Hebrews 13:9 KJV
Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
Albert Barnes Notes says
"The apostle does not exhort them to adhere to an opinion merely because they had before held it, or because it was an old opinion, nor does he forbid their following the leadings of truth though they might be required to abandon what they had before held; but he cautions them against that vacillating spirit, and that easy credulity, which would lead them to yield to any novelty, and to embrace an opinion because it was new or strange."
"A religious opinion, once embraced on what was regarded as good evidence, or in which we have been trained, should not be abandoned for slight causes. Truth indeed should always be followed, but it should be only after careful inquiry."
Because the book of Hebrews is originally written Jews who had come to Christ, and because of the reference to "meats" in the verse, this text is likely a reference to the doctrines of the Judaizers who attempted to meld their old Jewish practices with the teachings of Christ and, in consequence, derived new doctrines that were neither Jewish nor Christian. But the principles apply to any believer in any age who is faced with any "new" doctrine. We should not be quick to abandon what we have once embraced. Surely there are times when it becomes necessary. When we, having searched the Scriptures, find those doctrines we have leaned upon wanting for scriptural foundation, it is our duty to abandon them for the Word of God. There are many who are so stuck in their traditional denominations, for instance, that they refuse to come to Christ because it will, of necessity, mean they must leave their old friend. But I rather think in our day the problem is the other way around. People today are too quick to accept a doctrine as truth without giving it proper investigation. They will climb on board any new teaching so long as it is the one that promises them what they believe God should give them or the one that appears to be the most successful.
God help us to have the spirit of discernment to try the spirits whether they be of God and only approve that which is doctrinally excellent.
Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
Albert Barnes Notes says
"The apostle does not exhort them to adhere to an opinion merely because they had before held it, or because it was an old opinion, nor does he forbid their following the leadings of truth though they might be required to abandon what they had before held; but he cautions them against that vacillating spirit, and that easy credulity, which would lead them to yield to any novelty, and to embrace an opinion because it was new or strange."
"A religious opinion, once embraced on what was regarded as good evidence, or in which we have been trained, should not be abandoned for slight causes. Truth indeed should always be followed, but it should be only after careful inquiry."
Because the book of Hebrews is originally written Jews who had come to Christ, and because of the reference to "meats" in the verse, this text is likely a reference to the doctrines of the Judaizers who attempted to meld their old Jewish practices with the teachings of Christ and, in consequence, derived new doctrines that were neither Jewish nor Christian. But the principles apply to any believer in any age who is faced with any "new" doctrine. We should not be quick to abandon what we have once embraced. Surely there are times when it becomes necessary. When we, having searched the Scriptures, find those doctrines we have leaned upon wanting for scriptural foundation, it is our duty to abandon them for the Word of God. There are many who are so stuck in their traditional denominations, for instance, that they refuse to come to Christ because it will, of necessity, mean they must leave their old friend. But I rather think in our day the problem is the other way around. People today are too quick to accept a doctrine as truth without giving it proper investigation. They will climb on board any new teaching so long as it is the one that promises them what they believe God should give them or the one that appears to be the most successful.
God help us to have the spirit of discernment to try the spirits whether they be of God and only approve that which is doctrinally excellent.
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