You make a good point. No matter how adamant the lone wolf Christian is, he's telling everyone that he somehow figured out what thousands of theologians and Bible scholars from all sorts of denominations have supposedly missed for thousands of years--and, what's more, we have it on his own authority that it's so.
The odds of that being correct are astronomically long.
In the real world, such a claim wouldn't get a moment's consideration.
And I couldn't AGREE MORE. In the 'real world', no one would EVER even CONSIDER the 'truth'.
Hmmmm..............let's see..............At one time God decided to DESTROY all but ONE man and his family. Another time God destroyed two entire cities except for ONE man and PART of his family.
Over and over we see God sending prophets to warn their people who ended up IGNORING them.
But we should choose to 'follow the majority' TODAY?????
The Bible warns us that there will be a 'falling away' BEFORE the return of Christ:
2 Thessalonians 2:3
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a
falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition
I often wonder exactly what PORTION of 'the world' most 'Christians' believe is going to be 'saved' and what portion they believe are going to be destroyed.
When we read the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation and even many of the words of Christ Himself, they paint a pretty grim picture of the FUTURE.
Heck, in Revelation it is offered that basically ONE THIRD of the population of this planet is going to be destroyed during ONE EVENT. At the present population, that would be about TWO BILLION PEOPLE. Two billion destroyed as the direct result of a SINGLE event.
I just wonder..........................if we use the past as the basis for determining the future, God has NEVER destroyed a BUNCH of 'good people' along with the wicked. The very discussion between God and Abraham plainly illustrates this very concept.
So, in the future, when it is TIME for this Earth to be destroyed as we know it and a NEW Earth formed in a completely DIFFERENT design, is God REALLY going to destroy the RIGHTEOUS along with the wicked for the FIRST time in man's history? Or are those to be destroyed going to be the UNRIGHTEOUS?
It is my belief that God isn't going to cause those that are to receive forgiveness the pain and suffering described in the books dealing with the destruction of this planet. Those that are subject to such grief are going to be DESERVING. For basically, they are going to end up bring it upon THEMSELVES.
When God destroyed men at the time of Noah, the Bible states that men's hearts had become EVIL continually. It is my belief that the ultimate form of evil that men can take on is to worship FALSE gods. Spiritual adultery, in my opinion, is probably the WORSE sin a man can produce. And like any other 'addiction', once one begins a journey down that path, it is highly unlikely they will EVER turn back and get on the RIGHT path. For if one desires what a FALSE god has to offer, then they are unlikely to EVER desire what the TRUE God has offered.
With these things in mind, it is MY opinion that if we SEE men RUNNING in a particular direction when it comes to 'religion', if one is following in TRUTH, then they should RUN THE OTHER WAY as fast as they can.
Matthew 24:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened,
there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then
if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise
false Christs, and
false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders;
insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore
if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
I believe that we can clearly SEE that much of this warning has already taken place. Even after GIVEN such warnings from Christ Himself, many chose to ignore His very words.
So we are still left with the question: Will there be a 'world full of true followers of Christ' when it starts suffering the 'beginnings of sorrows'? Or will 'the world', much as it had become at the time of Noah, be full of pretenders and outright EVIL souls? The evidence offers that God has NEVER destroyed the GOOD along with the EVIL. So that leaves only one conclusion according to the EVIDENCE.
Then there is the matter of WHEN? How CLOSE are we to 'the end'? If we are anywhere NEAR the end, the obvious EVIDENCE would be that there are FEW 'true followers' left. That somehow, the majority of those 'claiming to be followers' are DECEIVERS. Deceivers of themselves and deceivers of others. But they are unable to DECEIVE God or His Son.
I have offered NONE of this on 'my own authority'. I have simply pointed out what we have been offered in SCRIPTURE.
And in TRUTH, I have NEVER offered a SINGLE bit of information on this forum that can't be backed up by what YOU CALL: Bible Scholars. Albeit, those that have come to similar understanding to my own ARE most certainly in the MINORITY.
We're not dealing with odds here folks. At least I'm not. We have a choice to either accept the Bible as God's Word, or just a 'book'. I am a FIRM believer that the Bible is the ONLY THING, short of the Holy Spirit, that we can possess to keep us on the proper path. It is the ONE THING we have in this physical world we can use to KNOW the truth as delivered by God through Christ and His apostles. And it's REALLY NOT that HARD to understand. But one must WANT to understand it and be willing to accept what it offers. We cannot MAKE it mean what we WANT it to in TRUTH.
And I'll close with this: I am NOT a 'lone wolf'. Maybe among those that have bought in to the 'religions' of men. But in TRUTH, I can assure you that the first followers of Christ were NOT followers of 'trinity'. Christ taught NO 'trinity'. Nor did His apostles. If 'trinity' were TRULY introduced by God through His Son, those that introduced it into Christianity wouldn't have needed to torture and murder people to MAKE them accept it. And it wouldn't be the 'mystery' that it is. If it was this 'all important' doctrine that we NEED to believe in in order to please God, He would have surely offered it to us DIRECTLY without men having to FORM it of their OWN design.
Blessings,
MEC
