Quote:
Originally Posted by Esaias
The Word is the Truth, and the Word was delivered to the church, and the Spirit leads us into the Word. There is no Spirit apart from the Word, nor is there any Word apart from the Spirit. They are not really seperable. The Pharisees made void the Word of God, they weren't "all Word and no Spirit". They were of the devil who consistently seeks to contravene the Word, make it void. And even uses the Word (or a facsimile thereof) to do that, as the serpent did in the garden ("hath God said") and the devil did in the wilderness ("for it is written").
Balaam TAUGHT Balak how to ensnare Israel, using the truth of the Word in fact as a weapon against God's people.
Eve was seduced by an internal sensation ("it was pleasant to the eye, and desirable"), the Israelites were seduced by the alluring beauty and charms of Moabite women, but Jesus overcame by correct application of the Word IN SPITE OF desires and enticements.
The Scriptures are able to make one wise unto salvation, and are profitable to make you thoroughly equipped and mature. Failure lies with man. Stumbling at the Word is often the fault of the one who stumbles, ultimately. They stumble because they were appointed thereto, because of DISOBEDIENCE. There are also teachers of error who lead astray those not skilled enough in the Word to discern truth from religious and moral fiction.
Which is why we must become as children. Not childish, but childlike, meaning humble and obedient and trusting. Trusting in the Lord, not man - self or otherwise.
Truth is available. The apostles had it, the prophets had it, and they wrote it down at God's direction, and by His Providence He has preserved it for us. And the church has an unction, which if we pay heed to it will teach us and keep us from error. That unction per John is a corporate anointing, not a mere individual thing.
The role of the spiritual community (the church) in maintaining truth has been neglected, hence the confusion rampant in the religious world. Everybody wants to do their own thing and be their own judge, relying on personal inspiration. And thus, error often results.
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A hearty AMEN, but, your last paragraph tells the final tally. So even the corporate anointing can't save a person who wants to go off and do his or her own thing. And maybe the corporate anointing one thinks is on his or her church is not as up to snuff as he or she would like to believe. Maybe another church has the goods.
But to convince someone of that fact? It takes a rare humility to first admit to, then righteously confront the error that exists in our most personal of fellowships, even the error in our own hearts. I mean, if I went to family and friends in the church and told them, we are wrong on this topic, here's why, and we need to repent and get it right, I'd be persona non grata, with a lot less friends than before, and, as I have personally lived, lost fellowship with family.
This, too, speaks to character, and convinces me that a whole lot of people most certainly love the truth they have, but also most certainly do not have a love for the truth they don't have, such as they might claim, else they would pursue it no matter where it took them, even to the ends of the earth, so to speak.
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