Are you ready to rightly divide the word of truth?

[Jeremiah mosomi]

(if you are already aware of the following just ignore it i am only saying it in case you are not aware of it)

I had to look carefully to realize you had asked me a question because it ended up inside the quote of my post. As you are new to the site something you may not be aware of is how it identifies between what is a highlighted quote and what is your own words (not highlighted). It is an easy mistake to make and done it myself a number of times.

Whenever you see the word "quote" in SQUARE brackets that is the start of a highlighted quote. Whenever you see "/quote" in square brackets that is the end of the highlighted quote. Everything inside these two points is highlighted as a quote.

You can use these commands yourself to highlight quotes also. For example .

OK now about that question. When somebody asks "what is THE truth?" they are asking you to explain what is it that you are claiming is true. But if somebody asks you "what is truth?" what they are asking is what do you mean when you use the word "truth". In other words what they are asking is "what does the word 'truth' mean to you?"

Does this help clarify it.

Thanks very much for helping me learn that trick. For sure i didn't know the meaning of those two but now i know.Thanks again for highlighting the difference between "What is The truth?" and "what is truth?". Now how does this help in answering the question whether salvation is based on dogma or the truth and the truth here means the word of God.

 

[mistmann]

Friends I have checked the definition of the word dogma and I fear the word dogma is not equivalent to the word truth.

What you say is correct.

"Dogma" is what a group of people BELIEVES or CLAIMS to be true.

"Truth" however is independant of what anybody believes or claims. As I mentioned previously truth is the state of factual reality. That which is true is true regardless of whether man knows it to be true or not. The same applies to that which is not true.

That is why you cannot determine what is true by debating it. The most convincing argument in the world will not make that which is untrue, true, nor will it make that which is true, untrue. The whole world can be convinced something is true when it is not. It will still not make it true.

As I sometimes point out to those who think truth is only what man knows to be or can prove is true, the existence of Galaxies was true long before mankind knew it to be true. That mankind did not know galaxies exist did not mean that they did not exist. (It is incredible how many atheists seriously believe that because (according to them) there is no evidence a god exists this is proof a god does not exist).

 

[mistmann]

Thanks very much for helping me learn that trick. For sure i didn't know the meaning of those two but now i know.Thanks again for highlighting the difference between "What is The truth?" and "what is truth?". Now how does this help in answering the question whether salvation is based on dogma or the truth and the truth here means the word of God.

While we can test many things the Bible says against the reality we know and can see for ourselves that the Bible speaks the truth in these matters. That is, they do accord with the facts of the reality we know. The Bible also speaks of many things that relate to a greater reality we do not yet know about except by the word of the Lord (for example what happens after you die in the flesh, what happened in the Garden of Eden, etc.) THESE things we cannot test against reality because they relate to those parts of reality that are beyond our knowledge and experience, or current ability to know about. In THESE things we believe the word of the Lord by faith. Having seen that in the things we CAN check the Lord has consistently spoken the truth (accords with reality) we have faith that the Lord also speaks the truth about those things we cannot yet check or know of.

Salvation is something we know about ONLY by the word of God. It is not something we can independently check for ourselves because it is related to life after the death of the flesh and to the future. Being born again and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a known reality to those who have experienced it but what is to happen in the future and after the passing of our flesh existence we know only by the promises of the Lord.

Now it is a fact of reality that salvation relies on the existence of the Lord, not the existence of a religion or a church. A church or a denomination does not have the ability to save you when the Earth and all left in it perish. Only a God can do that. Therefore it is also a fact of reality that salvation can only be by the Lord alone. Consequently it is what the Lord declares about salvation that determines whether or not you are saved, not a church or religious group. It is also a fact of reality that the Bible is the only fully authenticated and verified, recorded word of the proven prophets and apostles of the Lord and THEY have forbidden any change to what THEY have declared, even by themselves. Consequently by the word of the Lord Himself no church or denomination is authorised to add to, take away from, or in any way alter the recorded word of the Lord.

The result of all this is that it is a fact of reality that the ONLY authoritative word of the Lord we have is the Bible itself and what is physically written in its pages is also a fact of reality. Consequently the Bible is the ultimate authoritative word on salvation, not a church or denomination. WHAT IS ACTUALLY WRITTEN is the authoritative fact of reality, not what this or that church or denomination BELIEVES is written. What the Lord Himself has written AND SEALED by what is written IS a fact of reality that no man, church or denomination has permission to change one iota.

If you hold that the Bible is the word of the Lord then you hold that what the Bible actually says (what is written in it) is the actual truth, not the word of a church or denomination. And what the Bible says in no uncertain terms is that IT is the ultimate and final authority on the will, word and command of the Lord OVER ALL mankind and that includes all churches, denominations and religious groups.

Sorry it is a little longwinded but the intent is to show that for those who believe the Bible speaks the truth (the reality) there is no escaping the truth / reality that it is the same word of the Lord that is the ultimate determiner of truth and salvation, not the dogma of a church or other religious group.

Hope this is not too complex to follow. Feel free to ask questions and seek clarifications if you need to, I do not mind at all and am always happy to answer questions and provide explanations.

 

[Ginger]

Thanks Jeremiah, for pointing that out. Dogma is not the equivalent of truth. It is generally what people of specific faiths are tpold they must believe.

That's why I said, "'dogma' as in what is clearly spelled out in Scripture is the truth because it comes directly from God." I put the word "dogma" in quotation marks to indicate I was using the word used be other, not my choice of words.

God's Holy Word is our absolute source of truth.

I agree with you, Jeremiah. Man's "truth" is subjective, God's truth is absolute.