Christ as our righteousness and forsaking that which comes from our puny attempts at keeping the law and doing things that we think will make us holy. This is how we are made righteous in God's sight: 2 Cor. 5:21 says of God -
"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
Also Romans 5:19- "By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous."
No more, no less. When we have Christ as our righteousness and forsake ours which comes from law-keeping, eschewing jewellery and wearing only long skirts and baggy suits, The Lord our Righteousness Himself in us determines everything- how we live, how we dress, how we give and how we love (these are works of faith) - because "It is no longer I who live but Christ that lives in me."
If you have received and believe Christ, having Him as your righteousness and not yours from keeping the Ten Commandments or eschewing jewellery in order to prove your holiness to the world, then you are redeemed; the ransomed of the Lord. He leads us the path of righteousness. Isaiah 35:8 says of we who walk this road:
Whoever walks the road, even though he is a fool (degree of foolishness is inconsequential,) shall not go astray— and only because “The Lord is my Shepherd…” Notice this highway is for “the redeemed” (definition: to gain or regain possession of (something) in exchange for payment)? Bought back from the slave market of sin and death, not by works such as not doing hair or not wearing jewellery, but with the price of the blood of Jesus. The Lord our Shepherd Himself keeps us His sheep from going astray, not our usage of the knowledge of good and evil deployed towards the attainment of godliness aka to “be like God”— remember the tree of the same name which kills? The tree is a typology for the law which many try to obey in order to develop godly traits aka “be like God”.) The law (letter) kills and is the same knowledge.
Our status as "children of God" isn't dependent on who we're descended from or human effort at doing what is right. It is of God's power and dependent only on receiving and believing Jesus Christ.
Believers, when you try to make yourself a "child of God" or prove that you are by doing certain things which some "If you are the Son of God...." person tells you to do when Christ has already paid the price for our sonship, you are dashing yourself from the pinnacle of the temple! Galatians 5:4 says-
“For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.”
This means that if you believe that it is your lack of jewellery and make-up and law-keeping/what you do or don’t do that makes you right with God and a candidate for His Salvation, you can call on the name of Jesus all you want but it will be an effort in futility. You can’t mix law and grace; the law did not come through Jesus Christ. Grace and Truth did. And this Truth is not the Ten Commandments. Grace (Christ Himself) is the Truth that makes free. Galatians 3:10 says:
“But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.””
No one can obey any in his own human might, much less all — “There is none good but God” says Christ. No good in man of himself. The one who thinks he is standing or producing any good by himself is like self-trusting pre-denials Peter whose thoughts did the “exalts itself above the knowledge of God” thing; he thought that Jesus was wrong and that he had knowledge superior to that of his Maker. Peter meant well. He knew 100% that he could never deny Jesus aka break the greatest commandments UNDER LAW which we who believe are not under —-
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart….” and “You’d shall love your neighbour as yourself”
Also the Eighth Commandment: “You shall not bear false witness…”
To digress a bit, did you know that no one on earth can obey either one of the above greatest commandments? Here’s some proof— wouldn’t you be relieved to find out that it was another house on your street that caught fire with family members still trapped in it and not yours as you were previously told? Well, love your neighbour as yourself. If we did, we would not feel any form of relief at the safety of our loved ones after the mix-up was cleared up. Let’s not even start with loving God with all of the pie-chart called our heart.
Peter seemed to be making good on his resolve to stand and prove Jesus wrong — he slashed off the ear of Malchus the high priest's servant in Gethsemane when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus- a dead work (driven by human effort) according to that which many are doing to “please God” today; a work which Christ did not and still does not want— Christ healed the man’s ear. And we all know how things panned out— self-trusting Peter denied Jesus, three times, and the first time to a simple servant girl. That trust in self to produce even an atom of good (be like God) is what opens the door for Satan to sift a person like wheat for the good that he claims to possess when Christ says— “There is none good but God.”
Recall that like Peter, Judas too committed the sin of betraying Jesus on the night of His passion? On his part, Peter stopped believing in what he could do by himself to be godly (be like God) and trusted Christ to save him. But Judas depended on his ability to do what the law (knowledge of good and evil) commands to absolve himself of his sin; plodding on in self-righteousness to get right with God as Judas did after he realised his own sin, that only serves to put one in Judas’ depression and suicide mode. John 10:10 says—
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
The sequence of Satan’s action in the above passage is no coincidence— before Satan can kill and destroy, he has to steal the word first, and the word is righteousness by faith in Christ: this is the crux of the gospel. Satan’s modus operandi since Eden has been to get man focused on getting godliness attained through human effort (the arm of flesh) at keeping the law which kills and is the knowledge of good and evil. Satan’s way seems good to man, just as eating of the tree seemed good to Eve, but in reality, it is the way which Proverbs 14:12 speaks of—
“There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”
Believers, don't let anyone deceive you into coming under the curse with incomplete or 'out of context' Bible passages! If you take a 'text' out of its 'context,' you will be left with a 'con!'
The Holy Spirit will teach you all things.
Believe Right and you will Live Right.
