All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others
IS GOD'S WORD REALLY THE TRUTH?
We've all heard the objection: "But it was written by men and translated, so how can we know it's true?"
Of course, it's God's Word and it's the Truth, and we of faith believe it. In fact, it is the ONLY fully reliable, completely infallible source of Truth in the world, written by the Master and Creator of the Universe Himself. It is perfect. No one has ever found a single error in it, though many very intelligent people have tried very hard over the years, most of whom have become believers as a result.
It contains 66 books written by some 40 different men over the span of some 1,500 years, obviously without any human corroboration. Clearly, every word in it was authored by one single, supernatural source and merely penned by the men who wrote it. And it is timeless.
The more experts discover about the Bible through intense research, the more incredible it is! There are volumes of research information that unanimously reveal intracacies in the Bible that are clearly far beyond the capabilities of any mortal man!
What is Doctrine?
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine..." (2Timothy 3:16, KJV)
A "doctrine" is a belief derived from scriptures.
Preachers and teachers teach their own conclusions of scripture (or the conclusions of others) as doctrines. Often, they are teaching what they have been taught, or what they themselves have been led to believe. The problem is that these "doctrines" they teach may be wrong.
It seems that for many doctrines there are always a number of biblical "scholars" on both sides of the issue, each equipped with carefully selected scriptures to support their side, and each fully prepared to explain away any scriptures that may contradict it. The following is one of the many examples of this:
The doctrine of eternal security versus the opposite doctrine of conditional salvation: The biblical scholars on one side of the coin say that a person, once saved, cannot lose his salvation, while the biblical scholars on the other side of the coin say that a person, under certain self-dependent conditions, can go in and out of a state of salvation moment-by-moment.
Again, each side is prepared to defend their doctrine with certain scriptures, and explain away any scriptures that contradict it. How can this be? The problem is that they can't both be right! At least one of them (or maybe both) is teaching a doctrine that isn't true, but they will not be convinced otherwise.
The fact is that God is not divided on any doctrinal issue, and truth cannot contradict itself. Therefore we can conclude that EVERY MEMBER OF CHRIST'S BODY CAN BE RECONCILED WITH EVERY OTHER ONE ON EVERY DOCTRINAL ISSUE UNDER GOD'S ONE TRUTH ABOUT IT. No exceptions. God does not deceive, and will not lead His children to be deceived.
Remember that no matter how widely-accepted or long-standing a doctrine may be, if it's a conclusion formed by man it may not be true. When the whole Christian world had been believing what the Catholic Church told them to believe for many, many years, Martin Luther stood up against the doctrines of Catholicism after reading God's Word for himself. He used scriptural Truth to destroy the well-established, but wrong, doctrines of men.
I once attended a church where I was expected to unquestionably and categorically accept as truth whatever the pastor taught in his sermons. They believed that the pastor was anointed by God and that his teachings from the pulpit were divine inspiration from the Holy Spirit.
One Sunday after his message I asked him if he had ever, as a pastor, taught anything in a sermon that he later realized was not true. He said, "Yes." This didn't surprise me, nor would I blame him, because he is only a man.
If it isn't a direct exerpt from the Bible, it may not be true. Only the Bible is the inspired, infallible Word of God.
Doctrines of Devils
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils..." (1 Timothy 4:1, KJV).
Any doctrine that isn't true is a lie, a doctrine of devils. Teachers who teach their own conclusions of scripture (or those of others) as doctrine run the risk of teaching a lie. But here are four things we know:
1) The Bible is the inspired Word of God, and is therefore the pure and explicit Truth!
2) No Truth can contain self-contradictory information; it is inherently impossible.
3) God does not deceive or lead anyone to be deceived.
4) Opposing doctrines on any topic can be reconciled to one Truth.
So what is the problem? How can there be so many biblical scholars on opposing sides of so many doctrinal issues? Since we know that the scriptures cannot contradict themselves, we can only conclude that any conflicts of doctrine can only arise from man's erroneous private interpretations of the scriptures.
