In Second Timothy 2:15 we find the Lord’s primary instruction for learning the things of the Spirit (the Holy Bible which consists of God’s Truth) and how to distinguish them from the things of the flesh (church doctrine which consists of man’s correction/improvement of God’s Word). The Apostle Paul, writing to Evangelist Timothy, instructed him to: “STUDY (God’s Word) in order to be APPROVED BY GOD.” If an establish minister of God needed to STUDY God’s Word in order to retain His approval, so do all others who claim to be His people.

In First Peter 1:20,21 the apostle makes clear to his readers how dangerous are the words and writings of those who INTERPRET God’s Truths (Words–Jn. 17:17), and how important are the Words of God’s ancient speakers and writers. Here he writes to those of his day and to us: “KNOWING THIS FIRST OF ALL, THAT NO PROPHECY OF SCRIPTURE (WRITTEN OR SPOKEN) IS OF ANY PRIVATE (PERSONAL) INTERPRETATION. FOR THEIR (PROPHETS’ AND APOSTLES’) WORDS DID NOT COME BY THE WILL (OPINION) OF MAN, BUT HOLY MEN OF OLD SPOKE (AND WROTE) AS THEY WERE MOVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.” God’s Word interprets itself for those who take the time and expend the effort to study the whole Word of God which the prophets and apostles proclaimed.

In Ephesians 2:20 we find the Apostle Paul telling believers (and us) that the New Testament Church was founded on the writings of both “the PROPHETS AND THE APOSTLES.” In Second Timothy 3:14-16 he tells us that “All Scripture is inspired (Spirit spoken) by God and essential for the learning of God’s Truth, for identifying man’s errors, for correcting of those errors and for personal training in RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Righteousness is the next-to-final outcome of studying God’s Word. The final outcome is the end result of having lived a life of godliness–salvation (Rom. 5:21; 6:22) at the return of Jesus Christ to earth. Read The Three Resurrections and The Kingdom of God. Key words–Three and Kingdom respectively.

Both the prophets and the apostles recorded their messages for God’s people who would be living at the end of the world–meaning us (1 Cor. 10:11). In order for their words to be of any benefit to us we must believe that the Words of both the prophets and apostles were God-sent and Spirit-delivered to those who heard them, spoke them and recorded them for our benefit. Such belief is called FAITH. Faith, we are told in Romans 10:17, is attained only by hearing (studying) the WORD OF GOD”–NOT CHURCH DOCTRINE, WHICH IS MAN’S WISHFUL THINKING ABOUT GOD’S WORD. Anciently, most people were illiterate and were able to receive God’s Truth only by hearing it read aloud in the local synagogues.

To follow Paul’s command to study the Holy Scriptures in order to please God, we need to look at the Lord’s study rules found in Isaiah 28:9,10 where the prophet asks: “To whom can God teach knowledge? and whom can He make to understand (His) doctrine?” The prophet goes on to identify such people as “those who are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts (primary/elementary Truths taught to children). He then repeats the command in verse 13. Here he writes about those to whom God had taught His Word, but who had refused to believe and obey it. As a result they “fell backward” (backslid), were “broken” (in spirit and body), “snared” (by Satan) and “taken” (by him) into the various heathen religions in the world today, including Catholicism and Protestantism.

The religious descendants of those people found their way into the early church. Paul, in his second letter to Timothy, wrote that such people were: “ever learning but never able to come to God’s Truth.” That problem continues to afflict the 2 1/2 billion salvation seekers today who have been led by Satan’s false prophets into “… the church of your choice,” as the world’s most famous evangelist told the masses who were supposedly “saved” during his world-wide evangelical meetings. The irony of that situation is that the evangelist, as well as all others of his ilk, themselves have not been saved. It was, and continues to be, “the blind leading the blind, both of whom fall into the ditch” (Lk. 6:39). Over the past 2000 years Satan’s false prophets have led billions of people into the grasp of God’s number one enemy. Read Bait and Switch. Key word–Bait.

For this reason the Apostle John tells us to “test the spirits” of those who lead us using ONLY the Holy Bible as our source of spiritual Truth (1 Jn. 4:1). For this reason I gave my website its name. WE MUST PROVE ALL THINGS OF GOD IN ORDER TO KNOW WHAT IS OF HIM WHAT IS NOT (1 Thes. 5:21). Then we must embrace the good and reject the bad. It is also for this reason that I include the Scriptural reference for every quote or paraphrase I use. I INSIST THAT YOU TEST ME TO SEE WHAT SPIRIT I AM OBEYING WHEN I WRITE TO YOU. If you test a minister or teacher against God’s Holy Scriptures and find that he is not following the Holy Spirit-inspired Word of God, confront them with God’s Truth. If they will not turn and go with God’s Word, LEAVE, which is what God commands us to do in Second Corinthians 6:14-7:1. As Paul tells us in 7:1, THEN AND ONLY THEN WILL HE BE OUR GOD AND WE WILL BE HIS PEOPLE.

Paul tells us in Romans 8:14 that only those who are led by the Spirit of God are the true sons of God. This includes Satan’s false prophets and those who follow them into the world’s Catholic and Protestant churches. Read “My People Who Are Called By My Name” and Who Are God’s People? Key words–Called and People respectively. There you will learn that the vast majority of people who are called Christians are Christians In Name Only (C.I.N.O.) which comprise 99% of professing Christendom. As a man of God, I have His Holy Spirit abiding in and directing me by way of His spiritual “voice” (the Holy Spirit). Read Matthew 16:16,17). Note that God spoke to Jesus through Peter. He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34) ); what He did through Jesus and the disciples He does through me and others like me.

He tells us in Matthew 7:13,14 that THERE ARE ONLY A FEW TRUE RIGTHTEOUSNESS SEEKERS IN HIS TRUE CHURCH. ALL OTHERS (THE MANY) ARE C.I.N.O. The Apostle Peter echoes His Words in his first epistle where he tells us that judgment is on-going in the church, and that ONLY THE RIGHTEOUS WILL BE SAVED–AND THEY JUST BARELY. Only the righteous and holy in God’s church will be saved (Rom. 5:21; 6:22). Righteous, holy people have put sin out of their lives. So what is God’s definition of sin? Read First John 3:4 for the answer. Then read James 2:10,14,17,18,20,24,26. Especially notice verse 10. That Truth includes the breaking of commandment #4. James asks a vitally important question in verse 14. The answer to the question is NO. Faith without works of faith (obedience to God’s Ten Commandment Law) is dead faith. We live by our faith. If our faith is dead, then we are spiritually dead. You must ask yourself who speaks the TRUTH–your church leaders or the Biblical God? THEN YOU MUST WALK ACCORDINGLY FOR THE REMAINDER OF YOUR LIFE. ONLY THOSE WHO “WALK AS JESUS WALKED” WILL JOIN HIM IN PARADISE (1 Jn. 2:6). L.J.