Non-Thinking, Part 1: Do Not Be Afraid

People often hold to ideas that they have grown accustomed to or are invested in. It can be comforting to seek to reinforce ideas we have become attached to and it is because of such things that we can end up deceiving ourselves or allowing others to deceive us. To be able to think freely we must be willing to slaughter our sacred cows instead of clinging to what is familiar or "safe". This does not mean to openly dissent of differing ideas or to go off and form a new religion, but to make your choice about which system to follow without relying upon what is familiar, but on what is truthful and factually reliant upon the Scriptures. 

When discussing whether the Trinity, hellfire, the immortality of the soul, or any other significant doctrine is true or not, the most important question is “Why does it matter?” It matters on account of a fundamental difference in the salvation message. Could a map of fire exits help anyone escape if all the exits shown on the map are in the wrong place or blocked? (Mt 23:13 ^_[pa|in]; see Part 2 in this series.) Likewise, it is important that the map to salvation points us in the right direction in order to receive what it promises. If the map belongs to a completely different system altogether, there is no way it can save you. (Mt 7:13, 14 ^_[pa|in]) Simply being "good" is not enough to achieve salvation. (Mt 7:21-23 ^_[pa|in]; Lu 6:46 ^_[pa|in])

Of course, that is not to say that every doctrine affects salvation. However, what path you walk to achieve salvation will affect the system of doctrines surrounding it, so once you have determined that one is the most scriptural, you then are under obligation to accept the whole system of doctrines surrounding it even if you disagree with something. (1Co 1:10 ^_[pa|in]; 1Jo 4:2-6 ^_[pa|in]) Otherwise, if you cannot trust the system of doctrines around it, which were achieved and understood by the same means, then it means you are not actually trusting in the salvation message provided by that system.

However, mistrust does not always mean that you are following the wrong system, but may simply be that your own logic may be flawed or that your faith has yet to be founded. Those who are the source of the accurate salvation message, and are humble enough to make corrections, can likely be wholly trusted in all other things, even if they are occasionally wrong about something. (Php 3:12-16 ^_[pa|in]) Being wrong about a non-salvation-related doctrine does not necessitate that they are wrong about all things. No human can have perfect knowledge. (1Co 8:1-3 ^_[pa|in])

On the other hand, those who are the source of a false salvation message, or who are disobedient to the truth, should not be trusted to provide a system of other doctrines, even if they're right about something. (Mt 7:21-23 ^_[pa|in]; Lu 6:43-46 ^_[pa|in]; Tit 1:16 ^_[pa|in]) Being right about one salvation-related doctrine does not necessitate that they are right about all things. But certainly if they are wrong about a fundamental doctrine affecting salvation, then they cannot be trusted in anything else. (2Ti 2:18, 19 ^_[pa|in])

The truth is simple. That is why the wise men are not allowed to understand it because they keep trying to make it complicated. (See Part 3 in this series.) If you keep viewing things exestentially, metaphysically, and doxologically, you're going to miss out on the truth that is right in front of you. So forget all this existenial mumbo jumbo and treat it as if a child could understand it, because they can. (Mt 11:25 ^_[pa|in]; 21:15, 16 ^_[pa|in]

The Courage to Accept Truth

The part that can be terrifying is that identifying which one is right is up to each one of us and to God who calls us. (Ro 3:11 ^_[pa|in]; Php 2:12 ^_[pa|in]) If God calls us, we will find the truth by searching with a prayerful, impartial analysis of the facts. (Joh 14:6 ^_[pa|in];  16:13 ^_[pa|in]) That is, you cannot simply look for proof of a specific doctrine you already believe, but you must test it by both proving and disproving it. (1Jo 4:1-6 ^_[pa|in]) If you are not sincerely interested in truth, no matter how much you want it to be the case, God will not call you. (Ro 1:18-32; 2:1-9 ^_[pa|in]; Revelation 21:8 ^_[pa|in]) When what you find has ample substantiated proof and cannot be disproved, then you have found the truth because you are a lover of truth. (2Th 2:9-12 ^_[pa|in]) That does not mean just accepting anything that sounds viable or rejecting anything that causes questions to come up, but means getting to the point where you can find no more questions to ask about a specific doctrine affecting your salvation, and the ones you have asked have all been answered with a clear understanding of the Scriptures. Rely upon God in prayer, like Adam and Eve failed to do.

