Truth v/s Feelings
The difference between what is true and what is feelings may be difficult to determine but it can be done. Typically, people make their feelings become facts instead of opinions. An individual may have a strong point of view, willing to fight to the death, break relationships, because of what they feel is right only to learn what they believed to be fact is actually a version of their own imagined fact. All our thoughts are extremely important in that they form our actions, therefore, to keep things fundamentally factual, is a must. Accomplished only by differentiating between facts and feelings.
Satan’s first most effective tool that destroys souls, both in the church and in the world, is persuading people to trust your gut. The second tool, just as deadly as the first, is convincing people that truth is ambiguous, and subjective so confusing that we cannot understand the difference between right and wrong, truth and error. How does Satan accomplish this? He replaces God’s exclamation point with a question mark. God warned Adam and Eve not to eat of a certain tree, with this emphatic penalty: “for in the day that you eat of it you[a] shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). God said, “dying you shall die” and at that point in the life of Adam and Eve there was no room for misunderstanding. By planting a subtle doubt into the ears and eyes of Eve, Satan accomplished his two goals. Eve heard the serpent denied the certainty of the penalty of death and presented sin as a great advantage as something good withheld by God’s Word (3:4-5) and so Eve decided to “trust her gut, and to accept that truth was subjective. Dear reader God gave us the power to know the truth and designed His Word to match our ability to understand. Yes, we can “know the truth”!
We Christians must learn from God how to step out of spiritual immaturity and attain spiritual maturity. The writer of the book to the Hebrew saints said, “12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the [b]oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are [c]of full age, that is, those who by reason of [d]use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Heb. 5:12-14)
Living spiritually mature lives does not end at the assembly house door. Jesus said, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matt. 10:16). We must continually exercise our senses, “to discern both good and evil” and this is done as each child of God seeks truth for what it is, precious (Psa. 19:7-14). Solomon said, “The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge” (Prov. 18:15; also Prov. 23:23) Of course, the word of God is truth which Jesus proclaimed, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17). Everything spiritual is found only in the word of truth, “as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3). Yes, we can “know the truth”!
This is great news because we know that whatever we read from God’s word is truth, can be trusted and practiced. We know the invisible God filled the universe with the evidence of His existence, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and [a]Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20). All life’s blessings bear clear testimony to God’s love and care for us all (Acts 14:17; Matt. 5:45). Yes the atheists and agnostics are utterly “without excuse” because of such evidence. Yes, we can “know the truth”!
By God’s word we all can understand His offer of salvation. “For the wages of sin is death, but the [a]gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Jesus called the word of God, “the Word” (John 1:1, 14) is the perfect one who brought “grace and truth” (v.14). By miracles Jesus confirmed that He was God’s Son, but because of the Devil’s influences upon the hearts of men, some men hardened their hearts, closed their eyes, and doubted to the losing of their own souls (John 3:2, 16; 10:24-25). The message is clear, not hard, not subjective, not ambiguous: Jesus taught believers, “31 If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). Yes, we can “know the truth”!
We can know truth about baptism, that if we believe in Christ, repent of sin, confess His name, and are immersed in water for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16), that baptism can save us (1 Peter 3:21). We can understand that immersion involves a burial in water, not mere sprinkling or pouring of water (Acts 8:38; Col. 2:12). By God’s word of truth, the penitent sinner comes to Christ to be “baptized into one body,” the body is the church of Christ (Col. 1:24), — not some human denomination, but the church whose name, doctrine, and practice are found in the Bible (Eph. 4:4-6).
By the word of truth, we know why we sing (Eph. 5:19, Col. 3:16) without the instrument of music because God gave His people a clear and understandable pattern for acceptable worship. His Word is an unalterable pattern of truth. The Lord told Moses, “According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it” (Exod. 25:9) and Paul wrote to the church, “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 1:13). Instrumental music is added by human doctrine because Satan convinced them that truth is subjective and we can trust our gut in matters of faith. The result is always the same as it was in the garden. A departure from the faith and vain worship. Jesus taught, “These people [a]draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:8-9), “These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and [a]neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh” (Col. 2:23) and “Now the Spirit [a]expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1). Though this has cause many souls to be lost it is still true today that we can know the truth!
To shift back to an earlier statement, that living spiritually mature lives does not end at the assembly house door. We must also seek truth in all matters concerning life in this world. We must be “wise as serpents” applying discernment to this life as well. Christians are by no means only spiritual, Paul wrote, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Gal. 5:17). We are living in the flesh, in an evil world where Satan’s darkness is, in a perverted sense, shining brightly in the eyes of most souls. Confusion about truth is the norm, and Christians are not exempt. Whenever we hear, learn or experience anything in this life, we are to test it, to see if it is true or not true. John wrote, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Paul wrote, “21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thess. 5:21-22). This is the only proper course for every child of God if we want to know truth and live accordingly.
Sin and error thrive when we “trust our gut”, when we believe anything “without investigation”. Many souls will be condemned to Hell because they believed, parents, teachers, friends, and yes, their feelings. Our every conviction must be tested first against the word of God. Our worldly convictions must also be tested by investigation, and by due diligence. This world is a cesspool of untruths, of misdirection, misinformation, and many are drowning in it because of a refusal to test all things. Christians don’t seem to have a problem pointing out the spiritual error of others, but often struggle with matters of life in this world. All the more reason why we must test everything we hold to be true, everything we believe and practice, in and out of the church? If we do not question everything with an open mind, we will certainly be condemned to a life according to tradition put in place by this world?
In Love
David Scarpino