The Big Lie: Giving up Our Rights

By Ralph Good

The Bible contains the knowledge and the message of God, and it is a powerful tool that can guide our lives along the path of truth and righteousness. Yet there are many in the world who wish to exploit this power and use false teachings to deceive others and steal from them. So how can we safeguard ourselves and our salvation from these falsehoods and know that we have received the truth of Gods Word?
In The Big Lie: Giving Up Our Rights, author Ralph Good shares his own investigation into the false teaching that Christians should give up their personal rights. As he grew in his knowledge of Gods Word and studied the subject of rights, Ralph found that there is no biblical evidence to support such teachings, which in fact contradict what the Bible actually says about rights. All translators of the Bible who use the word rights condemn as wicked and evil those who deny the rights of others, even going so far as to condemn them as unjust, doomed, rebellious, and stupid.
There are false teachers in the church today who are telling people that they have to give up their rights, that they dont have rights, and that their rights have been nailed to the cross. The Big Lie reveals these untruths and exposes false preachers, showing instead that the Bible commends the righteous who stand up for and defend the rights of others, especially the poor, the helpless, the oppressed, foreigners, orphans, and widows.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973628590

Ralph Good

Ralph Good has studied the subject of rights and the Bible for many years, and he turned to the truth of Gods Word for answers. Ralph was saved when he was in his twenties, and in his sixty years he has seen false teachings about rights destroy many lives. Today he lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and he is involved in his community and his church; Ralph has received awards from the governor, the state congress, and the mayor for organizing crime watches in at-risk neighborhoods, and he has also led his church worship team, co-organized a team center, and fulfilled many other church duties.

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Copyright © 2018 Ralph Good.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-2860-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2861-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2859-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018905769

WestBow Press rev. date: 5/29/2018

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (GNT) are from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1     What the Bible Says about Rights

CHAPTER 2     People in the Bible Who Gave Up Their Rights

CHAPTER 3     The Seed

CHAPTER 4     Our Battle

CHAPTER 5     Two Kingdoms

CHAPTER 6     Who Has Authority Over Us?

CHAPTER 7     Think on the Good Things

CHAPTER 8     Breaking Free

CHAPTER 9     Serving God with Humility

CHAPTER 10   A Study of Rights from Other Sources

Appendix

Sources

CHAPTER 1

What the Bible Says about Rights

As a prodigal returning to God, and with no knowledge of the Bible, I was told by a very wise person something that would change my study of God’s Word: If you don’t understand what you are reading in the Bible, get a dictionary and look up the words you don’t understand and study them. This has proven to be the best advice I have ever received! Studying the Word of God saved me from following false teachers who introduced false teachings to get me to follow after them instead of God. Among these false teachings that I was taught and that I now challenge were a number of falsehoods about my rights. I was told I don’t have rights, I need to give up my rights, and my rights were nailed to the cross. As I grew in my knowledge of God’s Word and studied the subject of rights, I concluded that there is no biblical evidence to support these teachings. They actually contradict what the Bible has to say about rights.

The translators of the King James Version, the American Standard Version, and Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible do not use the word rights. The translators of the New King James Version of the Bible use the word rights only one time, in Exodus 21:10.

All translators of the Bible who use the word rights consistently condemn as wicked and evil those who deny the rights of others! Some translators additionally condemn those who deny the rights of others as unjust, doomed, rebellious, and stupid. Furthermore, all translators of the Bible who use the word rights admonish and commend the righteous who stand up for and defend the rights of others, especially the poor, the helpless, the oppressed, foreigners, orphans, and widows.

The following scriptures from four translations of the Bible that use the word rights authenticate the assertion I just made. (All italics in Bible quotations in The Big Lie are my emphasis.)

New Living Translation

Psalm 82:3–4

Give justice to the poor and the orphan;

uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.

Rescue the poor and helpless;

deliver them from the grasp of evil people.

Proverbs 29:7

The godly care about the rights of the poor;

the wicked don’t care at all.

Isaiah 1:17

Learn to do good.

Seek justice.

Help the oppressed.

Defend the cause of orphans.

Fight for the rights of widows.

Isaiah 1:23

Your leaders are rebels,

the companions of thieves.

All of them love bribes

and demand payoffs,

but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans

or fight for the rights of widows.

Isaiah 10:1–2

What sorrow awaits the unjust judges

and those who issue unfair laws.

They deprive the poor of justice

and deny the rights of the needy among my people.

They prey on widows

and take advantage of orphans.

Lamentations 3:34–36

If people crush underfoot

all the prisoners of the land,

if they deprive others of their rights

in defiance of the Most High,

if they twist justice in the courts—

doesn’t the Lord see all these things?

Jeremiah 5:26–28

Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait for victims like a hunter hiding in a blind. They continually set traps to catch people. Like a cage filled with birds, their homes are filled with evil plots. And now they are great and rich. They are fat and sleek, and there is no limit to their wicked deeds. They refuse to provide justice to orphans and deny the rights of the poor.

New International Version

Job 36:6

He does not keep the wicked alive

but gives the afflicted their rights.

Psalm 82:3–4

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;

maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.

Rescue the weak and needy;

deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

Proverbs 31:4–5

It is not for kings, O Lemuel—

not for kings to drink wine,

not for rulers to crave beer,

lest they drink and forget what the law decrees,

and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.

Proverbs 31:8–9

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,

for the rights of all who are destitute.

Speak up and judge fairly;

defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Isaiah 10:1–2

Woe to those who make unjust laws,

to those who issue oppressive decrees,

to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold

justice from the oppressed of my people, making

widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.

Jeremiah 28:26–28

Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait like men who snare birds and like those who set traps to catch men. Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; they have become rich and powerful and have grown fat and sleek. Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not plead the case of the fatherless to win it, they do not defend the rights of the poor.

Lamentations 3:34–36

To crush underfoot

all prisoners in the land,

to deny a man his rights

before the Most High,

to deprive a man of justice—

would not the Lord see such things?

The Message

Deuteronomy 24:17

Make sure foreigners and orphans get their just rights. Don’t take the cloak of a widow as security for a loan.

Job 36:5–6

It’s true that God is all-powerful,

but he doesn’t bully innocent people.

For the wicked, though, it’s a different story—

he doesn’t give them the time of day,

but champions the rights of their victims.

Psalm 140:12

I know that you, God, are on the side of victims,

that you care for the rights of the poor.

Proverbs 31:8–9

Speak up for the people who have no voice,

for the rights of all the down-and-outers.

Speak out