How so @NortonNowlinMA -the Ruach might "tell " you something totally different?
J.
@NortonNowlinMA, we need to sort out the “voices” inside our heads. Sometimes, it’s our idea, not God’s, and we convince ourselves that it’s God’s. Yet, he doesn’t bless it at all; that’s his way of showing us it wasn’t his idea.
Other times, it can be Satan’s idea that he is tempting us with. God certainly isn’t going to bless that idea either.
And if we pray for God’s leading and he gives us the idea, he will show us by blessing it as time goes on. Or sometimes he withholds his blessing to teach us a valuable lesson, as he did with Job.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, according to the writer of Hebrews, probably Paul, and as we trust and have faith in the Holy Spirit to reveal the things that Jesus promised we must have that essential faith that brought about salvation through Jesus’ grace. Jesus said in John 14:26 that the Holy Spirit would teach us ALL things pertinent to the Gospel of Christ, and Jesus keeps his promises. If Christians trust men more than the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to their minds, then Satan has power over flesh. Spiritually minded Christians are fully capable of determining who is directing them, God or the devil, and must continually seek the Holy Spirit to hear the still small voice of righteousness speak to them. If Christians do what the Holy Spirit directs them to do, they will know the doctrine, whether it be from God or from the devil. Faith in the power of goodness and godliness is a powerful force that is available for use by devoted Christians. If a Christian trusts his pastor or minister more than the Holy Spirit to teach him the truth, God will realize this and will withhold blessings and knowledge from him or her. Faith in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is cumulatively gained throughout the mortal life and vacillates with the righteousness of the mortal Christian.
I truly believe that the human being is drawn away from God much more than he, or she, is drawn to God by man’s sinful and capricious nature. The scripture that commands a Christian to pray without ceasing is very true. The only way that we can always be close to Jesus is by constantly keeping a prayer on our mind. Perhaps that is the only way the Holy Spirit can connect with us and talking to us and teaching us. The Holy Spirit is always willing to teach us if we are near God and ready to be taught.
What if your pastor told you to have faith in Franklin Graham and his Samaritans’ Purse? And what if you sought an answer from the Holy Spirit and was told by the Spirit that Franklin Graham was evil and a fulfillment of Paul’s prophecy in 2 Timothy 3, and 1 Timothy 4? Who would you believe, the pastor or the Spirit? The Holy Spirit does not mince words in the human mind.
I admire you, @Samuel_23, for your flexibility in your communication on this Forum. I sense that we can become really good friends. May God’s peace be with you too. Your brother in Christ, Bruce Leiter the Writer. 
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Thanks so much for your message, @Bruce_Leiter I really enjoyed reading it.
Sure, brother — why not?
Brother Bruce, last year I was attending a Baptist Church in Woodbridge, Virginia where I was asked to conduct a one-month seminar on Mormonism. Since I had been a zealous Mormon missionary elder for 30 years, from 1970 to the year 2000, and had my own vivid personal experience with the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit in 2000 where I was driven to my knees and told by a very audible voice that I could not kick against the pricks, and that the remaining years of my life would be spent revealing the evil of Mormonism to lukewarm Christians who know nothing about the evil of Mormon theology and doctrine, I was considered the suitable teacher. In the past 25 years, I have, you might say, received my terminal degree from the Holy Spirit on Mormon theology and doctrine, and have accepted the truth that the Holy Spirit’s blessed gift has opened my mind and heart to teachings about ALL things. Jesus did not merely say in John 14:36 all things only about the doctrines of Christ. I believe that he had meant ALL things mortal in nature that affect our lives. For instance, if a sincere Christian has a question about mathematics, music, chess, etc., I believe that the Holy Spirit will teach him or her, if the Christian has the faith to receive the instruction.
Anyway, I had been previously taught by the Spirit that there were three alleged Christians who are part of the fulfillment of Paul’s prophecy about the evil latter-days in First and Second Timothy. These three men have proclaimed publicly that Mormonism is Christian and have influenced millions of lukewarm Christians to accept Mormons as fellow believers in Christ. These men are Franklin Graham, Joel Osteen, and Dallas Jenkins. I told this to the congregation of Baptists where I was teaching and got a backlash from them. Many of them support Franklin Graham’s Samaritans Purse.
