Are you interested in the true meaning of Bible Scripture, or are you comfortable with what you have been taught, no matter what the scripture actually says?
Approach the Bible with an Open Heart
If we really are interested in finding truth in the Bible, then we must be willing to accept that what we currently believe or what we’ve been taught may be wrong. This is difficult to do because we trust our teachers and family. In the busy lives we all lead it’s admittedly easier to simply assume that what we’re being taught is accurate, but we should be spending time studying the Bible to ensure we are being presented with faithful doctrines.
Our teachers and families don’t intentionally teach us falsehoods. Pastors teach what they were taught in seminary, and seminaries teach what their founding fathers believed to be accurate. These teachings all appear to make sense to the student because the student is listening to the supporting Scripture under the assumption that the teaching itself is accurate. Then they read the Bible and interpret it in light of the doctrines they assumed were accurate. This is why, even though we have so many conflicting doctrines in the church community, most people do not question their particular church’s teachings.
We have to set our feelings and logic aside when we study the Bible. We have to be careful not to interpret God’s Word in light of what we feel is right or logical. There are many truths in the Bible that are scary or difficult to comprehend. If we find ourselves thinking, “I just don’t think God would do that so I must be reading this wrong,” then we need to take a step back and reassess our approach. This kind of statement indicates that we are reading the Bible in light of what we feel is right, rather than letting God’s Word alone guide us. We have to be careful that we aren’t accidentally trying to be wiser than God:
We must always remember that the popularity of a doctrine doesn’t validate its accuracy. Sometimes God’s Word presents us with very unattractive truths and often these are ignored, side-stepped, or refuted by churches that don’t want to teach doctrines they don’t like. Please understand that this statement is not meant to offend anyone. The plethora of conflicting doctrines across the church community indicates that a lot of wrong doctrines are being taught. So where is truth? Though they conflict, all the doctrines can sound biblically accurate when presented by their teachers. If nothing else, this should at least make us want to double-check our approach to the Bible. Do we really approach it with an open heart or have we locked ourselves into the doctrines with which we’re comfortable?
I’m not pointing the finger at any particular denomination. This goes out to everyone. We all need to set our pride aside, take an honest look in the mirror, and ask ourselves, “Who is really my teacher? Is it God? Or is it my pastor? Or perhaps it’s my family or friends?” Every single one of us has been guilty at some point of trusting what some other person has taught us without seriously examining that teaching in the Bible ourselves.
We have to be very careful as we go about seeking spiritual truth or we might come to some wrong conclusions. We must always make sure we are interpreting a passage in light of the whole Bible. It can take a great deal of patience, time, and prayer before we properly understand the spiritual meaning of a passage. When we think we’ve reached understanding we must always ask ourselves, “Does this conclusion square with the rest of the Bible?”
Each denomination has a pre-established set of beliefs, often based on creeds that were written by the denominational founders many years ago. The pastors of these denominations are taught in seminaries that their creeds are accurate. Since the creeds seem to be supported by a few verses here and there, pastors then teach their congregations based on these same assumptions. Then the church members read their Bibles in light of what they believe to be truth based on what they’ve been taught, and these sets of beliefs typically get passed on to their children.
What’s happened is that the church has unintentionally put itself above the Bible. Every church will argue, of course, that its doctrines come from the Bible and so therefore the Bible is its ultimate authority. However, the doctrines of the church are never questioned because they belong to the denomination and must never be tampered with. So in essence their doctrinal statements are viewed as infallible.
There are numerous denominations, each with their own set of unique beliefs, but they all have the same approach to the Bible: they study it in light of what they already believe to be true. They have closed themselves off to learning new things. If a new teaching arises that contradicts what they have believed for years and years, then they immediately reject it. They do not take heed to the fact that all Scripture is profitable for correction:
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16)
Non-denominational churches are not immune to this problem either. They may not have denominational creeds written by founders’ years ago, but their pastors always have their own backgrounds that have usually locked them into a particular set of beliefs. When was the last time you heard a pastor say, “I know I have been teaching thus and so for years, but I am now learning in the Bible that I was wrong and need to correct the doctrines of our church.”?
You probably will never hear a Pastor say that. Instead the Pastors will say that they have been preaching this all their lives and don’t intend to change it now, no matter what.
What about you? Are you willing to change what you have always believed or would you consider the actual vindicated truth to be more important, vindicated by what the scriptures actually say and not some person’s interpretation of it?
The Bible tells us all very clearly that scripture is of no private interpretation, not your interpretation, not my interpretation and not some other Pastor’s interpretation.
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