“We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” I John 4:6 The personal pronoun “we” in the reference above is to John and his fellow apostles. He made his claim in that they were following the teachings of Christ and the doctrine of the Old Testament concerning Messiah and the purpose of redemption. The issue with the apostle in context of what he is saying is “truth and error.” The matter of biblical doctrine is right or wrong, true or false. In I Peter 1:20 we are told, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” Peter is telling us that the Word of God came to us as men were breathed upon by the Spirit of God: therefore establishing the vital truth of the verbally inspired Word of the living God. I write without malice, I may occasionally reference a particular denomination, cult, or sect of religion (Roman Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, or whatever), the issue is not denominational; the issue is “truth or error,” “right or wrong.” My only document is the inspired Word of the living God. My challenge to those who disagree has been and continues to be, get your Bibles and prove me wrong. I stand to be, and am subject to correction. But your correction must be made in accordance with the systematic doctrine of the Word of God. It is not my purpose to offend anyone personally but we must all admit life is not without its offences. Our Lord said in Matthew 18:7, “It must needs be that offences come.” He seemed always to offend the Pharisees, Sadducees, Herod, and sometimes His own disciples. Therefore we must live with offences. I think the following is very applicable in these days in which we live, someone said, “We the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty, hereby try to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that a whole lot of people were confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim that they require a Bill of “NO” Rights. ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone, not just you.” Therefore, if I, a preacher of the gospel, sometimes offend, search what I preach by the consistency of the Word of God, and if you find me wrong I welcome correction. But your correction must be consistent with scripture.
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