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Thinking people generally concede that the person one should trust the least is often the one who says,
"Trust me." That statement usually means, "Take my word for it, and don't question what I say." How many
times have you trusted someone on that basis, only to find that your trust was woefully misplaced? But that
is the kind of blind trust that is often manifested in religion. Having been convinced by the devil that
"The Bible is too hard to understand," many are willing to merely take the word of a preacher in matters
affecting the soul's destiny.
In the Dark Ages, the Catholic Church chained the Bible to the pulpit and forbade the common man to read it. "Trust me," Roman Catholicism said, and the people did. When reformers like John Calvin and Martin Luther revolted against the festering corruption of the Papacy, they formulated their own written creeds and said, "Trust me," and the people did. When Oral Roberts worked his sleight of hand in his heyday, claiming he worked miracles, he said, "Trust me" — and send money — and millions did. When modern denominational preachers offer emotional, feel-good platitudes and tell sinners to, "Pray the sinner's prayer," they are saying, "Trust me." And the gullible do. When Billy Graham denies the necessity of baptism for salvation and tries to explain away Acts 2:38, he's saying, "Trust me." And his devotees do. Anyone who says, "Trust me" — especially in matters relating to the soul — should be avoided like the plague. No one should entrust his soul's eternal destiny to any mortal. We who preach the gospel and write articles such as this one do not expect our hearers or readers to accept these things without question. What we write and speak must be evaluated in the light of the Bible. That is the plumbline, or standard, by which all religious teaching should be evaluated. It is our avowed intent to always give a "Thus saith the Lord" for all which we preach and practice. If we cannot do so, we won't preach or practice it. This conviction is born of devotion to God's Truth expressed throughout Holy Writ. Even Jesus did not expect men to "trust Him" without examining the evidence of His claims. "If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth...But I have a greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me...Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me" (John 5:31-39). Many were the pretenders who came with the claim of being the Messiah. But only the claims of Jesus Christ were verified by John's testimony, by the mighty works Christ did, by the Father Himself, and by the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus did not come simply saying, "Trust me." He offered confirmation of His claims, and so must all who would teach the eternal Truth of God. Of the citizens of Berea, Luke wrote that they, "were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11). One who is genuinely interested in his soul's salvation will emulate those noble Bereans. The soul is too precious to trust anyone who says, "Trust me." One must weigh all religious teaching against the absolute standard of God's Word. If the teaching cannot be found there it ought to be rejected. No one should blindly accept what we or anyone else writes or says without investigating the teaching to see if it is confirmed in the Bible. If what is spoken or written is what the Bible teaches, then it must be accepted — not because we speak or write it, but because it is God's Truth. On the other hand, if what we speak or write cannot be proven by the Bible it ought to be rejected and we ought to be told it is error. Paul told the Thessalonians to, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (1 Thess. 5:21). What cannot be proven by the Bible must not be done. That includes things like sprinkling water on people and calling it "baptism," baptizing babies, using mechanical instruments in worship to God, telling people that God saves through "faith only," praying the so-called "sinner's prayer," or that "it makes no difference what one believes so long as he is honest. None of these things can be proven by the Bible and are, therefore, sinful practices. No man should be "trusted" when it comes to the salvation of your soul. Only God can be trusted (Titus 1:2). Search the Scriptures for yourself. Don't trust our word alone, or the word of any preacher without testing his teaching by the standard of the Bible (1 John 4:1). |