I am nearly 74 years old and partially disabled, and am endeavoring daily to be an effective evangelist from my desk chair via the Internet to do the work that Jesus wants me to do.
I hope and pray that you also have a mandate from the Lord Jesus.
Yes, @NortonNowlinMA, the Father through Jesus by the Holy Spirit as our ONE God has led me to three forums, including this one; two social-media platforms; and to become his published author in both fiction and nonfiction in order to minister to Christians and some nonChristians in the 17 years since I retired from being a pastor.
I too do those ministries from my recliner on the Internet and with publishing companies.
I’m putting you and your ministry on my prayer list, if you would like, and I ask for your prayers for my health and endeavors from God. Thank you for reaching out to me. I hope we can be Christian friends and get to know each other better. If you want to know about God’s work in my life of more than 80 years, you can check out my book What God Has Done: My True, Dramatic God-Biography (Amazon).
Your brother in the Triune God’s great grace, Bruce Leiter the Writer.
Greetings, Brother Bruce. I communicate much better via email and my address is on LinkedIn. Earlier in my life, I exclusively used a typewriter for writing, but I later contracted a severe peripheral neuropathy and became unable to use my fingers well; so I started using a word processor and computer keyboard.
Here’s a question that might interest you that most pastors, old and young, don’t relish considering and answering. If Jesus sent the gift of the Holy Spirit to teach Christians ALL things, John 14:26, why are elaborate seminaries regarded as necessary for churning-out ordained pastors and ministers? Seminaries are actually outgrowths of Roman Catholic monasticism and didn’t come into existence until the 5th Century. Such are not mentioned as needed in holy scripture. Martin Luther himself said, “what real need have we for non-scriptural schools to teach us the doctrines of Christ, when Jesus said clearly that the Holy Spirit will teach us everything we need to know?” The Apostle Paul declared that no man had taught him anything about Christ Jesus. He was taught by the Lord himself and the Holy Spirit.
Why should a young Christian spend over $100,000 for a doctoral ministerial degree at seminaries like the the ones in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, when he can receive the better knowledge through the Holy Spirit, as promised by Jesus? I hope you will provide me a cogent response.
I didn’t come close to spending that much for seminary, and the group of churches close to me helped out too. My late wife, Winnie, worked second-shift in the factory, while I took care of our three kids in the evenings. God provided money in other dramatic ways too. At seminary, I learned theology and how to be a pastor. For me, it was a valuable experience for those three during the late ‘70s.
Brother Bruce, are you saying that all you learned in those seminary classes was from other men and, possibly, women? What did you learn from the Holy Spirit, the master teacher. You don’t give any credit to the Holy Spirit for teaching you about God, which is theology. Peter said that we have a more sure word of prophecy, or spiritual teaching, that Christians should heed as a light that shines in a dark place. He also said that no scripture of prophecy is of any private interpretation. So how do Christians derive the correct interpretation of the scriptures of the New Testament. Do we sit in the midst of elderly doctoral teachers and pastors and accept what they have to give as the interpretation of scripture? That’s not what Jesus flatly said in John 14. Didn’t Jesus say that the Holy Spirit will teach Christians, not just the Apostles, ALL things and tell them what he said before he went to heaven? The arrogant Catholics thought they were pretty smart and began in the 4th Century demanding that their Christian parishioners accept without question the interpretations given by monastic and secular priests. That was one of the first things that caused Martin Luther to be vexed and reviled by Catholic doctrine.