"Knowing this first, that no prophesy of scripture is of any private interpretation." (2 Peter 1:20, KJV)
Can it be that they are forming their conclusions based on assumptions?
Assumptions
When studying the Bible, one should understand the difference between explicit and implicit (expressed or implied) meanings or ideas. An explicit meaning is one that is expressly stated. Implied meanings are based on assumptions, but is there any such thing as a "safe" assumption?
Let's say, for example, someone says, "Joe went to the grocery store". It has an explicit meaning - all we know for sure is that he went to the grocery store. But one could think it also implies that he took his car, and that he went there to buy groceries, because that's what he usually does; but these are not safe assumptions because they may not be true in this particular case: Maybe this time he took his bike, for example, and went to get a newspaper.
We can only safely believe what scripture verses in the Bible clearly and explicitly state as Truth, because whatever else we may think they imply are based on assumptions that could very well be wrong. Here's an example:
In Revelation 20:10, "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." This verse explicitly states that the devil will be cast into the lake of fire, and that he will be tormented there for ever. From this one verse, we can know the devil's fate.
But then further in the same chapter we read, in verse 15, "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Period, end of verse, end of chapter. Many would assume from this verse that they also will be tormented for ever, simply because they are cast into the same lake of fire; but this is only an assumption, and may not be true.
All we can safely know from verse 15 is that they will be cast into the lake of fire. Period. In order to know whether those in verse 15 will also be tormented forever as with the devil in verse 10, we would have to know more. This requires diligent study.
Diligent study of God's Word requires that we search out and carefully examine all the explicit scriptures on a given topic to get the complete Truth. Just as with a picture puzzle, we need all the pieces to complete the picture, including any verses on the topic that may seem at first glance to contradict the rest. Together, they will form a complete picture of Truth. A concordance book, such as Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, is a great tool for this.
Rightly Dividing the Truth
Many of us have been indoctrinated with teachings we have heard and believed throughout the years, including wrong conclusions and private interpretations of teachers. But if we want the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth, we cannot allow fallible teachers, no matter how "scholarly" they seem or how widely-accepted and popular their doctrine is, to relieve us of the responsibility of diligently studying the Bible for ourselves.
"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15-16, KJV)
Our thought processes are profoundly influenced by our indoctrinated beliefs. Consequently as we read the scriptures, we subconsciously read them through the "colored glasses" or filter of pre-learned doctrines and interpret them to fit these doctrines.
We make the scriptures fit the doctrine, rather than forming doctrine from the scriptures. To avoid this, we must be careful to take the scriptures at face value, and make no assumptions; to "think outside the box" of man's understanding and read them through the "clear glasses" of devotion to Truth.
So if we can't trust the teachings of any fallible man to be the infallible Truth, what must we do? We must ask the Holy Spirit to guide us into all Truth as we carefully read His Word.
"But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie..." (1 John 2:27, KJV)
In a Box?
It is impossible, for example, for the natural mind of man to fully understand how there can be three Persons in one God, but it is the Truth. Heresies about the nature of Jesus have been conceived by natural man's attempt to understand this spiritual mystery in human terms.
"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him;..." (1 Corinthians 2:14, KJV).
Man's natural mind seeks knowledge through understanding. Once we fully understand something, then we know what it is and what it does. Then we can use it.
A toddler sees something, and immediately begins testing it. First he grabs it and picks it up, then he tastes it, then tries to bite it, then he tries to break it, then he hits stuff with it, then he eventually throws it. He is trying to figure out what it is and what it does. He's using scientific method.
Scientific method is man's way of gaining knowledge about the things in our world. We come to know something by eliminating all the mysteries about it. We test it to determine the nature of its composition and limitations. Then we can standardize its behavior according to a criteria of stimuli, so that we can accurately predict how it will behave in any given set of circumstances. In other words, "Every time we do this and this, it will do that." Once we have this knowledge "nailed down", then we will know how it can serve our purposes.
Man's natural mind is not content with mystery. We need to define it, characterize it, standardize it, nail it down. Then we can "put it in a box" and set it aside.
