With so many winds of doctrine that tend to lead away from a simple, childlike trust of the word of God as it reads, we would do well to learn from the time in which Jesus lived and reflect on how Scripture was often misunderstood because of unbelief and hypocrisy. At Jesus' time there were Pharisees and Sadducees, and while the Pharisees often were arraigned by Jesus for their hypocrisy (teaching one thing and doing another), the Sadducees were arraigned by Christ for their unbelief of the word of God. Both could come to Christ and be saved if they would surrender the whole heart to Christ and let Him lead them into all truth, but they would need to surrender their own plans and purposes to be in harmony with God's word. So it is still. Let us accept God's word and allow Jesus to lead our lives according to His word as our standard. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20).
"The Sadducees had flattered themselves that they of all men adhered most strictly to the Scriptures. But Jesus showed that they had not known their true meaning. That knowledge must be brought home to the heart by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. Their ignorance of the Scriptures and the power of God He declared to be the cause of their confusion of faith and darkness of mind. They were seeking to bring the mysteries of God within the compass of their finite reasoning. Christ called upon them to open their minds to those sacred truths that would broaden and strengthen the understanding. Thousands become infidels because their finite minds cannot comprehend the mysteries of God. They cannot explain the wonderful exhibition of divine power in His providences, therefore they reject the evidences of such power, attributing them to natural agencies which they can comprehend still less. The only key to the mysteries that surround us is to acknowledge in them all the presence and power of God. Men need to recognize God as the Creator of the universe, One who commands and executes all things. They need a broader view of His character, and of the mystery of His agencies." {The Desire of Ages, page 605, paragraph 5}
We cannot fully understand everything, because God is infinite and we are finite. We need to accept the one principle of taking God's word as it reads, and also making the service and honor of God supreme so that perplexities may vanish, and we may find a plain path before our feet! Then, as we obey God's word as it reads because Jesus lives in our hearts by a true conversion experience whereby all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives without one missing, we can be kept from the snares of Satan in the form of winds of doctrine that lead away from God's word in its true context. Let us look to Jesus in all His loveliness and realize that when met with controversy, He did not enter into controversy, but called His hearers and questioners to answer their own questions from the word of God.
