Question: I’ve heard people say that “It doesn’t really matter what you believe, as long as you believe.” And isn’t that true?
Answer: You tell me. A person is suddenly diagnosed with a sometimes deadly disease. The doctor prescribes one certain medication known to have the absolute best chance to cure it, a medication which has proven time and again to correct it. It really doesn’t matter what the patient then takes as long as they take some form of medication, right? What about you? When your doctor prescribes a certain medication for you to fill at the pharmacy, do you just walk in and close your eyes and randomly purchase the first one your fingers fall on? Well, if not, why not? After all, “It really doesn’t matter what you take as long as you take something” …right?
This statement is actually absolutely ridiculous in both its practical and Biblical implications isn’t it? Please read and carefully consider the following texts:
Did it matter to God or wind up mattering at all to him what Cain believed was acceptable worship (Genesis 4:1-14; Hebrews 11:4)? Did it matter to God or wind up mattering at all to them what Nadab and Abihu thought was acceptable in worship in addition to what God had authorized (Leviticus 10:1-2); Did it matter to God or wind up mattering at all to him what Jeroboam considered as acceptable worship (1 Kings 12:25-33 – and please note that it was this very great sin for which Israel was later taken into captivity: II Kings 17:1-24)?
Did it matter to God or wind up mattering at all to them what the Pharisees (Matthew 15:1-14, 22:29), or the previously-zealous Saul of Tarsus (Acts 22:1-16, 26:9-11) or the self-deceived but very religious people of Matthew 7:21-23, Romans 10:1-4, or Colossians 2 believed? If you will but read those passages then you will surely know that it not only did, but that it was a matter of life and death – even worse yet in many cases, a matter of eternal life and death – WHAT they believed!
WHAT one believes, both was, is, and always shall be, a matter of eternal life or death. This is why faithful and God-fearing churches of Christ will never seek to attract any humble sinner/sincere seeker with anything other than the entire, exclusive, soul-saving, grace-laden, gospel truth of the Word of God itself – no pictures of pretty buildings, promises of performing circus clowns, perfunctory pet blessings, petting zoos, pony rides, or anything else other than God’s life-giving Word, period! We are only, always, ever, and exclusively, about the one true gospel – in its entirety – just as the faithful always were in the Bible (Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15-16; 1 Cor. 1:17-2:5); because WHAT one believes about THAT, is ALL that will EVER matter (Jn. 12:48).