The Navigators opened a can of peas, so to speak, when they urged me to stick to the Scriptures. By so doing I have discovered that we are off base in much of our teaching. If we are to stand in the days of darkness we must know what the Bible says.

The unscriptural faith-prosperity teaching gained the ground it did among Charismatic believers because they did not go to the Scriptures but were led about by their religious feelings. They became subject to spirits that did not come from the Lord Jesus.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (II Timothy 2:15—NIV)

The above verse is quoted frequently by Christians, but we are not adhering to it. We are not correctly handling the Word of truth.

One of the main reasons we are not cutting a straight course in the Word of truth has to do with the way we treat the many seeming inconsistencies of the Scriptures.

The Scriptures contain many seeming inconsistencies, such as Paul's teaching that we are saved by a sovereign Divine act of God, and yet we shall be barred from the Kingdom if we live according to the sinful nature.

The proper manner in which to address the seeming inconsistencies is to accept both as the truth of God, saying Amen! to each.

Instead of doing this we seize upon the one that pleases our flesh, such as the sovereignty of God in the plan of salvation, and ignore the passages that present the other very necessary dimension of Divine truth. Because we make axioms of our favorite verses, deducing truth from them while ignoring or explaining away passages that do not agree with our deductions, we are in doctrinal chaos today.

It is obvious from the ninth chapter of Romans that salvation comes as the Potter decides to make from the same piece of clay one vessel to honor and one to dishonor. God hardens Pharaoh's heart, whether we are willing to accept this or not.

It also is obvious from the Books of Galatians and Ephesians, and other writings of Paul, that if we continue to be the slave of sin we will die spiritually.

So we choose Romans, Nine and explain away Galatians, Ephesians, Hebrews, I John, and the other texts that insist we must keep God's commandments if we expect to enter the Kingdom of God.

We simply are not cutting a straight course in the Word of truth no matter how many times we swear allegiance to the plenary, verbal inspiration of the Received Text.

We are not making our way prosperous because we have departed from the Scriptures. The moral light of the Christian churches in America has been all but extinguished because of our traditions.

We are obligated to keep the commandments of Christ and His Apostles. We do this by praying often for wisdom and strength that we may consecrate ourselves to the will of God.

However, this is not the new covenant. The new covenant takes place as Christ, the living Law of God, is written on our mind and heart.

To be continued.