The Apostle Paul was very educated before he became a Christian and, you might say, received his degree from Gamaliel, the Jewish teacher. Paul knew the Old Testament scriptures well, as a Jewish rabbi would know them. After his conversion on the road to Damascus, he told the Galatians that he did not receive his knowledge of the doctrines of Christ from men but through a direct revelation from Jesus Christ. He explicitly claims in his letter to the Galatians that the Gospel he preached was not of human origin and that he was not taught it by any man but rather received it directly from Jesus, Galatians 1:11-12. The Holy Spirit has told me that Paul learned the things he did from Jesus about the gospel through the Holy Spirit. You see, the Holy Spirit speaks to the mind of man in the language of that particular person. It is today much like it was for the Bereans, in Acts 17. You study the words of the scriptures, hear the teachings of evangelists, such as were Paul and Silas, and then you pray fervently for instruction about what to do. The Holy Spirit will speak to a Christian’s mind in a still small voice.
When in a seminary classroom, the eager students hear the words of the doctoral teacher telling them the what he believes is the correct interpretation of scripture. Peter said that we have a MORE SURE word of doctrine through the teachings of the Holy Spirit. Don’t you agree, Bruce?
Apologies for wading in late, @NortonNowlinMA, but this one needed answering.
Yes, the Holy Spirit teaches… but He doesn’t bypass what He Himself established. Ephesians 4:11 says Christ gave the Church teachers, not just private revelations. The same Spirit that inspired John 14:26 also inspired Paul to tell Timothy, “Study to show yourself approved” and “entrust these things to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” That’s not spiritual freelancing, that’s generational discipleship.
Paul didn’t learn from men, true, but he also spent years in solitude being trained by the Lord before hitting the mission trail. That’s not anti-training, that’s a Spirit-led seminary. And while Jesus promised the Spirit would teach all things, He didn’t say the Spirit would make everyone a pastor overnight with no equipping, no testing, and no accountability.
You’re right that seminary without the Spirit is a corpse in a cap and gown. We’ve got plenty of degreed apostates proving that weekly. But the solution to bad theology isn’t no theology, it’s sound theology. Titus 1:9 says an elder must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught. That implies teaching. That implies teachers. That implies learning.
The early Church didn’t hand pulpits to anyone who claimed a vision. They laid hands on tested, trained men who could rightly divide the Word and rebuke error. So if a seminary helps that happen, good. If it hinders it, trash it. But let’s not confuse the abuse of a tool with the tool itself.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t fear libraries. He inspired the Book. And He still trains men, sometimes in caves, sometimes in classrooms.
—Sincere Seeker. Scripturally savage. Here for the Truth.
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I truly believe that the Apostle Paul was apprehensive about the latter-days and the effect of the word not being entrusted to faithful men who would continually and rightly divide the word of truth. In both of his letters to Timothy, he spoke prophetically of the time when men and women would depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. The Holy Spirit spoke expressly to Paul and to whomever else would listen intently to hear the truth. The prevalent heresies that came into the congregations of the Church came just after Peter, Paul, and James were killed in the ministry. Paul and Peter had both ordained before 70 AD faithful men as elders, evangelists, pastors, and teachers and these men held down posts in the various churches. Yet, there were schisms that formed in the churches as a result of what Peter, close to his death, called things hard to understand taught by Paul, 2 Peter 3:15-16 the things the unstable and unlearned Christians were wresting, or usurping through a mutation of the doctrines of the gospel, as they were doing also to the other scriptures, unto their destruction.
How many alleged Christian sects and churches are there today that teach different doctrines? How many teach salvation by works? How many teach salvation by works and grace? How many are polytheistic? How many teach that man can be a God? There are over 900 different sects claiming to be Christian and all of these sects claim to be proceeding according to the correct interpretations of Bible scripture. This sore deviation from truth actually started after the Apostles and their direct representatives had ceased to monitor the gentile churches, as alleged copies of the writings of Peter, James, John, and Paul were circulated among the various churches. You can see how easy it was for the fulfillment of 1 Timothy 4 to take place. I believe this was mainly due to Christians not heeding the teachings of the Holy Spirit, but instead men whom they considered faithful.
