~ A place to find answers to gnawing spiritual questions ~
Question: Searching for the TruthAnswer: First, I want to thank you for writing to me with your question. It is a privilege to respond to your inquiries. You have made a very wise (although difficult, no doubt) decision by leaving what you found to be false doctrine and pursuing the Truth. You wrote:I used to be a Roman Catholic. However, when I read the Bible and found many of our doctrines contradictory to what is written, I left it. I am now searching for the truth, as the Disciples found during the time of our Lord.
As I surf thru cyberpace, I came across a website (http://www.purechristianity.org), and read the ńconfessionî of the author of one article. I copied it. Please click the DOC. as attachment. Could this be the Truth? Thank you for your spiritual guidance.
I used to be a Roman Catholic. However, when I read the Bible and found many of our doctrines contradictory to what is written, I left it. I am now searching for the truth, as the Disciples found during the time of our Lord."
You've gotten off to a great start because Jesus is the source of that Truth. He said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life: no man comes to the Father but by me." John 14:6 All the Truth you will ever need is found within the pages of the Holy Bible, especially (although not exclusively) the New Testament. In a nutshell, this is the Truth: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, THOU SHALT BE SAVED. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." Romans 10:9-11. Another basic Scripture pertaining to the Truth is this: "Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out..." Acts 3:19. And one more, Jesus said "...and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out." The truth is that all of us have sinned and are not worthy to be saved (have our sins forgiven and go to Heaven after death), but "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23). In other words, God offers us what we do not deserve, eternal life. This is what many people call "grace" (undeserved favor). The message of the Gospel is so simple, yet some people have distorted and complicated it until it's enough to confuse even a brilliant scholar. That is why Paul warned the Christians at Corinth, "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." Never let anyone tell you that there is more to salvation than: 1) repenting (confessing your sin to God and turning away from it) 2) believing that God has saved you, and 3) living according to the teachings of Scripture. Have you done these things? If not, you can do so now.
You then wrote:
Could this be the Truth? Thank you for your spiritual guidance.
Although I'm sure this person was sincere in writing what he wrote, sincerity has never justified anything. Years ago, people were sincere in their belief that the earth was flat, but they were sincerely wrong! :-) Rather than go into a long theological discussion on the errors of this particular doctrine (It has some.), I think I will make a few comments on some of his statements and recommend some reading material for you if you are interested in studying this further. I noticed the address of the web site included the words "purechristianity". Pure Christianity is what we have discussed above. The rest is theology (the study of God).
He wrote:
The passage he quoted from I Corinthians does not imply that we are to receive revelations from God apart from the Bible concerning His nature. The author of this passage in Corinthians is stating that the natural man (the one who has not been spiritually awakened by salvation) cannot understand spiritual things, but that the one who has been made "alive" by Jesus can now understand spiritual things. There is no room for "special revelations" which contradict the Word of God. The fact is, many times God communicates with us on an intellectual level (through His written Word, through preaching, etc.) If we were to receive our knowledge of Him from a "spiritual source" there would be no need for these things AND everyone would come to the same spiritual conclusions. I don't want to sound harsh or critical, but several of the passage this fellow quotes, he takes completely out of context and associates with other passages dealing with an entirely different subject. I recommend that you read some other material on this subject if you are still interested in studying it out. "The Truth About the Trinity" is an excellent booklet by Rev. William F. Hill from Independence, Iowa. You may request a copy by writing:
Pastor William F. Hill
703 Center Ave. NE
Independence, IA 50644
E-Mail: calvarycenter@juno.com
You may also be interested in reading:
Knowing the Doctrines of the Bible by Myer Pearlman. This book is
available from Gospel Publishing House. 1-417-862-2781. E-Mail: info@ag.org
