Loose With The Facts

According to the Correspondence Theory of Truth delineated by John Locke, truth is what corresponds with reality or reports the facts concerning it.  
"A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still."  (Proverb)
"Truth forever on the scaffold; wrong forever on the throne."  (James Russell Lowell, 1844, The Present Crisis)
"All Truth is God's truth." (Augustine of Hippo).  "All truth meets at the top." (Thomas Aquinas)

We must not twist the truth to fit our theories, nor have preconceived notions of the truth but be honest, open-minded seekers for the unknown.  Evidence is the objective reality but isn't the whole picture and is only one argument for or against--it is neither conclusive nor always definite.  Evidence is vital because faith not based on evidence is blind faith!  Perfect certainty is not necessary for knowledge, for all knowledge is contingent and based on faith.  We go astray from the way of truth when we make up our own facts or evidence; we don't have a right to our own facts, but we have a right to our own opinions!  Facts must be undisputed and not subjective.  The truth is absolute and cannot be denied; it's not relative to a situation or person.

Christianity deals in facts and in the truth as well as history, which other religions don't.  The problem with some investigators into truth is that they have their minds made up and don't want to be confused with the facts, though we all tend to believe just the facts that fit our opinions.  No one ever gets convinced of something against their will.  For instance, scientists who espouse to evolution have ruled God out of the equation from the get-go, so how can they hope to be objective when they assume there is no God without there being any evidence for that conclusion.  They won't even admit to the possibility of God.  They don't know you cannot prove there is no God because you cannot prove a universal negative according to logic and philosophy.  Socrates was humble because he said that you will never find the truth if you won't admit you could be wrong!

The facts speak for themselves and you must be willing to go where they lead even if it's an uncomfortable conclusion.  We make theories based on fact, we don't force the facts nor twist them to fit our theories.  The problem today is that people are generally ignorant and gullible and believe everything they hear from their personal sources without questioning authority.  When someone listens to one primary source for information or news, they lose discernment.  When someone has that much of your confidence he's all the more able to get away with lying because you don't fact-check or even Google something.  We must all be suspicious and somewhat skeptical to what we hear from politicians for instance.

The two biggest problems in America are apathy and ignorance:  they don't know and they don't care!  America was only designed for an enlightened and informed electorate!  We need to keep God relevant!  When a society becomes wholly secularized and removes God from the public square and discourse the foundations of democracy are shattered and we lose our footings in a morality which will become lax.  When there is not transcendent, objective standard of right and wrong society gets corrupted and it's the job of the church to be salt and light and get society back on track to be a city on a hill.

There are basically five reasons people believe things:  authority figures say it's so; they want to believe it; their group believes it; they have a vested interest in believing it; they have always believed it--culture or tradition.  When you don't accept reality, which is what denying truth is, you will grasp at anything but the truth.  That is why Plato said that if we want to live in reality we must know what God is really like.

Right now we seem to be ruled by those who make the most noise and raise the most money, not according to debate on the issues and understanding where people are coming from; instead, there's polarization and lack of understanding. Politicians make allegations and charges without any evidence to support them, yet they persist because some will believe them (probably supporters).  We must adhere to a strict policy to a facts-based mindset because it's a known fact that where you start determines where you'll end up!  People must consider the consequences of being wrong as well as the validity of the source and track record of whom they believe.   In conclusion, we must stop just accepting news we agree with: a complete agreement is not always necessary; sometime we must agree to disagree without being disagreeable and find commonalities--we seek unity not uniformity.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Does Truth Matter?...

"Truth does not change according to my ability to stomach it." --Flannery O'Connor
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge (cf. Prov. 1:7).  
"Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice" (cf.  John 18:37, NKJV).
"... We hold these truths to be self-evident..." (The Declaration of Independence).  
"Refusing to acknowledge and defend the revealed truth of God is a particularly stubborn, pernicious kind of unbelief.  Clouding the truth nurtures unbelief."  --John MacArthur, The Truth War
"Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne."  James Russell Lowell, The Present Crisis

BY DEFINITION:  "Truth is what corresponds to reality," (John Locke) --actually, God's reality! 

Today we wonder: are different versions of the truth?  Is truth really relative?   This controverts the Bible, which claims to be the exclusive truth, and Jesus Christ its very personification, who was asked by Pilate, "What is truth?" There is no universal belief, but reality is founded upon universal and transcendent truth.  Yes, the very notion of truth is in question, and some doubt the ability to be certain on anything, and this means the Bible's integrity is in jeopardy because we claim to know the truth, just as Jesus promised truth would set us free.  Not knowing the truth is a kind of cynicism and shows a lack of faith. Doubt can be healthy, but cynicism as a mindset is wrong.  Postmodernists claim that there is no truth with a capital T as a consequence and all truth is relative except their truths. 

All knowledge is contingent and takes a leap of faith starting with some unproven presupposition.  When the postmodernists say that it's just our interpretation or that truth doesn't matter, they are contravening God who alone delimits what is truth as its final arbiter.  Truth has power and when they claim that your truth has no power over them, they are lying and do not know the truth.  The catchphrase that it may be "true for you but not for them" is nonsensical--is that statement true for all and for whom?  The Bible claims all knowledge begins in faith and the fear of the Lord--if there is no God, then truth is irrelevant at best.  The sign of a believer is that he has a love for the truth and has been set free by it! Unbelievers reject the truth at their peril (cf. Romans 2:8; 2 Thess. 2:10ff). 

This has a lot to do with our faith since a lot of believers don't know what they believe and cannot even defend their faith or explain why they have it; this is a form of unbelief.  The church is the pillar and ground of the truth (cf. 1 Tim. 3:15) and we are witnesses of it.  Christians are dedicated to defending the truth and taking their stand for it and should make no unnecessary concessions.  Augustine said that we believe in order to understand, and this proves faith is the starting point and skepticism leads to confusion and contradiction.  We're not talking about subjectivity:  Differences of opinion, values, and tastes. But we're fighting for what God decrees, His expression, and what corresponds with reality.  Objective truth exists whether believed or not and never changes or adapts to situations, known as relativism--a denial of all absolutes. 

The stakes have never been higher and it's not only our duty to defend the truth, but also to combat error and heresy. This so-called "truth war" is worth fighting as we "contend earnestly for the faith," (cf. Jude 3) and the faithful will take up arms and prepare themselves for this war against the devil and his minions and cohorts who are bent on destroying any vestige of the truth, and of reality as a consequence.  The church needs to prepare members in what they believe and realize like Augustine that there are negotiable as well as nonnegotiable teachings (Heb. 13:9 says to beware of "strange teachings"), but need to be dogmatic on the essentials, showing liberty on the gray areas and charitable toward all believers who disagree in order to maintain a witness and unity of the body (cf. Eph. 4:3).

In short, we shouldn't just compromise our faith in the name of collegiality and sing kumbaya at the campfire celebrating unity when we are denying the notion of dogmatic truth and taking a stand.  Augustine said that "all truth is God's truth" and Aquinas added that "all truth meets at the top."  The truth is an antiseptic, but you must be willing to go where it leads to become changed and convicted.  CAVEAT:  NO ONE HAS CORNERED THE MARKET ON TRUTH OR HAS MONOPOLIZED IT!   NB:  The Greeks of antiquity nobly sought the true, the good, and the beautiful.    Soli Deo Gloria!

A Passion For The Truth

"The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness [trash]" (Prov. 15:14, KJV).  

"They hate the one who judges at the city gate, and they reject the one who speaks the truth," (cf. Amos 5:10). 

"Send Your light and Your truth, let them lead me," (cf. Psalm 43:3). 

"However, when he the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you in all truth," (cf. John 16:13). 
"Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim. 2:25, NIV).
"But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil" (Heb. 5:14, NIV).
"[And] all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing.  They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved" (2 Thess. 2:10, NIV).  

It's obvious that the sign of a Christian is one who's found the truth and been set free by it (cf. John 8:32), but one who also has a passion for truth and THE TRUTH and discerns it; the unbeliever hasn't received a love of the truth, but is deceived by lies, and has not learned to discern good and evil as Heb. 5:14 states.  NB:  Evil is not an entity in itself, but the distortion and perversion of good and truth, or error mixed with the truth; just enough error to deceive and inoculate from the truth).  Paul says that hopefully the unbeliever will come to a knowledge of the truth and repent by the grace of God in 2 Tim. 2:25.

Unbelievers "reject the truth" (Rom. 2:8) and "suppress the truth" (cf. Romans 1:18) and love the lie, which they will believe because God sends "powerful delusion" that they cannot discern truth from lies, and in this way will fall for the Antichrist (cf. 2 Thess. 2:11).  Even believers are susceptible to believing liars and being deceived and are enticed or led astray, as Paul said that a great apostasy shall precede the coming of Christ, and many shall fall away giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons (cf. 1 Tim. 4:1).

It is so important that we guard our souls with truth and be on guard against falsehood whatever the source.  Sound doctrine in the soul is such a defense mechanism known as the "belt of truth."    Spiritually we can be exposed to pseudo-spiritual writings that are extra-biblical and noncanonical, being rejected by the church fathers as passing the tests of orthodoxy.  They had very good reasons to pass over writings that the early church never accepted:  were they written by an apostle?  did they contradict other books in Scripture?  did they speak with God's authority or claim to be the Word of God? did they impact with the inspiration of God?  

