Faith Matters; Jesus Never Said

The culture today is full of nice phrases to help people feel better, but how many of them are truly Bible based? Not everything the world tells us about God is true. For instance, Jesus gets credited with a lot of statements or ideas that He never said. 

“If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.”

Augustine of Hippo

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1. Follow Your Heart

Musicians and songwriters love this kind of language and use the heart to represent our emotions, desires or internal guide. Jeremiah 17:9 has a different message about the heart.

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Jeremiah 17:9

In other words, if you follow your heart, you’ll just be led astray.

Jesus said “Follow Me.”

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2. Be true to yourself / love yourself

Loving ourselves isn’t something most of us need to be taught. When Jesus said the second-greatest commandment was to “love your neighbor as yourself,” He assumed that we already know how to love ourselves. We already do that too well.

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Matthew 16:24

Jesus said you “must deny [your]self”

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3. Live your truth

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The overall message of live your truth is to not let society’s norms and expectations influence and overwhelm you. You should remain steadfast in who you are and treasure what you have. The message is a noble one on the surface; of course, we should resist negative peer pressure and be steady in ourselves. However, as commonly applied, live your truth largely ignores the teachings of the Bible.

But truth is not subjective. It is not dependent on what is known, felt, or experienced by any particular person. It is not malleable, and it cannot be molded and shaped into a personalized form to suit us. 

Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’

John 14:6

Jesus said “I am the truth”

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4. You deserve to be happy / I Will Bless You If you …

Now there’s a little truth in this. God will bless us. But often we think of a blessing as getting something we want. If I just pray hard enough for this job, marriage, health, money, or whatever then God will have to give it to me. If I just believe and ask enough. If I just name it and claim it.

God does want us to be happy and He wants to bless us. But not the way that many of us may want. We will still have tough roads and difficult days. The promise of the Gospel isn’t an easy life, rather one in which we do not have to walk alone.

 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Phillipians 4:11-13

When we are living in fellowship with Him, we can expect to be happy regardless of our temporary circumstances. Our goal is the prize awaiting us in eternity, so we can endure earthly difficulties while remaining full of hope.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

John 15:11

Jesus said “My joy may be in you.”

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5. God will never give you more than you can handle.

Jesus tells His disciples the world would hate them, persecute them, and even kill them for proclaiming the Gospel. He then tells them He is going back to Heaven to be with the Father, and it’s better that He leaves so that the Holy Spirit can come live inside of their hearts.

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

Where did the phrase come from, anyway?

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

Paul said you wouldn’t be TEMPTED beyond what you can bear. Temptation vs. Suffering.

What Paul is NOT saying here is that believers would have an easy life, with nothing ever going wrong. Instead, Paul writes about the temptation to sin. Temptation is not from God, but He does give us the power to overcome it through the Holy Spirit.

The real question becomes: on whose power will you rely when trials, sorrow, and temptations inevitably visit you in this life? Your own? Or will you choose Jesus and His Holy Spirit?

Jesus said “I have overcome the world.”

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6. You get what you deserve.

Of all the statements on this list, “you get what you deserve” is likely the least Biblical! We have a slew of other cultural idioms that reflect this same idea:

• “What goes around comes around.”
• “Your past is going to come back to haunt you.”
• “You made your bed, now you have to sleep in it.”

This transactional view of life says there are consequences for actions, there is retribution for wrongs, and we get what we pay for. The concept of karma comes to mind.

Karma says you get what you deserve. Jesus says I will give you what you need. 

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

That’s what grace is. Grace is getting what you need, not what you deserve. 

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

The reality is we all deserve death. That’s what we chose. Through our sin, we have willfully chosen something other than God. We deserve, by our own choice, death. But by God’s grace through the work of Jesus, we receive what we need and He takes what we deserve. 

Jesus said “My grace is sufficient.”

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7. Good people go to heaven

Many people follow this line of thinking, including some Christians I know. But who defines what is good? Hint: It’s not us.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 3:23

Jesus makes it clear that some “good people” will be surprised to find themselves in hell. Here are His own words about that terrible scenario.

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Matthew 7:22-23

That’s not something you want to hear from Jesus. It’s not enough to attend church, do good deeds or be an upstanding citizen. It’s not enough to know about Jesus. We need to know Jesus.

Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

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This list of things Jesus never said shows it’s easy to take Jesus’ words out of context and make them say something they don’t. We do it all the time. But in doing so we’ve ended up with many twisted and often dangerous views. These things that Jesus never said have caused great harm to our faith and our witness to those around us.

When we read Jesus’ words we need to put aside our own bias and read what He said in context. Look at the verses before and after and see what He’s really saying. Let the Bible change you rather than twisting it to support views. It’s better that way and will lead to a growing and flourishing faith. It’s time to leave behind these things Jesus never said and instead pursue the real Jesus.