The best approach is to start with the doctrines that are the most common. The Trinity is always the best place to start because it is claimed to be the sole saving tenant of Trinitarian religions. (Compare Joh 17:3 ^_[pa|in]) If you find that it is false, then you have eliminated most of Christendom. Next, is to prove or disprove the immortality of the soul. (Compare Joh 3:16 ^_[pa|in]) If you eliminate that, then you get rid of another large chunk of what's left. Then you can eliminate many of the stragglers by investigating hellfire through careful analysis of the Scriptures. (Compare Re 20:14 ^_[pa|in]) By that time you will be left with only a small number of claimants to Christianity, with Jehovah's Witnesses among them. Next, eliminate any who do not obey the good news. (2Th 1:7, 8 ^_[pa|in]) In particular, the preacing work (Mt 28:18, 19 ^_[pa|in]; Lu 10:1-16 ^_[pa|in]) and desisting from practicing sin, such as fornication and idolatry. (Ac 15:29 ^_[pa|in])

But despite the ability to perform a careful analysis, the unfortunate fact is that people are better at deceiving themselves than others are at deceiving them. Thus they will still attempt to refute the irrefutable with explanations that defy logic simply because it is what they already believe and are so afraid to change it that they are unwilling to accept the truth when it is staring them in the face. (Mt 15:14 ^_[pa|in])

Why? There are many reasons. This may include one or more of the following:

• They don't want to believe that all the time they spent reading translations of the Bible that support their false doctrines was wasted. (Jeremiah 29:23; Tit 1:14 ^_[pa|in])
• They trust their parents or Bible teachers without question, (2Ti 3:6 ^_[pa|in])
• They have become well-versed in their doctrines with a prideful arrogance. (Mt 15:1-11 ^_[pa|in]; 2Ti 3:7 ^_[pa|in])
• They have already been through a couple of other religious systems and are too embarassed at the idea of going to yet another faith.
• They have an established ministry, (Jeremiah 23:31 ^_[par|int]; 3 John 9 ^_[par|int]) a position, reputation or power to protect (Jer 23:32 ^_[pa|in]; Mt 21:23-27 ^_[pa|in]) or financial investment. (Lu 16:14 ^_[pa|in]; 18:22-23 ^_[pa|in])
• They believe that God speaks to them through falling tree leaves and other random events so they could comfort themselves instead of listing to God's word. (Zec 10:2 ^_[pa|in])
• They believe that they are already good people and that is enough to be saved. (Ho 6:6 ^_[pa|in]; Mt 9:11-13 ^_[pa|in]; 1Co 6:9-14 ^_[pa|in])
• Pridefully refuse to accept that they can be wrong.
• Arrogance in simply believing they are better. (Joh 7:49 ^_[pa|in])
• Fear of change (Heb 10:39 ^_[pa|in])
• Fear of men. (Pr 29:25 ^_[pa|in])
• They are comfortable with their spiritual routine or enjoy the mystic rituals of their religion.

So they become unwilling to accept truth. (Mt 22:3 ^_[pa|in]) They would rather grasp hold of any fabrication of evidence either themselves or someone else can come up with in order to protect their sacred cows. (Jer 27:9-10 ^_[pa|in]) As a result, they end up misled and despising truth. (2Th 2:10-12 ^_[pa|in]) Humility and the courage to accept the truth regardless of the consequences is the only way one will find the truth in the Scriptures. (Mt 10:38 ^_[pa|in])

Go to Part 2: Salvation vs. False Salvation