These Things Teach!

“These are the things you are to teach and insist on. If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, THEY ARE CONCEITED AND UNDERSTAND NOTHING. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions, and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” (1 Timothy 6:2c-5 NIV)

One of the reasons we have so many denominations and varying doctrines that “supposedly” govern the various churches, is because somewhere along the way, people chose to develop their own interpretation of God’s Word–usually taking a passage of Scripture out of context. When followers don’t have any understanding of The Word and are gullible in their trust of those who are leading them, they perpetuate a continuation of their truths and not God’s.

For instance, one denomination teaches a “Jesus Only” doctrine which we who know The Word, know that this is impossible. There is no Jesus without God and Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the resurrected Jesus Christ–They are (the three) the divinity that should govern our hearts because THEY WILL ALWAYS AGREE. Then another denomination teaches sprinkling water as a method of baptism rather than submersion “under the water” as a symbolic act of being buried with Christ. I’ve never heard of anyone being “buried” on the surface. And then there are those who would dispute the actual words of a baptism, ignoring what Jesus said. Another denomination doesn’t allow music to be played in the sanctuary because they didn’t understand Psalm 150 or ignored it.

If we teach anything other than what is said or implied (and substantiated) by other passages of Scripture aligning with historical events, we lie and the truth is not in us. If we lie, then we are children of Satan because he is the father of liars.

To avoid misrepresenting anything God said, we must know what He said and why–understanding the events that occurred at the time something was said. We must know that historical events directed the writing of the Old Testament by those who were inclined to hear God speak. With any good history books, we can align the events to the biblical record and how God responded to people during those times.

We know that for a span of time–most believe it was four hundred years–that no one spoke for God to the people and that’s because they were too busy doing their own thing to hear Him. We are headed in the same direction where people will think that God is not speaking to anyone because so many are listening to the the enemy’s lies they cannot see or hear Truth. If we’re not willing to hear truth, we set ourselves up to be lead down a merry path of destruction and oppression. When people misuse The Word of God to control others, they are dictators and manipulators and have no place in the kingdom of God.

We are no longer under The Law, but under grace–God’s unmerited, undeserved favor–and we only need to open our hearts to hear Him, not men, who are constantly changing their minds about everything. If our bodies are the temple where the Holy Spirit lives–He will speak to us, lead us, counsel us and guide us in all truths and we have no need to be under the bondage of man’s fickleness.

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Do You Know Him?

“Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” (I John 2:4-6 NIV)

We cannot claim to know God–through Jesus Christ and His Works–if we’re not willing to do as He says in His Word.

Since there is this unity among the three–God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit--if we do not know all three, we cannot know one–because they are one in purpose and will not divide themselves to accommodate mere man.

For those who claim (and it is a claim without foundational truth), they understand that Jesus loves, but cannot believe God meant what He said or that He is yet speaking to us and through us by direction of Holy Spirit–they lie. In the beginning, they all existed (and still exist) and if a person would simply read His Word, with understanding, they would know this.

This is the reason many churches--man-made edifices–are bereft of spiritual guidance–because the leadership denies the existence of an all encompassing God. No one should buy into a “Jesus only” church doctrine–He does not exist on His own and He would be the first to say that without the Father, there would be no Him. We cannot buy into “God alone” church doctrine–if we did, the work on the cross would be meaningless and so would any celebration of the birth of Christ. We cannot ignore the existence of Holy Spirit--it is He who provides us with instruction and guidance when we are willing to hear Him.

When church doctrines–ignore the unity of the Three–they create a great disservice to those who attend the services held at such churches. If the entirety of who God is, is not taught where people attend church services–NO ONE SHOULD BE THERE! We cannot teach a “divided God” and expect to see Godly results in anything we do. When we do  this, we demonstrate a fundamental lack of knowledge as to who God is and we further demonstrate that we DO NOT KNOW HIM!

Do you know Him? If you do, hallelujah!  If you don’t, get into His Word and seek Him for understanding so you will know Him and know–He is all we need–Our Father, Our Savior and Mediator, Our Counsellor–when we allow Him to do His job in us.