Therefore: These criteria are known as apostolicity, orthodoxy, and pedigree of the canon. What's noteworthy is that none of the apocryphal writings were ever quoted by Jesus, any of His apostles, or the Church Fathers (the Apostolic Fathers)!  The Gnostic writings were known to be forgeries or false because they were written much later--as late as the second century and claimed apostolic authorship but were not.

Christians read these writings thinking they will find out something new but don't realize that they are not worthy of our attention.  Paul said that the things we should meditate and think about are those which are true, noble, worthy of honor, etc., in Phil. 4:9.  The point is that the Bible is sufficient to guide the believer and he needs no other spiritual ancient source to fill him in. If the writings don't claim sola Scriptura (the Scripture alone--as authority) or appeal to the Word they are bogus.  It's an insult to Scripture to give heed to these writings because God's Word is what is revealed.  

Remember when The Da Vinci Code was all the rage?  Curiosity seekers were drawn to this oddity of writing, thinking it was something new under the sun.  When they brought attention to the Gnostic gospels it was thought that this was something newly discovered, but the Church Fathers had rejected them as genuine, authentic, bona fide, authorized works of the Holy Spirit.

This is the ultimate question:  do you have a passion for the truth, or a curiosity for the lies of Satan and his deceivers, whether they be false teachers or demons?   One road leads to eternal life, another to apostasy and heresy.  It all goes back to the old expression GIGO or garbage in, garbage out. Don't forget we believe in the God of truth and that Scripture is truth (cf. John 17:17).  

These pseudepigraphical writings  (ancient tabloids) like  Assumption of Moses, Psalms of Solomon, Testament of Job, Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, Martyrdom of Isaiah, the Life of Adam and Eve, and other counterfeit writings are meant to deceive and lead to an error with strange teachings.  We are not to tempt God nor the Holy Spirit with our curiosity into Satan's domain!  We dare cannot ask God to "lead us not into temptation" and then expose ourselves to tabloid writings, and this gives the devil an opportunity to deceive.   It's interesting that Hebrews 13:9 warns against "strange teachings." 

In sum, "man shall not live on bread alone" (cf. Deut. 8:3).    Soli Deo Gloria!

In Defense Of Truth

"Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne." --James Russell Lowell
By definition, truth corresponds with reality (Correspondence theory of truth), or more directly that which God decrees or is concordant with Him.

"I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth" (1 John 2:21, NIV).

There comes a time in our testimony that we must stand up for the truth and be counted as a test of our faithfulness. Jesus is the epitome of truth and all truth is God's truth, Jesus revealed Himself as its ultimate source. The trouble with truth is that no one person has a monopoly on it and we all need each other to arrive at truth per se (not abstract, but personified in Christ)--no one's cornered the market. What's wrong with cults is that they have just enough truth to be dangerous; they have an element of truth and inoculate people from the real thing, because of having error mixed with the truth to deceive. There's no such thing as pure evil--it's just a perversion or distortion of truth and good.

People go by what rings true for them personally for basically four reasons: it's true because it's believable or they believe it; it's true because their fellowship or group believes it; it's true because they want to believe it, and it's true because they have a vested interest in it. This is due to our bias and everyone has a bias; there's no such thing as perfect objectivity outside God. We all need to examine our motives and check facts because our faith is fact-based and our God is fact-based.

We must not dodge the "no-truth-premise" by insisting that truth is relative. This is a "self-refuting statement" and cannot possibly be true or it contradicts itself--is that statement relative too? To the Postmodern, truth is but a "short-term contract." But Christians are hungry for the truth and love the truth; it's the rejection and hatred of truth that marks the unbeliever (cf. Rom. 2:8; 2 Thess. 2:10). One sure sign of a believer is his devotion to truth. Remember, Jesus promised the truth will set us free from this confusion (cf. John 8:32). There is Truth with a capital T! Truth, according to the Bible, is absolute, universal, and objective, meaning it applies to all, all the time, everywhere, and is true regardless of whether believed or not!

It is said that we cannot know the truth, and this would be true had not Jesus revealed it, the trouble is not in knowing the truth, but that we have rebelled from it and are seeking rationalization to justify ourselves. Differing worldviews all posit certain "truths" and make truth claims that only their truths are true--they are all unified that Christianity is a lie. "No lie is of the truth," according to 1 John 2:21. However, there is a reliable truth that we all can put faith in.

The catchphrase that something "may be true for you but not me" is also fallacious. Some people refuse to accept truth in essence because they think it gives others power over them, and they claim no one's in a position to know what's true for them. People claim that our Christian claims are irrelevant, but God's truth marches on and is vindicated. Why do they all despise our truth? We all act like there's truth because there is truth! All Christians ought to devote themselves to the pursuit of truth with a passion. We all ought to be known as lie detectors and purveyors of truth!

As Christians, we are ambassadors for truth because we belong to the truth" (cf. 1 John 3:19) for Christ came to bear witness of the truth, and grace and truth came through Him, being full of grace and truth (cf. John 1:7), and all who hear Him are of the truth. And the church is known as the "pillar and ground of truth (cf. 1 Tim. 3:15). When they insist that it's merely our interpretation, we insist that truth is absolute and universal and can be communicated. Zechariah 8:19 exhorts us: "... Therefore love truth and peace.'" Soli Deo Gloria!

Ethical, Or True Lies?

My premise is that there may be times when one has no choice but to lie because the person doesn't deserve the truth and the truth does more damage in the final result.  Numbers 23:19 says God is not a man that He should lie--implying men lie!   Note that even Paul was apologetic and insisted he wasn't lying in Rom. 9:1 and Gal. 1:20.  In Col. 3:9, where it forbids lying to each other, this is referencing the body of Christ in context.  We ought to be in sync with the Holy Spirit and walking in the light so as not to lie to the Holy Spirit per Acts 5 when Ananias and Sapphira dropped dead. The warning in Revelation is to those who "love and practice lies."  Job interestingly denies lying to his comforters' faces.   We ought to be in the habit of practicing the truth not lies, but there are always exceptions to the rules.  God cannot lie (cf. Heb. 6:18; Titus1:2) but it's impossible for man not to lie!

Eph. 4:15 does say to "speak the truth in love" (and speak "lies" in love too!), but sometimes the truth often hurts and should be shirked--it's never warranted to insult or use hate speech.  We never have the prerogative to be judgmental, divisive, critical, argumentative, nor contentious in our speech or conversation. Don't ever cast a slur on your fellow man.  Note that when the Bible speaks of "truth," it's mainly specifying Scripture (cf. John 17:17)--i.e., speak the Word of God in love, not to stir hatred.  Many believers become legalists; but it is written: "do not go beyond that which is written" (1 Cor. 4:6).  What does this mean?

We can interpret the Ninth Commandment as prohibiting and forbidding false testimony in court that would damage some one's reputation and change the verdict, what is verboten here is meant to apply to that but it is elaborated further in Scripture and people have generally believed all lying, even nonintentional ones or white lies, which only are made to keep from hurting one's feelings, are patently, unequivocally wrong.  We ought never blatantly to tell falsehoods to our neighbors but what about our enemies--do they deserve the truth?  "Do not be overrighteous ... why destroy yourself?" (Eccl. 7:16, NIV).

We as believers in Christ are not "under the law" (cf. Rom. 6:14) and operate or function under a higher law at work--the law of love, and if it serves to love our neighbor better by covering up the truth or letting a misrepresentation go, then the higher law overrules.  What if telling the truth would lead to the death of your wife?  Even Abraham lied about his wife being his sister, which technically was a half-truth!  What if it meant compromising the safety of thousands of persecuted Jews during the Holocaust--when papers were counterfeited?  What if a Nazi asks you if you are harboring Jews or know their whereabouts like Corrie ten Boom did?  What if you are undercover as a mole or counterespionage agent and your concealed identity and falsehoods must be secretive?  What about the pleasantries of greetings when we cover up our malady and say, "I'm fine," when we're not in a good mood and you want to avoid pity or attention.  You may feel you don't owe them the truth concerning your privacy--it's none of their business.  There are many ethical dilemmas that one may have and the best advice is to pray that you enter not into temptation. (Plead the Fifth!). For instance, either you tell a lie, or your daughter gets raped?  We are not culpable for coerced acts done non-voluntarily.

The moment of truth is not when we are challenged to admit the truth to an adversary but when we are honest to God at the time it would cost us something if we are honest, e.g., reveal some secret fact about yourself or others.  We need to get away from making such high ethical standards for our selves that we can never achieve and end up falling into a rut of self-defeat and failure, resulting in low self-image or esteem, ultimately leading defeated lives spiritually.  I know that God abhors a (habitual, uncontrollable, pathological) lying tongue (per Prov. 6:16f), but everyone is a liar according to Romans 3:4.  Technically anyone who ever told a lie is a liar then and that includes believers, for there is one God of truth.

Technically, you could say Jesus "lied" when He was on the road to Emmaus and he led on or "pretended" or made like He was going on farther ahead or playing along with their notion of the situation.  If you want to get technical, this is one sin that there are literally dozens of ways to commit it and we all do unbeknownst to ourselves. The truth is that we are only judged according to our awareness of truth and knowledge, and anything done in faith is not sin, and only if we know the right thing to do and fail to do it, is it sin.  The kind of liar that God says is an abomination and He abhors is deliberate and habitual and even pathological, not occasional or necessitated.

