The easiest way to know if the spirit you are following is of God is it aligns with all Scripture, the Holy Spirit will never contradict Scripture because Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit; the word of God can verify which spirit we are being led by, it knows the truth about God. The Bible, Holy Spirit, and Jesus align with one another.
If the voice you are following contradicts any of the Bible, you’re being led by one of the other spirits of this age: Satan, the world, or self. Is That okay? While I was in the world, I was convicted of my sinful behavior because I knew it was condemned by Scripture before I walked away from the faith.
The years studying my Bible as a child were convicting me as an adult. Still, I chose to listen to my flesh and ignore Scripture. Understanding scripture is an integral part of being a mature believer, but there is more to it than just knowing scripture. As I share with others, “Getting into God’s word is the easy part, getting it into our lives is the hardest.”
Studying God’s word is more than just filling our headspace, it involves doing God’s will. The Jewish people memorized the Old Testament but failed to apply it to their lives and missed the promised Messiah—the Word in the flesh (John 1:14.)
Scripture memorization became their religion and they failed at its application. Perhaps, they only chose to listen to scripture they liked, as many believers do today hanging on by a thread. Just like every word in a sentence has a purpose, each word in the Bible has a purpose, that is why it is the Word of God!
There is a fine line between being biblical or just motivational. Cherry-picking Scripture is not studying Scripture, it’s twisting it.
A television evangelist can cut through the Bible like a chainsaw to present a feel-good teaching people want to hear instead of teaching them what they need to know from the Bible.
It has been 300 years since Martin Luther translated the Bible so that anyone can study scripture instead of just the religious elite. God’s word was never meant for becoming wealthy or influential, dream on.
Jesus used common terminology when teaching His followers, so will I. His teachings followed the pattern of the Old Testament prophets who God used to speak to the common Israelites.
The Old Testament covers 4000 years of history before Jesus, every word of it pointing to the coming of the promised King. And God’s people knew it but failed to live it. When one of the greatest Jewish teachers Saul became Paul, he understood how they had failed to use their knowledge of the Word of God.
This is why he explained how Jesus and the New Testament are the fulfillment of those old promises. He even taught his protégé that all scripture is beneficial for God’s people (2 Timothy 3:16.)
Paul knew we can’t have one without the other, if we fail to use all Scripture, then our beliefs aren’t based on the truth and are incomplete. This is where false teaching comes from when you speak scripture out of context to make the Bible say what you want to hear and believe.
When this happens, it is no longer Christianity, it is simply selfishness and worldliness. The only figure in the Bible to promise to fulfill dreams is Satan. This is what Satan did when he took scripture out of context to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. To which Jesus quickly responded by putting scripture back into context (Matthew 4:1-11,) it is food for the soul.
Satan knows God’s Word and always twists it to pervert man’s beliefs. He twisted God’s words to Adam and Eve, this is exactly what false teachers do today to shift our beliefs away from true Christianity. Believers need to know God’s Word. In some countries, believers are willing to die just to own a Bible, they love God’s word.
True disciples study scripture instead of being lazy and listening to anyone who will tell them what they want to believe. Therefore, popular Christianity isn’t biblical. We can’t just believe what we believe, because a popular television icon says it, they can’t offer a better gospel than the Good news.
The Genesis account of Adam and Eve demonstrates that if we believe wrong, we will do wrong. They believed the twisted words of the serpent, questioned God, and then sinned (Genesis.) The same thing happens today, too many believers fail to study scripture and apply it to their lives.
We must remember spiritual growth is an active process, just like in school you must do your homework outside of church time. The Bible even tells us that mature believers test the spirits and teachings of others (Jeremiah 29:8, Matthew 7:15, 1 John 4:1.) Regardless of our age we never stop studying scripture.
If the Bride’s beliefs contradict any part of Scripture, then it is not biblical or the Holy Spirit, no matter how much we like it. This is why in John’s Revelation, the angel warned anyone not to add to or take away from the Bible (Revelation 22:18-19.) Just because it makes you happy, gives you hope(false), and gives you warm fuzzies doesn’t mean it is the Word of God!
2 Comments
Thanks for reminding us to stay true to the full truths of God’s Word and then live it out in our lives.
Thank you for this reminder: Desiring to grow spiritually deeper, means we must not just know The Word of God;but, also must apply it in our daily lives.