Like previous articles, this article is based on a topicwise Bible study. The motivation was that I recently put together some messages related to the topicwise Bible study and sent them to people, asking them to examine the logic for any flaws.
This message is divided into three parts. Below are their responses. The first person who responded was a non-Christian who couldn’t see any logical flaws. Several other Christians also told me they couldn’t see any logical flaws. Some didn’t directly address the logical flaws, simply stating their personal opinions, which I won’t share here. Most people didn’t respond. I suspect this is because they couldn’t find any logical flaws based on the Bible, and since it didn’t align with their own thoughts, they simply chose not to respond. I wonder if this assumption is correct or not?
This topicwise Bible study is therefore quite different from previous ones, since it is based on this three-part message. We will present this message without any changes, as its purpose is to present a practical method to have life. At the end, we will discuss what happened as a result. Below is the message itself.
This message is divided into three parts. Because it covers some things the Bible teaches that most Christians may not even think about, it’s quite long. I hope you will read it and share your thoughts. Are there any logical errors? If so, please tell me where they are. Thank you.
This viewpoint is based on the fact that Christians live by faith, believing that both the Old and New Testaments are inspired by God. Because the Bible is inspired by God, and we believe that God is not ambiguous, we believe that “what God tells us through the Bible is consistent.” Also, because the Bible is inspired by God, we “do not discount the Bible’s words.” In other words, we must interpret the Bible based on these two principles. Simply put, if we take these two principles as axioms in our logical reasoning and do not distort to interpret the Bible, we will discover how logically consistent the Bible is. For a non-Christian, if they can assume these two principles are indeed logical axioms, they will reach the same conclusion through logical reasoning. If they fail to assume that such axioms are correct and rely solely on logical deduction, they will reach the conclusion of agnosticism, uncertain whether God exists.
These three parts are:
1. Why the Bible states that our logical deductions are the same as God’s.
2. Why the Bible promises Christians that if they truly open their hearts, the Holy Spirit will guide them in Bible study.
3. Suggesting a path to achieving the state of having ears that can hear as described in the Book of Revelation.
1. Why does the Bible say our logical deduction is the same as God’s?
Let’s look at the passage in the Book of Genesis: “Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; …”(Genesis 3:22). “Like” here means knowing good and evil. So how do we know good and evil? We use our logic. Mathematical logic consists of two parts: axioms and logical deductions. We see a limited number of examples, and we must generalize and generalize them to apply to an infinite number of examples. These are the axioms that form the input for logical deduction. Although different fields have different axioms, everyone’s logical deductions are the same, which is why researchers can publish their work.
If it’s a personal decision, we can think of it as expanding our personal viewpoints to apply to all situations. In other words, we have our own axioms for a particular matter, which serve as the input for logical deduction. Regarding good and evil, everyone’s standards of good and evil are different. For example, cannibals do not consider cannibalism evil, even though, by our general standards, cannibalism is definitely evil. This is equivalent to having different personal axioms in logic. Once established, we will use the same logical deduction to judge good and evil, resulting in different results. For cannibals, it is considered that killing other tribe people is good.
Logical deduction was created by God and discovered by us, so our logical deduction is the same as God’s. In this verse, “Then God said, “Let Us make (H6213) man in Our image, according to Our likeness; …”(Genesis 1:26). Here, the word ‘make’ is used, which means making something “from what already exists”. However, God’s axioms and our personal axioms are absolutely different. As far as miracles are concerned, God has absolute sovereignty and can perform miracles at any time and in any place. We can only be a channel for miracles. In other words, we can only be similar to God, not identical to Him.
As long as God opens our eyes and allows us to see things we have never seen before, our personal axioms will be changed accordingly! For example, God opened the eyes of Elisha’s servant, allowing him to see that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
From then on, his personal axioms could include this fact. (See 2 Kings 6:8-17) Although he told others about this, other people were most likely didn’t believe it because they hadn’t seen it, but his personal axioms now included the fact.