Any man that claims he's never lied or doesn't do it is a liar by definition--he's self-condemned and doesn't know his own nature. A real liar is one who commits to lying as a way of life like a con artist, not a person who has found it necessary to lie.  George Washington said he couldn't tell a lie, which was a lie!  Mark Twain was more honest in saying he could tell a lie, but wouldn't!  In determining the morality of a "lie" one must examine the motive (cf. Prov. 16:2), the desired effect, and any fallout, byproduct, or unintended consequences and results (cf. Deut. 32:29), which we are held accountable for--we don't believe just because a person's motives were pure or he did it in love, that he is justified.

What is the real crime, is not just telling a little lie, but living a big one?   It's not a contest to see who can be the most honest or reveal the most secrets, sort of like comedians do when they joke about themselves--be relevant and appropriate!   What matters in the long run, is that you are on the side of the truth and don't suppress it, namely ("true truth," as Francis Schaeffer called it) and listen to the truth--God's Word is Truth! (Cf. John 18:27; Rom. 1:18).  So, who do you want as your confidant? (Cf. Psalm 25:14).  Soli Deo Gloria!

Just Gimme The Facts!

"Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne."  (James Russell Lowell, 1844, The Present Crisis)

We must measure our faith by the object it's in--its validity is dependent on the reliability and trustworthiness of the facts.  There is no such thing as perfect or total objectivity with man, and the faith we have begins with something we cannot prove, but accept as a starting point. Even in geometry, they make assumptions.  Note that your presupposition determines your conclusion:  if someone tells you he saw your wife talking to a man and said she was cheating, you would conclude that she wasn't, but just made a friend because you know her and he doesn't!  That's an example of two people seeing the same fact in different lights and drawing separate conclusions. You cannot use circular reasoning, assuming there is no God, and then concluding there are no miracles, for instance; because the presupposition that there is no God is a leap of faith.  God has given a man all the proof he needs and has no excuse not to believe there is a God (cf. Rom. 1:20).

Believing something doesn't make it true, nor does disbelieving something make it false (objective truth exists regardless of belief, and can be known--"you will know the truth and the truth will set you free," according to John 8:32, NIV).  Truth is reflective of the mind of God and agrees with God's reality and the world--it's absolute and timeless.  According to Augustine, "all truth is God's truth" and consequently "all truth meets at the top" according to Aquinas. Note that people confuse fact and truth, or truth and opinion.  We have a right to our own opinions, but not our own facts.  There is no universal belief, but there is universal truth!  We don't have the right to fabricate our own truths, but we have a right to our own opinion, even if people disagree.

Christianity is a religion of facts and the believer has nothing to fear from scrutiny, there is no suddenly discovered the so-called fact that's going to destroy the credibility of Christianity after 2000 years.  In order to discover truth in a scientific sense or using the scientific method, you must be willing to go where the facts lead--dogmatic science is not science.  Socrates said that in order to begin learning you must admit your ignorance. and to find truth, you must admit you could be wrong! All knowledge begins in faith, and Augustine said that he believes in order to understand.

God is able to open the eyes of our hearts to see spiritual truth.  If you are unwilling to admit you could be wrong, you will never arrive at the truth--even scientists have been wrong, historians have misinterpreted history, and philosophers have come up with unsound, wacky ideas.  All of the wrong ideas have been because man basically only accepts the facts that fit his opinions or theories.

Spiritual truth is not subject to scientific analysis, Christianity is the only religion based on history, and if you could disprove its reports the faith would crumble--many have tried, only to fail and to become believers.  You cannot disprove or prove history in this scientific, empirical sense since history by its very nature is nonrepeatable.  God is metaphysical and we cannot measure God, or subject Him to laboratory conditions with variables and experimentation.  God is neither audible, visible, tangible, nor auditory.  God cannot be known by our tests or experiments, because He demands faith. The question of God's existence is philosophical, and out of the domain or province of scientific research or verification.

It takes faith to believe in God, but once you do it's like the proof of the pudding is in the eating--"taste and see that the LORD is good" (cf. Psalm 34:8). But it also takes a leap of faith to disbelieve in God or to become an atheist--he cannot disprove God because logically no one can ever disprove a universal negative (e.g., try disproving the existence of little green men somewhere in outer space!).

The problem with an atheist is that he cannot defend his position and there is virtually no substantial evidence that cannot be refuted for that worldview.  The fact is that it takes more faith to be an atheist; Norman Geisler wrote a book, I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist.  Ray Comfort wrote God Doesn't Believe in Atheists, to make a similar point!   The problem with an atheist is that they don't want to believe, not that they cannot.  It's not an intellectual problem, but a moral one--they don't want accountability for their life and principles.

People also don't have an open mind, they have their minds made up and don't want to be confused with the facts.  In the theory of evolution, they have twisted and manipulated the facts to fit their theory, not fit the theory to the facts.  It's not a matter of which side (creationism or evolution) has faith or reason, but what set of presuppositions one commences with.  It has never occurred to atheists that they could be wrong (they are just unwilling to accept the God-hypothesis, which they find repugnant), and what those consequences would be (hellfire and judgment). 

Faith precedes reason and I must stress that all knowledge begins in faith. Proverbs 1:7 says that the "fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge."  We all learn from each other, even Christians, because no one has a monopoly on the truth or even on wisdom (that includes Solomon). In the final analysis, what conclusions you reach depend upon your preconceived notions and how willing you are to follow the evidence and the facts to the truth.

The purpose of Christianity is salvation, not education or enlightenment in the Buddhist sense, and the Bible was written to change lives and save souls, not to increase our knowledge.  We must never be content just to be doctrinally correct but must realize the importance of applying our knowledge.  When we learn something we must ask what difference it makes and what our purpose in learning it is.  Knowledge is not an end in itself, but a byproduct and a means to an end.  Ignorance is not bliss, and it's not knowledge that binds us but ignorance.  Jesus said that knowing the truth sets us free (cf. John 8:32).

I'm not referring to the possibility or existence of absolute truth, of which Postmodernists are suspicious of, but of facts that we should be able to agree upon (Christianity is one religion based on facts).  Facts are basically propositions that are indisputable, such as the sun's eclipse on such and such a date.  It used to be considered fact that the earth was flat and the center of the solar system until science was enlightened!   Science has been called a moving train since its theories and so-called facts vary over time and adjust to new experiments and data.  For instance, astronomers no longer hold that the cosmos is eternal, but that there was a big bang and it had a beginning.  The whole point is that if we cannot even agree upon the facts, how are we going to get along and progress?

The danger in today's intellectual power elite or the intelligentsia is the rise of "scientism," or using science for unscientific purposes and assuming that the only reliable facts are those derived by scientific endeavor; e.g., Carl Sagan said that evolution is not a theory, but fact, and that "the Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be."  These statements are unscientific, and, just because a reputed scientist makes them, doesn't lend them credence nor viability.

Everyone, in summation, is a person of faith (it's not a matter of faith versus reason, but which set of presuppositions you adhere to):  Secularists put a lot of faith in science and the scientific method and deny outright the supernatural, and won't let a divine foot in the door; while Postmodernists have faith that you can know nothing for certain and all truth is relative--no one is in a position to judge your truth--especially religious or spiritual truth and reject the fact of science being the answer to man's dilemmas; atheists have faith that God cannot does not and must not exist--unfortunately, the weakness of their philosophy is the problem of atheism per se, which cannot be validated or proved, and is irrational.

On the other hand, Christianity is rational and meant to be understood by the mind, but it's not rationalism, putting ultimate faith in the power of reason as the only epistemology because he chief function of reason is to show that some things are beyond reason.  Soli Deo Gloria!  

Thought Control

The heart in Scripture refers to the innermost being of man, his affections, will, and intellect.  In Psalm 19:14, David prays that the thoughts of his heart be acceptable in God's eyes.  Man is whatever he thinks about all day, some poet has written.  Another has said appropriately, you aren't what you think you are, but what you think, you are!  Jesus said  (cf. Matt. 15:19) that "out of the heart comes evil thoughts." The lips reveal what's on the heart, that's why David prays that the words of his mouth and the meditations of his heart be acceptable in God's sight.  In Psalm 139:23, David prays, "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts." We keep no secrets from God. Proverbs 23:7 is pertinent:  "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Jesus said that all is open and laid bare to Him whom we must give account.  In other words, God wants us to get our thinking straightened out!  We are to love God with all our minds, too.

Why are thoughts so important to our walk?  They are to be godly and have a divine viewpoint.  We are not to think like the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind (to conform to the image of Christ), according to Romans 12:2.  It is not sufficient to be content with Bible knowledge if it doesn't sink into our minds and make them in the image of Christ and to learn to think like He thinks, "we have the mind of Christ [Scripture]"  (1 Cor. 2:16). Our minds are finite and Christ's is infinite and we will never peg Him nor have a handle on everything He thinks, but we are to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Pet. 3:18).

The devil likes to destroy our thinking process with lies from the world, and only the study of Scripture can prepare us to fight them.  "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ"  ((2 Cor. 10:4-5, NIV, emphasis mine).

Your worldview is your mental outlook (how you interpret the world around you and its events) and it must be Christian or what is known as the Judaeo-Christian worldview, as opposed to the Secular Humanist or Postmodern ones so prevalent in academia today.  It is a sad fact, for instance, that the average teen believer now actually believes truth is only relative and there is no "absolute truth." Jesus came to bear witness to the truth (cf. John 18:37-38).  "...Everyone on the side of truth listens to me" (John 18:38, NIV). Jesus claimed to be the incarnation, embodiment, or personification of the truth and He claimed you will and can know it:  "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (cf. John 8:32). Man's learning can be called "true," but only Scripture is "truth." That's why truth transforms and has the power to change lives. That's why Jesus said:  "Sanctify them by the truth, thy word is truth"  (John 17:17, KJV).

