Biblical Teaching

 

The Secret is about getting things orattracting health and wealth out of life and not worshiping the “only true God” (John 17:3) of the Bible.

Paul makes it clear that love of self is on the top list of things that displeases God:

◦          2 Timothy 3:1, 2, 4 says, “But know this that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money…lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God”

Biblical love is quite different from the type of love espoused by the world.

Biblical love is characterized as selfless and unconditional (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) while the love characterized by the world is as we see in The Secret, is a self-centered form of love or “self-love.”

Romans 13:9-10 says, “For the commandments [against] …adultery …murder …stealing …coveting, and any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

◦          What this verse is saying, in context to “others”, is treat other people as well as you would treat yourself. This is not a command to “love yourself.”

John 13:34-35 says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

◦          Notice that the command is “new”. The believer is to love others based on the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ and what He did for us. This sacrificial love is a sign to the world as well as to others that we are Christ’s disciples. (1 John 3:14)

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave…”

◦          God showed the “ultimate of ultimates” of love by giving His Sons life for you and me.

•        John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

John 12:25 says, “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

This is a far cry from what The Secret teaches. Self-centeredness revolves around one thing, self and when that’s all you care about; you will do anything to make you happy at the expense of everything and everybody else.

Whereas the Bible teaches “[Gods] will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, The Secret teaches “My will be done on earth…”

As for being told to “tend to You first…” in The Secret, the Bible gives the example of Jesus in John 13:3-7 washing the feet of His disciples.

John 13:4-5 says, “[Jesus] rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.”

Here we have the Creator of the universe, God in human flesh bending down, girding Himself with a towel and taking on the role of a servant ready to pour Himself out and serve others.

Jesus was “poured out” as an “offering” according to the following verses:

◦          Psalm 22:14 says, “I am poured out like water...”

◦          Isaiah 53:12 says, “Because He poured out His soul unto death.”

◦          Ephesians 5:2 says, “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma.” (emphasis added)

◦          Hebrews 9:28 says that “Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.”

Paul was also “poured out as a drink offering”:

◦          Philippians 2:17 says, “Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.”

◦          2 Timothy 4:6 says, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering…”

The danger becomes when we become like the Dead Sea, always taking in and never giving, never “pouring” out.

In other words, the Dead Sea has an inlet (the Jordan River flows into it) but has no outlet (no place to pour out or the water to exit) and is dead thus nothing can live there; it cannot support life.

Moving on to the E in the acronym S.E.C.R.E.T., let’s talk about Everything’s God, But God.