You have to watch the wording! For years liberals have been word wizards with people to hide their true beliefs. For faithful men to ask liberal preachers, “Do you believe the Bible is inspired?” the Liberal will readily respond with a positive answer, they really mean to satisfy you without really telling you what they truly believe. To them, the trick of the phrase is intended to end the discussion. They might mean the Bible is inspired, just like any other work is inspired. He has no thought that the Bible has been inspired by God. The faithful must go a little deeper. “Do you believe the Bible is inspired of God?” Again, the positive answer will be given. But again he does not mean the Bible is inspired word by word, just the overall teachings, but that the writers made mistakes and inserted their own opinions and errors because they were writing from memory. Their teaching finds the Bible no better than the false doctrine taught in denominationalism. Watch who they quote as authoritarians!!
To find out what they really believe, you must ask the right questions, and ask them in the proper order. On inspiration, you would have to ask: “do you believe the Bible is plenary, verbally, inspired Word of God?” If your questioning gets too involved with his personal faith, he will play the martyr and tell that you will misrepresent him. This will divert attention from the doctrinal question and make the true Christian feel badly about even asking about his faith at all! He will repeatedly affirm his good intentions without stating just what he believes. He cannot state his faithfulness by the Word and becomes indignant that anyone challenges his beliefs. He is what I call “a word wizard.”
Before you know it, they will declare you and those who believe the written Book a “cartel of radicals” who want to filter all that is done or taught in the church!! Of course, you have become the villain, the brother with an unkind spirit, who is challenging their faith!! Those of us who are now a “cabal of radicals” are the extremists on dogma and doctrine, and they are not willing to allow us “control” their faith. The question that has to come to our minds is “why do they want to teach non-biblical principles and false assumptions and stay in the Church of Christ?? What do they want from being in our midst? Sadly, they want to help us!! For they at one time were deceived by “well intentioned” men and they lost many a dear friend for standing up for the truth!! Vengeance!
To ignore the fact that we are to remain faithful to the Truth and allow someone to come along and introduce, teach false doctrine thinking we will lay our swords down, is an assumption we cannot allow anyone to make. Paul wrote Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:19 “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck.” To the Ephesians, he wrote: We cannot “have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Ephesians 5:11
Where do men get the idea they can “deny the Lord that bought them?” Christ declared His “Word would never pass away,” and men “would be judged by it,” John 12:48, so how can men who reject what Christ and His apostles taught, call themselves “Christians?” Before we take our case to the “approval seekers” in denominationalism, we must try it before the Grand Master, Jesus Christ! We have received “not the words which men speak” but the words of the Spirit of the Living God!! 1 Corinthians 2:12 Wrong is wrong even if it is commonly considered acceptable. The Bible says, “Thou shall not follow a multitude to do evil.” Exodus 23:2 We are not to “enter into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.” Proverbs 4:14 Wrong is wrong even if it does not bother our conscience. The conscience can be trained to accept wrong doing. Galatians 6:7 Wrong is wrong even if you do not get caught. “The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous.” 1 Peter 3:12, “beholding the evil and the good.” Proverbs 15:3 Wrong is wrong even if others are doing worse things!
