Teaching a Different Doctrine

[Christsfreeservant]

“If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. ​

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“But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:3-10 ESV).​

We live in a day and time when the truth is massively under fire, i.e. it is greatly under attack. Truth and lies are now being flip-flopped to where it can be difficult to discern truth from lies. Truth is also being altered and diluted to make it less offensive to the ungodly and to human flesh. And deliberate half-truths are lies. And these lies are being spread through some preachers’ sermons, video talks, movies, TV shows, cartoons, “Christian” song lyrics, social media memes, and famous people’s testimonies, etc.

But one of the big dangers of these lies is that they are cleverly blended in with the truth, and they are skillfully disguised as truth, and so they have the appearance of truth, and so many people believe them. And then we live in a “fast food” generation where the shorter that messages are the better that they are received. But the shorter they are the more they are missing in content, and thus it is easier to deceive naïve and unsuspecting minds who receive them as truth if they sound good, and if they make them feel good.

Therefore, the ability to discern if anyone is teaching a “different doctrine” becomes harder and harder to distinguish if we are not grounded in the truth of the Scriptures being taught IN CONTEXT, and not out of context, as so many are doing these days. And it is harder if we are just easily accepting what appears good and what sounds good, but without testing what we are reading or hearing against the Scriptures taught in their appropriate context. And CONTEXT is absolutely critical to correct biblical understanding.

For I know that a “different doctrine,” which does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus, is what is largely being accepted as the truth here in America, and it is what the masses who profess faith in Jesus Christ are following, and not the truth. For they are being taught that they can profess Jesus as Savior and Lord, have all their sins forgiven, be guaranteed heaven when they die, and promised that nothing can take that away, but regardless of how they live. And some are even promoting the continuance of sin.

And the liars are able to convince many people to believe this “different doctrine,” as though it is truth, because they are teaching the Scriptures out of context, and most people are not testing what they are hearing against the truth of the Scriptures taught in context, and so they are believing the lies and not the truth. But sadly, even if you present them with the truth, many are refusing the truth and are continuing with the lies for the lies do not demand that they forsake their sins and obey Jesus and his commands.

And it isn’t just the love of money which leads people to accept the lies and not the truth, but it is the love of self, and it is the love of the world, and it is the desires (lusts) of the flesh and of the eyes and the pride of life which keep them still in slavery to sin and living for self but while claiming Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And it is wanting to be approved and accepted by other humans and to not be considered as different. And for some, it is that they just like to create controversy because they love to argue and quarrel.

So, how do we separate truth from lies? We have to go to the source of truth to get the truth, but we have to read what is written in its immediate context and then compare it to the overall context, as a whole. For Scripture should agree with Scripture. So if you are being taught a particular doctrine, go to that Scripture in your Bible and read that Scripture in its full context. And please read a reputable translation and not some of the more recent translations that have come out which deter much from the truth.

And then pray to the Lord for spiritual discernment to separate truth from lies so that you listen to the truth and not to the lies. And sometimes the lies are just what Satan is whispering in our ears and they are not even Scriptures taught out of context and twisted to say what they do not say. And sometimes they are just “sayings” of other people which sound biblical, but which are not based in the Scriptures at all. But the truth should agree with the teachings of Jesus Christ, which accords with godliness.

For Jesus taught that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if sin is what we obey, and not obedience to our Lord, we don’t have eternal life with Jesus Christ. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow our Lord in obedience to his commands, we have eternal life. For he also said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

VOICE OF TRUTH

By Mark Hall & Steven Curtis Chapman
II Corinthians 12:7-10/I Corinthians 1:20-24

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I’m in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He’s holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again, “Boy, you’ll never win!”
“You’ll never win!”

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, “Do not be afraid!”
And the voice of truth says, “This is for My glory”
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth..

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