You’ve heard the sayings. “Don’t ruffle any feathers.” “Don’t step on any toes.” In our society there is that constant alarm over anyone who questions, challenges, or disagrees. Yet that is the very attitude that the Lord wants us to have. Not that we are to be rebellious, but that we are to be skeptical. John said, “do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1). Paul said, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). You would think that the exception Paul would give, however, would be himself. But he commended the Bereans because they were “examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). “These things” were the things Paul taught them. We should question everything. Every sermon we hear, every book we read, every movie we watch, every television show, every song we listen to, every article we read, every news report we hear, every statement made on the radio, every science or medical report, everything. However, what resource should we use to determine if they are right? There is a resource that Paul told us that we were to turn to. The resource that is to be used for “teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness…[to] reprove, rebuke, exhort” (2 Timothy 3:16, 4:2). That resource is “Scripture,” “the word,” that is the Bible (2 Timothy 3:26, 4:2). We are to question everything in light of Scripture, then “hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22).

We are to conform to the Bible. Paul said, “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” and that renewing is to be from the Bible (Romans 12:2; 2 Timothy 2:15). The Bible is our guide for the direction we are to take in our life. By the Bible we determine what is right and wrong, true and untrue, reality and phony. It is this reason that David declared, “Your word is a lamp to my feed, and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).

We are to grow to the point that we are strong in our beliefs and convictions. We are to be confident of what is right and wrong, true and untrue. Because we have the answers in the Bible. Paul said, “continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings” (2 Timothy 3:14-15). We are to “Let the word of Christ richly dwell in you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16).

What we believe is very important. Knowing what the Bible teaches and fully embracing it is also absolutely necessary. We are urged to “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things; for as you do this you will insure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:16). Watching what we believe is so important that it impacts our salvation and how we minister to others, that is others salvation as well can be affected by what we believe and especially what we teach. One of the traits that pastors are to have that all are to copy is “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict” (Titus 1:9).

Because of these things, Paul can tell us to be “of the same mind” (Philippians 2:2). “I exhort you, brethren…that you all agree, and there be no divisions among you, but you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10). How do we do this? We do this by looking to the Bible together for the answers to all of life’s questions. This way we become united. This is what is called Bible study or theology. You notice the Scriptures using the term “doctrine” above. Doctrine is just a systematic teaching. The Christian church, after coming from Judaism, has now existed for close to two thousand years. Over those years very intelligent and Christ loving people debated through the Scriptures on many issues. There are certain teachings that constantly proved to be biblical. Some issues remain debatable, but many have been proven to be Scriptural.

Yes we are to question all things. It is fine to question the statement that Jesus is God. But once we see that the Bible overwhelmingly teaches that Jesus is God, we must except it. To not accept what the Bible clearly teaches is to rebel against the very words of God. We must question things, but at some point we should be able to come to a conclusion as seen above. At some point we should be able to declare, “this is true” or “this is wrong” and expect other believers to accept that as well. Some will attempt to be tricky and say well Jesus himself did not say that. While some teachings are not found in the red letter words of Christ, but found in the Old Testament or the remaining words and books of the New Testament, they are still the words of Christ. We must understand that while Jesus didn’t physically say everything in the Bible, he did inspire it all. Jesus is God (John 1:1) and it is God who inspired all the words of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21). How can anyone claim to be a Christian, that is a follower of Christ, see what the Bible clearly teaches is true and then deny it?

Again, not that we should not question things, but we should make sure that when we do we find the answers in the Bible. As we have been discussing, there is a group that does not hold to what Scripture says above and yet claims to be followers of Christ. In looking for answers to life they declare that, “They seek to be responsive to post modern culture, being in touch with preferences for ambiguity and antiquity” (1). They actually describe themselves as “heretical,” which is a term used for those who believe things that contradict the Bible (2). You rarely hear them state they are looking for answers in the Scriptures. Instead they say things like “rather than assume they know the answers, open to discovering God anywhere along the way - in a film, in a child, in silence” (3). They also look to “groups such as the Russian Orthodox, the Quakers, the Muslims, the Jewish community etc. in order to listen, learn and be transformed” (2). I thought we were to look to the Bible for that. Instead of joining the church to become one mind, searching the Scriptures, those in the Emergent Church prefer to be “around with people who questioned the institutional church” (4). You can tell that they do not seek the Bible for their answers because for the most part when discussing how they came to their conclusions you just hear them say, “I think” or “I feel” (5). They state that experience, not Scripture defines them, “Experience is vital and experience defines us” (6). Again, compare the Emergent Church’s view and the biblical view above. The Emergent Church is a movement that works counter to biblical principles. There is much more that is said by the Emergent Church, but we will continue this review next month.

1. Resource One
2. Resource Two
3. Resource Three
4. Resource Four
5. Resource Five
6. Resource Six