How important is false doctrine really...

[Complete]

'And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye,
but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Either how canst thou say to thy brother,
Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye,
when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye,
and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.'
(Luke 6:41-42)

The very nature of a forum is one of debate, isn't it, and therefore we must be prepared for disagreement: being careful not to do anything ourselves out of strife or for vain glory; Always mindful that we are also potentially subject to error, and therefore must be equally willing to evaluate our own understanding in the light of God's word.

* I think of what the Lord had to say in Luke 6:41-42 quoted above, and the latter part of Matthew 6:23 (below), which I find chilling :-

' ... ... ... If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

Thank you
In Christ Jesus
Chris

 

[Complete]

Yep.

Just seems like a very low success rate, and I try to tell myself it's not necessarily my fault.

I mean some of the OT prophets don't have a single recorded convert...

Hi dizerner,

Don't be disheartened. We can only testify to the truth that we ourselves have been given the grace to receive, and leave the outcome with the Lord, I believe.

Within the love of Christ our Saviour,
our Lord and Head.
Chris

 

[Complete]

Hi @dizerner,

What are the doctrines most subject to error in your experience?

In Christ Jesus
Chris

 

[Dizerner]

What are the doctrines most subject to error in your experience?

Mostly to do with the attributes of God, soteriology and the nature of the afterlife.

I've only met a couple of Word of Faith online, which I came out of—I don't think they really respect intellectual pursuits as much.

 

[Complete]

Thank you, @dizerner,

Quite a broad range then: Important areas!
How vitally important it is to stick to what the Bible actually says, isn't it? Taking into consideration the context. So often a discussion is being upheld by verses taken out of their context, which when looked at in their rightful place, have no bearing at all on the subject being discussed. I find the words of Miles Coverdale, the Bible translator, useful in regard to this, :-

'It shall greatly help ye to understand the Scriptures
if thou mark not only what is spoken or written,
.. but of whom,
.... and to whom,
...... with what words,
........ at what time,
.......... where,
............ to what intent,
.............. with what circumstances,
considering what goeth before
and what followeth after.'

Thank you
In Christ Jesus
Chris

 

[Complete]

'And the servant of the Lord must not strive;
but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves;
if God peradventure will give them repentance
to the acknowledging of the truth;'
(2 Tim. 2:24-25)

 

[DavidTree]

People always seem entrenched in their own positions.

And it's so much work to build a lot of arguments or tear others down when people seem to believe based on presuppositions and not arguments.

It can suck an incredible amount of time and effort dialoguing, and one can feel deeply sincere trying to help people see the light.

I have spent years and hours dialoguing with hundreds of people, and I only know one who changed their mind on a major issue.

Maybe I'm just discouraged.

Is it really worth it?

Is it profitable?

i have experienced the same.

The answer to your question is = YES, it is worth it.

Here is why - the Holy Spirit is teaching us in the process.

We can learn alot from challenging false doctrine.

Christ had to confront false doctrine almost on a daily basis.

 

[TedT]

People always seem entrenched in their own positions.

As they should be? 1 Cor 16:13 Watch you; stand firm in the faith; act like men; be strong. Berean Literal Bible
with
1 Corinthians 15:1
Galatians 5:1
Ephesians 3:16
etc, etc.

I have spent years and hours dialoguing with hundreds of people, and I only know one who changed their mind on a major issue.

I had my first apostasy when I was quite young. I heard in a sermon that if I prayed to Jesus He would save me from sin. I was very sorry about being such a bad boy that I prayed fervently. Then on the way home I abused my little sister badly. I thought the promise was a lie and therefore Jesus was either not GOD or did not exist.

I quit going to church with the family as soon as I was abe then snuck out to church on my own. Till I was 30 I bounced between all the Eastern religions, and worldly philosophies and when I finally resettled on Christianity as the truth and recommitted to
Christ I bounced from every cult to every denomination (especially between Pentecostic, Calvinist and Arminianistic etc interpretations) because they all seemed to have a part of the truth but I agonized over the way the theologies contradicted so many verses.

Then, mid 70s, I was introduced to the PCE theology and its hermeneutic and fought against its interpretations for a couple of years to get to the core of its claims until I saw how it answered most of my concerns about how orthodoxy seems to be always close but no cigar... I spent three years reading the bible three times through from the pov of our pre-conception existence and then I was told in the Spirit to get out and get on with my life.

That was some 45 years ago so I'm pretty settled in my faith and I am happy with how PCE resolves the contradictions within theologies about our creation and our fall that are openly accepted as non-contradictory by doublethink when they obviously do contradict each other.

I've actually had two or three revelations about how to interpret verses better due to my conversations on the forums and I always say thank you but I'm standing firm in my faith and will not waffle any more from the interpretations I believe the Spirit has led me into,

I'm sure my experience is ordinary to many others too... That is, being committed can be a positive and not only a sign of the hobgoblin of a small mind.

 

[Dizerner]

As they should be?

One should NEVER be entrenched in a false doctrine, that's a lie.

If two people are entrenched in opposite doctrines that does not make it okay for both.

