Unfiltered Truth
If you know Jesus then you are on a journey, a journey of truth. People search their whole lives for truth, pure truth, and we have it at our disposal. Silly that we might even compromise that truth by attaching something else to it. But that is exactly what some denominations try to do and it waters down the most basic teachings of the faith. Psalm 86:11 says Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. We shouldn’t add anything to God’s Word to make it more palatable and understandable for our tiny brains. We also should not add any additional teaching to make His Word conform to how we want to believe. BUT WE DO!!
In other words, we filter it. Filter out the “unbelievable” parts so it doesn’t come across too wild or “out there.” To which, I must say it waters down the effectiveness of the Word to attach any other teaching to it. As the scripture says, Teach me your way, O Lord. Truth, pure truth, cannot, and must not, be filtered!! Paul dealt with this on a regular basis, because he served with many Jewish Christians.
Their upbringing confused the issues of this newly formed faith and they had to be retaught how to live in the grace of Jesus Christ and not according to the Law. In our world we have formed something just as confusing as being a Jewish Christian and it is fueled by denominations. So we have Baptist Christians, Methodist Christians, Church of Christ Christians, and many others. Within each of these denominations there are truths they hold to that they tout are scripturally based. Those truths make those denominations very exclusive and club-like. The modern day church that should be thriving is hampered by confused teachings that make up traditions that take us way off the point of making disciples and worshipping God. Some or all of those groups will say we are “people of the Word.”
But they many times have a regulator that kicks in to only receive part of the Word and that is dangerous. This filter keeps people from accepting anything that higher ups don’t want them to receive and thus forms their own teachings, whether truly Biblical or not. So many of those truths are filtered in the area of salvation, baptism, the Holy Spirit, and church membership and the filter is always dependent on a group of people setting down guidelines for their truth. These people put themselves in a very powerful place to call down what truth is to their followers. The only problem with that is they are the ones who are telling what the scriptures mean and how we are to accept them. DANGEROUS!! And we accept what they decide in the name of unity. Here is some of God’s Word and what it says about truth.
Ephesians 1:13-14 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
James 1:18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Psalm 25:5 Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
Psalm 43:3 Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!
John 8:31-32 … So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Of course, the Bible is full of truth about truth and it must be our resource for it all. Time to give the Bible the regard it deserves and take time to study to show us how to live our lives. Anything other than the Bible is a guess. Unfiltered Truth…Can you dig it??
The Pilgrimage continues…
David Warren