“Does it matter what we believe ?” Is it important how we regard the Bible and its contents ? Is it a vital matter how we regard its doctrines and its requirements ? Is it necessary to believe certain things or is its interpretation a matter of individual conscience ?
Before we can answer these questions, we must ask ourselves another regarding our inclinations, cur desire towards spiritual things. A re we interested in a better world than what we know today ; a world that would be without tyranny and oppression, without crime and injustice, where concern and respect among all peoples would replace fear, distrust and hatred ? Are we interested in the peace of God and the immortality that He has promised in His Kingdom ? If we are not interested in these things, then it does not matter what we believe about the Bible. We can believe anything that satisfies our conscience and live out our lifetimes with our own ideologies, but be it known that when we die, we return to the dust, consigned by God forever to that state reserved for those that know not God nor do according to His will.
On the other hand, if we are interested in gaining the great reward that God has laid in store for those who trust in Him (and we sincerely hope that such is the case with you) then it certainly does matter what we believe and we welcome this opportunity to turn the light of Scripture testimony on this consideration.
Have we ever wondered why we have the Bible at all ? Why God caused His word to be written and preserved ? We believe that the very existence of the Bible today is visual evidence that it does matter what we believe ! This is the reason for the Bible’s being written —that man might know and believe the Truth.
In the book of Romans (chapter 15 verse4) we are told that “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” In the Bible, God has revealed Himself to His creation. He as told us of His purpose with the earth. He has carefully outlined His plan for man’s salvation. He has told us how we can align ourselves with this plan and what He expects of us when we do. In the 3rd chapter of 2 Timothy at the 16th verse, God tells us through the Apostle Paul that the Scriptures were given for instruction in righteousness. This was contained in the letter that the Apostle wrote to Timothy for his edification, but also serves for you and me. In the 14th verse he says, “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them ; and that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” Now if it doesn’t matter what we believe, if a person can be saved (as some contend) regardless of belief as long as he is sincere, as long as he tries to do what he thinks is right, then there is no point in having a Bible for instruction in righteousness. All the efforts of man throughout the ages to write it—to protect it—to publish it—to preach it, have all been in vain, if it really doesn’t matter what we believe. All the warnings of the apostles are meaningless, if it doesn’t matter. But of course, it does matter. There is but one way and it’s up to thinking men and women to find it. Solomon said, “It’s the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.” So we must search the Scriptures for the truth contained therein. In this same 2nd epistle to Timothy (2nd chapter 15th verse) he is exhorted to “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (or interpreting) the word of truth.”
Surely this is clear testimony to show that to merit the approval of God, you and I and everyone must diligently study His Word to derive from it the right meaning, the right interpretation of what God had intended to convey. This would indicate that a correct belief was necessary, would it not ? Again, the disciples in the town of Berea were commended of God because they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily to determine whether the beliefs that they had embraced were so.
Yes, it does matter, and the Bible is our textbook to teach us the Truth and the revealed will of God ; so let us look at a few passages that show us the necessity of a correct belief. First let us realize that the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ declare there is only one hope. This is the teaching of Paul in Ephesians 4:5, “There is one body and one spirit even as ye are called in ONE HOPE of your calling.” Continuing this thought to the Romans (8:24) he says, “We are saved by hope,” and he solemnly assures the believers in his letter to the Hebrews that their ultimate salvation was contingent upon their adherence to that hope. His words are, in Hebrews 3:6 in speaking of the household of God, ‘Whose house are we IF we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” His language to the Colossians is equally striking on the point (1: 22) he says of Christ, “He will present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight, IF ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.”
Notice the consistent use of the word IF showing that there are conditions that must be met, that the one hope of the gospel must be believed and maintained in order for one to be considered worthy of the approbation of God. These testimonies ought to impress us with the gravity of this question. It is no light thing to be doctrinally mistaken as to WHAT we should hope for. What a misfortune it would be to spend our spiritual energies in looking for that which God has never promised. Such a mistake says the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians ignorance of the real hope of the gospel and this ignorance leads to alienation “from the life of God.” What God has never promised, no one will ever receive ! “According to your faith be it unto you,” is the divine principle given in Matthew 9:29. If a man squanders his faith upon that which has no foundation in truth, he sows to the wind. The faith which builds its house upon the foundation-rock of the assured promises of God will alone withstand the storm that will sweep away the imaginations of men.
The Lord Jesus Christ sent his disciples out to preach this one hope of the gospel and it is defined for us in the work of Philip the evangelist (Acts 8 :12) as the good news of the kingdom of God (that Jesus is to establish here on earth) and the things concerning the name of Jesus Christ ; that is, his relationship to the kingdom and our relationship to it through his name.
This was also the gospel that the apostle Paul preached and his deep regard for it and the importance that he placed upon it is evident in his warning to the Galatians. (Gal. 1 :8) He says, “Though we or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” And then to lend emphasis to this thought he repeats it immediately saying, “As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”
There would be no question as to what Paul would say in answer to the query “Does it matter what you believe.” He would answer an emphatic YES, as he does here to the Galatians and as he told Timothy to “keep that which is committed to thy trust” and as he told Titus to “hold fast the faithful word as he had been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.”
I’m sure that the apostle would not subscribe to the toleration of divergent views that is gaining popularity today—a toleration that is evidenced by billboards throughout the land saying, “Attend The Church of Your Choice.” Now possibly this motto has helped to swell church membership and perhaps has created a good moralistic influence in the various communities ; and this is not bad if we want to limit our goals to these objectives. However, we are interested in preaching the gospel of salvation and bringing men and women under its influence so that they can become heirs of the promises of God—and with these goals in mind, to say “Attend the church of your choice” is NOT good advice. For although God has made man a free agent and man is at liberty to choose whether he will serve God or not, God has never given man his choice of what to believe as truth. God has told us through His prophets and through His Son, exactly what to believe and man has no choice in the matter if he wants the salvation that God has promised to those who believe in Him. God through the prophet Isaiah gives us this instruction (8:20) “To the law and to the testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light (or truth) in them.” The importance of truth cannot be over-emphasized. The Lord Jesus said (John 4:24) “God is a spirit ; and they that worship Him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” For it’s only the truth that can set us free ! Our worship then, must be in truth ! Regardless of good intentions or misguided sincerity, worship is not acceptable unless it is according to truth, according to the doctrines contained in the word of God. How important it is then that we continually search His Word, to gain the knowledge and the attitudes that make our service acceptable to God. One of the main criticisms that Jesus leveled at the Pharisees (the religious leaders of his day) was that they made the the word of God of none effect by their traditions. There is no question, but that it does matter what we believe concerning the Bible and concerning the great Truth that it proclaims. This is a basic divine principle upon which salvation is predicated and we sincerely hope that all will give it their earnest and prayerful consideration.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One