Isn’t it enough to be sincere?

If a person drinks poison, sincerely believing it to be medicine, a tragedy is certain follow. Truth is more important than even sincerity. There is a huge difference between deciding what to believe and listing your favourite ten songs in order. One has an absolute truthful answer, the other is subjective. Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life no one comes to the Father except through Me.’ (John 14:6). There is therefore a danger of allowing personal feelings to keep one from the objective truth there is in Christ. Faith in Him is not a question of taste but a matter of fact. The issue of a relationship with God is absolutely crucial because mistakes have eternal consequences. It is vital, therefore, that our personal beliefs are correct.

Though there may be different interpretations concerning some less crucial teachings of the Bible, all the major truths are very clear to those who are honest in their dealings with all that the Bible teaches. There is even a summary in the New Testament of its basic teaching, ‘For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures …’ (I Corinthians 15:3-4) and, ‘This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.’ (I Timothy 1:15).

It is an abuse to try to change the emphasis of the Bible’s teaching simply because what it says is unpalatable and cuts across my own beliefs. God’s Word is plain to all who will honestly read it. It is a blasphemy to add or take away from what God Himself has said in the Bible.

Be careful of confusion. As one person said: ‘I know that you believe that you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant!’