Based on this thread and some others, I am starting to see some trends here.
Most, probably all of us, who have been active in posting have a personal realtionship with Jesus and are focused on having the proper understanding of the Word.
Most of us are
very willing to discuss, debate, defend what we believe--there are no "pushovers" here <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
There seems to be consensus that a combination of personal study of the Bible, sensitivity to the Spirit, and listening to others is how we ought to approach things of the Lord. While we all agree sensitivity to the Holy Spirit is absoluetly essential, we
seem to have a bit of disagreement on the balance between personal Bible study and receiving teaching.
The advantage with heavy reliance on personal study is realtive immunity to someone else leading us into error. The danger with leaning too heavily on personal study is falling into error because none of us get it 100% right all the time. It is hard to seperate our personal biases out of our study. It is easy to fall into prideful "do it yourself Christianity" with this approach, and be accountability to no one.
The advantage to heavy reliance on a teacher is realtive immunity to going out in "left field" all by ourselves. The danger of leaning too heavily on a teacher is falling into the same error as the teacher--being in left field
with the teacher. It is easy to be brainwashed with this approach and quit thinking all together.
Reliance on the Holy Spirit is key to avoiding error in personal study AND while receiving teaching. However, we are not always perfect in following the Holy Spirit's leading.
So we are left with three ways to learn and grow, all three of which are subject to our human error. I find I am most confident when all three ways are in agreement.........when my own Bible study is in line what the teaching of those I have confidence in, and I sense the Holy Spirit's confirmation.
The Berean Jews in Acts show us the importance of personal Bible study. They were commneded for "searching the scriptures daily to see if those things were so", and their teacher was none other than Paul.
Plillip and the enuch show us the importance of teachers. God suspended the laws of nature to make sure the enuch had a teacher that could explain the scriptures. In fact, none of us would even be saved if it weren't for someone showing us the way.
Is there really any disagrement here? Don't we all strive to be sensistive to the Holy Spirit and evaluate the teaching we receive/our own ideas with the Spirit's leading?
