Spiritual Swordmanship Part 1

Spiritual Swordmanship Part 1 SPIRITUAL SWORDSMANSHIP or Defending Yourself against False Doctrines SECTION A THE PROBLEM

It is obvious from Scripture that every Christian is expected to be able to fight back and defeat false teachings, no matter whether they are being proclaim by an obvious cult, or by a brother who has fallen into error. Practically speaking, though, the average Christian often feels outmatched in verse-toverse combat and looks for help from people he considers to be authorities. there is a great deal of very good, helpful material available, but it usually has a problem or two that makes it difficult to use, especially if it is a situation that the believer has never been in before. This material will often give the reader tremendous insight, but ordinarily, requires him to research, memorize, study and practice it before he can use it effectively. It will also give him information about only ONE group or teaching, without giving him a general tool that can be used in all situations. The average Christian doesn’t have the time or interest to pursue this avenue, or to become well informed about ALL the errant doctrines being put out. As a result, he becomes discouraged, and gives up on EVER successfully refuting false doctrine. This writer is convinced that each and every Christian, no matter how long he has been a Christian or how knowledgable they are about spiritual things has the means at hand to defeat any and all false teaching. All it requires is a knowledge of your weapon, how to use it, and what pitfalls to avoid.

YOUR PRINCIPAL WEAPON
Nearly every person who is teaching false doctrine seeks to undermine the trustworthiness of the Bible (a good sign the person IS teaching false doctrine!). After running into a wall of disbelief, you may be tempted to dispense with the Bible in favor of other material, in the hopes that you may convince him of the error of his way. DON’T, unless you are VERY familiar with the other naterial, and can use it WELL! Even then, your primary weapon should STILL be the Bible. This may seem obvious, but it is xactly at TIS point that many Christian “defenders of the Faith” get lost and confused. Much of the material available puts this Book, the Holy Bible, which is our real basis for power and authority, into an almost secondary position, and will rely upon other sources for most of their argument. If your friend – the one who is seeking to give you “another gospel” – distrust the accuracy of the Bible, it makes NO differnce in its being YOUR principal weapon. A sword remains a sword, even if the opponent doesn’t think it is a reliable weapon. The Word of God remains the Word of God, “…living and active; sharper than any doubleedged
sword, it penetrates even to
dividing the soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12), even if your friend disbelieves it. This is true even if your friend is a self-avowed atheist, or part of a non-Christian religion – although some of what follows won’t apply, STICK TO THE BIBLE!!! No other material has a divine guarantee of total effectiveness that the Bible has! The other materials can be used, if you desire, to further establish the fallacy of your friends claims, but your most reliable weapon in fighting error is the Holy Bible. Even if he INSIST upon disregarding the Bible, and going elsewhere to find truth, DON’T DO IT! If he gets upset, ask him what he is afaraid of finding in the Bible….

EFFECTIVE DOCTRINAL DUELING
Like the sword it compares itself to, the Bible can be used to either attack of defend. To carry the parallel even further, it takes a fair amount of practice and experience to use a sword – or the Bible – effectively on the offense. As you grow an mature in your Walk with the Lord Jesus, your ability to use His Word will grow with you. But many of those who are approached by these “false apostles” (and sometimes led astray by them) haven’t had the time to become familiar, much less skilled, in using the Bible. When a soldier is being trained to fight, he is usually taught how to defend himself LONG before he is taught how to attack. There is every reason to expect this to be appropiate for our spiritual battles, as well. When talking with a person from any organization (or teaching) that is false, but wants to present itself or himself as “Christian,” sooner or later. there will be an attempt to use a passage from the Bible to support or defend a doctrine that may be in conflict with the Truth of Scripture. When ANYONE – even someone who is honestly seeking to teach the True Word of God – uses the Bible to teach or illustrate a concept unfamiliar to you (particularily when it is in conflict with what you have been taught before!), STOP THE CONVERSATION RIGHT THERE!!! Get out a Bible, turn to he passage just used, and read it – out loud, if possible, and include the entire paragraph that it is found in. A teacher of Truth probably won’t mind, and a false teacher may or may not – their response at this point won’t tell you much. If they object, just inform them that you want to find out if their use of the passage agrees with the author’s intention, nd continue examing the section! Under NO circumstances should your discussion continue until you have checked the passage to see if your friend and the author agree. Do this in EACH INSTANCE! The friend may be A-OK in some just to get you to believe that he knows what he is talking about, but then divert into the “real” false teachings after having obtained your confidence.
–next section is CHRISTIANITY 012B–