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Is failing to love the Truth the basis of all heresy? And Contrariwise: Is loving the truth the cure for heresy? Let me make this observation. Most believers believe what they want to believe and then justify themselves from the bible.
Example: Brother A says the Holy Spirit is an 'it'- merely the energy of God. Sister B quotes several verses referring to the Holy Spirit as 'Him' who 'speaks' and is the Spirit of God. Brother A goes on insisting the Holy Spirit is an 'it'. Why? He is not motivated by the love of the Truth himself and therefore is careless in doctrine preferring his own wisdom to God's.
Example 2: Sister C says Jesus is not God. Brother D shows many bible verses that reveal Jesus pre-existed- is one with God- Co-equal and so on, but especially God incarnate in human flesh. Upon seeing these verses sister C changes her mind. Why? She loves the Truth and is actually glad and thankful that she has been corrected! How often is that positive reaction seen here in this forum?
In considering the endless debates on the same old controversies isn't there a lot of evidence that love of Christ as TRUTH is shallow? One reason why the greatest commandment is to 'Love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength'.
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Yes, not loving truth is a key. And the reason we don't love the truth is that we love ourselves too much - the truth stings!
Almost always, when we argue against the word, it is because we want to do "what is right in our own eyes" and want to be accepted as we are, rather than having to accept what God says is right and be changed to conform to Christ!
In a great message entitled "The gospel vs. everything" Ken Burkey pointed out the five commonalities of anti-gospel messages:
God:they bring God down toward man's level (his uniqueness and identity) Man:they elevate man (man is good, not a sinner, or is capable of changing himself) Jesus: they deny the unique deity of Christ, and our need for his atonement Faith: they refuse faith in Jesus as the means of salvation, and choose works instead Eternity:they deny the reality of heaven and hell
All these boil down to loving self (exalting self) above the truth and above the Lord. The truth is somewhat anti-me: I have to accept that there is a standard outside myself that I have to measure up to, that there are consequences of my choices that are outside my control. We want to "have my own religion" where the standard of salvation is - well, being me!
Blessings, LA Mistress of the Manse
-------------------- Posing as an Ordinary Housewife :)
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Worldly people enjoy sinning, but if they achknowledge the Truth, it shows that they are wrong, so instead they mock the Truth, scorn and cover it up with excuses; they don't want to have to feel guilty or know that they will be judged for the things they enjoy so much. They don't want to admit that they're wrong and foolish, but enjoy selfish pride rather than suffering the guilt of repentance. There are, unfortunately, even Christians that sometimes act in a similar manner. Our duty, of course, is to persuade othes to believe in and accept the Truth, for God's glory and for their own sake using whatever gifts we are blessed with by the Holy Spirit. But before we can do this we must also make sure that we ourselves are following Truth and walking along the correct path through praying often and the reading and obeying of the Bible. As the Bible says, if you keep yourself righteous, and *only* if you keep yourself righteous, God will reserve you for his very special tasks, and not his lesser ones. (Proverbs). Therefore we must always be ready to accept Truth, to remain humble and accept correction from the God, not be proud or angry becasue our own desires contradict it. (Proverbs).
Relic
-------------------- Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life
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Yes Laurie Ann and Relic, so true. I've spent a little time in Christian forums and saw that there were several endless circular debates going on around issues such as the the Rapture or Once Saved Always Saved versus Perseverance of the Saints; or Faith versus Works etc. I began to realize that at a certain point there would be one or two sensible characters that would prove from scripture conclusively what position they took; but it made no difference: All 'combatants' kept on quoting the same scriptures against one another and making the same points over and over; getting nowhere. This led me to make appeals to believers to be taught of the Spirit of God, in reality, that there might be oneness in a spirit of truth and that Christ himself would become the arbiter of doctrine. These little posts were the ignored ones within these great debates. Ignored because on the one hand few would actually have the faith to be taught of the Spirit- even though everyone claimed their doctrines were of God and on the other hand because there is great unwillingness to do so. People love to 'blow their own trumpet' and express their human mind- without interference from the Mind of God. This in turn led to a realization that Christians are in rebellion against the Holy Spirit as Teacher and will not submit to Him as such and hence there are as many varieties of doctrines as their are personalities. So I now realize that what is needed is a call to repentance from this disobedience to God's command to be taught of Him and be of 'one mind' in matters of truth.
Also it concerns me that in the bible we are told not only to beware of 'doctrines of men' but 'doctrines of demons'. Satan is the author of heresy. So even when sincere Christians push a wrong doctrine, they are still being used of Satan, even if they are perceived by their fellows as being in Christ and doctrines as being of little importance. So then there must also be resistance to the powers of darkness as the inspiration behind false doctrine, via human pride, often disguised as 'I know what God has told me' or 'the scriptures plainly teach...' So what is to be done?
It is an individual's responsibility for what they choose to believe; and such things as willful stupidity- what the bible calls 'foolishness' as in , ''The Fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God''; or 'twisting the scriptures' (an accusation that flys everywhere)are sins to be repented of. If a person loves Christ, desires to live a life of good works and holiness, abhors error and fears there own human understanding then you will also find they possess God's wisdom and have few errors. On the other hand if a person is lukewarm, arrogant, boastful and unspiritual you will find that most of what they believe is wrong; even if they are inclined to denounce false prophets and boast of divine inspiration in an attitude of affected humility for the eyes of men.
