Textus Receptus. You may have heard of it. It’s Latin for: received text, and usually refers to a set of Greek translations of the New Testament mainly from the 16th century. But let’s look at the actual wording and ponder it for a bit: textus = texts and receptus = received. The question that forms the basis for this week’s blog is this: Are the texts received?

   In a study on Christianity in America recently done by the Pew Research we can see that the facts are in and its not looking good for the American church. Why? Let’s dive into the numbers and then discuss a little shall we class?

  According to a recent survey done by Pew from July of 2023 to March of 2024, 61% Christians only read the Bible during religious services. About 9% about once a year, and about 20% read more than once a week, and 7% about twice a month. What is interesting when you go through this list is that the Religions get broken down by mainline branches, such as Protestant, Catholic and others when you get to the Protestants you see it’s about 41% of Protestants read their Bibles more than once a week. While 37% seldom or never. And 11% each to several times a year, or month. So when you combine the 3 groups of less Bible reading you actually come up with a MAJORITY of Protestants do not read their Bibles but a few times a month on average. While a MINORITY of Protestants read it multiple times a week.

So it is fair to say about 41% or less of Protestant Christians in the United States read, AND study their Bibles. Another Pew Research Poll found that only about 14% of American Christians read their Bible daily. So why is this? If we are honest with ourselves we may have to go back to the words the Holy Spirit gave Paul in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” Are we seeing that love grow cold and and the desire of God’s people turning from Him and His Word to other things? Makes you think.

While one can easily become a pessimistic and depressed when looking across the landscape of American Christianity, it’s so important to stop and take the time to honestly ask ourselves a hard question: How did we get here as the church of Jesus Christ? We don’t read His word, let alone study into things, we don’t live it out, and worse, we choose to neglect it for other pursuits! Multitudes of verses in the Old Testament and New share warnings of what happens when we neglect God’s Word and instead follow our own desires.

Problems like, homosexuality, woke Christianity, divorce and remarriage, and idolatry can all freely take hold of today’s Christians when we fail to grasp 2 Timothy 3:16-17. If God’s Word is good for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction of righteousness than we are fast seeing what happens when God’s Word is kept on a shelf. Left to our own devices and thoughts even a follower of Christ becomes someone he shouldn’t be. So what’s the solution to this?

God clearly shows in His Word paths for his people to follow, and paths to avoid. Issues of death, life, morality, salvation, evangelism, marriage, child-raising, are all in the Bible for us to learn and follow. The problem is we don’t take the time to read it and study out how we need to be as followers of Christ. We get busy with life, and can become distracted by simple things and the Devil will use any means he can to separate us from God and His Word. C.S. Lewis said it best in Screwtape Letters: “… It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts,…” The Apostle James shares that fundamental truth in James 1:14 “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” And how drawn away we can be when we are not close to God, walking with Christ and in His word! Take a look…

More numbers from Pew show this: that only about 20% of American Christians believe the Bible is the Word of God, while only 74% of American Christians even believe IN God! Again, its no wonder churches and believers are where we are at today. We’ve gone to church, said all the right things but have not been growing in our walk by being in God’s Word! How can we truly yearn to grow and change in our lives today better reflect Christ when we can’t even grasp that the Bible IS God’s Word? Sobering indeed!

So is there a path back from this edge? A light to guide us off the rocky shores? You better believe it, and it’s this example found in Scripture: the Ephesian Church. If you turn to Revelation 2:1-7 you see where Jesus was sharing about the church in Ephesus their forgetting their first love. He didn’t mince words either, the “thou hast left” phrase in Greek is aphiēmi; which means to lay aside, or forsake. So ask yourself: Have we left something? Did we lay aside our desire for eternity and communion in God’s Word for something else? It can be argued that we have, and we’ve replaced our first love with distractions as Christians. So to get back to God we have to do some things don’t we?

I’ll ask the introductory question again; Is the Textus Receptus? If we are honest we would have to say we haven’t been receiving it very well for some time now. We get squeamish with verses about God’s judgement. Fearful talking about hell with our friends. Ashamed to talk about Jesus being the only way. Or even just indifferent to calling things culture says are “in” by the Biblical term sin! And it’s probably time to start reconsidering and repenting before we will one day face Jehovah God we say we serve, but don’t read about.

Many countless men and women have suffered and died for Christ this whole world over for almost two thousand years now; and when the last generations looked to the next to pick up that cross and carry it forth for the Lord who are they going to find ready? We don’t worship the Bible, instead, we honor it for what it is. It is God’s Word, Holy Spirit breathed while yet humanly written. Full of direction for the child of God and clear teaching to follow. When we stop receiving the text, we ultimately stop receiving the Author. Those two go hand in hand.

So while you answer the question of today’s blog, think what you need to do if the answer is no. We have all the clear teachings in Scripture to show us how to get back to that right relationship with God and His Word. So follow it, heed, it, study deeper and then be the child of God who uses his spiritual sword correctly! I’ll leave you with the last stanza of “Cling to the Bible” it is simply this: Lamp for the feet that in byways have wandered,
Guide for the youth that would otherwise fall;
Hope for the sinner whose life has been squandered,
Staff for the agèd, and best book of all. Praise God and keep studying class!