Some of you may recall the story of Zeb, the young boy in Alabama who was renowned for his marksmanship. He was considered the finest rifle shot in the entire state. The evidence of his talent was seen in the hundreds of circles painted on barns, rocks, trees and houses, each with a bullet hole right in the center of the bull’s-eye. The population was amazed at his talent, and he was the subject of many a conversation around a camp-fire on a cold winter night.
If there was anything negative about this famous phenomenon, it was his boasting, and that was his eventual downfall. There was one skeptical member of the community who grew tired of Zeb's bragging. He decided to follow him into the hills one day to discover the true measure of his fabled accuracy. Here is what he saw:
The young man would take aim at a tree or a barn, fire the shot, and then with a piece of chalk, meticulously draw a circle around the bullet hole. At his very best he was an average shot as a rifleman, but his trickery with a piece of chalk made it seem as though he was truly a marksman.
This same story could be told about several different issues, but it also applies to many who study the Bible. They "fire the shot" (or decide what they believe) and then they "draw a circle” in the Bible around the verse that seems to "prove" their view. Some may call this "proof-texting," but regardless of what you call it, it is nothing more than the “art” of concocting a doctrine, and then trying to make the Bible agree with it. This "marksmanship" is popular among many modern Bible readers. It may make the person feel good about his/her belief, but it does not make the belief true.
It is certainly not wrong to compare what you believe with what is found in the Bible. In fact, that is just what we must do, but this "bull’s-eye" method is completely backward. It deceives a man into thinking he is in God's favor when he is not. Please note Proverbs 14:12.
In Martin Luther's day, the people were so disgusted with the "works salvation" taught by Roman Catholicism that they rebounded all the way to the point at which they believed in salvation by "faith alone." Sure enough, they found Romans 3:28 saying,
"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."
In their eagerness to deny the need for an obedient response to the gospel, they overlooked the words of Romans 6:3-4, 17-18.
"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life...But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." Romans 6:3-4, 17-18
In their determination to find a doctrine that demands no action on the part of the individual, some have turned to:
"By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8
Lost is the realization that the book of Acts tells us that those same Ephesians "were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus," Acts 19:5. Obviously, being saved by "grace through faith" did not cancel out the obligation of the Ephesians to be baptized into Christ [see Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21 and Galatians 3:27].
The following statement is worthy of our consideration:
"If you believe only what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not truly the Gospel that you believe, but merely yourself."
If you merely “draw your own circles,” you may be thought of as an excellent marksman – or a confident, committed disciple of Jesus. But it only proves that you are not nearly as honest with the scriptures as you would have others believe. We would be wise to let God draw the bull’s-eyes. All of them!