Natural man cannot fully "nail down" all the spiritual truths of God. We cannot standardize all the spiritual things according to scientific method. I believe that the erroneous doctrines of men, or the doctrines of devils, are conceived when the natural man, in a desire to learn how to manipulate God, attempts to nail down the spiritual things of God and put them in a box.
Conclusion
There are many excellent pastors and teachers who are true servants of God, whose messages have been a tremendous blessing to me in my life! But I've found that with even the best of them, occasionally they will teach something that puts a caution in my spirit; and when I search out the scriptures on the subject myself, I find exception with the teaching.
I believe there are some things we should remember in studying the Word of God:
1. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you into the Truth in His Word.
2. Be willing to forsake what you've always believed in favor of the Truth you read.
3. "Wipe the slate clean" of the conclusions and private interpretations of others.
4. Believe only what the scriptures clearly and explicitly state; make no assumptions.
5. Search out and carefully examine all scriptures on a topic to get the full picture.
6. Don't try to "nail down" the spiritual things of God, or put Him "in a box".
Otherwise, you might be believing a doctrine of devils!
Of course, it's God's Word and it's the Truth, and we of faith believe it. In fact, it is the ONLY fully reliable, completely infallible source of Truth in the world, written by the Master and Creator of the Universe Himself. It is perfect. No one has ever found a single error in it, though many very intelligent people have tried very hard over the years, most of whom have become believers as a result.
It contains 66 books written by some 40 different men over the span of some 1,500 years, obviously without any human corroboration. Clearly, every word in it was authored by one single, supernatural source and merely penned by the men who wrote it. And it is timeless.
The more experts discover about the Bible through intense research, the more incredible it is! There are volumes of research information that unanimously reveal intracacies in the Bible that are clearly far beyond the capabilities of any mortal man!
What is Doctrine?
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine..." (2Timothy 3:16, KJV)
A "doctrine" is a belief derived from scriptures.
Preachers and teachers teach their own conclusions of scripture (or the conclusions of others) as doctrines. Often, they are teaching what they have been taught, or what they themselves have been led to believe. The problem is that these "doctrines" they teach may be wrong.
It seems that for many doctrines there are always a number of biblical "scholars" on both sides of the issue, each equipped with carefully selected scriptures to support their side, and each fully prepared to explain away any scriptures that may contradict it. The following is one of the many examples of this:
The doctrine of eternal security versus the opposite doctrine of conditional salvation: The biblical scholars on one side of the coin say that a person, once saved, cannot lose his salvation, while the biblical scholars on the other side of the coin say that a person, under certain self-dependent conditions, can go in and out of a state of salvation moment-by-moment.
Again, each side is prepared to defend their doctrine with certain scriptures, and explain away any scriptures that contradict it. How can this be? The problem is that they can't both be right! At least one of them (or maybe both) is teaching a doctrine that isn't true, but they will not be convinced otherwise.
The fact is that God is not divided on any doctrinal issue, and truth cannot contradict itself. Therefore we can conclude that EVERY MEMBER OF CHRIST'S BODY CAN BE RECONCILED WITH EVERY OTHER ONE ON EVERY DOCTRINAL ISSUE UNDER GOD'S ONE TRUTH ABOUT IT. No exceptions. God does not deceive, and will not lead His children to be deceived.
Remember that no matter how widely-accepted or long-standing a doctrine may be, if it's a conclusion formed by man it may not be true. When the whole Christian world had been believing what the Catholic Church told them to believe for many, many years, Martin Luther stood up against the doctrines of Catholicism after reading God's Word for himself. He used scriptural Truth to destroy the well-established, but wrong, doctrines of men.
I once attended a church where I was expected to unquestionably and categorically accept as truth whatever the pastor taught in his sermons. They believed that the pastor was anointed by God and that his teachings from the pulpit were divine inspiration from the Holy Spirit.
One Sunday after his message I asked him if he had ever, as a pastor, taught anything in a sermon that he later realized was not true. He said, "Yes." This didn't surprise me, nor would I blame him, because he is only a man.
