Acts 11:14 English Standard Version (ESV) he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’

Acts 16:31 English Standard Version (ESV) And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Here is an example of the word of truth being a little more complicated than any one simple verse. There are those that go around saying “my daddy was a preacher” or “my mom was saved” that gives them a false sense of security because they believe that they are saved because of thier parent’s faith.

Matthew 7:13-14 English Standard Version

¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. ¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

The gate is narrow so that only one may enter in at a time. Salvation is a personal matter, we are each responsible to enter in alone. The broad interpretation leads to destruction.

Acts 11:14 is making the point that the message is the way to salvation while Acts 16:31 is a prophetic word of encouragement.

Neither does being a member of a certain denomination cause us to be saved. “I am a ……..” Fill in the blank with any denomination. As the saying goes, standing in the garage doesn’t make anyone a car.

Another example is a misconception about faith. When someone asks us what faith are we, they want to hear our denomination. Our denomination is not faith. In order to get a better grip on what faith means we only have to look to the father of faith for three major religions, Abram.

Genesis 12:1 begins with “Now the Lord said to Abram,”.

Think about the definition of the gospel being “God speaks” and meditate on that.

Acts 20:27-28 English Standard Version

²⁷ for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. ²⁸ Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God,^{[of the Lord]} which he obtained with his own blood.

If the gospel was not so simple then we must look to the other matters which are within God’s plans for this life Christ to be more complicated.

Here Paul addresses the overseers, those entrust with tending the flock of God. They are responsible to clarify such matters that are good for everyone. The prime issue here is in taking into consideration the whole counsels of God and not to lay so much weight on any one scripture that we ignore the whole truth.

Psalm 94:1 English Standard Version (ESV) O Lord, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth!

Psalm 86:15 English Standard Version (ESV) But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

So which is it? Is God vengeful or is He merciful? We should never allow one line of scripture weight so heavily upon us that it places a false impression about the quality and character of our God.

Discipleship classes should cover these issues in order to allow new disciples the opportunity to hear pastors and teachers speak on broad issues without being misled of God’s plans for them.

This is one reason that teachers are held to a much higher standard than the laity. It is the responsibility of the leadership of our churches to test the soundness of anyone’s beliefs before they are allowed to instruct others.

On that note, if we are unsure about a teaching we have heard, it is a good idea to ask a trusted friend what they heard. Avoid laying false accusations at the feet of a teacher. If there are still questions, ask someone in leadership and let them clarify what is right or in need of correction.