Specific Beliefs Either Matter or They Don’t

by Terry Wane Benton

Nobody has all the answers to every question of the Bible, but get specific; some are right, and some are wrong on certain topics. For example, unbelieving Jews are not wrong about everything, but they are wrong about Jesus. Among those who claim to believe in Jesus, some were right, and some were wrong about whether circumcision was essential (Galatians 5:1-4). While some today believe in “faith only,” those who believe “not by faith only” (James 2:14-24) are correct on that issue. They agree with God’s word, and the faith-only view does not.

The Calvinist has faith but believes we have no free will and are doing and believing what God makes us do and believe. The faith-only believer thinks it doesn’t matter what else we do and believe as long as we have some faith in a Jesus. If what we believe and do matters, we must discuss it. We can and should do that because we love and care about each other’s souls. If it truly does not matter, then a Mormon who says he believes in Jesus and the Book of Mormon is as safe as a person who does not, and a Muslim who believes Jesus is a prophet is as safe as a person who believes Jesus is more than a prophet. They all say they believe in Jesus at some level. If it truly does not matter what we believe about Jesus, then the homosexual or trans believer in Jesus is just as safe as the person who believes I Corinthians 6:8-10 denounces it.

But if it does matter what we believe and practice, then we have to “test all things” (I Thessalonians 5:21) and “search the scriptures daily whether these things are so” (Acts 17:11), because some beliefs are not so, and endanger the souls we care about. Paul was worried about the beliefs of the brethren of Galatia and said, “I am afraid for you” (Galatians 4:11). The inspired apostle knew what we believe does matter. We either agree with the inspired apostle, or we don’t. But it matters to God and should matter to us! This should move us to be diligent and careful and be willing to test even what we think we know because if people sincerely believe error and Paul was afraid for them, then we might be unsuspectingly in a dangerous tradition that was not sufficiently tested by the scriptures handled aright. We must love our souls and others enough to keep testing all things by the scriptures.