If it isn't a direct exerpt from the Bible, it may not be true. Only the Bible is the inspired, infallible Word of God.
Doctrines of Devils
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils..." (1 Timothy 4:1, KJV).
Any doctrine that isn't true is a lie, a doctrine of devils. Teachers who teach their own conclusions of scripture (or those of others) as doctrine run the risk of teaching a lie. But here are four things we know:
1) The Bible is the inspired Word of God, and is therefore the pure and explicit Truth!
2) No Truth can contain self-contradictory information; it is inherently impossible.
3) God does not deceive or lead anyone to be deceived.
4) Opposing doctrines on any topic can be reconciled to one Truth.
So what is the problem? How can there be so many biblical scholars on opposing sides of so many doctrinal issues? Since we know that the scriptures cannot contradict themselves, we can only conclude that any conflicts of doctrine can only arise from man's erroneous private interpretations of the scriptures.
"Knowing this first, that no prophesy of scripture is of any private interpretation." (2 Peter 1:20, KJV)
Can it be that they are forming their conclusions based on assumptions?
Assumptions
When studying the Bible, one should understand the difference between explicit and implicit (expressed or implied) meanings or ideas. An explicit meaning is one that is expressly stated. Implied meanings are based on assumptions, but is there any such thing as a "safe" assumption?
Let's say, for example, someone says, "Joe went to the grocery store". It has an explicit meaning - all we know for sure is that he went to the grocery store. But one could think it also implies that he took his car, and that he went there to buy groceries, because that's what he usually does; but these are not safe assumptions because they may not be true in this particular case: Maybe this time he took his bike, for example, and went to get a newspaper.
We can only safely believe what scripture verses in the Bible clearly and explicitly state as Truth, because whatever else we may think they imply are based on assumptions that could very well be wrong. Here's an example:
In Revelation 20:10, "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." This verse explicitly states that the devil will be cast into the lake of fire, and that he will be tormented there for ever. From this one verse, we can know the devil's fate.
But then further in the same chapter we read, in verse 15, "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Period, end of verse, end of chapter. Many would assume from this verse that they also will be tormented for ever, simply because they are cast into the same lake of fire; but this is only an assumption, and may not be true.
All we can safely know from verse 15 is that they will be cast into the lake of fire. Period. In order to know whether those in verse 15 will also be tormented forever as with the devil in verse 10, we would have to know more. This requires diligent study.
Diligent study of God's Word requires that we search out and carefully examine all the explicit scriptures on a given topic to get the complete Truth. Just as with a picture puzzle, we need all the pieces to complete the picture, including any verses on the topic that may seem at first glance to contradict the rest. Together, they will form a complete picture of Truth. A concordance book, such as Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, is a great tool for this.
Rightly Dividing the Truth
Many of us have been indoctrinated with teachings we have heard and believed throughout the years, including wrong conclusions and private interpretations of teachers. But if we want the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth, we cannot allow fallible teachers, no matter how "scholarly" they seem or how widely-accepted and popular their doctrine is, to relieve us of the responsibility of diligently studying the Bible for ourselves.
"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15-16, KJV)
Our thought processes are profoundly influenced by our indoctrinated beliefs. Consequently as we read the scriptures, we subconsciously read them through the "colored glasses" or filter of pre-learned doctrines and interpret them to fit these doctrines.
We make the scriptures fit the doctrine, rather than forming doctrine from the scriptures. To avoid this, we must be careful to take the scriptures at face value, and make no assumptions; to "think outside the box" of man's understanding and read them through the "clear glasses" of devotion to Truth.
So if we can't trust the teachings of any fallible man to be the infallible Truth, what must we do? We must ask the Holy Spirit to guide us into all Truth as we carefully read His Word.
"But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie..." (1 John 2:27, KJV)
In a Box?
It is impossible, for example, for the natural mind of man to fully understand how there can be three Persons in one God, but it is the Truth. Heresies about the nature of Jesus have been conceived by natural man's attempt to understand this spiritual mystery in human terms.