This is where we must take our stand and show our colors--there is knowable absolute truth and we are responsible for it, as revealed in Scripture.  No one can claim ignorance and no one has an excuse (cf. Romans 1:20).  Just like Paul said in 1 Cor 13 that when he was a child he thought as a child, and so on; it is time to think like a man of God and this doesn't just imply being content to be impeccably correct theologically (it is far more urgent to have your heart in the right place), but thinking like Christ as it relates and applies to the world around us  (i.e., "to understand the times" per 1 Chronicles 12:32).  Our thoughts are vital, for Christ must first be in our minds before He can be in our hearts, likewise doctrine.


At the Ocean Grove Conference Center in New Jersey the inscription over the speaker's platform reads:

SOW ...                           REAP
a thought                           an act
a habit                               act
an act                                character
a character                        a destiny

IT IS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE TO PUT A PREMIUM ON THOUGHT CONTROL.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Those Who Know The Truth

"The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, because the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:   ...  I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth...."  (2 John 1-3, ESV).

"For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth.  I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."  (3 John 2-3, ESV).

"Sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth"  (John 17:17, ESV). 

"...as the truth is in Jesus" (Eph. 4:21, ESV).  

By definition:  Truth is what God says is truth (He's the final arbiter), and anything consistent with His nature, "will, mind, character, glory and being," and laws.  "Truth is the self-expression of God," in other words (per John MacArthur).  

It is not only possible to ascertain the truth in this relativistic age, where people think they can decide their private truths, but commanded in the exhortation of Jesus in John 8:32:  "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free."  Note that Christ didn't say we would find some truth, or our truth, or relative truth, but THE truth!  No man ever spoke like this:  not by authority, but with authority!  This is not referring to getting a good education as the answer to life's problems, though the Bible isn't anti-intellectual and nowhere demeans learning.

The truth that sets free is knowing Jesus as personal Lord and Savior, who is the embodiment and personification of truth itself:  For he told Pilate that He came to bear witness of the truth, when Pilate didn't know what truth was (saying, "What is truth" in John 18:38)!   If Jesus is the truth, that means you can know it, and we would know nothing for sure without this divine revelation, for truth depends upon the existence of a God, and must be revealed to us as the starting place of all knowledge:  "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge..." (Proverbs 1:7, ESV).

Today, in liberal academia, students are taught that they can know nothing for certain and that they can be certain about that one truth (which has no truth value per se, since saying all truth is relative, this means that this statement must also be relative!). When people say truth is relative they usually mean to the situation or to the person's circumstances, situation, or viewpoint, but you must always inquire, "Relative to what?" This is subjective truth.   If there is no God, then the quest for truth is meaningless and vain. Postmodernists say that the only truths that are certain are the truths relating to them, and the ones relating to Christianity are only relative.  Objective truth is true regardless of whether one believes it or not and no matter who says it.  Jesus said that he that is of the truth will hear His voice (cf. John 18:37), and so this is where we throw down the gauntlet.

The word of the year, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is "post-fact," which is when people think that emotional connotation is more valid than the literal meaning or denotation.  Naive students like to say or write what they "feel" rather than think:  they have lost all meaning and understanding of cognition.  Thought precedes feeling and feelings depend on thoughts.  Our mind controls our body, not vice versa. Today, people are not as concerned about the truth as to what's true for them!  They also don't care what something means (and even the Bible), but what it means to them:  "O, that's your interpretation!"  We seem to have lost all basis in knowledge, wisdom, and understanding and resorted to subjectivity.

What makes Christianity so unique is that it's not based on subjective thought, empiricism, or interpretation, but on objective, historical fact of the resurrection of Christ and Christianity is a historical religion, not a myth, nor a catalog of rules or wise sayings of philosophy.   The whole purpose is to not to increase our knowledge but to introduce us to a person (the living God!).  We don't get saved by cognition or Gnosticism (getting in on the scoop), but by a transformed life through a living knowledge of a person.

All knowledge must have a purpose, and not become an end in itself--the end result is getting to know our Lord and live a life of service to Him.

Nonbelievers are those "who reject the truth," according to Romans 2:8 and they "refuse to receive the love of the truth," according to 2 Thess. 2:10.  We are concerned about orthodoxy in our doctrine, of course, but it is much more vital to be concerned with knowing Him, who is Truth incarnate.

In sum, there is "absolute truth" regardless of what academia proclaims, and that means there's Truth with a capital T!  Truth is timeless and that means what was true in antiquity is still true!  What was valid as a principle of morality still holds water.  We are not evolving new truths and standards of right and wrong as we progress in our civilization.  Truth is different from some statement just being true because only Scripture can be called "truth," and Jesus said that we are "sanctified" by the truth and that His Word is Truth--Truth alone transforms; while something may be true, doesn't necessitate it being "truth."  Education can be truth and Shakespeare can be inspiring, but only Scripture and Jesus can transform a life and give life to the dead--Shakespeare doesn't change lives!  Finally, there is no absolute belief, but there is absolute truth that is knowable as a foundation for all knowing.
Soli Deo Gloria!ab

Truth Is Timeless...

"...For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world--to bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice"  (John 18:27, ESV).

"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ"  (John 1:17, ESV).

It is paramount that we ascertain the truth and be devoted to making it known; for all truth is God's truth and meets at the top.  Mahatma Gandhi (called Mohandas Gandhi or "Great Soul") said that truth is God and God is truth--this obfuscates the issue that we can know truth as an absolute and that the truth is in Jesus (cf. Eph. 4:21). The erroneous view that truth is relative is unbiblical and one must wonder, "Relative to what?"

When Jesus said that He is the embodiment or personification of truth itself, He meant we can know it and progress in our knowledge of it.  "No lie is of the truth," says 1 John. 2:21, and this emphasizes that also that truth is absolute and something cannot be true for one person and not for another, as if it's all relative.  Jesus summed it up, saying, "You shall know the truth and it shall set you free"  (cf. John 8:32). God is a God of truth and cannot lie (it's against His divine nature); what kind of God would lie to us?

We are in the business of determining truth in a world filled with lies from the father of lies himself, Satan, the deceiver. We must be willing to stand up for the truth and show our colors--faith is not believing in spite of the evidence, but obeying despite the consequences!

Sometimes the truth even hurts, but we are to always speak the truth in love (cf. Eph. 4:15).  We are not to be offensive and reply that we were only speaking the truth and being honest--tact and manners apply.  The problem is that all men are liars according to Scripture, and God is seeking an honest person--it's amazing what God can do with an honest comedian who can laugh at himself; much more can be accomplished with an honest believer who doesn't take himself too seriously.

In the end result, though even Abraham and Isaac lied, the Bible teaches that honesty is the best policy. Why? Someone said, "Oh, what a web we weave, once we practice to deceive [Lincoln said you better have a good memory!]."  I believe the Bible teaches that we cannot be too honest, because God "desires truth in the inward parts"  (cf. Psalm 51:6).  Remember, partial truth or half-truths are not truths at all. We are incapable of telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us, God, because only God can do this!  Mark Twain summed it up quaintly:  "Tell the truth; it will confound your enemies and astound your friends."

There is no absolute belief or universally accepted truth; however, truth is absolute and fixed so that God determines what is truth and it's His expression or what He would decree or say.  In today's postmodern worldview, people believe truth is a short-term contract; however, there is a truth war going on and each of us must engage in this angelic conflict against lies and deception.

In the final analysis, objective, universal, absolute truth exists that is true everywhere, for everyone, for all time and is knowable in the person of Jesus Christ; it's true whether one believes it or not and is defined as the expression of God--it's true because God says so--He decreed it!   Soli Deo Gloria!  

Finding Meaning In LIfe

"If we are to know how to live, we must find out what God is like"  (Plato).

Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, concluded:  "Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee."

"... The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love"  (Galatians 5:6, NIV).

"It's not what you do, but how much love you put into it"  (Mother Teresa of Calcutta).

"The only really happy people are those who have learned how to serve"  (Albert Schweitzer).  

There is meaning in life, in fact, the only worldview that offers meaning in suffering is the Christian one!  It is important what you believe because ideas have consequences and we are admonished by Paul in 2 Cor. 10:5 (ESV) to "take every thought captive to obey Christ [pursue divine viewpoint]."

When we ascribe to a so-called worldview, or mental outlook (i.e., Judaeo-Christian, Postmodernism, Secular Humanism, New Age, or even Marxism); i.e., we interpret reality, not as it is, but as we are. Only God is objective and all true knowledge must originate with Him because He is omniscient or pansophic.  If you assume evolution, for instance, and this is the linchpin that holds all secular worldviews together, then there is no God, no Lawgiver, nor Judgment Day, and no hell to shun, nor absolute moral values, and neither is there any absolute truth to boot.  This is commonly referred to as moral relativism and the denial of Truth with a capital T.  Just like the cynical Pilate who asked Jesus: "What is truth?" Jesus didn't just tell us the truth, like when He made pronouncements ("Truly, truly, I say unto you..."), but was the very personification of truth itself and made it knowable through Him.

