These 5 popular sayings do NOT exist in the Bible

Unfortunately, the 'sad' part is that it has had time to bleed into our vocabulary, so, now people have quotes and phrases that they think are from the Bible.

But, the truth is there are so many things that we think are Biblical but really aren't.

Many of them that sound 'holy' are actually just paraphrases of the actual Bible verses.

Thus, here is a little Bible 101 to let you know which of these popular sayings do NOT exist in the scriptures.

1. Heaven or God help those who help themselves: How many times have we have pastors say this from the pulpit? At least, a million times, if we had to count. While this is an extremely popular Biblical-sounding saying, it might shock you to know this isn't actually from the Bible. Here is what the Bible actually says about God helping us.

"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly....But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:6, 8). See Proverbs 28:26 and Jeremiah 17:5 for more.

2. Spare the rod, spoil the child: This totally sounds like something from the Bible, right? Shocker, it isn't there. The below are as close as it gets to this popular statement:

"He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently" (Proverbs 13:24).

"Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him" (Proverbs 22:15).

"Do not hold back discipline from the child, Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

You shall strike him with the rod, And rescue his soul from Sheol" (Proverbs 23:13-14).

"The rod and reproof give wisdom, But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother" (Proverbs 29:15).

Same principle, just different words.

ALSO READ: Is the Bible truth or fiction?

3. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you: I'm sorry to announce this isn't in the Bible too. What the Bible really says is "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them (Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31).

4. Cleanliness is next to godliness: We all know how popular this one is. Preachers say it all the time, our parents repeat it in a bid to get us to do our chores and we grow up saying it to the next generation. Sadly, this isn't in the Bible. This is actually a paraphrase of a passage that was coined by John Wesley. He was an 18th-century evangelist, who founded Methodism. Concerning the issue of cleanliness, the Bible says:

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you" (John 15:3).

The subject of cleanliness is repeated in 2 Corinthians 7:1, James 4:8, and Ephesians 5:26-27.

5. God works in mysterious ways: I know, I was just as surprised as you are to discover that this isn't from the Bible. No one knows how this became a thing, although Blue Letter Bible reports that it may have originated from William Cowper's hymn "God Moves in a Mysterious Way." See Deuteronomy 29:29 and Romans 8:28 for what the Bible says about God's mysterious ways.

Other seemingly Biblical phrases that can't be found in the God's Word include "Money is the root of all evil" and "Pride comes before the fall." (See 1 Timothy 6:10 and Proverbs 16:18).

'So, how come we have so many common 'Biblical' sayings?', I can hear someone ask.

The problem is that we are simply too dependent on others, our pastors, parents and so on.

So when they say something, we are inclined to just take it without actually doing any research of our own.

Thomas Kidd, a history professor at Baylor University in Texas, explains it best.

He said: “No matter if John Wesley or someone else came up with a wise saying - if it sounds proverbish, people figure it must come from the Bible.”

With that being said, I hope this article gives us that extra push to spend more time reading the Bible so we know what is and isn't in it.

Which of these was the biggest shock for you? Mine was "Heaven or God help those who help themselves."

These 5 popular sayings do NOT exist in the Bible

Christianity has been around for over 2000 years and this a good thing, right?

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