The Holy Spirit in every believer is the One Who trains us.
John 16:13 "However when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak from Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak; and He will show you things to come."
We study the Bible, but if all we do is read the Bible without the training of the Holy Spirit we can come up with the wrong doctrine.
Many people are doing this, they are reading but they do not think like born-again believers because they do not have the Holy Spirit to guide them, even though they would claim to be Christian.
Spiritual matters in man must be trained by the Holy Spirit. Many men go to seminary to be trained by men how to think. Some are not born again so they preach a false gospel mixed with psychology because they do not have the Holy Spirit to give them wisdom.
These people even know the word of God well, but they do not process the Bible the way they should because they are attempting to do it based on their own thinking and the thinking of the culture around them.
I have witnessed many "Pastors" who violate much of scripture because they have been trained by men rather than the Holy Spirit. They think no one but those coming out of the human institutions can understand the Bible.
I dealt with this while in the Catholic church. The priests considered me arrogant because I thought I could read the Bible and understand it. They attempted to intimidate me into thinking I needed to be instructed by them in order to be able to follow the churches teachings.
Sadly they were right, in that church system the people will not think for themselves. Those who do as I did, question what the priests were saying were considered rebellious against the church. I became born again because I didn't just believe the priests, I wanted to see for myself. When I began reading the Bible for myself I saw the way of salvation and it turned me against the Catholic church but put me in right standing with Christ through His salvation.
This was the reason the devil used the priests in attempting to discourage me from reading God's word for myself. Because of my desire to know God and the attitude of the priests I left the Catholic church.
The very reason the priests attempted to intimidate me into ignoring the bible so I would follow them.
Because of this I came out, trusted in Christ and reject any man telling me I must believe whatever they say.
Sadly we have many in the Protestant church who act the same way, the people follow men rather than Christ. They defend men no matter their flaws because they do not believe the Holy Spirit speaks to them. When someone has an idol, that idol can never be questioned, therefore those who follow them cannot grow and progress past infanthood.
This is also why when someone tells me they have a message from God for me I tell them they do not. If God wants me to know something He will tell me himself. If someone is sharing something they found in the word that blessed them, I can accept it will probably bless me too. However, there is only one mediator between God and me, that is Christ Jesus.
In many cases the priests and the seminary trained men in the protestant church want us to believe they are the authority over us instead of Christ. They love their prominent position.
John 12:42-44 "42 Nevertheless, many of the leaders believed in Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue. 43 For they loved praise from men more than praise from God. 44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in Me does not believe in Me alone, but in the One who sent Me."
Luke 11:42-44 "…42Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former. 43Woe to you Pharisees! You love the chief seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. 44Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without even noticing.”…"
Matthew 23:6
"They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues,"
Matthew 23:7
the greetings in the marketplaces, and the title of 'Rabbi' by which they are addressed.
Matthew 23:8-10 "…8But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ.…"
God does not want us to "title" men with titles of prominence. "Pastor" is a gift, not a title or special position, many men in one gathering should have this gift. And yet, our culture loves to elevate to prominence those who should be quietly serving and preaching.
When we are led by the Holy Spirit to work the gifts God has given us they are done without fanfare and without titles. Notice in the following passage we do not see any of the gifts used as titles in front of someone's name.
Ephesians 4:11-16
11 And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ;
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."
Everyone has a job to do but no job is above another. Some jobs carry more weight in terms of accountability because a teacher has the ability to influence more people in a greater way.
James 3:1-2 "1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.…"
The teachers are accountable to the people hearing them. If they are in error the people hearing must correct them according to the Bible.
Romans 16:17
"I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them."
2 Timothy 4:2
"Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching."
Hebrews 5:12-14
"12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the actual words of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unacquainted with the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.
14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil."