So it all comes down to heart attitude. Poor doctrinal understanding; that is lack of godly wisdom, is inconsistent with a life of holiness. Loving Christ means loving his teachings and rejecting heresy by 'an anointing which teaches all things'. On a more universal level we are sorely in need of world revival where the love of the Truth himself will banish the darkness of Satan's lies.
Truly, a person who doesn't love the Truth will succumb to heresy and believe a lie. But I think the cause runs deeper. I think there is a reason why a person does not love the Truth. That reason is that they love sin more. Accepting truth may cut across some cherished sin that they are not willing to give up. That is to say that they do not love righteousness more than evil. And, certainly, Jesus is the Truth and He is Righteousness. He does not merely follow after righteousness but IS HIMSELF Righteousness. His character defines righteousness and sets the standard, a very high standard. So in reality when a person rejects Truth it may be that they love self more than Jesus.
Of course, there are other reasons god-fearing Christians reject some Truths that we hold dear. Perhaps they have been prejudiced against them by a previous denominational affiliation. Or, it could be they are struggling to understand because all the pieces are not there for them. Or, it could be the one presenting the Truth has done so badly and it is confusing. But for someone who lives after the flesh the first reason is probably right, though I would be careful to call anyone apostate simply because they don't believe everything I do as I do. The apostates should be obvious as they are in open rebellion against God's law. However, some very sincere believers could be yanked out of fertile soil by some zealous, self-righteous weed picker simply because they don't see eye to eye on every point. Sometimes, we need to listen to the very ones we think "don't get it." Perhaps it is us who fails to get it. What do you think?
I think that discerning the right from the wrong is a complicated matter. There are no "ten simple steps" to follow, but this issue is very complex; where to begin adn where to finish? How are we to know that it is us who "fails to get it", or someone else, or everyone at once? What are the signs that show us this- what is there to look out for?
But these questions I brought up are in fact unintelligent; quite simply, we must not rely on our own understanding, but on the knowledge of God.
Therefore, it's through Faith and Love that the way is opened for us in a complicated web of deceits; for those who Love the Truth, the Truth will be made known to them, and the Way will be opened to that person.
-------------------- Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life
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There are scriptural promises of course- 'An anointing that teaches ...all things', 'We have the mind of Christ', 'One in Spirit and Truth' etc; and of course promises are fulfilled by faith. 'There is one Faith, one Hope....'- Yet Christianity is marked by division and clearly there is not a oneness in truth or in the mind of Christ. Satan has sown confusion and division.
Primary is faith in the Holy Spirit, 'Who will guide you into all truth'- What an amazing promise! We can see how, historically, the Holy Spirit has moved in the Church in one age after another to bring about reform, life and power. History shows us that new denominations and movements have a habit of becoming petrified and dogmatic after a while. (A fate that could equally befall HC.)
Personal revival is personal responsibility. Being taught of God by first surrendering one's own understanding seems to be one of the hardest things for believers' to do as it grates right against human pride- and particularly religious pride which often disguises itself as spiritual enlightenment.
When there is a general movement among God's people of humbling themselves and seeking teaching from the Holy Spirit as hitherto they have sought healing and prosperity we will see great strides in truth and unity and consequently in power!
So 'a personal relationship with Jesus Christ' is to be a relationship of disciple with a Teacher. This part of the Christian's relationship needs to be emphasized by every bible teacher and evangelist- but it opposes the concept of 'pastor knows best' and 'let the church do your thinking for you': These Protestant errors were also the basis of Catholicism!
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I would like to thank you, Black Swan, for bringing this topic up in view of the present darkness of our declining Christian culture here in the USA. Never have I seen such an aversion to truth and certainty among people who should know better, including... gasp... some in the house church movement. I just noticed another hc web site pimping for the "emergent church."
We can love God and love truth, too. These are not opposites. Consequently, we see in the rebukes to the churches in Revelation that some had not only their first love but had left sound doctrine, too. Neither category met with the approval of Jesus but rather provoked Him.
Then said Jesus (truth incarnate) to those Jews which believed on him, IF ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; John 8:31.
There is not so much division among the denoms with regard to their beliefs as one might think. They all hold to pretty much the same beliefs. And, I don't think it is so much a problem with them going to a point and holding but rather they are slipping backwards from their roots. How much of that baggage did we bring with us when we came out?
One thing that I can think us is the misconception that Israel is still under the Old Covenant and thus needs to rebuild the temple and offer animal sacrifices. The Old Covenant was abolished by Jesus' death. (Heb 9:1,10; Col 2:14). There is no other way to be saved outside of Jesus Christ. This was true even when Israel was under the Old Covenant. Not one person will ever be justified by the deeeds of the law. This includes every person. Jesus is the only One who was sinless and can say that the Devil found nothing in him.
All this when scripture clearly teaches that God made a New Covenant with the house of Israel and Jacob. God has always wanted our obedience. His covenant with man has not changed with regard to what His part of the bargain. What changed is that under the Old Covenant the people promised to obey. But they failed to. So God said, instead of you trying to change your own hearts "I will write my law in your hearts and in your minds." In truth He was saying that He would do for them what they were unable to do for themselves.
So, you see, it is still a gospel of grace. There will never be a need for animal sacrifices again. Not since the Lamb of God was slain to which all of the previous sacrifices pointed. Both covenants were made with Israel. However, if a Gentile wanted to join himself to Israel and partake of the covenant promises, it could be done. (Is 56:6; Eph 2:11-16).
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