Have you ever had someone say to you, “Oh, the Bible is written by man, so then the truth must be left up to one’s own interpretation”? In my experience, this comes from a person who’s looking for an excuse to dismiss the sovereignty of God’s Word altogether. Coupled with that is a fleshly desire to make the Bible say whatever this person is predisposed to wanting it to say. The question is, why is it so easy nowadays to get away with this type of strategy, even though it advances ungodliness?

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
-2 Timothy 4:3-4

Let’s go back to a time when a much simpler division between Christians and non-Christians existed (for simplicity’s sake, let’s keep it binary for now). The Gospel of Jesus Christ was being spread in the early Church, beginning with the Apostles who received the so-called “Great Commission”.

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
-Matthew 28:18-20

Although the Gospel would’ve been scandalous, it was clear and simple for those who were spreading it.

The Gospel:
Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, humbled Himself to die on our behalf. Thus He became the sinless sacrifice to pay the penalty of our guilt. He rose from the dead to declare with power that He is Lord over all, and He offers eternal life freely to sinners who will surrender to Him in humble, repentant faith.

As the centuries passed, Satan and the kingdom of darkness made destructive headway through an insidious strategy that we often see in politics. That is, if you want to ruin an opponent’s position, simply sow doubt. Even a little bit at a time will suffice in the long run. The “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4) is patient if nothing else. He’s been at this game much, much longer than any of us have even been alive. He has the advantage of cultivating this evil strategy – let’s call it his Sowing Doubt strategy – because he has had many centuries to see it through. He’s also much smarter than man.

Manifestations of this Sowing Doubt strategy are the myriad Christian denominations. Not only is there a commonly recognized Roman Catholic versus Protestant division, but even within the Protestant ranks there are, by many accounts, over two hundred sub-denominations. Of course, each denomination has its own doctrinal statement, and they undoubtedly differ from each other. The implication is obvious: if there is only one true religion, according to the Bible, then all of the others must be wrong somehow, by varying degrees. This gives fuel to doubt, for sure, which is antithetical to the sanctification that God promises us (Philippians 1:6).

Our freedom in Christ depends upon our faith being rooted in Truth.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
-John 8:31-32

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
-Romans 1:16-17

So, you see, Satan needn’t even drastically oppose Christian doctrines in order to injure the Church. All he has to do is encourage Christians to accept a wide variety of interpretations as acceptable.
Ignorance is the root of all doubt. A person who thinks the Truth is pliable enough to rightly spawn over two hundred denominations has relegated themselves to doubt, even though they may fervently choose to adhere to one particular denomination. In other words, to concede there’s no possible way of knowing the Truth is to play into Satan’s hand.

We ought never surrender our quest for Truth just because the battlefield is wrought with land mines!

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
-Philippians 3:12-16

Since God is neither a liar nor a god of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33), we must abandon this idea that ‘since Truth cannot be located for sure, all hope is lost in ever finding it’. This is precisely what Satan wants us to think! Yet, God has given us both His Word and His Spirit to ensure that those who seek the Truth shall find it.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
-Matthew 7:7-11

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
-Matthew 6:33

Be encouraged, my friend, the Truth is available to those who seek it. Granted, it is like treasure we must seek for in a field (ala Matthew 13:45-46); however, to the one earnestly seeking for her, God’s wisdom and truth will be found! It is the substance of our sanctification here on Earth, after all.

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
-John 17:14-17

There are no such things as denominations in the Bible. This division between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism shouldn’t even be an issue. Denominations are inventions of man in a vain attempt to wrangle and succeed as the “best” faction or sect in all Christendom. It’s all a ruse and many fall prey to it. Sadly, most cannot be troubled with my exhortation or earnestly seeking for the Truth; rather, they take sides the way they do in sporting events. It seems most prefer to play such games. Only this is no game at all, my friend, is it?

The end goal of Satan’s Sowing Doubt strategy is that many leave their denomination and Christianity altogether, on the basis that nobody seems to know the absolute Truth. So how can anything anyone espouses be trustworthy? These apostates live out their lives as children of disobedience.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
-Ephesians 5:6

Satan loves to dilute the Truth. Christ, the Word, distills it.

Don’t ever buy the lie that the Truth is somehow unattainable. God would be unjust if He asked us to obey Him in the absence of clear revelation of His commands.

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.
-Romans 16:25-27

Love in Christ,

Ed Collins