You can never know anything by making man the measure of all things and the reference point or starting point of knowledge; you must begin with God and explain the universe, not with man and explain God away ("In the beginning God...").  Humanism deifies man and dethrones God, and Postmodernism considers all knowledge relative, except what relates to their metanarrative, interpretive framework, or worldview, i.e., Christian ideas!  All secular worldviews have this in common:  They are diametrically opposed to everything Christianity stands for.

Communists must affirm unequivocally that a "Supreme Being, Creator, or Divine Ruler [i.e., God] "does not, cannot, and must not exist."  Man has irrefutable evidence for God and is without excuse (cf. Rom. 1:20); however, he suppresses this fact for moral reasons--he simply doesn't want to believe, because it's uncomfortable.  "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge..." (cf. Romans 1:28).  Augustine, in his Confessions, wrote:  "You made us for yourself, and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you."

They refuse to "let a divine foot in the door" and begin with the presumption that the supernatural is impossible, by placing ultimate faith in the scientific method and personifying science, bringing about "scientism," whereby pronouncements are declared that aren't related to science, but philosophy or religion, for example ("The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be," says Humanist of the Year (1981) recipient, astronomer Carl Sagan).  Science has become a religion, with people only putting faith in the natural and the observable.

Without the church as the "pillar and ground of the truth" (cf. 1 Tim. 3:15), we lose the anchor and value system by which to judge right and wrong, and morality becomes elusive and truth becomes a short-term contract.  Truth is relative, they say, well relative to what or to whom?  No matter which belief system you ascribe to, it isn't a matter of faith vs. rationalism or reason, but of which set of propositions you are willing to accept by faith as presuppositions.  Both systems require faith--for "all knowledge begins in faith: Socrates said that "to begin learning you first must admit your ignorance." Augustine also said similarly, "I believe in order to understand."  When we have faith, God opens our eyes and illumines us, without God we would know nothing for sure.

The viewpoint of youth today, and many do not know what they believe, is that Christians have kissed their brains goodbye, and are ill-prepared to answer the attacks on their faith; they don't even think it's defensible, and can survive in the open marketplace of ideas.  A worldview basically answers these three questions:  Where did I come from?  Why am I here? And Where am I going? The secular interpretation is that we came from blue-green algae or even nothing at all, and have no meaning or purpose in living but to seek fulfillment of instincts, and are headed toward oblivion or nothing but food for bacteria.  Jean-Paul Sartre said that "without reference to God, man is a useless passion."  Famed atheist and mathematician Bertrand Russell said that "unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is useless."  We were put on this planet for a purpose, to make a contribution, to leave a legacy that will outlast us.

The only worldview that gives man dignity and purpose is Christianity.  We are created in God's image and are not animals (they want to think they're animals so they can live irresponsibly like animals).  The very word "purpose" is repugnant to secularists, who deny the Anthropic Principle, for instance, that demonstrates purpose and design in nature that is perfectly suitable for mankind.  A life without purpose is lived in vain and is a waste, going nowhere!  God put us all here for a purpose as part of His plan and glory:  "The chief end of man is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever," says The Westminster Shorter Catechism (ca. 1646), which refers to Isaiah 43:7, which says God created man "for His glory."

We are here to make God look good and be fulfilled in Him. As Blaise Pascal, French mathematician said, "If man is not made for God, why is he happy only in God?   If man is made for God, why is he opposed to God?"  As Jesus said, "... I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly"  (John 10:10, ESV).  The eternal life with Christ begins at the point of entry into salvation (cf. John 5:24, ESV, emphasis added):  "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has [present tense!] eternal life.  He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life."

The only way one can find true meaning in life is to know Christ because He is our Creator.  The Bible is our celestial beacon, divine GPS, and owner's manual and has everything we need to know for salvation and meaning.  We all need to know we are important, have an impact, and have an identity or are somebody that counts.  The Bible answers all these questions and gives us motivation to live to please others and God, not ourselves: A life lived selfishly is suicidal.  Pascal, famed scientist and philosopher, said that there is a "vacuum-shaped hole in our heart that only God can fill." You not only matter, but are more important to God than the whole universe or cosmos.

God is a person to be known, is personal, and gets personal and knows us personally as persons, so intimately that He numbers our hairs! We alone have a God that is knowable and not aloof and impersonal, like Allah. Muslims emphatically deny the capability of knowing God personally and of having a personal, living relationship and fellowship with Him, that inspires and motivates life and living in the here and now, but in the light of eternity.  Suddenly, when you see you have a divine purpose in being alive and can accomplish God's will, life becomes an exciting journey and relationship and even a challenge that other religions don't have.  We grow in our knowledge of God and never gain definitive knowledge of an infinite Being.  "The finite cannot grasp the infinite," says the classic maxim.

As a logical conclusion, when you deny God, you have no basis for meaning in life or to do anything but "eat, drink and be merry [cf. Isaiah 22:13]." Man then just exists, he doesn't live life to the full. Twentieth-century philosopher Will Durant asks:  "Can man live without God?"  This is the dilemma of the modern man who seems to think that "God is dead," as Friedrich Nietzsche falsely and shamelessly postulated; he was saying we didn't need Him to explain the cosmos or to find relevance--that God doesn't matter anymore.  Without God, there is no anchor on the soul, and man has but a bleak outlook and is hopeless.  We all need a sense of "ought" and understand the times to know what to do (cf. 1 Chronicles 12:32); who knows?  We may have been born "for such a time as this"  (cf. Esther 4:14).

The problem with man today: "Men have forgotten God," according to Alexander Solzhenitsyn, even if he professes a religion or even Christianity, he is a practical atheist or one who lives like one, despite a bogus profession of faith, he is only a nominal Christian or one in name only.  Man will find that there is no basis of ethics without Him, and man is free to make up his own value system or ethics as he goes along, to suit his own interpretation and situation, like:  "Listen to the God within!" Or, "If it feels like the truth to you, it is!"

Caveat:  We must beware of following Israel's footsteps in the time of the judges:  "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes"  (Judges 21:25, ESV).  It is similar today, in that people lack a moral compass, and think that morals are determined by convention, consensus, or community standards--and evolve over time.  God is the moral center of the universe and He is our Judge, we are not His judge--we answer to Him, He doesn't answer to us!  Yes, Isaiah was also right on and on the same page:  "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned each one of us to his own way"  (cf. Isaiah 53:6).

Rick Warren lists four purposes to live for:  as a member of His family; a model of His character; a minister of His grace; and a messenger of His good news.  We all need a philosophy of life and an interpretative framework to view the world around us and put things into perspective.

If you've ever pondered:  "Who am I?" Or, "Do I matter?" Or even, "Am I important?"  The answer is in knowing God through His revelation in Christ.  In my day people used to take time-outs and "find themselves."  You can never get found if you don't admit you're lost! You were born to fit into God's intricate plan, not for God to approve your plans--you have the destiny to be realized in Christ!

A word to the wise is sufficient:  Psalm 11:3, ESV, says, "[I]f the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Without God as our reference point, we lose all footing and orientation in society, and no civilization has ever been able to maintain ethics without the aid of religion, and "no society has ever survived the loss of its gods," according to playwright George Bernard Shaw. No nation has been able to maintain morals without the aid of its religion, according to Will Durant. Has the rise of Secular Humanism, which is a religion without God, eradicated Christianity from the public arena and marketplace of ideas;?

Have we come full-circle from the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, in which it was argued that the minds of children should be kept open and they should be taught about the theory of evolution, just to be fair?  Now, they won't let the Christian view get its point across as a viable belief system and worldview that gives meaning to all of academia and its disciplines. We must not concede everything away and lose to the Postmodernist and Secular Humanist by default and give up the ship without a college try and fight.

Let me conclude with a quote from scholar Carl F.H. Henry: "The Christian belief system, which the Christian knows to be grounded in divine revelation, is relevant to all of life." Soli Deo Gloria!

A Time For Polemics...

The church is "the pillar and ground of the truth"  (1 Timothy 3:15, NKJV).

"... Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice"  (John 18:37, NKJV).

"When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth..." (John 16:13, HCSB).

"Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God"  (1 Cor. 4:1, NKJV).

"... Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching [doctrine], has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation.  Let all things be done for edification:"  (1 Cor. 14:26, NKJV).
EMPHASIS MINE! 

Polemics is defined as denouncing heresy, or of refuting it and standing up for sound doctrine.  "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine [teaching]"  (2 Timothy 4:3, NKJV). There is a growing postmodern camp in the church that denies that we have gotten orthodoxy right yet and that we can be dogmatic about anything in the Bible, that truth per se is up for grabs, including the gospel message. Postmodernism teaches that truth is a "short-term contract" and that what's true for you, may not be for someone else (aka relativism).  The church got the idea that truth is negotiable and up for grabs and the notion that it's only relative to the postmodern worldview that is prevalent in academia.

In the name of ecumenicity, the truth is compromised and watered down and even deemed unknowable. Are we just trying to be "inclusive" as politicians strive to be?  Another explanation for this contempt and cavalier attitude for the truth is the "seeker sensitive" atmosphere permeating evangelical churches.  Should we domesticate or tone down the truth to make it more appealing to the unchurched?  This is known as "contextualizing" Christianity. Is there a paradigmatic shift against dogma?  Are they reinventing or revamping the church?  This issue is whether sound doctrine is too arcane and abstruse for the typical churchgoer, or necessary for maturity.  It all reverts to what Satan said to Eve: "Hath God indeed said...?" (cf. Gen. 3:1).  The question has plagued mankind since Pilate asked Jesus, "What is truth?"  (Cf. John 18:38).

