Truth or Consequences
Dearly beloved of God, there are two sources of knowledge: God, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the old serpent the devil.
We can take God at His Word because He is reliable and trustworthy. He does not lie. On the other hand, the old serpent, the devil is the father of lies, and we cannot trust a word he says.
There are consequences to which one of these two we listen to and believe.
All scripture is God-breathed, and it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction; it is instruction in righteousness.
The Word of God reveals the will of God. If you want to know the will of God about salvation, or healing, or answered prayer, or the nine manifestations of the gift of holy spirit, or of prosperity, or of our hope of glory in Christ, or about any other spiritual matter, God has revealed His will to us about it in His Word.
The right way of believing comes from hearing what the Word of God says. If we want the profit God wants us to have we must listen to the revelation knowledge He reveals to us, and believe Him.
“Certainly, the Word of God is living and powerfully active and sharper than every two edged sword, even penetrating to the dividing between soul and spirit and also between the joints and marrow, and it is able to judge between the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 WT
You hear people say that they wish that God would speak to them like He spoke to Moses, or Elijah, or Paul; He has spoken to us, dearly beloved!
These men faced specific situations, and God gave them revelation knowledge pertinent to the particular situation they faced.
God has spoken to us by revelation, also, and He gave us the revelation in writing. The revelation He gave us is not only good for one situation, it is in force forever.
Is the revelation knowledge He has given us less powerful than the revelation He gave to them? Does His Word profit us less than it profited them? Take salvation for example:
Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
This revelation from God has been in force for over 2,000 years, and it is as good today as the day God first revealed it. God still backs His Word by His power unto salvation. I would say that the revelation He has given us is quite profitable, wouldn’t you?
In fact, His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that called us by His glory and virtue; whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, so that by these we might be partakers of the divine nature. See II Peter 1:3 and 4.
The only way anyone can distinguish the truth that God reveals from the lies of the adversary is to hold up what they have heard to what God reveals in His Word, and see what He says about it. Only the Word of God allows us to separate the truth from the lies.
Do you want answers that will not fail you, that are backed by the power of God? If so, then study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. God has revealed His wisdom in writing, and He backs it up by His power.
God revealed His Word to us by His spirit; by revelation knowledge and wisdom, the same as gave men like Elijah, Moses, or Paul revelation, and He gave it to us so that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God. I would say that is quite profitable, wouldn’t you agree? (He may also give us revelation about certain situations.)
You can only learn the truth about what God accomplished in Christ Jesus from the Word of God. Religion is founded on the words and traditions of men, and it is full of lies that deceive, and lead people away from the One True God. There are consequences to which one we listen to, and believe, dearly beloved.