To conclude this section, I’d like to share a brief testimony about the Holy Spirit’s guidance in our topicwise Bible study, which relates to logical deduction. I believed in the past that our logical deduction is the same as God’s, but I had never found direct evidence in the Bible. When preparing to explain the concept of “Like” in this topicwise Bible study, I could only pray that without direct evidence, I couldn’t share this way. Then God pointed me to the verse I’ve shared before: “Then God said, “Let Us make (H6213) man in Our image, according to Our likeness; …”(Genesis 1:26). Now I had direct evidence.
2. Why does the Bible promise Christians that if they truly open their hearts, the Holy Spirit will guide them in Bible study?
The Holy Spirit’s guidance in Bible study is a promise in the Bible. What we need to do is truly open our hearts. In the Laodicean church in the Book of Revelation, Jesus was locked out, yet He still promised, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”(Revelation 3:20). Not only does He dine at the table, He also works; otherwise, there would be no such thing. “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, …”(Revelation 3:21). Please note that this promise does not specify a specific time. God is absolutely sovereign and will choose the best time to act.
I offer this small testimony not to claim any specialness, but simply to give an example to show that the Bible’s promises are always true. This is what we have always said in our topicwise Bible study. Topicwise Bible studies can only bring knowledge at best. If a person wants the Holy Spirit to lead his Bible study, he must go to God himself, because life can only come from God. This is what Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”(1 Corinthians 3:6-7)
3. Suggesting a path to achieving the state of having ears that can hear as described in the Book of Revelation
Please note that opening eyes can be a direct work of God, such as Paul’s vision of great light (see Acts 9:1-9), or it can come through others. For example, after Paul saw the great light, God sent Ananias to tell him something (see Acts 9:10-18). Therefore, we know that Paul had an ear that can hear, as the Book of Revelation says about in all seven churches: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”(Revelation 3:6). We must have an ear that can hear in order to receive the life that can only come from God.
First, do not lie or acknowledge Satan as your father, as the Bible clearly states, “…the devil (Satan)…Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”(John 8:44). Then, if you hear someone’s opinion differ from yours, reflect deeply to see if they are right, and if they are, obey them. If it’s wrong, you can definitely find a logical flaw. If you can’t find one now but you’re unwilling to listen, just put it aside. Perhaps one day you’ll see the truth. We truly need to discern. For example, if you receive such teaching, whether you’re right or wrong, you should apologize first, especially if you’re moved. If, after you apologize, the Holy Spirit doesn’t prompt you to realize your mistake, then you know that the prompting wasn’t from the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit wouldn’t prompt you to lie and acknowledge Satan as your father. That’s why Peter says, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”(1 Peter 5:8).
When we read the verse, “not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; …”(Hebrews 10:25), we really shouldn’t treat it as a law. Look at the church in Laodicea. Didn’t they stop meeting together? Yet, they kept Jesus out without realizing it. Don’t end up like the Laodiceans. We need to have ears that can hear. We never know when the Holy Spirit will speak to us through the mouths of our brothers and sisters, so we should cheerfully attend weekly gatherings whenever possible.
This concludes this message. We will first describe the events that followed the message and then discuss them. Please note that we are asking whether these three passages themselves conform independently to biblical logic. In other words, these three messages are independent, but they are related, so they are grouped together. We stated at the outset that this article is based on a topicwise Bible study. In that study, we reproduced this message and added further explanation. If you are interested in this explanation, please see “250727 A Practical Way to Have Life 2152” in Chinese at the link: “https://youtu.be/fk8huQyI8Mk?si=uzwBwWaogfpDPgEi.”
What happened is this: I asked a fellowship’s liaison to forward this message to that fellowship. He briefly reviewed it and, finding it okay, forwarded it. I assumed at least some people had seen it, and therefore, it was used as a basis for discussion in that fellowship. Later, I asked some people in the fellowship, and they hadn’t seen it at all. Perhaps only the liaison had seen it at that time.
I remember the first thing I brought up was regarding not lying and acknowledging Satan as their father. There was a person who was no longer an elder, but rather an honorary elder (who couldn’t vote on the elders’ meeting but could preach). The church website still listed him as an elder, a blatant lie. I’d previously raised this with a deacon in the fellowship, but this time I agreed with him, saying that the church should be given more time. I simply hoped the church would make the right decision.