Jude exhorts us to "contend for the faith" in an age when it is unpopular to teach doctrine and to stick to the application of the Bible, like the social gospel, which is a misnomer, and an excuse to turn stones into bread.  Paul boasted in his swan song of 2 Tim. 4:7 the following:  "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."   Satan opposes sound doctrine and we confront his Anfectung (German for "attack," as Luther termed it), when we stand up for the truth. The problem with most believers today is that they don't think the truth is worth studying, and they certainly wouldn't die for it.  We must never compromise what we believe to maintain a conscience:  "So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man"  (Acts 24:16, ESV).

Why do you think Paul said they are "always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth"(2 Tim. 3:7, ESV).    A Christian is one who loves the truth and seeks the truth, as incarnate in Christ, the Truth itself.  Truth is knowable and we are to ascertain it to best of our ability because "truth matters" and as Augustine said, "All truth is God's truth," and Thomas Aquinas said, "All truth meets at the top."  If a heretic is found in the church we are to take action:  "This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith."  An example of heresy to be denounced is easy-believism, also known as cheap grace.  Pastors are exhorted above all:  "But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine"  (Titus 2:1, NKJV).

Remember:  Doctrine is teaching and usually refers to the church's stand on issues or their dogma. We have received sound doctrine from centuries of scholarship and no one today, no matter how gifted, can defy and refute all the learning available to us via commentaries and other sources.  We don't have to start from scratch every generation!    Why do we need doctrine?  "... [T]hat he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict [error]"  (Titus 1:9, NKJV).

Now we are not to be nitpicky or to split hairs, because there are gray areas, and room for disagreement indisputable or questionable doctrines--church fellowships and families should strive for unity in the Spirit in the bond of peace (cf. Eph. 4:3 which says, "["bearing with one another in love] endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace"), i.e., unity, not necessarily uniformity, and not be judgmental towards those who beg to differ:  After all, a Protestant is defined as one who dares to remonstrate, "I dissent, I disagree, I protest"  (just like the famous words of Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms).

Doctrine does come up all the time in our preaching because Paul says in 2 Tim. 3:16 that "all Scripture is profitable for doctrine."   We are to avoid foolish disputes and arguments and "disputes over words" (cf. 1 Tim. 6:4, NKJV) which cause division, but to take stands on issues that matter: "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity," as Augustine's dictum said.  We are to avoid foolish arguments, but not godly ones--there is a time and place to stand up for what you believe in.  Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4:6 (NKJV):  "If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed."  This is emphasized in 1 Tim. 1:10 to teach sinners whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.

It is infant believers who are "carried about by every wind of doctrine" (cf. Eph. 4:14).  When sound doctrine is taught there will be those who oppose it:  "Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned and avoid them"  (Romans 16:17, NKJV).    The early disciples were known by four signs in Acts 2:42 and one of them was that they continued in the apostles' doctrine.

Paul urges Timothy to "charge some that they teach no other doctrine" (1 Tim. 1:3, NKJV).  He also exhorts him:  "Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine...." (1 Tim. 4:16, NKJV).  Note that he teaches in 1 Tim. 5:17 (NKJV):  "Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine."  We do not want God's doctrine to be blasphemed (cf. 1 Tim. 6:1) and to teach "the doctrine which accords with godliness"  (1 Tim. 6:3, NKJV).  Elders are to hold "the mystery of the faith [deeper doctrine] with a pure conscience (cf. 1 Tim. 3:9, NKJV).  We are to be so sound and pure that we "adorn the doctrine of God" (cf. Titus 2:10, NKJV).

Originally, when believers assembled for worship, they had a doctrine to share (cf. 1 Cor. 14:26).  It is important to "go on to maturity" by leaving the "elementary doctrines" (cf. Heb. 6:1) and the goal is given in Ephesians 4:13 (NKJV):  "[T]ill we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, in the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." The faith is referred to as the sum total of the teachings or doctrines of Christianity.

The danger of the last days is the doctrines of demons (cf. 1 Tim. 4:1), and the only way to inoculate the church body from this is to have a firm foundation in the truth and basic sound doctrine.  Paul urges Timothy:  "Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine" (1 Tim. 4:13, NKJV).  Hebrews 13:9 (NKJV) admonishes us:  "Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines...."  The only way to recognize a counterfeit is not to study counterfeits, but originals! Isaiah 28:24 says:  "... And those who complained will learn doctrine." This is the panacea for the church falling for the heresy that truth doesn't matter and sincerity is what validates faith.

The unrighteous perish "because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (2 Thess. 2:10, NKJV).   But God will teach the sheep:  "Whom will he teach knowledge?  And whom will he make to understand the message [doctrine in KJV]"  (Isaiah 28:24, NKJV).  Who would believe that sound doctrine would be an issue in today's church?  But there is a movement known as the 'Emerging Church" that challenges truth per se and denies we have systematic truth or "orthodoxy nailed down, shrink-wrapped and freeze-dried forever."  This is an anti-dogmatic attitude that has permeated some churches, proclaiming that we "haven't arrived yet."

Truth is under attack and we are not to "tolerate false teachers" like Jesus rebuking the churches in Revelation.  Remember Demetrius in 3 John 12 who  "has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself." False teachers had crept into the church that Jude was writing to--this is our wake-up call.     Soli Deo Gloria!

Knowing What To Believe

Someone has remarked that people get their beliefs like they catch colds (probably referring to The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, where he alleges that "faith is caught" and religion is a "mental virus"), and they get faith from hanging around certain people and becoming infected--they don't think independently, but get easily persuaded by the loudest and most vociferous voices heard. You can predict what these people think of the crowd they hang around. They have not learned the science of critical thinking and know nothing of being skeptical when it does matter.


Consider the source!  Who is saying what and what is the authority of that source?  They have not thought it out or been challenged in their thinking. Do they know what the person means by their terminology, sometimes there may be a semantic problem or a simple misunderstanding of definitions that can cause quarrels and misunderstandings?  Knowing what you believe is only the prelude to knowing why and defending and contending for the faith and your position as commanded. People have to come to the realization and awakening that it doesn't matter what people believe, but what matters is the truth and we must find it and defend it.


We often agree more than we disagree and it is vital to find commonality and not stress our differences, yet we are prone to disputations because of our human nature. Not knowing what you believe can be disastrous to keeping the faith.  You become susceptible to influence and persuasion by those more educated if you have no foundation and don't know the rules of the game or of engagement. The unschooled, unseasoned believer is "tossed to and fro ... by every wind of doctrine," according to Ephesians 4:14, ESV.  Scholars can sometimes take advantage of the unskilled in the Word (especially those skilled in the Koine Greek or Hebrew) and naive students are easy prey. People who are skilled at the technique and art of debate and polemics know that you should be able to argue both sides of a case to be able to be in a position to judge the merit of it.


Keep your mind open till you have considered the relevant verses, such as proof texts.  The reason is that you need a frame of reference and viewpoint to interpret reality and God's truth.  Sound doctrine is foundational--the building block on which all other knowledge, discernment, and wisdom rest, the simple basics and starting point. Doctrine cannot be avoided without committing spiritual suicide; it is the infrastructure of Bible knowledge and it's mandatory to learn the ABCs  You shouldn't just be able to converse on the subjects, but know where you stand and be ready to defend (cf. 1 Timothy 2:15) your convictions (you hold beliefs, by the way, but convictions hold you!). This is rudimentary and not subject to compromise!


You cannot be biased at the beginning and must be willing to go where the evidence leads, even if it is against your gut instinct and presuppositions, which may become shaken up a little and shock you out of your comfort zone. Flannery Connor said that truth doesn't change according to our ability to stomach it!  You will never arrive at the truth if you are unwilling to go there, or even consider it as an option!  You should know why you believe something, and not just because you accept someone's word for it or you accept someone's authority as a teacher.  For instance, Roman Catholics don't believe they have the individual authority to interpret Scripture, but that it is the domain of the clergy. This is why they swallow the belief that tradition is of equal authority with Scripture--they've never checked things out for themselves.


We are to follow the example, the Berean Jews who searched the Scriptures to see if these things that Paul taught were so (cf. Acts 17:11). This is a dangerous presumption to forego our responsibility to interpret Scripture because you are literally blindly putting the fate of your soul into someone's hands. This is literally coming full circle from the Reformation!  The Bible is the sole and final authority (sola Scriptura, or Scripture alone, as authority was a battle cry of the Reformation), and God has given each of us the privilege to interpret it, but also the responsibility to do it right.  God wants us to read the Word, and if we don't believe we can interpret the Bible, we will be less likely to do this.


There are a few critical questions (this is not original of mine) one needs to ask if one is to be skeptical and doubt someone at their word: Where do they get their information?  Is there evidence? Do they footnote it or do they assume you accept their authority?  Be vigilant about the meaning of terms and words, because they may mean something you don't understand.  Ask them to literally tell you what they mean by the words in question--this will reveal a lot.  Don't take words for granted! Always ask them what they mean by their proposition.  And most importantly, you must consider the issue of how they know it's true--is there evidence?  Some people confuse belief with truth and "feel" in their hearts something as true and that is "evidence."  Believing something doesn't make it true!  


