Some people say that the problem with Scripture is that it’s subject to differing interpretations. This isn’t a difficulty with Scripture. It’s a difficulty with the natural mind, the fallen human mind. This fallen human mind is deceitful and desperately wicked. It adds to God’s words without our awareness of what it is doing. Reality is subject to differing interpretations, but differing interpretations can’t change reality.
There have always been false prophets, and there is currently a struggle to know the difference between what God is saying and what our human minds are saying. However, we know Jesus Christ. We are sometimes like rebellious and impatient children sitting in the back seat asking, “Are we there yet?” and complaining to God about how long it’s taking. The human mind thinks that it’s about knowledge. It’s not. God’s purpose is about becoming. It’s about a transfiguration. This transfiguration takes place as love builds up. Love is the fulfillment of the law as the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. God has asked us to keep walking with Him, listening to His Voice, and responding in submission. He’s in charge of the Divine revelation, the leading and teaching. We are responsible to acknowledge Him. We are His sheep. We know His Voice. The Atheists also know, but choose not to acknowledge Him. When we, who are His sheep, are deceived, it’s because we want to be deceived. God tells us that we sin when we are drawn into sin by our own desires. When our wills are different from God’s will, we may deceive ourselves so that we can do our own wills.
For instance, if a person who desires to be seen as an intellectual goes beyond what God has said, that person adds to God’s words. He or she isn’t in the dark about this. Such a person knows that God forbids adding to His words. Yet, the person does this and rationalizes away God’s warning and command.
What God has revealed is enough. Why try to expand the human mind to go beyond what God has said? The human mind isn’t capable of such a thing. In fact, the fallen human mind will only make stuff up. Made-up stuff isn’t truth. To make stuff up and claim that it’s true is to lie.
We know very little about the whole of reality. Our sphere where we can test things is very small. How do you test God and the spiritual realm?
Speculation is often dogmatically held and fiercely defended. Many fallacies are used to argue for the speculations. Often, appeal to fear is used, “If you don’t believe my speculative doctrine, then you aren’t even saved.” False dichotomies create extremely speculative illusions of a conflict in the revelation of Scripture. One such false dichotomy says that either the Scripture teaches fatalism or the Scripture teaches that God isn’t sovereign. Scripture teaches that God is sovereign. Therefore, it is claimed that no one can actually choose anything. It is taught that God is in total control of every decision that every person makes. All the Scripture that speaks of choosing–all such Scripture is rationalized away. Then, to add to the selling tactic, fear is used, and you are told that if you don’t believe this speculation, you aren’t saved. You ask why, and you are told that believe that you can accept or reject Christ is belief that you are earning your salvation by believing. Of course, this is a secondary speculation based on a misunderstanding of what belief/faith is and how belief/comes.
This is one of many such speculations. Consider the false dichotomy of Jesus-only, which asks, “Which is it, are there three gods or is God one. If you are serving three gods, you aren’t even saved.” Yet, the unity of the trinity is clearly in Scripture. Other speculations involve end-time predictions, the nature of what happened when Jesus died and rose again, and almost every other aspect of what God has revealed. The human mind seems to like to add to that revelation.
Doctrines that can’t be fully reconciled with Scripture are false teachings. It would be much better to say, “I don’t know,” than to dogmatically teach or believe something that goes beyond what God has revealed. Deuteronomy 29:29 always comes to mind.
Someone will claim that, without speculation, we can’t learn anything new. That’s not true. No new learning of truth can happen with speculation. Speculation muddies the water. If something new is to be known, God must reveal it. God may put on your heart to look at a certain Scripture. In the same way, God may lead a scientist to look into a certain part of His Creation. When God does this, He is starting the process of Divine revelation. Suddenly, He enlightens the mind and Scripture comes alive, or some part of Creation suddenly is known.
Another person will say that Divine revelation is flawed, because some people have claimed Divine revelation in the past and their claims have been false. That, again, isn’t a problem with Divine revelation. That is a problem of human speculation masquerading as Divine revelation. There are multiple examples of this in Scripture. Yet, the false prophets and false teachers never made the true prophets and teaches any less true. Jesus gave the key. Those who desire to do the will of the Father will know the difference. If we are drawn away by our own lusts, there’s a way back onto the path. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins. Forgiveness includes pardon, setting us back on the path, and sending sin away.
We are learning to Hear His Voice and to respond in submission. Divine revelation is from God to us. Our role is a passive role of receiving and acknowledging. God provides the discernment, but our natural mind tries to get involved and assert its own will and opinion. At each moment, the sheep do know Jesus’ Voice. They do know. They are without excuse. When they don’t want to do God’s will, they temporarily suppress the truth in unrighteousness. They end up doing things that they know they should not do. That doesn’t separate them from the love of God. It doesn’t cause them to be un-born-again. It takes them off the Path. Then, God opens the door to get back on the Path.






