Judas "Not A" Priest

I was in the public library today perusing through the "Christian" book section and was appalled at what I found. As hard as it is for me to believe, I actually found 3 books on the subject of "The Gospel Of Judas". Really???? One of the books even had the sub title of "The Story of the Misunderstood Disciple and His Lost Gospel". (Emphasis mine) Judas was not "misunderstood", he was evil, plain and simple. Any good work he did was for his own gain and notoriety.

Let's look at why Judas could never have written a "Gospel". I am not saying he didn't write "something", it just wasn't God inspired. First of all, a Gospel would be scripture. As the Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16, "All scripture is inspired by God (more specifically the Holy Spirit) so that would disqualify Judas' so called Gospel right there. The Bible is also called "perfect" (James 1:25). The Biblical definition for perfect is "complete". Thus, if what Judas wrote was really a "Gospel" then it would have been canonized in the Bible or else the Bible would not be complete as written. We know Judas did not have the Holy Spirit in him because Jesus said that He knew from the beginning who it was who did not believe (John 6:64). We know from the Bible that the only way the Holy Spirit comes to someone is after they have believed. (Acts 10:44)

We need to be very careful of falling into the curiosity trap of wanting to read pieces of literary crap like these Judas books. Paul said in Galatians 1:8&9 that if anyone preaches another Gospel other than what he preached, they were to be accursed. And what was the Gospel that Paul preached but the TRUE Gospel found in 1 Cor 15:3-4. But we should not be surprised that many people want to read these type of books. The Bible speaks about this in 2 Timothy 4:2-5 that in the latter days people will not care for the sound doctrine of the Bible but with itchy ears gladly listen to what interests them and their imagination.

2 Timothy 4:2-4
"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."

Sadly, many in the modern churches fall into the itching ears category and believe whatever some preacher tells them. I don't want anyone to believe what I write in this blog because I write it. I want people to verify what I say is based on the Bible and then believe it because the Bible said it.

I would also caution anyone about reading (and believing) these books about people who claim to have been to Heaven or Hell and back. I assure you based on the Word of God, NO ONE who has gone to Hell (or Hades) has ever come back. Just look at the account of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man found no escape once he got there. He was not even able to warn his family. Many have called this a "parable" but Jesus never did. This was an historical event, not a parable. For one thing, Jesus always used the word parable when he told one and for another thing, Jesus never mentioned anyone specific by name in His parables, yet He mentions Lazarus by name. So take it to the bank, this was an actual historical event. (See Luke 16:19-31)

As for Heaven, the Apostle Paul was actually given a thorn in the flesh to humble him so he would not reveal what he saw when received an out of body glimpse of Heaven. In fact, Paul even said he heard things that it is unlawful to be repeated. (See 2 Cor 12:2-9) God made sure he wouldn't utter them by giving him that thorn in the flesh. No one is quite sure what this actually was... speculation is an eye disease but that is only speculation.

We should just keep things simple. Whether it is our personal reading or a small group study, the BEST book to use as the topic of study is The Bible. (what a novel approach that would be).