A difficult to articulate, nagging subject matter

[from an email]

Something you guys have to know about the Bible and Christianity and biblical doctrine and faith and practice and all of it.

Take my approach to things, for instance. I cut through the noise and the nonsense and find the heart of things and the foundation and see what is real and practical and on-the-mark.

*I* can see the thinness and artificiality and silliness of much of what passes for Christianity at ALL levels. Most of it is obvious, but even the ones who know the Bible are asinine and not hitting any kind of practical mark, and not developing real understanding. They are in the world and still *of* the world. Guys driving minivans and considering themselves special and of the 'right crowd' for doing it.

I see this. Here is the problem though.

With Christianity there are a zillion forces at work trying to defile the truth. And where the truth is most being taught and defended *there* is where most of the most virulent and venomous and tireless false teachers are congregating, *inside the tent and outside the tent.*

So if a believer like myself who has understanding of biblical doctrine, and who has been given understanding of the practice of the faith just separates from the others because they are shallow and worse then all the false teachers have a field day.

It's more complicated than that. You sort of *have to* operate on the level of intellectual doctrinal defense - a seeming surface level - because that is where the false teachers and false teachings make their appearance and attempt to defile.

Then also there is a real phenomenon with biblical doctrine that the more you can see it and hold to it the more it *becomes* your inner state. So its surfacy, intellectual-only nature can be deceptive. That doesn't, though, explain the shallowness of biblical Christians and theologians and their general and common lack of development. That is the work of the world and the devil and their own inner fallen natures having the advantage of them. This is the work of the 'group' and the 'churches' where the lowest common denominator is in control and the environments are policed to keep out influences that don't conform with the world. Family centers instead of churches, for instance.

But even though it all seems surfacy and intellectual-only it really isn't. As long, though, as you keep up the dedicated, complete, cover-to-cover readings of the pure and whole Word of God. You get your discernment from those unfiltered complete readings. Your discernment for what is on-the-mark. If you do to begin with.

You have to have faith that that living language changes you and is changing you. And you then have to begin to see how holding to - truly understanding and holding to - apostolic biblical doctrine (doctrine derived from the Bible alone) changes you internally and effects your state vis-a-vis the Kingdom of Satan and the Kingdom of God. - C.

ps- This is to say there is increase of level of being here. It's not in ritual or group dynamics and group policing. *That's* unbiblical nonsense you can stay away from. It's in the living Word of God and in on-the-mark biblical doctrine which is Federal Theology unmixed with the various trace poisons of the system of the Beast that the reformers failed to purge; and it's in the battlefield of spiritual warfare and the ongoing effort of progressive sanctification which doesn't end until physical death or translation like Enoch and Elijah or the Second Coming.