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Titus 1:16
16 They profess [homologeo] that they know [eido] God [theos]; but [de] in works [ergon] they deny [arneomai] him, being [on] abominable [bdeluktos], and [kai] disobedient [apeithes], and [kai] unto [pros] every [pas] good [agathos] work [ergon] reprobate [adokimos]. KJV-Interlinear
16 They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed. NASB
How is it possible for anyone to discern between the truth of life out from all of the deceptions that exist in this world?
With the many thousands of religions, cults, philosophies and such, teaching almost everything different from Christianity, and with many of them professing similarities, how do you sort through all of them?
With humanity saturated from birth with sin natures, how can anyone be trusted?
And especially with Satan, whom none of us can see, hear, or detect in any way, and with his policies of evil designed to saturate and deceive the world, then what chance do any of us have in sorting out what is right from what is wrong?
Paul has warned Titus, that he needs to find people who possess unique and exceptional qualities, for teaching doctrine to them initially, and of whom will carry the ball to teach others, after Titus has left.
Not an easy task, to say the least. Even if Titus finds such people, then their learning and growing up spiritually, is a life long process. Many folks have gone into the ministry, and have left it disillusioned for one reason or another. How much easier is it for non-ministerial types (common folks), to get disillusioned, when life hammers them?
Needless to say, in this world, the odds are set against us.
But then the odds are only relevant when God is not in the picture.
For people who have a genuine desire to learn doctrine, and when those same folks stick with their studies, then their odds of failure go way, way down. With God in the picture, and He is the only source for objective discernment, then your success in life is assured (guaranteed).
The world will take people and establish monasteries, seminaries, schools of higher education and so forth, but those credentials do not guarantee objectivity or truth. In fact most of these places become the most formidable opponents of truth, rather than promoters of truth.
God is the only real and true and reliable source for obtaining truth. This is accomplished by first, wanting to know the truth, and then second, by pursuing it.
You may (actually you will), run into many false or gray area teaching, but God eventually guides you to the source of truth, sooner or later. Assuming that is what you are after for your life. If you are only interested in finding something that reinforces your already entrenched beliefs, then that will be easy to do. That is what the world wants you to do.
But if you truly want to find out what life is all about, and you want to find the meaning and purpose for your own personal existence and destiny, then forewarned, you will have to sort through everything that the world is going to throw at you in its attempt to disillusion you, discourage you, cause you to question God, and ultimately fail.
But perseverance for truth will allow God to bring you through all the fog of life and to the truth of His wisdom, so that you can discover what is real and what is not. And, ultimately succeed in life.
In this world, success is tied most of the time to talent, ability, intellect, looks, and luck.
In the spiritual life, God levels the playing field and makes success easy and certain, for anyone who will commit themselves to the task of simply learning.
How much toughness do you have when no one will agree with you, when no one will support you, when everyone will try to cause you to fail?
Just how bad do you want to succeed in this life and for all of eternity?