Are they mystical and relying on their own experience (you'd be surprised how many people just "feel" something is true in their hearts!), or are they mere scholars (not that scholars are to be avoided--they are needed too!) who quote so and so?  The authority of the source is vital and one should weigh in on the validity of this source--for instance, do you have a Bible verse for that or are you just theorizing this for yourself? For example Martin Luther said he would only be persuaded by Sacred Scripture or evident reason, otherwise, he would not recant (not the papal authority either) at the Diet of Worms. Remember, "no Scripture [cf. 2 Pet. 1:20] is of any private interpretation," and this means no one can come up with some newfangled meaning, secret or esoteric knowledge, or "spiritualization" no one else will realize or apprehend.


John MacArthur has rightly said, that not knowing what you believe is a sort of non-belief!  We are not to waver in limbo not knowing anything for sure, but to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior and to study to show ourselves approved unto God, as workmen, not needing to be ashamed, but rightly diving or handling the Word of Truth (cf. 1 Timothy 2:15).  Not knowing what you believe will only make you susceptible and vulnerable to false doctrine and even doctrines of demons and, when people attack the faith, you will have no basis to answer them or defend the faith (contending for the faith is not the option, but commanded in Jude 3).


The childish believer balks at learning the things of God in depth (cf. 2 Tim. 3:9) and isn't able to distinguish good from evil (cf. Heb. 5:14), therefore he tends only to the milk of the Word and is unskilled in the Word of Righteousness and isn't ready to digest the meat of the Word.  The more you are aware of what you believe, the better equipped you are to battle the forces of evil which attack us with ideas from the devil himself in an onslaught.  There is a false religion, false doctrine, and false mysticism out there that must be revealed and brought to light so that we are not influenced by it.

Knowing what you believe is the very foundation of living in faith and should also be a building block to the truth.  Never assume you have arrived or have monopolized the truth.  No one has cornered the market and we all need each other in the body to share insight and enlightenment.  We are to think in terms of doctrine as a vocabulary of the Spirit, not experience, and we need to learn how to think in a godly manner and be doctrinally correct to root out misconceptions and error from our thinking--we all need to get our thinking straightened out!  

Caveat:  Don't allow teachers or authorities to be the arbiters of truth--they often contradict each other--God alone is the arbiter of all truth based on what is revealed to us in Scripture (cf. Deut. 29:29, ESV, which says:  "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.").


In the final analysis, it is far more important to live out your beliefs, put them into action, and turn your creeds into deeds, than to be impeccably correct in all your doctrine. You cannot have a sound life without sound doctrine, according to R. C. Sproul, but you can have sound doctrine without a sound life--both are necessary and we shouldn't downplay either one.  Faith is only valid when it is acted upon, it is knowledge put to work to glorify God.  We will be judged by our deeds, not our beliefs; God isn't going to ask us what doctrinal position we hold on such and such or what church we went to, either--we aren't saved by our theory of the atonement, for instance!  

It is not that we will make assumptions (this is unavoidable), but the crux of the matter is on what evidence they rest! Remember:  To gain any knowledge you must first admit your ignorance (be teachable!), according to Socrates. You cannot avoid doctrine by claiming it is too arcane or only has academic value.
Soli Deo Gloria!

Let God Be True

"The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17, ESV).

"Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth"  (1 John 3:18, ESV).

This is the name of the primary Watchtower Bible & Tract Society book which denies the Trinity as being the doctrine invented by Satan himself.  Actually, the church father Tertullian coined the word, and even though it isn't a biblical word, it is taught throughout Scripture from creation, where God is in the plural (Elohim--"Let us create ...") to the Great Commission where we are to baptize in the name (singular) of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  All members of the Godhead are equally God and equally divine, sharing all attributes of deity alike.  

The reason Charles Taze Russell denied the Trinity was because he thought it was irrational--what made him presume God is able to be comprehended by man (The philosophers of antiquity said, "The finite cannot grasp the infinite") or in Latin: "finitum non capax infinitum").   The more one contemplates this truth, the more one realizes it is from the revelation of God, and not man's invention. Truth is that way, it is not something we would've guessed!  Christianity is a revealed religion and we know it by special revelation, personal visitation, and encounter by God Himself in the person of His only Son, our Lord.

There is one God, though manifested in three personas as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  All of one essence, but having different self-distinctions or consciousnesses.  What trait, characteristic, or attribute of one can be said of the others.  They always act in harmony and concurrence of will (there is no conflict of interest, disharmony, ill-will, or disagreement). If the members of the Trinity disagreed they would be lying by definition of the law of noncontradiction.  They work according to the role and domain they have, such as the Father purposing or proposing salvation, the Son accomplished it, and the Holy Spirit executing and making it known and real in the believer.  

The Father also authored and planned it, the Son did the work of redemption, and the Holy Spirit applied it.  They also worked in concert in creating heaven and earth.  Jesus is known as the logos or logic of God and is called the Word (expression or icon) of God (cf. John 1:14).  Jesus was the incarnation and manifestation of truth itself, proving we can know and grasp it (cf. John 14:6). He pronounced: "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free" (cf. John 8:32).

One thing that is impossible for God to do is lie; while man is a liar and lies from the womb according to the Psalms.  Lying isn't just saying something that is contrary to fact on purpose: not saying the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; misspeaking; giving someone a line; making up something as you go along for impression's sake; saying something to gain the upper edge or advantage; false compliments; insincere flattery; any half-truth; misleading statements; exaggeration for effect; saying something to gain advantage; deceptive practices; giving off a false impression; jumping to the conclusion; misrepresentations; saying something that hurts; bearing false witness against your neighbor; disinformation; contradicting yourself; propaganda; not being honest in niceties or pleasantries, such as in greetings and saying you're feeling fine, when you're not; not telling the whole story; leading astray; acting the con man; flirting; buttering up someone; creating a false impression or going along with one; fooling someone; putting spin on something; saying something with bias or subjectivity; pre-judging someone or something; gossip; slander; judging; false portrayal of situations or events, etc.


Face it: We all stand guilty as charged when we realize all this encompasses and more to boot, including omitting the truth as a sin of omission, and anything God wouldn't say. Remember, telling one lie makes you a liar!  But God cannot lie according to Titus 1:2. If God could lie, what kind of God would he be?  President George Washington claimed that he couldn't tell a lie; actually, that's a lie--he could, but chose not to on intentionally. The Bible calls all men liars (cf. Romans 3:4).  President Jimmy Carter told us he wouldn't lie to us, but this was an impossible task as Chief Executive.

Philosophically, Thomas Aquinas believed and affirmed what Augustine had said in that all truth is God's truth and concluded that all truth meets at the top. Francis A. Schaeffer said the Bible is "true truth." Jesus said that God's Word is truth and sanctifies us (cf. John 17:17). Jesus said that the Father is the "only true God" (cf. John 17:3). Truth is what transforms and doesn't just inform or reform. Truth changes lives and is alive and powerful and fills us then makes us hungry. It reads you as you read it!

God judges those who practice deceit and lie on purpose or deliberately like false teachers or prophets, and they will not enter the kingdom of heaven  (cf. Rev. 22:15, ESV:  "... [T]hose who love and practice falsehood").  Satan is a liar and the father of lies, the father of all men before salvation, and when he speaks a lie he is speaking naturally, for this is his nature.  The man who insists he's telling the truth and swears in God's name is probably the most insecure of his integrity.  Like Shakespeare writes: "Methinks thou dost protest too much!"

Note that the Bible records Abraham as having lied about Sarah. When I say someone is a liar I am delineating someone who practices the sin intentionally and loves or approves of it--not some besetting weakness that is confessed. After conversion we have a new nature able, to tell the truth, and overcome the sin of lying--we are no longer prone to lie; however, the flesh is still tempted.  People generally associate liars as those who got caught; however, we are all liars, we all just didn't get caught!  Don't strive to be the ideal man with unrealistic expectations, but to be a real man with ones in touch with reality and needing God to overcome sin--always a battle till glorification.

To claim that you don't lie is a lie and a claim to divinity because only God can claim this:  "... Let God be true and every man a liar" (cf. Rom. 3:4, ESV).  In essence, this is blasphemy (which is a lie by definition) and a direct insult to God's holiness, as He is a jealous God and will tolerate no rivals or someone asserting deity or divinity.  If you've never realized what a liar you were before salvation or that you still are prone to do it because of the resident old sin nature, you have never been convicted of sin and don't know what the word really means or its connotations--the more you realize lies and the more sensitive you become, the more honest you become, the closer to the truth you get, the more aware you become of sin, and then the less sin!


The sad fact is that people aren't concerned with whether an idea is true anymore, but just whether it works, and works for them in particular. There is no Truth with a capital T and all truth is relative now, especially the ones relating to Christianity.  Christians are to proclaim the truth incarnate and that it is knowable, relevant, and profitable. New Age adherents believe something is true if it feels right. Morality is always based on transcendent truth that we all should know and appeal to, not personal opinion, feelings, or conjecture. Unbelievers are those who reject the truth (cf. Romans 2:8). People today deny universal truth that is valid for everyone but insists that it might be true for you, and not for them.


Objective truth is true whether believed or not. (Note:  Even the Greeks sought and loved the true, the good, and the beautiful.)  Two contradictory ideas cannot simultaneously both be true. What they tend to believe is that there is no truth and it is vain to search for it or claim you've found it.  Just like Pilate asked Jesus in John 18:38 what truth was, but didn't stick around for an answer. If you seek the truth with your whole heart you will find it and it will set you free--then you can speak forth truth, and not the lies and deceptions of Satan.   Soli Deo Gloria!

