Well look man, I’m sure you are being sincere in what you are saying, and I’m sure you pray to the Holy Spirit for your guidance. Thats grand. But lots of people pray for guidance before they read scripture and equally obviously they dont all come to believe exactly the same thing! We are all of us influenced by sin, and by our environment and by peer pressure and all these other things, and it does make an impact on your thinking. More than we realise.
This is not an unexpected thing. Our spiritual lives increase and improve as we study. I am constantly amazed by the Bible, and I expect I always will be. It’s not even neccesarily a bad thing. Scripture is, after all, the LIVING word. Let me put it like this. I read a passage from Ecclesiastes last week. I’ve read Ecclesiastes many times, done several bible studies on it, and read many many commentaries on it. And yet, I learned new things from that reading last week. Things I had never thought of before! Now, how is that possible? God hasn’t changed. The words on the page haven’t changed. The answer is that I have changed.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t lead you down a path of deception, but the Holy Spirit may withold things from you because you are not ready for them yet. And you, of course, because you are not perfect, may lead yourself astray.
Your relationship with God is your very own. It’s not for anyone else to tell you what to believe, but it IS their right, and indeed their responsibility, to advise, to question, to encourage, even to chastise perhaps. After all, the Holy Spirit does frequently work through other Christians.
There’s a lot to be said for a simplicity of faith. And certainly there are plenty of folk who go way too far in analysing and reanalysing scripture until it almost seems to mean the very opposite of what a “face-value” reading says. At the same time, with more knowledge comes more understanding.
I understand what you are saying... that my understanding of the scriptures may not necessarily be yours. But I also have to believe that when I pray to the Lord to NOT be decieved...that He will protect me from deception. I have prayed this prayer since I came to know Christ as my Savior. And I do realise that God has put in my path people who will help me along on this Christian walk, who correct me when I am heading in the wrong direction...
From what I understand, the Gospel was written by people with first hand accounts of what occurred in the time of Jesus. The best these other historians and Biblical scholars can do is rehash what is already plainly written, to give their own opinions on Biblical texts. The Bible itself was written under Divine inspiration...that cannot be said of the people who, centuries later, wrote their own commentaries on the scriptures. While interesting to get their spin on things..the best evidence is still scripture itself.
God answers the prayers of those he calls His own, who pray according to His will, I have asked not to be decieved and to know the truth, I believe he will keep me on the right path.