by Robert Scott

There’s nothing more important in life than understanding why and how we should live it.

My personal testimony is that I believe we have been created by an omnipotent God who has revealed Himself to us through the life and sacrifice of His only begotten Son and through His Word which has been given to mankind in the Bible and supported through the teaching and leadership of people who have submitted themselves in faithful service to Him.

I share my testimony with others because part of my understanding of what God teaches in His Word is that we must do so with the aim of helping others to know truth and be motivated to make the right choice for themselves while under attack by an enemy. This is given as a principle referred to in the Bible as a watchman on the wall. It’s up to you to heed whatever understanding you have or any warning you hear. It’s up to me to share my knowledge and to give God's warning to others. We make our own choices and the result will be either everlasting death or eternal life.

None of us are perfect. It’s not about us being perfect. It’s about us recognizing that we aren’t perfect and that the only way to be transformed and made perfect is through the power of God and Jesus because of Their desire to make that possible.

"How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?" -- Penn Jillette, an atheist

I care that anyone who will hear and accept God's Word will be saved, even my supposed enemies. We are all God's children. We are all unworthy. Not everyone will persist in refusing the knowledge of God and the conviction in their hearts to repent, but those who do we are told will be rejecting the Holy Spirit which is to reject eternal life, the unpardonable sin. It's only unpardonable when we reject grace and pardon. I care especially about those who I perceive to be under the influence of false teachers. To challenge such false teachers is necessary to help others see life saving truth. While challenging false teachers must be done judiciously, it must never be avoided when the jeopardy they create becomes known. That would be cowardice, which God also hates.

God's Word - Understanding vs Interpretation

Interpreting God's Word and understanding God's Word are both legitimate and necessary, but often times there are some who respond to appeals to God's Word with resistance by asserting that interpretation is subjective and therefore not authoritative. The real issue is one of authority. Is God your authority or are you and your own understanding your authority. God is either fully capable of giving mankind His Word in a reliable and understandable form as we have in the Bible, or He's not. If He's not, or if you assert that His Word is not authoritatively reliable, then you are holding yourself to be something superior to God. To understand God is to accept His words. To interpret God has the potential to interject one's own opinion to add to or to take away from the plain meaning of God's written Word. Is God, including His Word, your authority or not?

We are not left without inspired guidance. See https://scottsjunction.com/watchman/millers-rules/ for rules of biblical interpretation endoreced by the pen of inspiration.

Choose you this day whom you will serve. Take upon yourself either the seal of God or the mark of the beast. There is no middle ground. To suppose that there is a neutral middle ground is to be lukewarm. God hates lukewarmness because it is a rejection of Him while still claiming His Word and His name without submission to His authority.

Beware of closed minds and hard hearts. It can be very discouraging to encounter others who refuse to engage in a study of God's Word with any apparent interest in learning truth. Too often, these closed minds and hard hearts are very close to us - our spouses, children, siblings and parents, for example. Frequently, these closed minds are very religious, even religious leaders. There is only ONE way to be restored to our Heavenly Father, to be saved. Seek to know that one way to be saved and let no other influence or idea shake your faith or determination to remain faithful to your Creator and Savior. Only you can cheat yourself out of accepting the grace of Jesus and walking His narrow way. Don't let the pressure and influence of others be more important to you than the truth given us by God in His Word.

Rejecting God's Word often is done in the name of science which is to suggest that our own understanding is capable of determining truth more reliably than to simply believe God's Word. The result of such reliance upon our own understanding results in what the Bible calls philosophies of men.

When God's Word appears to us to be contradictory, we have two choices in how we respond. We can either choose to believe that God's Word is in fact contradictory and therefore unreliable as our authority, or we can choose to trust God's capacity to provide us with consistent truth in the Bible and determine that it is our own failure to understand the words of God that causes us to perceive contradictions. Contradictions in God's Word evaporate with further understanding of God's Word. God provides both His written Word and the guidance of His Holy Spirit to lead us to a right understanding. God requires that we both exert effort and have faith in Him.

When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside. Matthew 13:19

It is always unsafe to put our faith in the interpretations of others. We must individually test every word and action of ourselves and others against the truth of God's Word. Only God's Word will provide us with a safe test of truth. Preachers and teachers are potentially very helpful in our journey to know God's Word, but only when they teach faithfully what God's Word says. God hates false teaching and preaching by those who interject their own fanciful interpretations of God's Word that lead to false gospels. The grace of Jesus is sufficient to cover all sin that is confessed and repented of but will not cover the slightest unrepented sin or false teaching.

A commonly asserted attack on God's Word is to claim that if someone has not had the privilege of hearing or reading the Word of God that this is evidence that God's Word is not necessary for us nor is our effort to understand and interpret God's Word important. This is a dangerous deception. God has indeed written His law upon our hearts through our very DNA and we will be held accountable for responding to the law of God made known to us through our consciences and nature. However, that does not diminish in any way the truth or authority of God's written Word. This argument certainly will not apply as a defense to anyone making it. Anyone who puts forth this argument necessarily is aware of God's written Word and God will hold us accountable for that which has been revealed to us.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Psalm 119:105

He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. John 12:48

But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. 1 John 2:5-6

But God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority—not one nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith. Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain “Thus saith the Lord” in its support. GC 595.1

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll. Revelation 22:18-19