To The Angel Of The Church

John gets a dictated message from Jesus Himself to give to seven churches in Asia and is told to address them to the angel of the church in each case. One sound principle of hermeneutics is to heed the recipient of a message and interpret it accordingly. Note that these letters are addressed "to the angel of the church" not to the church per se; the letter was not to be circulated among members in my understanding, but read by the angel and applied by him to his church and likely read publicly. These letters are indirect to the churches, but the message relayed by their angels (which, being interpreted really refers to messengers, elders, or spiritual leaders).

Sometimes the Word falls on deaf ears and sometimes the opposite, they have itching ears and just want to hear a good word without any negative news or rebuke accompanying it.  All these letters have both good and bad news, except Philadelphia, which has no rebuke explicit nor implied. It seems that Jesus says the good news first and then says, "Nevertheless, I have this against you...."  At one level all the letters apply to every church and all believers as commendations to aim for and warnings to heed. None of us want to go where some of these churches are. Don't say, "That doesn't apply to me." It does apply; however, the application may be different!  But one point I want to stress is that it is to the angels that the letters are sent and addressed (they may not necessarily be the elders or preachers), and the letters are to be read and applied by them.  It is not what the pastor holds against the flock, but what the Lord holds against them manifest in the Word.

It is quite possible that people were not as literate in those days as they are now, and may have needed someone to read it to them, but in today's society with almost 100 percent literacy in Protestant nations, the letter might have gone into circulation.  Even the Scriptures themselves were widely in circulation and there might have been only one per church that was shared among members.  I do not believe manuscripts, which were hand-copied, were as likely to be privately owned, but mainly in libraries and in churches.  

At that time it was still thought possible to wipe out or stamp out the Bible and abolish it everywhere, making it illegal. Even though people usually graduate from high school today, many still have minimal skill in reading and find it quite challenging or difficult to read because of dyslexia or other handicap or just plain limited academic skill.  Not everyone can read, and this makes them disinclined to do it--I believe this is why we have preachers and teachers who can do the homework and read for them:  "Faith comes by the hearing [via preachers] of the Word"  (cf. Rom. 10:17).

I have been teaching the Bible for years now, and I have been in many Bible classes, being exposed to students of the Word at all academic skill levels and natural abilities, and one thing I have learned is that some people are just not wont to read and do not enjoy it due to difficulty--not everyone finds reading fun and easy and a learning experience. They don't want to read anything mainly because it is over their head and they are not at that reading level--it's no fun for a high school student to read the college-level material unless he is a bright student and quite proficient and ahead of his years.

Some people don't realize that even Bible-reading is a challenge to some--though I believe in the simplicity of the Word and that its main salvation message is plain enough for anyone to comprehend as far as salvation goes (cf. Isa. 35:8)  Part of teaching is to be able to condescend and know where people are and not preach over their heads, and also not to try to "wow" them with your scholarship, which only discourages in the end--students should be able to relate to their teacher. We don't want them to say: "You lost me." Einstein's dictum is right:  "Keep things as simple as possible, but not more so."

Paul told Timothy to pay attention to the "public reading of Scripture" (cf. 1 Tim. 4:13).  During the Middle Ages, people were illiterate and got most of their doctrine from artwork in the church and from the sermons on Sunday and had no direct access to Scriptures, which were even illegal to own in their own language and they were only copied into Latin.  Martin Luther is credited with making Scripture accessible in Germany, and William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale in England (John Wycliffe and Jan Hus actually started the movement).  It wasn't long after the invention of the printing press in ca. 1454-56 that Bibles were widely published, circulated, and available quite cheaply. 

It is not true that, just because a person has graduated from high school that he can read at that level in today's day and age, or that he can read at all, and doesn't have severe difficulty, handicap, or academic deficiency to be able to read at will, even if he desires to.  Those of us who are very good readers are not to look down (which is expecting a certain level of comprehension from reading is doing this) when we note those who lack this skill, nor are we to expect them to rise to our level and find reading pleasurable and rewarding.  It is just as much the schools' fault to have never taught how to read, as natural ability not being inherent in everyone equally.

Jesus urged us not to lord it over one another and Paul told elders not to be domineering; we should not try to micromanage each other's lives and try to tell them what God's will for them is or what they should do to apply the Word of God.  We apply ourselves to the Word of God, and then the Word to us, and then we might have something to share with others and hope they can spread the Word and apply it to themselves.  Case in point:  A teacher cannot say to his student or a preacher to someone in the church that it's God's will to read a certain book or go to a certain class or take a certain course--we are all stewards of our gifts and held accountable accordingly and to whom much is given much is required, etc.  Preachers and teachers can make suggestions and possible applications and can express their opinion, but not to lay down the law and tell people what they ought to do in applying the Word--"Do not go beyond that what is written" (cf. 1 Cor. 4:6, NIV).

It is getting presumptuous to get sidetracked and turn the church into a college or academic institution, instead of a hospital for sinners and family of believers who are meant to do one mission: Fulfill the Great Commission--including preparation;  all else is unnecessary, or in addition to this. We are not to "turn stones into bread" or be involved in the so-called social gospel, which is a misnomer. This mission is our purpose and focus, and we must let people operate and function within their gift's domain and not try to project our gifts onto others and expect them to be like us.

At my last church there was a popular two-year college-level Bible Study that the pastor encouraged members to take, but at no time did he rebuke them for not taking it--one felt accepted whether one took it or not. I'll bet that if a church offered a course at the 9th-grade level there would be some who would take it that don't feel up to the level of the average member.  Some people have the deck stacked against them from the get-go and find other ways to learn the Word and do God's will.  My brother is dyslexic and is hardly the one to ever read a book--I doubt he's ever read one; he didn't even graduate from high school; however, his spiritual development and maturity level, as well as comprehension of the deeper truths, is no less than someone who just reads a lot.  He has gotten his knowledge first-hand while those who just read a lot have accumulated a lot of knowledge that is second-hand.

What we are to encourage people to do is to read the Bible the best they can and be faithful to what God has shown them in the Word. We cannot superimpose our standards of performance or achievement on others--God isn't looking for achievement; He's looking for obedience.  Christ said that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (cf. Matt. 11:30)--we are not to overwhelm our sheep and so discourage them.  The yoke we have to follow is the will of God and we should walk in fellowship with Christ doing His will, in whatever capacity, a sphere of influence, circle of friends, or turf we find ourselves.

Any course should have a purpose:  We don't increase knowledge for knowledge sake.  If it is your calling to be a teacher, then God requires more knowledge--that is the tool of the trade. Knowledge must not remain theoretical or be a basis of pride. It is not an end itself, but a means to an end.  A little knowledge can be dangerous; therefore, we must be careful not to half-educated our sheep give them overconfidence that they know something--knowledge should humble a person and make him realize what he doesn't know. Today, we have too much knowledge to know what to do with it. Wisdom is sen as the good application of knowledge or learning. 

Even believers must realize that the cliche is still valid that "Christianity is a relationship, not a religion" (list of dos and don'ts). You can't just tell people to read the Bible and make them feel guilty if they don't; you have to instill a love and appreciation for the Word, which must come naturally from God, and not conjured up.  I always read the Bible because God gave me a love for it, not because someone told me I had to. Religion says "have to," while Christianity says, "want to.  "Jesus said that eternal life is to know Him (cf. John 17:3) and this should remain the focus.  It is often tempting to tell others what they ought to do (unless the Bible admonishes it). We all have an inner sense of "ought." The end result may be that they stop listening or don't think you know what you're talking about.

Pastors advice from Paul is "not lording it over those entrusted to [them], but being examples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:3, NIV).  We are not out to make clones of ourselves nor set up ourselves as the standard to emulate; God doesn't want cookie-cutter Christians.  Paul urged young preacher Timothy to "preach the word" in 2 Tim. 4:2 and we must realize that truth endures and is unchanging, but applications may or may not apply and are different for different people.  Paul told Titus to "teach what accords with sound doctrine"  (Titus 2:2, ESV).

In the final analysis, knowledge (except knowledge of God) puffs up (cf. 1 Cor. 8:1), and it is not what we know, but what we apply--viz., faith expressing itself through love (cf. Gal. 5:6, NIV). It is not in the knowledge of Scripture that the power is, but in the doing of it (cf. James 1:22). Our aim is to know the Lord, not getting a big head, and in this should we boast (cf. Jer. 9:24). It is not knowing the Scriptures, but knowing the Author!  One great teacher may be a great scholar but hardly know his Lord.

The aim is not to know about the Bible (or be educated in it), nor even to familiarize yourself with it, but to get acquainted with the AUTHOR and be at peace with Him (cf. Job 22:21). Anyone who knows the Lord is all right in my book and I would never attempt to throw stones and try to bring guilt at not meeting my own personal standards of scholarship--I know God's will for me, but not for someone else. We can know who we are in the Lord, but not necessarily for someone else.

Personally, I believe you can learn from anyone, even a child, but there comes a coming of age spiritually when you venture out on your own studies and not become dependent on someone else if you have this gift. The same can be said about a lot of endeavors: I know that God loves music and brings him glory; however, I'm not musical and cannot carry a tune or sing in key, so I depend on the talents and gifts of others;  I don't need another book on prayer--I just need to pray; I don't have a deep theology on prayer--I just believe in prayer!

In summation, we must find out who we are individually in the Lord and what our own calling is and what we can do, not thinking we have to be like someone else or compare ourselves with others, as is the manner of some; or, conversely, that others have to be like us and minister similarly.  We can all strive to be angels or messengers in the church.     Soli Deo Gloria!