The Bible tells us that a wise person will look well to their going. In other words, a person who uses wisdom will ensure they search out a matter before jumping to a conclusion.
The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going. Proverbs 14:15
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. proverbs 25:2
Unfortunately, some people believe everything they hear if it is a popular “bandwagon.”
They will follow the leader, eating whatever meal is served to them. The book of Acts talks about the Bereans, who were more noble than others. According to Paul, these Bereans actually searched out the scriptures, checking to see if the apostles were telling them the truth.
Acts 17, “These (Berea) were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so.”
It is interesting to note that the apostles never got offended that a group of people did not just take their word verbatim. They rejoiced that these Bereans did a Bible study to see if what the apostles were saying lined up with the scriptures in their entirety or not.
If we get offended because someone challenges our doctrine or belief system by checking it out, we are more interested in our pride than the truth.
Also, if we defend our doctrinal position based on tradition rather than truth, we are saying that we prefer familiarity over truth.
Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish. Proverbs 12:1
The Bible tells us to compare spiritual things with spiritual things. Not just take an isolated scripture and build a doctrine out of it. Nor, for that matter, should we trust a group of people with the same agenda to give us the complete truth. No matter what “council” they belong to.
Scriptures need to be examined according to their original language and intent and comparing author to author. Does the doctrine have consistency between authors, and does it flow with the whole picture?
Scriptural doctrines are often built on inferences and bias rather than the truth of the scriptures. If something is NOT explicitly stated in scripture, then making it official church doctrine is not a good idea. I do not agree with some “church doctrine” that is not essential but never the less important to which the majority adhere.
Many Christians will have a bird with you if you disagree with their “official” church doctrine. Most Christians do not base their “truth” on evidential evidentiary facts but on a popular bandwagon theology. If you disagree with them, they will label you a heretic.
It seems to me that Jesus had a hard time convincing a religious group that he WAS the truth and they were wrong about their beliefs concerning Messiah. Why was this? As Jesus said, “Having neglected the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” Mark 7:8
I have debated with some of these ‘scholars’ who don’t have enough evidence to convince me they hold the truth.
That being said, my point is that it is up to the teacher to teach doctrine scripturally based, but it is up to the student to do a Bible study to see if the teacher is teaching is correct.
However, it is not required of either teacher or student to argue with a person who wants to believe what they want to believe. All that is required is to do the teaching and leave the outcome to God.
As the scriptures tell us, “If any be ignorant, then let them be ignorant. ” 1 Corinthians 14: 38
Since teachers are to be judged more harshly than other ministries, it is essential to teach according to the consistency of scripture. Then with a clean conscience, we leave our assessment for God.
Since we are all human and susceptible to human frailties, we occasionally make mistakes, and when convinced of error, we must be quick to make it right.
Keep in mind that cultural differences may interpret scriptures biasedly or at least from a different perspective. A person from India may see an issue in a different light than someone from America, for example. The Lord does allow some flexibility in how we interpret some matters. He said that something may be a sin to one person while to another, it is not. Everyone must be convinced in their own mind. That is, of course, with minor Biblical issues.
Another point to mention is the different personalities and giftings of people. One focus of biblical studies may be different from another’s focus. I recently read a book by a wonderful old saint from the past who, not being an eschatology expert, interpreted a scriptural topic based on personal experience rather than biblically based doctrine. Coming out of much suffering and ministering to the persecuted church, she rejected the pretribulation rapture doctrine. The scripture she gave was that we are “appointed to tribulation.”
While this is true, she failed to understand that tribulation and THE TRIBULATION are different concepts. THE TRIBULATION or “Jacobs trouble” is when God deals with Israel. It is a 7-year time period. Christians are appointed to suffer for Christ’s sake, but THE TRIBULATION, according to many end-time students, including myself, believe it is a specific 7-year period.
Lastly, we can all agree on objective truth. Certain things in scripture are black and white. Bottom line. No two ways about it. Just the way it is, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from; objective truth is truth. God expects us to keep it that way.
In conclusion, both the teacher and the student must look well to their going. Search out a matter. Dig into the word with all readiness of mind to find the truth for yourself.
The teacher is constantly learning, and the student is always learning. Both the wise teacher and the wise student will make it their life ambition to sit at the master’s feet and continue to learn. Then they can be a workman not ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
My other platforms
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-balogh-0b675050/?originalSubdomain=ca
https://www.instagram.com/on_fire_4_jesus_/?hl=en
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/raising-standard-kim-balogh
https://www.facebook.com/KimBalogh/
You must log in to post a comment.