You have asked some profound questions---How can a person not be in error? Who is right?

In these last days of great apostasy (falling away from truth), by definition, the vast majority of Christians will be embracing error. Even the early church fathers were at variance in their doctrines.

I humbly challenge anyone to refute anything that I have written, but it must be done with the Scriptures. But I think it is remarkable that no one has ever refuted from the Bible anything that I have posted on the website and I have had hundreds of thousands of visitors. Many people rant and rave and call me a heretic, etc., but they have not refuted anything that I have written. Why? Because you cannot refute the truth. Everything must be tested by the Scriptures. And that is to say that which the Scriptures really say and not what we think they say. On any given doctrine everything that the Scriptures have to say about it must be considered and if any passage is not in harmony with all the rest then we have not arrived at the truth concerning that doctrine. Is it possible to know the truth in these last days of apostasy when so many eminent Christian leaders and teachers are at variance in their teachings? Yes, it is possible. How?

 First we must be truly born again.

 Second, we must have met the three conditions for being a disciple (learner) according to Jesus as recorded in Luke 14. (The vast, vast majority of "eminent" church leaders today have not met this requirement.) How can one be a learner of truth if he is not a "learner" ? Jesus said if you do not meet those three conditions you cannot be His disciple, learner. If God incarnate says that you cannot do something unless you meet certain requirements then it is safe to say that it is impossible to do it. Most of that which "non-disciple" Christians believe is merely a mental assent to those truths. They can just as easily embrace error without knowing it. Jesus said you can know the truth and the truth will set you free. Even true Christians are in bondage to the extent that they embrace error. We are free to the extent that we embrace truth and reject error.

 Third, Jesus must enable us to understand certain truths of the Scriptures. "Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures" (Luke 24:45). Sometimes Jesus (through the Holy Spirit) keeps us from knowing certain truths for reasons we may not understand. "The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what He was talking about" (Luke 18:34).

 Jesus at one point told His disciples that He had many things to teach them, but they were not ready for them yet. Paul told the Christians at Corinth essentially the same thing. "I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly" (1 Cor. 3:2-3).

 Sometimes Jesus (who is the Truth---"I am the Way, the Truth..."), shows us the truth but the import or force of it is realized later. During Peter's ministry (years after Jesus ascended), after the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles, Peter said, "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said, "John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 11:15-16). Paul told Timothy, "Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this" (2 Tim. 2:7).

 Fourth, we cannot have any known, unconfessed sin in our life. Sometimes the sin in our life may be a compromise of truths that God has already shown us. Probably the only prayer that God will listen to if we have known sin in our life is a prayer of repentance and confession.

 Fifth, our motive for wanting to know the truth must be pure. We cannot ask God to show us the truth so that we can decide if we are going to obey it or not. Our attitude must be, "God, please show me the truth about this so that I can obey." There is oftentimes a cost involved in embracing truth and applying it to our lives. Sometimes it is monetary, sometimes it costs us our job, our friends, our family, or our "church." If we reject what we know to be the truth from God we cannot expect to be shown any other truth until we repent and confess it, and ask for forgiveness. It is an extremely costly and perhaps dangerous thing to knowingly reject truth.

 Sixth, it helps to understand the original languages (Hebrew for the O.T., and especially Greek for the N.T.). I was misled by wrong translations of Matthew 5:32 concerning divorce and remarriage until I studied the Greek and found out that the word "divorce" here is a mistranslation in the NIV, KJV, and NASB. The word really means "put away" and is translated so in many other verses and is correctly translated in Young's Literal Translation, The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, American Standard Version (1901), et al. God used this to open my eyes to the false teaching today concerning divorce and remarriage. Here is a case in which I based what I believed about D&R on a mistranslation. But in God's timing He showed me the truth.

 Seventh, it helps to have the gift of discerning of spirits. Satan and demons are adept at putting thoughts into the minds of Christians (and others) and convincing them that they have received a truth from God. Again, all things must be tested by what the Scriptures really say within the true context, not what we think they say. And we must consider the possibility of a word or phrase that is not correctly translated.

 Eighth, it helps to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Although, this gift is primarily an endument with power for witnessing, it helps to be filled rather than to merely be enlivened by the Spirit of Christ, which all true Christians have, but apparently very few today have been filled with the Holy Spirit.

 Ninth, it helps to have the gift of prophecy, which is a gift for proclaiming God's truths to His people (by speaking and writing). Obviously, there are very few Christians today who have this gift, and, of course, God only gives the gift to a relatively few.

 Tenth, it helps to have wisdom. I have prayed for wisdom and discernment innumerable times and these ar by far the things for which I pray for myself the most. "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does" (James 1:5-8). "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom...wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere" (James 3:13, 17). Wisdom is seeing things the way God sees them. And it is the ability to make proper practical application of the truths of God's Word.

 Eleventh, it helps to have the gift of faith. This kind of faith is from God and is the knowledge of His will. (I wrote and posted an article on this subject on the website.)

 Twelfth, the apostle John wrote that, if you are a disciple, the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth (John 16:13) and "you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit---just as it has taught you, remain in Him" (1 John 2:27). Learning truth is conditional. We must be His disciple according to Luke 14 and we must remain in Him. We must love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Proof of our love for Him is our obedience to His commands (about 180 in the New Testament). If we do not obey Him how can we expect to learn the truth from Him who is the Truth? There are many true Christians today, but very few of them are true disciples of Jesus, according to His conditions in Luke 14.

 How can a person not be in error? Who is right? Perhaps the above will help you to know the answers to these questions, along with testing by the Scriptures everything that I have written and published. (The Bereans examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true, Acts 17:11.)

 Do I have all the truth? No. I am still learning. Next to the great apostle Paul (a mere man) I would look like an apostate. I will never know all the truth and I will not "arrive" until I go to heaven. I have read through the Scriptures many times (the OT more than 10 times, the NT more than 30 times) and every time I read them I am amazed at the many things that I needed to learn, but had not "seen" before. God's Word is inexhaustible.

May the Lord richly bless you with spiritual blessings as you seek His truths.

In Christ Jesus,

Harry

CONTENTS * TOP OF PAGE