So you put your trust in your "scholars" who teach the wisdom of men as though it were the wisdom of God... and I'll stick with what Jesus said in His Word concerning the Holy Spirit!
Without those scholars, we would not have translations of the Bible. Who translated the Bible you use?
In Jesus’ day the common language spoken by the people was Koine Greek, not Hebrew….so what did the apostles use to teach the gentiles who came to Christ after his death? Reading to them from the Hebrew Scriptures would have been a waste of time. What they had available to them back then, was the Septuagint, which was Hebrew translated into Greek.(but only the OT)
Did God object to having his word translated into other languages? Hardly, as the disciples showed at Pentecost of 33CE when the spirit gave them ability to speak in all the languages of the foreign speaking visitors who had come to Jerusalem for the festival.
Hearing the word of God in their own language was vital for their understanding.…and they took that knowledge back to their home countries with them, and thus the truth about the Christ spread abroad, and continued to spread, but true to his nature, the devil would have a go at adulterating that truth, by mistranslation, misinterpretation and misunderstanding.
It isn’t scholars per se, that we have to be wary of, it is Christendom’s core teachings that reveal who is teaching the word of God and who are promoting the words and ideas of men.
The very foundation of the Christian faith was undermined by those who sought power over the people in a tyrannical manner, forcing unsubstantiated beliefs on a people whom they kept in ignorance and fear for centuries. The power they wielded, did to those religious leaders, exactly what it did to the ones in Jesus’ day who orchestrated his murder….it thoroughly corrupted them. (Matt 15:7-9)
If the foundations of a building are not strongly reinforced, nothing you build on it will withstand the storm as Jesus illustrated in the parable of building on rock, not sand.
Jesus said the Holy Ghost would lead us in to ALL Truth (John 16:13),
Who then is the Holy Spirit leading? You? Or the thousands of others who also claim to be the only ones to find the “TRUTH”? How do you know that the “spirit” leading you is not the one leading all of them to the same fate to which you seem delighted to send them?
If nothing, the devil is a master of disguise and his deceptions are tried and successful. So who will be the “few” whom Jesus will judge as his “sheep” whilst the “goats” vainly make their excuses?
It will indeed be interesting, as we will all stand before the same judge.
and Jesus said God's Word IS Truth (John 17:17)
There can be no denying this simple statement….so the question is the same as what Pilate asked, “what is truth?”
Millions of people think that their “branch” of “Christianity“ is “the truth”….so how do you tell?
How do you detect a counterfeit? Do you examine every fake, or do you just familiarize yourself with the original and allow the fakes to betray themselves?
“By their fruits”, Jesus said we would identify his true disciples…..the diamonds in a pile of broken glass.
By the kind of people they produce. (2 Peter 3:11-14)
Romans 8:14 - For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.
Again…”WHO” are “led by the spirit”? If all who claim to be are not, then who determines, who is?
What does it mean to be ‘a child of God’? What “fruitage” should we expect to see?
Love for the truth means exposing the lies, as Jesus and his apostles did, but rather than condemning those “believers” in a false truth and writing them off, it means offering people something that gives them hope of better times to come.
It means understanding why we are here on this planet in the first place, and why God in his wisdom, allowed all that has transpired in this world that he handed over to his adversary. (Luke 5:5-7)
When the future gets here... we'll see who ends up where!
We certainly will, not not by standing across a great divide to enjoy seeing everyone else perish, except those who believe as we do.…along with “I told you so”……so who decides what we believe and why we believe it? How can so many sincere people assume that what they believe must be the truth, because God has led them to that belief? Is God the only one who leads people? The devil is the Pied Piper….if the tune he plays appeals to someone they will follow him….but he doesn’t have only one tune….he has thousands, all tried and tested.
There are only two roads to choose from…one leads to life, the other to death, so, just like the garden of Eden, we must choose our course wisely because either choice has consequences or outcomes…..some are going to rejoice, whilst others are going to have deep regrets….but no one will be able to say….”no one told me”.
How many Jews who supported their religious leaders in their plot to have Jesus executed as a common criminal, could say that they never heard of Jesus? Who or what did they believe? Who told them that Jesus was a fake Messiah? Is he not as capable of misleading people today by painting Christ’s true disciples in the worst possible light? (John 15:18-21)
In this world, ruled by the devil….nothing is as it appears to be….(1 John 5:19)
