The reason I am dogmatic about the Bible

I appreciate your thoughts. It is encouraging to keep in mind that once we are saved, the Holy Spirit teaches us through God's word and opens our understanding.


Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words
...For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Cor 2.12, 13, 16

 

The heart of the sinful man is is deceitful. I'm not adding a word there....I'm just saying I think that is the context.

Don't you agree that we have a new heart once converted? Can we not trust the Holy Spirit as much as we trust the Bible, as long as they don't contradict?

 

The new heart allows us to be sensatve to the Holy Ghost and understand His Word. The Holy Ghost speaks to us through His word. The standard as to what the Holy Ghost is doing is still the living Word of God.

 

Definition:
Dogmatic : characterized by or given to the expression of opinions very strongly or positively as if they were facts
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed) 2003.

You can be dogmatic about an opinion but you can’t be dogmatic about an object.

How do you you’re not merely trusting in your own understanding of God’s preserved word?


This is what the LORD says:
“Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,
who rely on human strength
and turn their hearts away from the LORD.
They are like stunted shrubs in the desert,
with no hope for the future.
They will live in the barren wilderness,
in an uninhabited salty land.
“But blessed are those who trust in the LORD
and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.
Jeremiah 17:5-7 NLT

Study the Scriptures... develop opinions... test them...
Your hope and confidence are to be placed upon God...
and not on your opinions however strong or dogmatic they might be.

Rob

 

I don't think they can or should be separated. The Holy Spirit will never contradict scripture.

 

Your approach to biblical doctrine leaves too much room for making the scriptures say what you want them to say. If I base my faith on "my opinion" then by human nature I will be biased towards my own desires.

I agree with stilllearning, we need to just accept the Bible for what is says, and stop trying to "interpret" it. We can take certain verses in the Bible and rationalize any opinion or doctrine we desire. But its not not about what we desire, it is about what God says.

Just my opinion.....:saint:

AJ

 

I agree that they won't contradict, but they are separate. There is a difference between a written message from God to us and the Holy Spirit.

The point I am making is that I don't need a Bible to be able to get a message from God...or to listen to His direction. That is what life by the Spirit is all about.

Yet I agree with what you're saying that they won't contradict.

 

You misunderstand me.

I’ve found in the past that my understanding of certain doctrines were based more upon opinion and tradition than Scripture.

It’s easy to form an opinion about something; it’s harder to study out why we believe as we do and skim the dross.
Why even Jesus had to "interpret" what he said at times so his disciples could understand.
What makes you think we're any better?

The Bible can be misinterpreted.

Our claim of "Spirit’s leading" doesn’t insure our own correctness.

Too many people claim their own opinions are inerrant merely because they formed them by reading the Bible.

Rob

 

If there is no need to interpret, why preach? Why not simply stand before the congregation and read Bible verses for 30-40 minutes? Just a thought.

 

A simple rule of hermeneautics is, Where the Bible makes common sense, seek no other sense. There is a place for reading the Bible for what it is saying to you at the moment. These make for great devotions.

We cannot, however, ignore set rules for basic understanding of scripture in context. We are reading a book from another age, and what is said is addressing a specific people. We must learn what that meant to the hearers, and then apply to us in this century.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Application is the answer. Even when we take the Bible as literal, we still need to learn how to apply the teachings to our lives.....I am fortunate enough to have an expository preacher that does a good job of this. He shows us how to apply what the Bible says but he tries very hard to stick to exactly what it says.

AJ

 

Holy cow poop, Batman!

What further evidence do we need that the heart of man is above all things deceitful? :laugh:

 

I still believe that the Bible is our most important treasure as believers....I just don't think the Holy Spirit speaks EXCLUSIVELY through the Bible.

For example, I didn't read from the Bible that God wants me to move to Brazil to serve a missionary's ministry full-time. It was through prayer, reflection, conversation, experience, advice, desire. The Bible can either confirm or contradict all of these things, but there is no verse that shows me to go to Brazil. It is primarily based off of the leading of the Spirit.

The Bible is what we use to measure what we sense from the Spirit, but that doesn't mean it is the only way we hear from the Spirit.