As I listened to the woman in that study explain what this other group believed, I said, “Nonsense” which was a judgment of their teaching based on the biblical context. She turned to me and said, “Yes, but when people hear our doctrine of . . . they say ‘nonsense’ too.”
I was surprised that she thought that was even a comparison. I was also surprised that she didn’t remember that our criterion is the Word of God, not our opinion. It doesn’t matter what I think, or she thinks, or teachers of false doctrine think. What matters is what God’s Word says. If God says something is true, it’s true. If He says it is nonsense, it is nonsense.
In a book called Reckless Faith: When the Church Loses its Will to Discern, author John MacArthur says:
True discernment requires diligent study of the Scriptures. None of the other steps is sufficient apart from this. No one can be truly discerning apart from mastery of the Word of God. All the desire in the world cannot make you discerning if you don’t study Scripture. Prayer for discernment is not enough. Obedience alone will not suffice. Good role models won’t do it either. Even the Holy Spirit will not give you discernment apart from His Word. If you really want to be discerning, you must diligently study the Word of God. God’s Word is where you will learn the principles for discernment. It is there you will learn the truth. Only there can you follow the path of maturity.Old Testament prophet Jeremiah knew this. His task was to call God’s straying people to repentance, but was fearful that he would be judged and exiled along with them. In defending himself to God, he said, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.”
As God’s man, he devoured the Word of God. How else would he know the will of God? How else could he discern true from false, devotion from perversion?
These days, many people assume that because the Bible is old, it is not relevant, or they realize it is relevant but don’t like what it says. Some will pick out the parts they think are “important” and not bother with the rest of it. Yet in Acts 20:27, Paul said, “For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.”
Obviously Paul thought it was important to preach, study, and read all of Scripture. He knew that false teachers could pick and choose words out of context and make them say whatever they wanted, leading gullible people away from the truth and into error. In most cases, such error has eternal results.
It’s a big book and a seemingly difficult task. Not everyone is able to spend hours in study. Just writing these things makes me feel convicted that I don’t study the Bible as much as I should. It is like a fine banquet; once I get started, I don’t want to stop.
Those who don’t know where to start struggle with this too. For them, I suggest that at least they read the Bible through once a year. Take the number of pages and divide them by 365, which usually works out to 3.5 to 4.5 pages a day. Use two bookmarks, moving them to mark where you leave off and where you need to read to next.
Reading the Bible in a year takes about 10-15 minutes a day and after years of doing this, I can say with Jeremiah that the Word of God is the joy and rejoicing of my heart.
I can also say that after all this, that intellect or IQ has nothing to do with understanding the Scriptures or applying them to my life. The Holy Spirit does this as I read, and He has taught me that it is impossible, even foolish to try and evaluate doctrine with human reasoning. The times that I try it, I often hear His still, small voice whispering to me and saying, “Nonsense.”
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