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NASB | Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the [preaching of the] message concerning Christ. |
Subject: Joe, how do you know the truth? |
Bible Note: Response........................................ Greetings Bill! I see where you are coming from, but you seem to want to throw the baby out with the bathwater! :-) Ultimately, we each have to make our own decisions! So, that must be first in my opinion! However, it is through fellowship with and knowledge of what other believers have seen in Scripture over the years that we can use as a benchmark. All of the examples you used are clearly not Scriptural, thus we should reject them. However, there are also lots of individual believers who have been just as wrong. I think I am a good example of the middle ground. I literally did not have any theological trainging whatsoever. I was saved when I was six. I did not actively attend church, because my family was not (and still aren't) Christians. Everything I learned, I learned on my own until I went to college. When I got to college, I started learning the labels. And, I found out that what I had learned, many other people had learned long before me. The fact that others saw the Bible in the same way that I did served as a confirmation to me that I had not gone off of the deep end somewhere. This is where the balance comes in. Yes, we must study on our own. We must learn God's Word. We must be able to think on our own. But, we should also read what others have said over the years and see how we line up with them. This keeps us honest. I don't mean that we have to always agree with them, but we should at least hear what they have to say! Well, I just got home from work, so I'm heading to bed! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |