Don’t Let Distractions Keep You From The Truth

Word-Of-The-Day: ’I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.’ (Romans 16:17); ‘For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.’ (2 Timothy 4:3)

I once took a church survey to see how poorly (or goodly) I would do with regards to how well my Gospel doctrine matches up with others.  Which is what each of us have – our own Gospel doctrine that should be driven by the Holy Spirit and thus line up with other believers. 

Now each of us have different mindsets on what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell us; some have told me before they like the Holman Study Bible version, while I use the ‘1970’ NIV, and others prefer the NKJV. 

There are those who think its heretical to use anything other than the ‘1611’ King James Version of the Bible, and still others who have to study the Aramaic, Greek, Hebrew, and Latin texts of the original Scriptures to believe they are getting the true message. 

I believe Creation was six ‘days’, each day equal but length determined by God, told to Moses to help Moses understand, while others insist it was exactly six 24-hour days for God to create the heavens and the earth and all things in it.  But could God snap His fingers six times to bring Creation? I believe He has that power to do so if He desires.

These items, as with many items, when they come up in discussion, I have to say ‘OK’ as there is no basis for either agreement or disagreement.  If you believe the ‘1611 KJV’ is the only valid version you get an OK for me, if you think God snapped His fingers six times to create all things, OK.  There is as much a validity in those beliefs as much as there are possible discrepancies, but in the end, these are points that are not worth the time to really debate. 

There are other things, like dinosaurs (are dinosaur bones something Satan planted?, did dinosaurs get placed on the Ark?, did they live and die to create petroleum so we can have gas to drive to church?) that can be distractions that can derail what our focus should be on; the Gospel Truths of Jesus Christ, which is what we MUST agree on and move together in one accord.

What are these things that cannot be in dispute? 

1. Our Triune God (God the Father, Jesus as God Manifested, and the Holy Spirit as God Spiritualized) together AND as one exists as transcending time and who has initiated and completed Creation. 

2. God (as Triune) is Holy (perfectly good), omniscient (all knowing & seeing), omnipotent (all powerful), and omnipresent (everywhere & at all times) and Agape (all loving), not wanting Man to suffer eternal damnation in Hell but Eternal Glory in Heaven. 

3. Man is subservient to God & His Will, but God gives all men free will to accept Him through Jesus to be their master. 

4. Jesus’ birth is immaculate to a virgin mother (no sexual relations between Mary & Joseph created Jesus, & Mary did not have sex prior to the birth of Christ). 

5. Jesus is the Ultimate Sacrifice to atone for the sinful nature of Man by having accepted the punishment of all of Man’s sins despite being sinless himself, as Jesus is the Messiah prophesized in the Old Testament to fulfill the Levitical Law given to Moses by God.

6. Jesus lived as a Man (and still a part of the Trinity), died a physical death as a Man on the cross to the Ultimate Sacrifice, was buried in a tomb as a Man, was resurrected three days after death as a Man to fulfill the prophesies and prove He is the Christ before His Ascension into Heaven.  

7. Man has an inherent sinful nature (born sinful) that can only be overcome through repentance or repudiating our sinful nature, accepting the Ultimate Sacrifice of Jesus, as accepting Him as our Savior and as our Lord, the King of Kings over all Realms under God; accepting Jesus once is permanent and cannot be removed or reneged. 

8. Jesus will return in a time of God’s choosing to ‘rapture’ or gather all those accepting Him as Lord to unite with Him in the presence of God for Eternity, and no man will ever know the time or place of His return – until He does.

9. Sin is ultimately defeated by death, and death is ultimately defeated by being placed in Hell (then in the end Hell is deposited in the Lake of Fire).

10. Men who do not accept Christ as Lord condemn themselves to eternity in the literal place of Hell.

11. The Holy Bible is without error, is truthful and is founded and authored by God, for man’s understanding and comprehension of the nature of God and His relationship to Man and Creation.

These points cannot be disputed as each are proven and documented in the Word of God, as evidenced by Faith in the Holy Spirit.  These are the truths our Faith must be built upon.  There are those who I’ve met, over the course of my Christian life, who are strongly dogmatic over things like the King James Version, over the dinosaurs, over allegorical versus literal events the Bible presents. 

Be careful not to fall into the trap of the rabbit hole; many come up with doctrines based on feelings and not facts.  There are pastors, like the Pharisees before them, who use doctrines based on such feelings to limit believers or to keep control. 

Messages based on feelings are not doctrinal nor from the Holy Spirit, messages based on fact and fortified by the Word of God and bolstered by the Holy Spirit are. 

It is important to pray continually, to tune into the Holy Spirit, to read and study the Holy Bible, to discuss with other believers these things and to always be on the look for confirmation from God when there is a crossroads in your Walk. 

As I’ve stated before, question what I teach, what the Pastor preaches, what your favorite podcast evangelist says – by prayer, reading the Bible, and talking to others.  If you have strong feelings, ask God if those feelings are legitimate and based on Truth.  

Sometimes the Truth does hurt, or it’s not what you want to hear, but realize God will always give us what we need, even if we don’t get what we want.  Seek the facts of Truth, not the feelings of deceit.