Proverbs 10:24 English Standard Version (ESV) What the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.

Romans 7:18 English Standard Version (ESV) For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

The desire to be right does not make us right.

Paul points to our abilities to do right but in order to do right one must first know what is right. Only God is perfect in knowledge and performance. We are human, made of flesh and while we may not have the inclination to sin we still have the capacity to sin. Being wrong is not a sin but can lead to certain kinds of sin. 1 Corinthians 13 says love does not insist on having its own way. We can be very insistent on being right. That affects how we treat each other.

What is of such value within this life we live that we must be insistent on being right? What can we allow to differ in opinion because the relationships is more important than having our own way? There are some absolutes and there are things that are just not worth discussing. Which are the ones that we should be unyielding in believing? Which ones do not matter?

Allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in truth for He is the one who communicates pure truth.

Here is one truth that leads us to perhaps a better understanding. Are you still in the same church you were raised in as a child? Did you begin in a major denomination or a non-denomination? The truth is this, the teaching of doctrine varies slightly from one denomination to another but the basic unwavering absolutes remain the same.

Isaiah 48:1,4 English Standard Version

Israel Refined for God’s Glory

¹ Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who came from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord and confess the God of Israel, but not in truth or right.
⁴ Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass,

Leaving out verses 2 and 3 allows us to examine the more troubling conditions. There is confession and swearing but not in truth or righteousness. There is an unwillingness to listen to reason.

This chapter deals with these conditions because Israel is God’s chosen and He will put them through the refiner’s fire and remove impurities.

History repeats itself and considering that Israel is God’s chosen and that we are His chosen for Jesus Christ then the warnings of Isaiah 48 might also be true of some church age denominations.

We are experts at lying to ourselves. We can swear up and down that we worship God with truth and righteousness and the signs that might indicate we have it wrong is an unwillingness to listen to reason.

It should be noted here that we are looking at denominational strains and not individuals. All we can do for the moment is to take inventory of our surroundings. It is every individual’s responsibility to seek God’s approval for the place in which we worship. This can only happen if there is an honest and open discussion with what we see around us in the light of God’s Word.

How free are we to speak about church issues? Can we approach authority with concerns or are they shielded from contact by guardians of the flock? Do we concern ourselves with the practices of our church administration or is there something in us that indicates an infection of the mind that says as individuals we have become unwilling to listen?

How involved are we?