"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him;..." (1 Corinthians 2:14, KJV).
Man's natural mind seeks knowledge through understanding. Once we fully understand something, then we know what it is and what it does. Then we can use it.
A toddler sees something, and immediately begins testing it. First he grabs it and picks it up, then he tastes it, then tries to bite it, then he tries to break it, then he hits stuff with it, then he eventually throws it. He is trying to figure out what it is and what it does. He's using scientific method.
Scientific method is man's way of gaining knowledge about the things in our world. We come to know something by eliminating all the mysteries about it. We test it to determine the nature of its composition and limitations. Then we can standardize its behavior according to a criteria of stimuli, so that we can accurately predict how it will behave in any given set of circumstances. In other words, "Every time we do this and this, it will do that." Once we have this knowledge "nailed down", then we will know how it can serve our purposes.
Man's natural mind is not content with mystery. We need to define it, characterize it, standardize it, nail it down. Then we can "put it in a box" and set it aside.
Natural man cannot fully "nail down" all the spiritual truths of God. We cannot standardize all the spiritual things according to scientific method. I believe that the erroneous doctrines of men, or the doctrines of devils, are conceived when the natural man, in a desire to learn how to manipulate God, attempts to nail down the spiritual things of God and put them in a box.
Conclusion
There are many excellent pastors and teachers who are true servants of God, whose messages have been a tremendous blessing to me in my life! But I've found that with even the best of them, occasionally they will teach something that puts a caution in my spirit; and when I search out the scriptures on the subject myself, I find exception with the teaching.
I believe there are some things we should remember in studying the Word of God:
1. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you into the Truth in His Word.
2. Be willing to forsake what you've always believed in favor of the Truth you read.
3. "Wipe the slate clean" of the conclusions and private interpretations of others.
4. Believe only what the scriptures clearly and explicitly state; make no assumptions.
5. Search out and carefully examine all scriptures on a topic to get the full picture.
6. Don't try to "nail down" the spiritual things of God, or put Him "in a box".
Otherwise, you might be believing a doctrine of devils!
Tags: anointing, bible, devils, doctrine, god's, interpretation, mystery, of, scriptures, seducing
Comment
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Comment by Charles Burwell on May 17, 2009 at 5:53pm -
Dear Therese
I agree with your comments wholeheartedly. In the book of Acts Luke commends the people of the church in Berea when he says ' But the people in Berea were more noble in that they RECEIVED THE WORD WITH READINESS OF MIND and SEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES 'DAILY' TO SEE IF THESE THINGS WERE SO.
Many teachers and preachers want people to just take their word for something but the bible commends those who ' search the scriptures daily' to see if they are getting the true word. We bring no repraoch on a preacher or teacher if we want to ' see for ourselves' what the scripture says. Also, as we do this we can gain a greater confidence in the credibility of the teacher or preacher.
Jesus tells us in John's gospel " search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." Paul says to " study to show yourself approved, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
As A.W.Tozer said " Listen to those who have authority over you and thank God for each of them, but in the end follow Christ."
God bless you all.
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Comment by Theresa on May 12, 2009 at 10:02pm -
This is a good blog and thanks for posting it, I do appreciate it.
While we listen to our teachers and preachers of faith, we must always go to the scriptures and dig in there for ourselves, letting the Holy Spirit with its fruits to guide us, sow time with God and His Word and we will reap an awesome harvest. While we need teachers and preachers, thank God for them, we MUST NOT let their opinion guide us in our own life but humbly rely on the Spirit of God and owe no man nothing except love.
My sheep hear my voice and they will follow.
Thank you again for this blog, and may God continue to bless you with His heavenly wisdom!!!!!
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Comment by LT on May 12, 2009 at 7:59pm -
Overall your points are good. It is too bad you do not differentiate between false teachers and true servants of God in your teaching. For Ephesians 4:11-13 says, "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."
Lord Bless,
LT
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Comment by felixpadua on May 12, 2009 at 5:09pm - thank you for this blog. you write well, you are a blessing to me. i am not good in english yet.
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