The tools given by Jesus to his disciples were predicated entirely on the deliverer of all truth that Jesus gave to the earth as a Comforter, the gift of the Holy Spirit. Seminaries were not given or endorsed by Jesus as tools for teaching his gospel. Jesus could have said in John 14:26 for Christians to huddle together to come up with answers to Christian issue. But instead he said that the Holy Spirit would teach the truth of ALL things to his disciples and remind them of what he had told them. The Holy Spirit is the master teacher!!!
Appreciate the passion, @NortonNowlinMA, but we’ve got to be careful not to pit the Holy Spirit against the very structures He set up. Yes, Paul warned of apostasy… but the solution he gave wasn’t solo-revelation spirituality. It was faithful men teaching others, rightly dividing the Word, guarding sound doctrine, rebuking error, preaching in season and out. That’s not guesswork or group huddles… that’s Spirit-led discipleship.
You’re right, heresy exploded after the apostles died. But why? Not because godly men were leading, but because ungodly men weren’t being corrected. The Holy Spirit doesn’t just whisper privately to each believer with a custom truth download. He gave gifts to the Church, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, to equip the saints, build up the Body, and protect from every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:11-14). That wasn’t plan B. That was Spirit-ordained.
Peter said some twisted Paul’s words. But what did he call them? Scripture. Not noise. Not mysticism. And he didn’t tell believers to ignore Paul and just “listen inwardly.” He told them to beware of unstable people distorting the Word. That only makes sense if there’s a right way to handle the text… and that doesn’t come automatically. It takes study. It takes time. It takes teachers. Spirit-filled ones.
Seminaries aren’t the enemy. Heresy is. And while no seminary degree guarantees sound doctrine, neither does spiritual individualism. The Spirit is the Master Teacher… but He doesn’t contradict the Word He authored, nor the shepherds He raises up to guard it.
Let’s not romanticize the chaos that happens when everyone becomes their own doctrinal authority in the name of “listening to the Spirit.” That’s how cults are born, not churches.
—Sincere Seeker. Scripturally savage. Here for the Truth.
Friends
This current debate concerning the necessity for human teachers vs. direct personal leading by The Holy Spirit, which was spawned from the question: “Does the Bible provide everything needed for Christian faith and practice?” seems to boil down to a question of “leadership” – to what leader is a member of The Body of Christ expected to submit?, The Bible, The Holy Spirit, ordained church authority, or some combination. I will define “leadership” and “authority” in the way I am using these words to avoid confusion; because, in conversation and practice these two words are often used interchangeably and are considered to be almost synonymous. Authority is rooted in the word “author”, and to me means “the place of origin of an idea or directive”. “Leadership” is rooted in the word “lead” and has much more to do with being an example (setting the pace, going ahead, showing the way) than it does with authoring directives.
This subject is interesting, and I find help in this topic is found in the “body” metaphor found in 1 Corinthians 12.
1 Corinthians 12:12-31
For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. (shortened for space concerns); For in fact the body is not one member but many.
(shortened for space concerns); But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be?
But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”.. (shortened for space concerns); But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. (shortened for space concerns); Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?
The interdependent necessity for ALL the members is evident, and this unnatural synergistic nature of the Body of Christ is said to be “appointed by God”. This “appointment” is reiterated in a second “body” metaphor in Ephesians, stated as “He Himself Gave..”
Ephesians 4:11-16
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head–Christ-- from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
A healthy human body operates effectively by every member doing its proper and designed function, caring specifically not for themselves, but especially for the health of the whole. The designed purpose of The Body of Christ is to testify of the Only Savior Jesus to a lost and perishing world. The effectiveness of that testimony has been entrusted into a body organism with all the requisite parts to fulfill that mission. The proposal of this question highlights our failure to effectively carry out that mission. If we could (would) have stayed on track as a body, the question would never have arisen. The fact that the question is being asked is evidence that we have lost our way, and are seeking to return to the good path – we, as The Body of Christ, are seeking to be healed.
It is evident from Scripture that The Holy Spirit does indeed guide the individual body part, but it is also evident that the guidance usually comes from a human leader (guide), and rarely, if ever as direct revelation. The written Word of God, is given to keep both leader and follower from straying off the path. The sectarian reality that there are many factious groups of people going by the name of “Christian” is counter-testimonial, and defeats from within our own ordained testimonial mission.
