{"id":1790,"date":"2004-09-17T23:08:23","date_gmt":"2004-09-17T23:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=1790"},"modified":"2019-07-21T14:04:06","modified_gmt":"2019-07-21T19:04:06","slug":"must-a-member-of-the-church-follow-the-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-a-member-of-the-church-follow-the-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"Must a member of the church follow the truth?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

Is it true that if a member of the church of Christ is shown a truth from the Scriptures, they are bound to follow that truth?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments<\/i>” (John 14:15). Hence, any true follower of Christ (a Christian) will strive to as obediently to the truth as they are able to do so. This doesn’t happen immediately upon becoming a Christian. The Scriptures speak of our growth in knowledge. “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious<\/i>” (I Peter 2:1-3). Therefore, as a person’s knowledge and understanding improve, there will be adjustments as he conforms his life to the expectations of God. “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”\u00a0<\/i>” (I Peter 1:13-16).<\/p>\n

One problem that arises is that many believe they understand the truth when they really don’t. There are those who will only listen to the things they want to hear. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables<\/i>” (II Timothy 4:3-4). Others are attracted to lies because they have no desire to seek the truth. “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved<\/i>” (II Thessalonians 2:9-10). Still, others distort the truth out of ignorance or willful disobedience. “And consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation–as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures<\/i>” (II Peter 3:15-16). Hence, a “proof” that satisfies you may be shown to be incorrect or inadequate by someone more familiar with the Scriptures.<\/p>\n

If you are interested in a study on what constitutes good reasoning, may I recommend the study “Keys to Understanding<\/a>” which is found on this web site? The later chapters especially focus on the many ways people abuse arguments to “prove” their points.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Is it true that if a member of the church of Christ is shown a truth from the Scriptures, they are bound to follow that truth? Answer: Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Hence, any true follower of Christ (a Christian) will strive to as obediently to the truth…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[54,441],"class_list":["post-1790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-obedience","tag-truth"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2450,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-a-baptist-be-rebaptized-even-though-he-says-he-was-baptized-for-the-right-reason\/","url_meta":{"origin":1790,"position":0},"title":"Must a Baptist be rebaptized even though he says he was baptized for the right reason?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was raised in the church of Christ. I am married to someone who was raised in the Baptist church. She has no problem with going to church with me. But she doesn't think that she should be baptized again. She says that she was baptized for the same\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37631,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-speak-at-a-denominational-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":1790,"position":1},"title":"Should I speak at a denominational church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi brother Jeff, I was discussing the Bible with a man who happens to be a member of a denomination. He also occupies a high position in their church. After reasoning with him from the Scripture, he asked me to come and preach in their church. I told him\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14597,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-far-should-a-persons-past-be-checked-before-baptizing-them\/","url_meta":{"origin":1790,"position":2},"title":"How far should a person’s past be checked before baptizing them?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When you have an open Bible study with a family, and they come to the knowledge of the truth, and you find out that a previous marriage has taken place earlier in years, and show them the truth of marriage, divorce, and remarriage, and they feel like they are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31047,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-person-be-baptized-correctly-by-someone-who-doesnt-teach-the-whole-truth\/","url_meta":{"origin":1790,"position":3},"title":"Can a person be baptized correctly by someone who doesn’t teach the whole truth?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a few questions for you. One is regarding your answer: \"Does a person leaving the Christian Church need to be baptized again?\" about a person leaving the Christian Church. I talked to a preacher who is in a bit of conflict with a person who left the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":98157,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-is-a-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":1790,"position":4},"title":"Who Is a Christian?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Samuel A. Matthews \"Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?\" (James 2:6-7 KJV). Loved ones, to answer our subject question completely, we will address three distinct aspects. First, we will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19690,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-christians-in-all-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":1790,"position":5},"title":"Are there Christians in all churches?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a friend that is a member of a denominational church. I am a member of Christ's church. We had a discussion about Christians. 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