“WHAT DOES GOD SAY?”

There is much confusion in the Christian world today. So many denominations teach different things and interpret the word of God differently. This has always seemed peculiar to me since God is not the author of confusion. Paul states that we must preserve the unity of the church. He says there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, and one God and Father of all (Ephesians 4:4-6)

?For one reason or another, there are people who want to say that God’s word doesn’t always mean what it says. Or they might say, “That doesn’t apply to us today.” When we begin picking and choosing what parts of God’s word we want to follow and what parts we want to discard, we are not being obedient. Some like to teach because we are no longer under law, but under grace, we have no part in our salvation. God’s word refutes that plainly, yet many people still buy into that because it appeals to them.

?People can easily be led astray when they begin listening to people who misinterpret the word of God. ?Often people are looking for Christianity that fits their lifestyle and does not really force them to examine themselves. This is nothing new. Paul told Timothy it would be this way, For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear (II Timothy 4:3). These people no longer live to please God, they merely want to please themselves. They might appease themselves, but it is a false sense of salvation.

?There is a great story in I Kings 13 that illustrates the importance of obeying God and not wavering because of what some else says. A prophet came from Judah and revealed to Jeroboam how God was going to raise up a king to right all the wrongs Jeroboam had committed. Long story short, God had given the prophet specific instructions not to eat or drink in that land and to not return home by the same way he went there. An old prophet wanted to see the prophet from Judah and asked him to come and eat with him. The young prophet told the old man what God had told him. The old prophet lied to him and said God told him to have the young prophet come to his house. As they were eating, the word of God came to the old prophet and told the young prophet that he would not be buried with his fathers because he had defied the word of God. When the young prophet left, he was attacked and killed by a lion on the road (I Kings 13:1-30)

?We must listen to God if we expect to spend eternity with Him in heaven. We cannot allow ourselves to be led astray by teachers. Not all who teach try to lead people astray, but any teacher that desires to be faithful will welcome those who make sure what is being taught is correct. After all, what matters is what God says!

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Read Acts 17:10-12