There are many different divisions in both the Churches and the Scriptures of God. It is estimated that a new version of the Bible is brought out about every six months. As of the last count, there are over 3000 different denominations of the Christian Church. All of this is prophesied to come about by Jesus and was already a problem in the time of Paul in the Early Church.
If we look in 1st Corinthians 1:11-15 the same problem was beginning in the Church in Corinth. Some of the people had begun to say they were right in the way they believed since they were followers of different ones, like Apollos, or Cephas(peter), or Paul. Paul warns them that he has received reports of them being divided in their following of Jesus and claiming they were followers of different ones who in and of themselves were believers in Jesus, but none of them was greater than another.
It is the same today with people who follow the teachings of DL Moody, or Oswald Chambers, or even Billy Graham. None of these men are any better than the others. They were all men and sinful in their nature. As Paul said in 1st Corinthians 1:13, was Dr. Moody Crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Billy Graham? Is Christ divided so?It is not important who our teachers are, it is only important that we believe correctly in Jesus and what the Scriptures say about Him.
If we don’t believe in the Scriptures, then how then can we believe in Jesus’ Crucifixion, or Resurrection, Much less His Salvation. It is pivotal to our belief in Jesus that we are able to believe in The Word of God. If we continue on in this vein of thought, we must beware of those who will teach us falsely in the Word’s of God.
In the Bible book of 2nd Peter 3:17 we are warned that we should know the Bible so we can know when we are being led astray by the ‘wicked’. The word here refers to a candle wick that is twisted to be used in a candle. Just like a wick, many verses in the Bible are ‘Twisted’ from their original meanings to be made to represent the false teachings of those who would lead the very elect astray. The term here is also used to refer to witchcraft.
We are told in the next verse 2nd Peter 3:18 that knowledge of the Scriptures will help us to grow in the Grace of the Knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. We should beware in these days following to closely any one man as no man is good, no not one. The only one who was ever Good in all ways and lived a sinless life, was Crucified for our sins, was buried in a borrowed tomb, and rose again on the third day to show His triumph over death and the cross. Again, as God has over and over again, He took what the Devil meant for evil and used it for good, to make a way to heaven for all mankind.
Now this in no way means to imply that any of the ministers mentioned here are false prophets or misleading people. The people themselves are making these men mislead them from following the teachings of Jesus and the Word of God. The men themselves have done nothing wrong. When the world begins to follow the man instead of God, it makes the problem only true faith in God can solve.
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