Make Your Commitment As Sure as Possible!
2 Peter 1:10b, “… give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never stumble” ASV:
Before making a commitment to some religious movement, make sure that they are teaching from the Bible [i.e. the 66 Books of the Old and New Testament].
Make sure the teaching you are called on to believe is correctly interpreted.
Make sure the teaching or passage of Scripture is not contradicted in some other Bible passage.
Make sure the Bible translation you are using is a good translation, some Bible translations are more a commentary than a translation.
Make sure that you are not under duress, but feel free to question your teacher and his philosophy.
Feel free to ask your teacher to show you the passage in the Bible that teaches his/her convictions about each point discussed.
Make sure that your previous exposure to false religious concepts are not influencing your perception of the present truth – Matthew 15:12-14, 12 Then came the disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying? 13 But he answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father planted not, shall be rooted up. 14 Let them alone: they are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both shall fall into a pit” ASV.
Make sure that your fleshly relationships are not interfering with your ability to reason correctly about the truth – Matthew 10:34-38, “34 Think not that I came to send peace on the earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I came to set a man at variance against his father , and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law: 36 and a man’s foes (shall be) they of his own household. 37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that doth not take his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me”
REMEMBER THIS:
No question is out of order when a person is seeking truth, ask of your teacher whatever question about his/her teaching that puzzles you or that you do not fully understand – if the teacher is honest and sincere about their conviction, they will be happy to explain – Colossians 4:6, “6 Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer each one” ASV.
1 Peter 3:15, “15 but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord: (being) ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear” ASV.
CONCLUSION: Since we are created beings, we are to respond to our Creator as He wills. Since our Creator is God, we will want to respond to His instruction because of our knowledge that without His action we could not exist. You see God is the sustainer of our environment, and everything that pertains to our existence. To understand this fact is important to our understanding of our place in the scheme of things visible and invisible. Since God did create our parents {i.e., Adam and Eve} and made it possible for them to multiply, we understand that our presence here on the earth is controlled by God. Therefore, God is in charge of everything that pertains to our existence, our destiny is predicated upon our understanding and response to this knowledge. As we acquire knowledge of God’s goodness toward us, we naturally want to respond to please and glorify Him. If we know that God loves us and cares for us, surely we will want to obey his wishes regardless of whatever those wishes are. Today is a good time to reexamine ourselves so that we can honestly determine what we want to be in the coming years, do we want to be right with God or do we want to be something less that right in our relationship to God and to others?
REMEMBER THIS – our time here is growing shorter with each passing day, now is the time to get right with God and with our family, friends, and neighbors.