1 John 5:4 KJV
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Faith is a powerful force. Even when it is not a spiritual faith, it can be very effective. A military unit that believes it can be victorious is often able to defeat even a much larger force, especially if the larger force doesn't have the same faith.
But faith can have a dangerous effect too. Faith trains a person to believe in that which is unseeable and maybe even illogical to the mind. Because of that those who are prone to faith may be led to believe things blindly.
• The evolutionist for instance, wants to believe that the earth was created without God to the extreme that they will believe any and all sorts of unscientific theories and label them true science though the theories bear no resemblance to the rules that even science has placed upon itself
• Those who lead in the cults and other heterodox religious organizations prey upon the faith of people, insisting that what they say is true despite the fact that there is no evidence to prove it is true and
• We who are believers base our conviction on faith. After all hope, if it is seen in not hoped for
So how are we to protect ourselves from the dangers of blindly following any and ever wind of doctrine? 1 John 5 gives us the key. Two words come up repeatedly in the chapter
First is "record"
We have a record. We have the Word of God. When we try the spirits whether they are of God we try them based upon the record of God's Word. If it is in the Bible we accept it by faith. If it is not in the Bible we not only question it, we reject it. The Book is our authority and our sole authority.
Second is "witness"
We have the witness of the Holy Spirit of God which I take in this context to speak of His illumination of that record which is the Word of God. We do more than study the Bible from the power of the flesh. We have the Spirit of God opening the Scriptures and making them plain to us. Here is the key to this, it is then not necessary that we accept what someone else says is the meaning and intent of God's Word. When we have the Holy Spirit we are not dependant upon someone else who claims to be more spiritual or more educated than we are. We depend upon our own study of God's Word as it is enabled by the Spirit of God we know lives within us.
So long as we personally study His Word, and so long as we are saved and living so that the Spirit is free to teach us, we may live and walk by faith without the danger of blindly following a faith that is not of God.
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Faith is a powerful force. Even when it is not a spiritual faith, it can be very effective. A military unit that believes it can be victorious is often able to defeat even a much larger force, especially if the larger force doesn't have the same faith.
But faith can have a dangerous effect too. Faith trains a person to believe in that which is unseeable and maybe even illogical to the mind. Because of that those who are prone to faith may be led to believe things blindly.
• The evolutionist for instance, wants to believe that the earth was created without God to the extreme that they will believe any and all sorts of unscientific theories and label them true science though the theories bear no resemblance to the rules that even science has placed upon itself
• Those who lead in the cults and other heterodox religious organizations prey upon the faith of people, insisting that what they say is true despite the fact that there is no evidence to prove it is true and
• We who are believers base our conviction on faith. After all hope, if it is seen in not hoped for
So how are we to protect ourselves from the dangers of blindly following any and ever wind of doctrine? 1 John 5 gives us the key. Two words come up repeatedly in the chapter
First is "record"
We have a record. We have the Word of God. When we try the spirits whether they are of God we try them based upon the record of God's Word. If it is in the Bible we accept it by faith. If it is not in the Bible we not only question it, we reject it. The Book is our authority and our sole authority.
Second is "witness"
We have the witness of the Holy Spirit of God which I take in this context to speak of His illumination of that record which is the Word of God. We do more than study the Bible from the power of the flesh. We have the Spirit of God opening the Scriptures and making them plain to us. Here is the key to this, it is then not necessary that we accept what someone else says is the meaning and intent of God's Word. When we have the Holy Spirit we are not dependant upon someone else who claims to be more spiritual or more educated than we are. We depend upon our own study of God's Word as it is enabled by the Spirit of God we know lives within us.
So long as we personally study His Word, and so long as we are saved and living so that the Spirit is free to teach us, we may live and walk by faith without the danger of blindly following a faith that is not of God.
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