Convincing Someone of the Truth After Years of Indoctrination

It is challenging to convince someone of the truth when they have lived their entire life with a false doctrine that everyone else around them follows.

 
We cannot fix the wrong things people believe, even those things in ourselves. Each of us needs to want to know the truth above all else. Above relationships, above traditions, and above cultural mandates God never made. In other words, God needs to be so first in our lives that we are willing to be set aside by others to follow Him.

 
Until we want the truth more than anything or anyone else, we will be stuck in a merry-go-round of false traditions and assumptions that make us feel safe and connected to the rest of the culture.

Those who seek Christ with their whole heart, willing to discard every false belief in favor of God's meaning in His Word, will be rejected, dismissed, and even disrespected by those who love their traditions.

Matthew 10:21-22 "…21 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. "

For most people, safety in friends and family is more important than the truth of God's Word.

We cannot fix people who love their traditions; they choose what they want based on how they think, that is, with the mind of the world instead of the mind of Christ.

 
I really hate the saying, "God gave us a brain", as though our brain is as good as God's heart. I answered someone with this once when I heard that phrase: "Yes, and look what we did with our own brain, we became prideful and dismissed God in favor of our own thoughts."

That phrase, "God gave us a brain," is an excuse to think the way we want to think without God's help. It is born out of arrogance and self-will.

 
When people show us who they are through their reactions to the truth, believe them and move on to others who love the Word of God enough to reject all wrong teaching they received from those who love traditions of men.

 
We can love and be tolerant of those who have not yet discovered the truth, but if they refuse it or disrespect us because of what we have learned, then it is time to move along and become friends with those who are interested more in the truth than they are in maintaining their cultural connections.

Mark 7:13 "13 Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”

 
We are living in the apostate age of the church, in which there is a form of religion, but with more man-made rules and expectations than there are the principles of God being taught.

 
Psychology is firmly planted in the thinking of the church attendees, so much so that they have twisted the Bible to fit their ideas rather than believing what God said.

 
Much of our teaching today is based on the Western mindset, not what God said with a Jewish mindset. And worse, now in our day many people are interpreting what they read in the Bible the way they think rather than the way God thinks. There is a lot of Scripture twisting occurring because it fits with what people want to believe, but it is not what God said.

 
And, I have to add this to make this thought complete: much of what people believe is based on ignoring some scriptures while using others out of context, providing them with the desired choice of beliefs. The sort of cut-and-paste mentality has caused much wrong teaching to enter the church system that forbids the person in the pew from challenging anything said by the paid leader.

 
If you find it difficult to attend those gatherings based on human traditions, it is understandable, as you are watching many errors in the teaching and the formula for the gathering.

 
There is a sense of discontent, a frustration that you are silenced, and a disregard for the move of the Holy Spirit so that men may rule over the people.

 
John 14:26 " 26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you. "

John 16:13
"However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come."

John 15:26
"When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me."

1 John 2:27
"And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught."

Luke 12:12
"For at that time the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say.”

I have to ask, how often do we consult with the Holy Spirit for our answers? How often do people go to other men instead of the Holy Spirit? These are good questions to ask if we want to walk with Christ in fullness!!!!

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The Holy Spirit is the Leader of the Gathering

I see the Holy Spirit as the leader in the gathering of believers, not men. Men monitor what people are saying and doing, as all people in the gathering judge, as led by the Holy Spirit.

 
Sadly, the modern church sees the "elders" as having authority over the pew sitters, dictating things.

 
But it is the Holy Spirit only who has Authority over believers. Elders are to lead by example and teach, not exercise authority over anyone. A man could never lead better than the Holy Spirit.

 
1 Peter 5:3 "Not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock."

1 Corinthians 11:1 "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ."

1 Peter 5:1-5 "So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

We obey the elders as they obey God, and we correct them when they are in error and support them when they speak the truth. In other words, we are to hear and evaluate what everyone says.

 
1 Corinthians 14:29-30 " 29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30 And if a revelation comes to someone who is seated, the first speaker should stop."

Acts 17:11
"Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true."

Evangelical or Christian?

I have noticed over the years that "evangelicals" disobey more of the Bible than they obey and think they are obeying all of it merely by knowing some things about it.

 
However, they tend to add to the scriptures with traditions of men and ignore other scriptures based on the traditions of men.

 
They have a spiritual glaucoma; in other words, they have tunnel vision, unable to see the whole truth based on context. Instead of asking God to clarify things for them, they depend on "educated men" who are educated by men, rather than the Holy Spirit.

 
Mark 7:13 "13 Thus, you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”

 
Colossians 2:8
"See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ."

Isaiah 29:13
"Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men."

We have been in the end times for centuries now, but the stubbornness against God's word is growing worse, and the world is on the fast track to the development of the antichrist system.

 
Prophecy is being fulfilled as the churches grow more apostate and willful every day. Those who seek Christ in truth are leaving institutional churches in favor of the peace and joy of edifying one another in their homes on the days and times they choose, without man-made traditions that only serve to distract and bring false doctrines.

 
An immense blessing comes from doing things God's way according to His word. All the traditions of men that are burdensome to those who love Christ are removed, and the freedom to express our faith grows.

2 Corinthians 3:17 "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

Galatians 5:1
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery."

STOP SINGING THIS SONG BEFORE IT DESTROYS YOUR FAITH! | "JOHN MACARTHUR