See Galatians 5:7-26" (not included here for space concerns);
My personal part (organ) in the body of Christ is not an honorable one, or a showy one, or one anyone would think about in the coarse of their day. But, my personal part of His Body is necessary, integrated into the body by God Himself, and my ability to function as designed is based in being subject to His provided leadership.
Let us re-learn to submit to The Bible, submit to The Holy Spirit, and submit to leaders who submit to both.
Much Love in Jesus
KP
I thoroughly believe that the individual Christian mind is what Jesus was concerned with in John 14, when he said in verse 26 that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, would teach “you” all things, and bring all things to your remembrance. The word “you” surely meant a plurality of individual Christian disciples. Having been drawn into a cult, Mormonism, when I was 19 years old, I know the sad effect of not listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit, but to a glib spokesman for a cult leader, such as Joseph Smith. The Holy Spirit as the Comforter has been upon the earth in the name of the Savior Jesus since the Father sent him; and he has been speaking to the individual Christian mind incessantly. The problem was that Christians drew away in masses from the master teacher and into the company of human teachers with itching ears who had more devilish seducing things to offer gullible bewitched Christians, such as were the Galatians who were accepting other gospels after Paul had delivered the truth to them. Remember what Paul said about Alfred the copper-smith and his devilish deceptions. Alfred might have been accepted by his congregation as a faithful man of God at one time. He had obviously been planning his deceit and had fooled Paul. Things are really no different today than they were in the First Century. Paul’s prophecy of apostasy to Timothy has been fulfilled, and his apocalyptic statements in Galatians 1 about false gospels and about not believing accursed angels who bring and teach them surely show the presence of Islam and Mormonism on the earth today, both brought by demonic angels to flimflam men.
If, perhaps, you are sitting in a congregation of presumed Christians and the pastor during his sermon says something from the pulpit that is suddenly and fiercely rejected by the Holy Spirit in your mind, while the other hundred souls in the congregation smile and accept what the pastor says as scriptural, what are “you” to do as an individual Christian? Congregants, parishioners, rank-and-file Christians by the hundreds can be conditioned to accept and believe false doctrine as cordially as milk and cookies off a tray.
For instance, Franklin Graham controls the minds and purses of tens of thousands of lukewarm Christians, and it was Franklin Graham who quipped to the world in 2012 that Mormons are just as Christian as Baptists and will never be known as a cult again by BGEA. That was when Graham removed Mormonism from the cult list status on the BGEA website at the request of Mitt Romney, when Romney gave BGEA 50 million dollars for doing so. From what I saw on the Internet, Billy Graham was also promoting and endorsing his son in the presence of Romney on the day Franklin said what he did.
Churches and Christians who support and befriend Franklin Graham were influenced to do so by church leaders who routinely seminary trained. One out of every three Christian pastors have been trained to sermonize in seminaries, and, believe it or not, the leadership of all Baptist seminaries in the USA support and befriend Franklin Graham. So, a newly ordained pastor fresh out of the seminary goes to his first pastoral position believing that Franklin Graham is a true Christian, despite what the Holy Spirit might tell him. The same can be said for Joel Osteen, who is also a supporter of Mormonism.
Hence, the Holy Spirit will definitely reveal many truthful things to the diligent and humble individual Christian, that might not be received, construed, and taught by groups of “learned” men and women who seek popular acceptance of Christian ignorant babes-in-Christ instead of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is the master teacher!
@NortonNowlinMA, I hear your concern, and I don’t doubt the sincerity behind it… but we need to separate your testimony from your trajectory, because the former is powerful and the latter veers dangerously close to spiritual isolationism dressed up as discernment.