Then I remembered someone telling me that this honorary elder was leading ten people in Bible study, telling them to read a fixed passage each day and just read through it, so they could read the Bible three times a year. I know this method of Bible study is wrong. We previously discussed this in “2. Keep God’s Word in your heart” under “1141 What we can do regarding Holy Spirit leads us to study Bible”.
First, it’s keeping the law. Second, if you’re willing to spend about an hour daily reading the Bible this way, and if you can stop when the Holy Spirit leads you, just as the pillar of cloud and fire led people during the Exodus, you can still read the Bible about three times a year. Leading ten people in a fixed Bible study is definitely not the Holy Spirit’s will. The ultimate purpose of this kind of reading is to allow the Holy Spirit to lead the Bible study, something not everyone truly wants to do. It’s too much like operating from a human viewpoints, seeing who among ten people can gain something. What comes from the Holy Spirit will definitely be accomplished. For those interested in “1141,” please visit https://a-christian-voice.com/ and click on “On spiritual understanding about life” to find this article.
However, I didn’t have a chance to finish my sharing because two people interrupted me. My hearing is already problematic, sometimes good and sometimes bad, so I couldn’t hear what the person farther away was saying. I did catch part of the second closer person’s words, saying they hadn’t started yet and had no idea what he (the honorary elder) would say. This was different from what I thought I heard before. I later learned they wouldn’t start until about the end of August, something I hadn’t known at the time. I believe that at least the person should finish speaking, so I asked for it. Ultimately, the person who was leading the Bible study that day stopped me from speaking. I believe in respecting the person who was leading the Bible study, so I stopped sharing.
After returning home, I felt something was wrong, so I asked my wife if my attitude was wrong. She said it was true, that the second person was simply saying that one shouldn’t talk about someone who wasn’t present. Fortunately, I didn’t hear it then, because it’s not a universal rule. If it were, then you wouldn’t be able to quote other people’s testimonies in your sharing, nor would you be able to discuss the matters of someone who wasn’t present during the meeting—something that’s unavoidable.
I didn’t expect God to allow me to be attacked this time, just as Job had. I already knew I was far from the mark and definitely not conformed to the image of Jesus. There was no need for me to be told that my life was inadequate. Why then? My first thought was that God wanted me to experience this verse: “For the good that I want (talking like topicwise Bible study), I do not do, but I practice the very evil (this time speaking with a bad attitude) that I do not want.”(Romans 7:19). Then I realized that there was a logical flaw in “3. Suggesting a path to achieving the state of having ears that can hear as described in the Book of Revelation”. It says, “Then, if you hear someone’s opinion differ from yours, reflect deeply to see if they are right, and if they are, obey them.” This seems reasonable, but we know, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”(Romans 8:2). Therefore, to achieve this, you must be in Christ Jesus; you cannot do it on your own.
Paul said, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”(Romans 8:28). Therefore, events often occur for many purposes. We haven’t discussed all the purposes of this incident here. Let’s bring up our final point then: the first two subtopics are logically sound, but the third one is not. In other words, this is a message that is a mixture of right and wrong. When we see the right part, we easily accept the wrong part, mistaking it for the right part. I didn’t see the logical problem with the third subtopic before, and no one has noticed it yet. No wonder the Bible says, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”(1 Peter 5:8).
So, always be discerning, especially when it comes to supernatural thoughts. Don’t just accept them just because they are right just a few times. Remember, “…even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, …”(2 Corinthians 11:14-15). Furthermore, “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”(Jeremiah 17:9). We can deceive ourselves, and only after we act out can we truly understand our own thoughts. Therefore, in the great white throne, ” …they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.”(Revelation 20:13).
The Bible clearly states, “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”(Micah 6:8). To walk humbly with God, one must have an ear that can hear so that we are able to “Do not quench the Spirit.”(1 Thessalonians 5:19). If one doubts whether one has an ear that can hear, one can pray to God for the desire, but one should not expect God to grant an ear that can hear. One must be willing, not just saying it, but truly willing. Therefore, it is said, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. …”(Revelation 2:7).
(Verses refer to those in NASB95 unless otherwise specified.)
(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)
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