This post will probably make no sense to those who don’t believe in God.  My thoughts here are toward those who believe in the God of the Bible and Jesus Christ.

I have been a born-again Christian for 37 years. These days I am a pretty lenient believer, but I have run the gamut over the years.  I spent many years being pretty fanatical about my faith.  I’ve seen excesses in both camps.  Some believers are so nominal, their God does not appear to actually be alive.  On the other extreme, fanatical Christians tend to attribute far too much to God.  People have to find their own way in their relationship with God and Jesus Christ.

And that leads me to the point of this post.  What is God’s truth?  Where does it come from?  Is God’s truth an objective truth or a subjective truth?  I am continually bothered by the fact that you can ask any two Christians about any subject regarding the Christian faith and get two completely different answers. Many people say this is a wonderful thing.  I’m not so sure.

I think this is a symptom of the plight of the human race.  We are sinners in a sinful world. Our hearts are deceitfully wicked.  I believe we all see God and God’s Word through a dark glass.  And a bit of that obscurity is caused by our unwillingness to face the truth.

How can two Christians read a Bible verse like Acts 2:4, 38-39 and come to opposite conclusions?  One concludes that believers will speak in new tongues; the other will conclude not only that believers won’t speak in tongues, but shouldn’t speak in tongues!

The reasons for this are myriad.  Some have to do with different levels of biblical understanding.  But personal feelings and consequences have a lot to do with it too. If person A grew up in a traditionally anti-tongues environment, a change in opinion will have very real personal consequences.

After all these years which have included serious Bible college studies into the scriptures and some very life-changing experiences with God, I have concluded the following:

• The Bible is the inerrant, inspired Word of God (2 Tim 3:16-17)
• Thus, the Bible is profitable for doctrine and correction to believers.  It is the final authority on these matters.
• Believers are obligated to handle the word of truth accurately, rightly dividing the scriptures. (2 Tim 2:15)
• Because our hearts are deceitful, we need to be willing to let God’s Word overrule our hearts when there is conflict.  Be teachable, be willing to learn something new.  Be willing to be found wrong. (Jer 17:9)