Yes, the Holy Spirit teaches the individual believer. No one’s disputing that. But when Jesus said the Spirit would teach “you all things” in John 14:26, He was talking to apostles in the upper room, not laying the groundwork for solo Christianity unanchored from the Body. That “you” wasn’t a blank check for every Christian to be their own pope, their own elder board, and their own doctrinal compass. If that were the case, Paul wouldn’t have spent half the New Testament appointing elders, warning against false teachers, and urging the Church to hold fast to the traditions taught by word or letter (2 Thessalonians 2:15).
You rightly call out the danger of cults and false prophets… amen to that. But your solution is a spiritual pendulum swing. You say the problem is people listening to men instead of the Spirit… but the Spirit Himself says to listen to faithful men of God who rightly divide the Word (2 Timothy 2:2). The Holy Spirit doesn’t contradict the Word He inspired. He doesn’t undermine the pastors He appoints. He doesn’t call His sheep to go rogue in the name of spiritual purity.
As for the BGEA and Mormonism, reports suggest the removal of the “cult” label during Romney’s campaign was a calculated move to avoid public controversy, not a theological shift. That’s political maneuvering, not doctrinal affirmation. And if that’s true, it’s still a compromise… but not the kind that justifies burning down every seminary or writing off every pastor who’s ever quoted Franklin Graham.
Yes, false teachers exist. So do compromised institutions. Scripture warned us they would. That’s why Paul didn’t tell Timothy to withdraw into personal Holy Spirit downloads… he told him to guard the good deposit and to raise up other faithful men to teach as well. That’s discipleship. That’s structure. That’s Church.
The Spirit does reveal truth… but He also calls for truth to be tested. Not by gut feelings. By Scripture. By the community of the faithful. By the elders who are held accountable for what they teach. The Bereans were noble not because they listened to a voice in their head… but because they searched the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11). That’s the model. Not “I felt something different from everyone else in the pew.”
If your conscience is stirred during a sermon, praise God. But that stirring better lead you back to the Word, not away from the Body. The Spirit doesn’t make you a lone ranger… He makes you part of a Church that He Himself ordains, disciplines, and leads through gifted, fallible, yet faithful men.
Don’t throw out the Body because some of its parts have gone numb. The solution to error isn’t isolation… it’s truth, rightly handled, and humbly submitted to.
—Sincere Seeker. Scripturally savage. Here for the Truth.
@NortonNowlinMA, of course, the Holy Spirit from the Father through Jesus taught me the correct ways to interpret the Bible in contrast to all the unbiblical teachings I had heard previously. How do I know? I was always comparing their teaching with the Word of God itself, which we must always do in all of life, not just in a formal school. Thanks for your response!
Brother Seeker, your skewed interpretative slant that you place on scripture is apparently straight out of the Alexander Campbell playbook. He was the early 19th Century reformer who declared water baptism to be necessary to salvation, instead of grace through faith in Jesus redeeming blood. Campbell started the congregational Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ. Your statement about John 14:26 was especially in the vein of Campbell doctrine, that Jesus was speaking only about his Apostles and not about ALL of his disciples. It is only your opinion that the Lord was talking to only his Apostles and not to all of his disciples. The gift of the Holy Spirit promised by Jesus was conferred by the Lord as he breathed on the Apostles the Holy Spirit, not the gift of the Holy Spirit; and the further outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, was received on on the day of Pentecost. The Lord Jesus said himself that the Comforter, the gift of the Holy Spirit, could not come from the Father until he was ascended into heaven. And according to Peter in Acts 2:38-39. the gift of the Holy Spirit was to be received by all who were baptized, or immersed in the Holy Spirit. Verse 39 is the clincher that Campbell and many other forgot to consider. “For the promise is unto “you,” a plurality of Christians, and your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” What promise was Peter speaking of, that he mentioned directly after mention of the gift of the Holy Spirit, in the last line of verse 38? I believe that Peter was referring to the promise the Lord Jesus gave about the Holy Spirit in John 14:26, that the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, would teach ALL sincere disciples of Jesus ALL things. The reading of scripture in proper context is a proper means of ensuring a basically correct interpretation of the doctrine as given by the Apostles. Yet, while Peter said that ‘no scripture of prophecy is of any private interpretation, or to be understood by being taken out of context, he also said that prophecy, or word from God, came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they we moved by the Holy Spirit, 2 Peter 1:19-21. 2 Peter 2:1-3 also describes what happens when holy scripture is mutated by false human interpretation.