 

[Dizerner]

I had my first apostasy when I was quite young. I heard in a sermon that if I prayed to Jesus He would save me from sin. I was very sorry about being such a bad boy that I prayed fervently. Then on the way home I abused my little sister badly. I thought the promise was a lie and therefore Jesus was either not GOD or did not exist.

It seems someone did not do a good job preaching the Gospel to you.

It has nothing to do with making us sinlessly perfect.

 

[TedT]

One should NEVER be entrenched in a false doctrine, that's a lie.

If two people are entrenched in opposite doctrines that does not make it okay for both.

1 Cor 2:5 ...so that your faith would not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
Berean Standard Bible
with 2 Corinthians 4:7 and
Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

 

[Dizerner]

1 Cor 2:5 ...so that your faith would not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
Berean Standard Bible
with 2 Corinthians 4:7 and
Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

I do believe truth only comes by direct revelation from God.

However, our heart is deceitful above all things, and has powers of self-deception we are not aware of.

Make sure to pray daily for God to show you were you are deceived.

 

[Rockson]

So, if you feel that all a Christian can talk about, is those 10 on my list, or the forum will be "boring" to you..... when the bible is filled with how many other Topics......

So how about you give us a list of other topics. Post a few threads you think would be interesting.

And the NT is dripping with revelation and 1000 other topics .

I agree. So you named 10 you don't care for. You don't have to name 1000 but name 10 you'd like to see.

Ive spent a lot of time, over the years, talking to Forum owners, and forum mods, ... more or less pleading with them to deny certain known heretical topics from being allowed.......so that the new believers, would not come to their forum and be harmed..... faith destroyed for LIFE.

You position though taking to the extreme a site becomes a mere echo chamber on a few people's opinions.

So, can you SEE that this type of warped Spiritual IQ, is why Forums are theological hell pits, strife filled venues.....

So if you feel that way about them why do you come here or other places? Seems like you enjoy posting.

 

[Ezra]

define false doctrine

 

[Dizerner]

define false doctrine

doctrine... that's false

 

[Dizerner]

So if you feel that way about them why do you come here or other places? Seems like you enjoy posting.

I, for one, see it as a mission field.

Sometimes just as wild as the bush in Africa, lol.

 

[Ezra]

doctrine... that's false

i agree but whos doctrine? so if i am true blue Baptist and your true blue Pentecost and i dont agree with the doctrine of baptism of the spirit .the evidence of speaking in tongues .. is that false doctrine. ...please note this is not a argument ..but so often in denoms there is a big difference . some baptist teach osas some do not ....how does one determine false or true?

 

[Dizerner]

i agree but whos doctrine? so if i am true blue Baptist and your true blue Pentecost and i dont agree with the doctrine of baptism of the spirit .the evidence of speaking in tongues .. is that false doctrine. ...please note this is not a argument ..but so often in denoms there is a big difference . some baptist teach osas some do not ....how does one determine false or true?

Well, that's a good question.

I think all truth only comes through a deep personal prayer life and revelation direct from God, and false doctrine comes through either an opening of some sinful disposition, or being misled by those in authority over us.

If one is willing to check all motivations in at the door, and seek God "until" an answer, I believe God always will direct one what to believe. But instead people look to their intellect, or studying large volumes, or people that are charismatic, or wrong sources of security.

Most false doctrines are demonic in origin in my view. Thankfully God will forgive most false doctrine, so that is some peace of mind, but it still costs us something and hurts somewhere. It's always respectable to just say "I don't know" if you don't and it's more honest.

We can categorize doctrines as less important to know, or not important to know. or necessary for salvation. For example if I believe Jesus was a space alien from the planet Zenos but still died for my sins, it gets really confusing whether God would count that as trust in his grace despite the accompanying weirdness. And in fact in this sense doctrine can be seen as a spiritual and not mental thing, not just a fact in the mind but something that becomes in some way a part of us through these deceiving spirits.

If one is personally diligent and sincere, I believe they will with certainty be led into right doctrines in all vital areas, that is not a maybe, we have God's promise. So you can actually guarantee that you believe the right things by following that simple principle and asking God to show you where you are deceived, and thus it is a security and comfort to know how to guarantee safety against self-deception.

No one I've ever talked to that believed false doctrine ever spent serious sacrificial amounts of time sincerely asking God to reveal their errors and show them the truth. They instead trust their own rather shallow praying and always claim to have perfect sincerity, which in itself, is a sign of deception, as none of us can achieve perfect sincerity.

I wrote a post on these ideas and how to guarantee one has the truth, but I don't think it's on this forum yet.

Peace.

 

[Ezra]

Well, that's a good question.

I think all truth only comes through a deep personal prayer life and revelation direct from God, and false doctrine comes through either an opening of some sinful disposition, or being misled by those in authority over us.

very true. see my point is in many cases in denoms doctrine that we dont agree with. may not be false but falls under interpterion . how ever the baptism for the remission of sins.. i do stand against. for me the main thing if it dont line up with the word of God red flags of caution goes up.

J,W Mormoms much of the R.C is very false

 

[DavidTree]

One should NEVER be entrenched in a false doctrine, that's a lie.

If two people are entrenched in opposite doctrines that does not make it okay for both.

eye C U R Blessed