Safely navigating our souls to the shores of heaven requires we spy the lies that lead to shipwreck and the truth those lies often conceal.
* You don’t have what it takes to live for God and get to heaven (2Pe 1:3).
* The Devil poses no threat to the Christian (1Pe 5:8).
* The consensus of pagans, our thoughts, our spiritual beliefs and our feelings are all things we can trust when attempting to discern truth (Joh 17:17 = Truth originates outside of us in God’s Word, which is why when attempting to discern or disseminate truth, we must not allow ourselves to listen to the majority – including family and friends, our internal thoughts or feelings, or even our long held spiritual beliefs. Instead, we must be constantly taking ourselves and others back to the Scriptures asking the question, “What does the Word of God say?’” – 2Co 10:5; Isa 8:20).
* The Bible is your only spiritual authority.
4.1. This is the heresy known as “solo scriptura” (i.e., the Bible is my only spiritual authority).
4.2. Many claiming to be Christians today have embraced its more heretical cousin, “solo novus testamentum” (i.e., the New Testament is my only authority). This has traditionally been referred to as a “canon within a canon” (i.e., what you deem as God’s canon/authoritative rules does not include the entirety of God’s canon or all 66 books, but instead only the NT). Popular Evangelical pastor, Andy Stanley states that the Old Testament should not be seen as “the go-to source regarding any behavior in the church.” In his view, the apostles “unhitched the church from the worldview, value system, and regulations of the Jewish Scriptures.” What Stanley and those embracing this heresy don’t realize: this was the position of one of church’s most infamous heretics, Marcion who believed the OT and any teaching in the NT that requires obedience or threatens punishment to those who disobey, to be the corruption of a vindictive, evil deity that has nothing in common with all loving and forgiving Jesus.
4.3. Why it is impossible to have Jesus and deny/ignore the teaching and requirements of the OT (or Law) = B/C Jesus affirmed its continuing authority and necessity for getting to heaven (Mat 5:17-20, 19:16-23).
4.4. Why it is impossible for the Bible to be your only spiritual authority = B/C the Bible (God’s written word) is not self-explanatory. Understanding the meaning or message being communicated through its words has always required the interpretive efforts and skill of human beings (e.g., Neh 8:1-8, 13; Luk 24:27; Act 2:42). This is especially true given the thousands of years that separate us from its original audience whose culture, customs, political and social climate, common cliches and figures of speech are completely foreign to us:
4.4.1.(e.g., Eph 1:4 “holy and blameless”) = OT terms referring to intolerance of sin (“holy”) and faithful observance of God’s moral requirements (“blameless”).
4.4.2. (e.g., Rev 5:1-5 “a scroll written within and on the back sealed with seven seals”) = A get mekushshar, a bill of divorce created specifically for the Jewish priests. The overabundance of seals (or folds) as well as the writing on both sides were intended to make sure priestly marriages could not be quickly or easily dissolved since according to the marital law governing priests, divorce would immediately render those wives ineligible for reconciliation should the priest have a change of heart (Lev 21:14). Knowing this is crucial to understanding the 7 seals, trumpets and bowls of God’s wrath (prophetic language communicating Jesus’ high priestly divorce from OC Israel – Lev 26:27-28).
4.5. Since the Bible was written, God has mandated that:
4.5.1.
