The spiritual extent of mental doctrine

It is quite contradicting - when you believe and follow the Bible (gospel) then by all means you are humble. Otherwise there are a lot of catching up to do in studying the Bible and reflection.

 

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. "You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. "Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
- [Matthew 7:15-23 NKJV]


Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. - [Romans 14:1-4 NKJV]


Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. - [1 Timothy 2:1-4 NKJV]

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The common theme that I see in scripture for believers is:

• BEWARE: Guard yourself from what is false.
• DO NOT JUDGE: It is our place to accept whom God accepts and to leave the judgement of SIN to God and His Holy Word.
• PRAY: We are the point of contact between a Holy God and a fallen world. We have AUTHORITY to enter the presence of God and present our prayers before our King. We are ambassadors to deliver the message of reconciliation to anyone that will listen.

Ultimately, the Head of God's Church is Jesus Christ, so the responsibility to install and remove Shepherds belongs to Him. Our responsibility is to GUARD against lies with the truth of Scripture, to place ourselves and our household under a Shepherd that we can trust, to PRAY for those in authority over us, and to LOVE those in fellowship with us.

We can change OUR attitudes, but we have no power to change OTHERS.