I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.[1]
My heart grows heavier as the days go by. I have twenty-one grandchildren. Some of them care about the Truth, but not all of them. All of them that have sat under the sound of preaching have done so in conservative churches. That sounds like a good thing, and in measure it is so. But the stark difference between ‘preachers’ and genuine ‘messengers of God’ has resulted in much being put forward in these assemblies that is more a matter of aligning with the ‘party line’ than actually getting at the Truth. The apostle, John, who wrote the words quoted above also wrote the following words before he put down his ‘pen.’
9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.[2]
Even back to the time when the first disciples of Christ still walked the earth there were duplicitous men in positions of leadership in many assemblies. We are not told very much about this man, Diotrephes. We do not know where he received his ‘training’ so-to-speak. We do know that he did not align with the Truth as given by the true disciples and apostles of Christ. And we do know that he used all his influence to work against the Truth they taught.
Fast forward to the early twenty-first century. While Diotrephes had not really had all that much time to redefine the Truth for his own ends, the Enemy[3] has had another nearly two thousand years to develop vast systems of dogma that have the same result. As I suggested previously, when men become more loyal to the protocols of their ‘birthing schools’ than to the Truth of the Word, huge edifices of skewed mixtures of Truth and error become the norm. This is a clear example of such strategies of the Enemy as were mentioned in the preceding footnote. After several generations of embedding human systems of thought about God’s Word into the minds of God’s people, Satan can ‘sit back’ and watch as we struggle to hold our own against his devices.
Let me be more specific.
Through these human systems of Bible interpretation, the Enemy has lured men into divisiveness about supposed controversies that are not genuinely controversial at all as far as God is concerned. This has lured generations of good men into useless and divisive argumentation, and has resulted in Christ not being seen as preeminent. This Satan does by using two very simple devices: name-calling and name-dropping. I will identify the first of these now and get to the other later.
These days men find it easy to use labels, heaping them upon other men who disagree with them. Thus, many good men find themselves labeled as Covenant Theologians, or Calvinists, or Post-Millennialists or Mid-Tribulationists, or one of any number of other labels[4] intended to make it clear that they do not align with whatever “the brethren”[5]deem orthodox. The ‘brethren’ that delight in using these labels are never held accountable for genuinely determining the real views of those they label. All they need to do is drop the label and the person they are thus labeling will be seen as an untrustworthy ‘preacher.’
These human systems of Bible interpretation generally fall into two opposing ‘camps.’[6] Thus, the above-identified group of ‘brethren’ will be equally stigmatized by the ‘brethren’ in the opposing camp. This second group of ‘brethren’ will often be equally vocal about labeling those that disagree with them.
Sadly, there are multitudes of God’s simple people that are caught up in these ‘wars.’ Such folks have never been taught to ‘think for themselves’ in any sense. Instead, they have been pressured to memorize the litany of their camp’s ‘party line,’ without really giving it any serious thought themselves. This is a self-perpetuating system.
Men come up with their own way of interpreting the Bible =>
Some such men eventually rise to positions of notoriety =>
These well-known men exert extreme influence on their own generations =>
Their dogmatic systems of interpretation become the basis for entire curricula in Colleges & Seminaries on both sides of the ‘Controversy’ =>
These schools produce entire generations of students that parrot the ‘party line’ =>
The churches are staffed by graduates from these schools =>
The people in the churches soak up whatever system they are being taught, asking no questions =>
Entire generations of church-goers learn to accept whatever their pastors teach them, never looking any further, never questioning whether or not it really is the Truth =>
We have churches and Christians unable to face what they will be confronted with because they have always been taught that the ‘battle’ has to do with everything except the Truth of Who Jesus Christ actually is, and His full Preeminence in all Bible interpretation.
This is where we are today. Men have become ‘preachers’ and ‘teachers’ of humanly-devised systems of Bible interpretation, applauded by and promoted by their ‘birthing schools’ whose systems of interpretation they have so deeply imbibed. But, where are the genuine ‘messengers of God?’
Where are the men that can see through the humanly-devised systems of interpretation? Where are the men that are not so fully brainwashed by their teachers that they cannot think for themselves? Where are the men that can see the Truth that resides in each of these systems without becoming slaves to the system itself?
Who is going to teach my great-grandchildren the Truth, apart from humanly-devised systems of interpretation that require human coercion exerted to prop them up? [Name-calling and Name dropping, etc.] Why should my great-grandchildren be left with only such humanly-devised systems of Bible interpretation that literally rob God of His own glory? Why should they be subjected to such churches and ‘preachers’ that coerce them to align with the prescribed dogma?
Where is the ‘glorious liberty of the children of God'?[7]
Where is the freedom promised by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself?
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.[8]
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.[9]
[1] 3 John 1:4. [2] 3 John 1:9-10. [3] It is surprising how naïve God’s people are about the Enemy’s long-term schemes and plans. We are delighted in the patience of the Lord. But we seem almost blind to the fact that the Enemy is constantly initiating ploys and strategies that will have deep effects over long periods of time. [4] Supposedly derogatory. [5] The ‘brethren’ spoken of here are those that rigidly adhere to a particular human system of Bible interpretation sponsored by their schools and associations. [6] I refer to these opposing systems as Unbiblical Dichotomies. Examples: Calvinism vs. Arminianism; Dispensationalism vs. Covenant Theology; PreTribulationism vs. Any-Other Tribulationism. [7] Romans 8:21. [8] John 8:32. [9] John 8:36.
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