Some people worry about how the gospel of Christ- Grace: God's undeserved, unmerited favour - might cause other people to sin. Notice other people, but not the one pointing fingers. These ones act like everyone (except themselves) wants to wallow in sins. They try to introduce the Law of Moses to the gospel which is Grace and ONLY Grace, and are calling this "neither cold nor hot" horrid mixture that is neither Law nor Grace "a balanced message."
Grace is a Person and His name is Jesus Christ. He does not need anybody to "balance" Him in order to put believers in check concerning sins. In fact, but for God’s mercy, like Peter who thought that he was standing or walking uprightly by himself until Satan came a-sifting, of ourselves, we would all be wallowing in horrid sins but for God’s mercy. God did not send Christ to the world to condemn the world for its sins but to SAVE from sin and death in hell. Because we trust Christ to save us from sin and death and not our useless human effort/arm of flesh at being godly (be like God) or not sinning, we simply cannot continue to live in sin— if we did, it would mean that Christ failed in His job description:
“He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds." Titus 2:14.
Also Matthew 1:21— “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
2 Corinthians 3:18 says- “But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed to the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
False teachers or preachers of Satan’s doctrine trust the arm of flesh (human effort) at keeping the law (the knowledge of good and evil) that will fail to transform the sinner to being godly (be like God). Such distrust the power of the Holy Spirit to transform the sinner who believes to right living but trust human effort aka the arm of flesh to achieve godliness.
Believer, Believe Right. See in God’s word the typology of Sarah and Hagar as the two covenants of Law and Grace in Galatians 4. Sarah (Grace) did not need Hagar (Law) to raise Isaac (the church.) Grace is enough. Without Him, all will crumple into the sins-ridden mass of “none good” flesh that man is of himself. So let’s not be like Peter, trusting in self and disbelieving Christ his Maker on the matter of his then-upcoming denials; not realising that it is by God’s mercy that man is not consumed by horrid sins and even calamity as it was with Job who thought that he was prosperous because of his own self-produced righteousnesses and good works. That trust in self for the attainment of good is what opens the door for Satan to sift a person like wheat for the good that he claims to be able to do by himself when Christ says —
“There is none good but God.”
Proverbs 27:19 tells us— “Just as water reflects the face, so one human heart reflects another.”
We are all exactly the same in terms of our humanity or ability to be good (be like God) which is non-existent; just ask Adam and Eve who followed that seemingly moral but actually prideful and deathly teaching of Satan aka “dependence on even an atom of human effort for the attainment of godliness through keeping the law which kills and is the knowledge of good and evil like the tree of the same name.”
Christ’s blood is the only difference between “the righteous” and “the wicked.” The earlier we realise this and put our trust in Christ alone, the better for us. It takes God’s Grace to stand, beloved. If we are not wallowing in copious sins, it is because of God’s mercy— the skeleton that is propping many up from devolving into the helpless mass of sinful flesh that man is of himself. All have sinned and the wages of sin is death. What we all deserved was death preceded by its symptoms of earthly ills. Thank God that the verse “all have sinned” does not end there. our justification is in Christ alone—
“since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God, and are being justified [declared free of the guilt of sin, made acceptable to God, and granted eternal life] as a gift by His [precious, undeserved] grace, through the redemption [the payment for our sin] which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,” Romans 3:23-24
Christ says “There is none good but God.”
See God’s word concerning why you and I who believe Jesus are not wallowing in horrid sins and Job-type calamities, or denying Jesus right now—
12 "So beware if you think it could never happen to you, lest your pride becomes your downfall. 13 We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust Him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously." 1 Corinthians 10 (TPT)
If God was not screening and filtering, those people who think they are standing by their own self-discipline and morality, they would be consumed by sins like Peter with his copious denials. And calamity like Job. All humanity is the same— none good but God. Christ’s blood is the only difference between “the righteous” and “the wicked.” God’s word in Proverbs 27:19 tells us—
“Just as water reflects the face, so one human heart reflects another.”
The same way you see your face in the mirror, well, open up and compare your heart/humanity to that of any other and it is no different from that of a pastor and the vilest offender in the world. Identical. None good but God. We are all exactly the same in terms of our humanity or ability to be good (like God) which is non-existent. But because God is still preventing Satan from charging many to court to defend that confidence that they put in their humanity or sift them like wheat as he did Peter, many among us think we are better than others like pre-denials Peter who said to Jesus right in the presence of the other disciples—
“Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you.” Matthew 26:33.
We all know how that panned out. He denied Jesus, with swearing and cursing. God’s restraining hand of mercy is why many who challenge God or have a thought that “exalts itself against the knowledge of God” — thinking they are good or can do anything to be acceptable to God by themselves, or that they are not consumed by heinous sins like Peter and Job-type calamities like Job who lifted up his good works and obedience as why calamity should not befall him, until He saw God’s grace. That kind of “I am good and can never do that kind of thing” mindset of pride in self is what opens the door for Satan to sift a person like wheat for the good that he claims to be when Christ is saying—
“There is none good but God.”
So let he that is standing take heed lest he falls. Never trust yourself. Trust Christ.
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