Why, pray tell, did Paul isolate himself from other Christians in Arabia after his conversion? I believe that he wanted to hear the Holy Spirit speak to him with words from Jesus. That’s where and when he grew close to the Lord and learned the doctrines of Christ, which I believe any Christian has the capacity to do under the promise of Jesus given in John 14:26.
Now, about men like Franklin Graham and Joel Osteen, Paul summed it up in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, “
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”
I believe that a truly faithful and righteous Christian congregation, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, should get up and walk out on a pastor who praise men and women from the pulpit who are lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, blasphemers, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. Isn’t that what the Apostle told Christians to do? Franklin Graham and Joel Osteen fit every one of the forgoing evil descriptions.
Being a faithful Christian in this day and age requires the willingness to stand tall and declare boldly when the Holy Spirit directs you, the individual Christian, to reprove unrighteousness and evil. I suggest you do your research on Franklin and Billy Graham before you conclude that Franklin is a righteous Christian.
I appreciate the fire in your bones, but let’s be clear… zeal without precision is how you end up using a sword to prune a rose bush. You’ve thrown a lot on the table, but let’s cut it up clean and deal with it point by point.
First, I’m not here to carry Alexander Campbell’s water, and I certainly don’t get my doctrine from him or any 19th century reformer. I get it from the Word, rightly divided. So no, I’m not preaching baptismal regeneration or Church of Christ theology, and trying to toss me in that camp because I believe John 14:26 had a specific audience is a dodge, not a rebuttal.
Jesus said what He said in an upper room to eleven men, not to a crowd, not to the 70, and not to the future Church. That promise in John 14:26 was to the apostles, and you don’t get to universalize it just because it sounds more democratic. You’re welcome to believe it applies to every individual believer, but don’t call it exegesis when it’s really just eisegesis.
But let’s go deeper. You quoted Acts 2:38-39 as your clincher, and yes, the promise of the Holy Spirit is for all who are called. No dispute there. But Peter wasn’t talking about the same promise in the same way. In John 14, Jesus promised the Spirit would remind the apostles of what He said. That’s a unique role in preserving the testimony of Christ… Scripture itself. The promise in Acts is about the indwelling and empowering of the Spirit in all believers. Same Spirit, different roles. You’re mixing categories.
You also asked why Paul went to Arabia after his conversion, as if that proves private Holy Spirit tutoring is the model. No question, Paul was uniquely taught by the Lord. But let’s not pretend he stayed a spiritual loner. He submitted his gospel to the apostles to ensure he hadn’t run in vain (Galatians 2:2). The man who heard directly from Christ still checked in with the Church. That’s humility. That’s order. That’s accountability. You don’t get to use Paul’s Arabia retreat as your proof text for individualistic, anti-institutional Christianity.
Now, about your last volley… calling out Franklin Graham and lumping him in with Joel Osteen using 2 Timothy 3. Listen, if you’ve got issues with compromise, say so. If you’ve got receipts on specific false teaching, lay them out. But slow down before you drag every public figure into a list meant for apostates. Joel Osteen? No question. That man fits the category. He’s not just soft… he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing, peddling self-help sermons with a Jesus sticker slapped on top. But that doesn’t make everyone who’s ever shared a stage with him equally guilty.
You said being a faithful Christian requires boldness. You’re right. But boldness without clarity becomes recklessness. Calling the Church to holiness is good. But if you start teaching believers to distrust the entire pastoral office, to reject seminary-trained men, and to elevate subjective personal revelation over the collective wisdom of Spirit-filled teachers… you’re not contending for the faith… you’re sawing off the branch the Spirit built the Church on.
The Holy Spirit leads, yes. But He leads us deeper into the Body, not away from it.
—Sincere Seeker. Scripturally savage. Here for the Truth.
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