Category: Bible

Categories
Bible

How do you know that what you are hearing and being taught is truth?

In my previous post I shared that I had received this question:
How can a person know that what they are hearing and being taught is truth?
I also asked you to consider how you would have responded. But here is the response I sent to them:

My simple answer to your question is this:
Through time in God’s Word studying and meditating on the meaning of the Scriptures.

We can say… “Well many people are reading the Bible and getting different ideas.”
But I would actually disagree with that premise. I believe that a straightforward reading of the scriptures leads a majority of us all to the same place (at least on the major matters).
a photo of the front cover of a Bible, reminding us that truth is within its pages
It would take a lot of linguistic acrobatics to say that the sin of lying, adultery, homosexuality, murder, or theft is okay in God’s eyes. In fact, a straightforward reading of the Word does not leave any room for doubt for any of these issues. It would be difficult to read the New Testament and not be able to say that Jesus loves us and calls us to love others. It would take even more linguistic acrobatics to say that many roads lead to heaven. A straightforward reading of the New Testament does not leave room for any way but one: faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Any honest reader of the Bible will come to these same clear ideas. That is why we have can have solidarity among denominations among the essentials of the faith, while still having differences regarding church governance and worship style practices.

But what about those things that have changed in church practice, such as dancing or the use of alcohol? Again, I think that by us not taking a straightforward approach to such items, we have come up with differing views at different times. A straightforward approach to the Word does not condemn dancing. David danced before the Lord as they moved the Ark into Jerusalem. A straightforward approach does not condemn drinking, though it clearly does warn against the sin of drunkenness.

A straightforward approach allowed Martin Luther to read the Word and discover that many of the practices by the Catholic Church were not biblically-based. This same honest approach allows me to read the same Word hundreds of years later and agree with a German on the major issues.

So, How do we know? We have to read it for ourselves and allow God to show us His truth. If we are not willing to spend time reading it ourselves, then we will be in danger of being led astray by those who are doing linguistic and intellectual acrobatics to have the Word say what they want it to say. Most Pastors of solid churches, no matter the denomination, are all saying the same things due to a straightforward reading of the Word. When you hear someone who is not… Beware! They very likely will say things that “tickle” the ears and sound good, because doing so makes more of what we do as sinful humans permissible!

Adrian Rogers said, “We don’t need a new and a modern gospel for a new and a modern age. Friend, if it’s new it’s not true.”

Ha! Exactly right – If it’s new, it’s not true. And if it’s true, then it’s not new! It has been in the Bible for about 2000 years or more!

The Bible hasn’t changed since the moment it was penned. The primary understanding of its doctrines also hasn’t changed. The way some do mental acrobatics to change the meaning to fit their sins… that continues to change with the times!

Categories
Bible

Doubt: How Do I Know that Christianity is True and Right?

How do I know that Christianity is right?
Even if you have chosen to believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior, have you ever had a doubt?
a graphic of question marks symbolizing doubt
Here’s a great question I received from a church member a while back:

    Yesterday as we were driving back from vacation on a Sunday, I had an opportunity to observe something that I usually don’t get to see, due to the fact that I am usually at my church. I passed Church after Church, Some Big and Some Small, Some with many cars and Some with few, Some urban some rural, and some were empty. As I drove I thought about the differences:
            1. Church governance is different.
            2. Each congregation believes it is hearing the truth.
            3. Each interprets the Bible as their leader or denomination teaches.
            4. Worship styles, and perhaps even aims and purposes, differ.
            5. Some just listen and some participate.
            6. Some stop at noon and other keep going to the middle of the afternoon.
            7. Some are casual and Some are dressed with suits, ties, and dresses.

    My real thought kept coming back to #2 and #3 . All of the Christian Churches have the same Bible and they think because of what their denomination, church, pastor, etc. tells them that they are hearing the truth. But certainly not all are teaching the same thing. It is scary to me to consider that you could think you are traveling the right road but being led down a false path.

I guess the question I am asking is:
How do you know that what you are hearing and being taught is truth?


What would your response be if you had received this question?
I’ll share my response in my next post.
(Don’t worry, I’ll post it in two days, which will give you 48 hours to think about how you might would have answered!)

.

Categories
Bible

Does Reading the Bible Have Any Value?

“Does Reading the Bible Have Any Value?”
  by brian rushing

“They tell us that the Bible is the Word of God… a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. They tell us that we shall find within it the knowledge of God and his will for our lives….

“So we take our Bibles and start to read them… because we really do want to know God. But as we read, we get more and more puzzled. Though fascinated, we are not being fed. Our reading is not helping us; it leaves us bewildered and, if the truth be told, somewhat depressed. We find ourselves wondering whether Bible reading is worth going on with.
photo of person reading the Bible symbolizing the question - does reading the Bible have any value? Is it important?
“It is all intensely interesting, but it all seems very far away. It all belongs to that ancient world, not to this world. We feel that we are, so to speak, on the outside of the Bible world, looking in. We are mere spectators, and that is all. Our unspoken thought is — “Yes, God did all that then, and very wonderful it was for the people involved, but how does it touch us now? We don’t live in the same world.

“How can the record of God’s words and deeds in Bible times, the record of his dealings with Abraham and Moses and David and the rest, help us, who have to live in modern times?”

Have you ever felt like this? Dr. Packer explains exactly how I have felt at times. That as I read God’s Word, I have certainly thought that there were portions of the Bible that were rich and wonderful, but there were also portions that were dry and tedious and puzzling. And many times it got me frustrated and discouraged and therefore I’d just stop reading the Bible.

But what I have learned is two-fold. 1st – Just because something is hard doesn’t mean it isn’t good. In fact, one of my favorite quotes about life is about the hard stuff in life: “”It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” (From the movie, “A League of Their Own”). So I’ve learned to press on even in the hard spots of reading God’s Word. And as I do so (with the help of Bible commentary to assist me in difficult spots), I find that it isn’t as hard as I once thought, and even the “puzzling parts” become less tedious.

2nd – I’ve learned that I should come back to the parts that I most enjoy when I start getting frustrated. The four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) tell us the story of Jesus. This is our “meat and potatoes” and anytime I start getting bogged down in the Old Testament, instead of allowing my Bible reading to become frustrating or discouraging, I simply stop reading that portion for a while and go back to the “meat and potatoes.” Then after a few days or weeks, I go back to where I left off in the difficult spot, and I have a new attitude about reading it.

The more we read God’s Word – and ALL of God’s Word – the more we understand that it all works together – it is all God’s revealing Himself and His story to us. It should amaze us. It should excite us. It should direct us. It is the most important book ever written. We should give serious attention to it. Yes, there are places where it might seem hard – but as we spend more time with it, we find that we even enjoy the hard parts, because as we study them, we learn more about who our great God is.

Dr. Packer summarizes our lack of attention to the Bible by saying: “It is feared that many today who profess to be Christ’s never learn wisdom, through failure to attend sufficiently to God’s written Word. . . . How long is it since you read right through the Bible? Do you spend as much time with the Bible each day as you do even with the newspaper? What fools some of us are! And we remain fools all our lives, simply because we will not take the trouble to do what has to be done to receive the wisdom which is God’s free gift.”

Take some time today to stop reading all the other stuff beside your chair, on your desk, or on your phone or tablet for a little while, so that you can pick up God’s Word. If you are not sure where to start, go to the gospel book of Mark. It is a fast-paced account of Jesus. Take time to start digesting the very Word of God to you. It truly is worth it!


        (Quotes in today’s post are from Knowing God by J. I. Packer)