Personal Convictions

There is a phenomenon that has grown somewhat during my lifetime that I feel has constantly caused disunity among the very folks that need unity. The folks involved are the conservative, Holiness and the Pentecostal groups. I see constant division and lack of fellowship because of beliefs that are different. This is amazing seeing that most of these groups use the same Bible (KJV). What I see has nothing to do with individual growth and maturing in the Lord. These main problems stem from the leaders and older saints who will not live by scripture. Instead they enjoy living by their personal convictions, which has become their standard of holiness. De 12:32 "What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." It is sad that some even are proud and boastful of having standards above normal holiness. At some point, pride always leads to destruction. Who do you think you are to receive a standard that no one else has?

This has come about through much misunderstanding of the Holy Spirit. You may recall hearing people say that a scripture means one thing to one person and another thing to the other person. The Bible is of no "private interpretation" and that means the Spirit inspired and meant what He meant, not what folks need or want at the time. We make the scripture too blurry by using this manner to interpret the Bible. The Holy Spirit had ONE thing in mind with each verse He inspired. He did not intend for the Word to be fuzzy and omnidirectional. Our duty is to pray and fast that the Spirit will show us what He meant, while we are reading the Holy Scripture. Most verses are clear to a truly saved person. Few verses need special help. Too many people discuss what they think God wants, and do too little reading to really see what He wants.

This also happens in personal lives. One "holiness" man states that the Spirit told him something, yet the same Spirit told another "holiness" man the opposite or different manner of living. This is impossible! God cannot have double standards. He is a God of equity! What is wrong? Men would rather preach their personal convictions than the clear, saving gospel of Jesus Christ! It is easy to come up with a manner of life change, in your mind, and THEN get some scripture to back up what you FEEL. Yet we are actually supposed to study scripture and let the scripture show us the changes needed in our lives. (Most sermons and lessons consist of very little scripture and lots of opinion.) One sad result is that many people will not follow clear scripture unless they feel "convicted" to follow it. "Doers of the Word" are always blessed.

It is my understanding that there is no such thing as personal convictions of holiness and that the term has been misused and became a tool of disunity (which is an abomination to God). Many churches do not associate because they don’t have the same personal convictions. If something is wrong for me, it is wrong for every Christian in the world. If it is to be done by me, it ought to be done by every Christian in the world. Here’s what I think has happened. When a believer had an area in his life that caused a struggle (NOT SIN) and the Spirit had to nudge him to control that area; he dropped that area instead of controlling it and proceeded to preach that it was wrong to do that area. Example: A dear person may get involved in fishing, hunting, shopping, working, etc too much.

God will always call for you to moderate your life with Him as the center and forefront of your heart. Anything that threatens to keep you from His Lordship will cause jealousy on His part and He will move your heart to be careful! Exodus 34:14 "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." He is not threatened by your fishing, etc. unless it gets too much attention. We are to moderate our lives to put Him in supremacy. Yet many will feel this call to take care and stop it altogether; THEN they will preach it is a sin to do the thing they should have controlled. I know someone who stopped eating ice cream on Sunday by this method. I know others that would not buy a car with chrome on it.

Now we have splintered groups who won’t fellowship because they have different convictions that have no Bible basis. If you ask them about it, they say, "It’s just my personal conviction". Oh for people that would only preach clear scripture. There are enough things to do and not do that are in plain Bible English that would keep us reaching for a closer walk for years.

These personal convictions eventually replace God’s Word as the guideline for holiness in some hearts. Sermons and classes begin to be based on these "convictions" rather than clear Bible teaching. The next step leads to a "holier-than-thou" feeling which then breeds the disunity. Many well-meaning men became cultic in their groups because of "personal convictions" separating them.

You know that God has only one standard of holiness. All who meet that standard (by grace and gracious works) will live forever and reign with Jesus Christ. Anything above and beyond that standard is useless for more holiness. Anything less will be judged by a righteous God. The men who wanted to stone the adultress were convicted by their own conscience. John 8:9 "And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst." You need to respond to your conscience. God will help you moderate and plan your life until you please Him perfectly. Mt 5:48 "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." DON’T EQUATE HOLINESS WITH "NOT HAVING FUN". We should enjoy life because we have been set free!

The word conviction comes from the word "convict". That word comes from "con" and "vict". Con is a bad point, while pro is good. (Pros and cons) Vict is to judge. A convict has been judged of wrong or bad things. A conviction is the act of being judged of wrongdoing. God will not judge you wrong in an area and not others. He is equal to all. Actually, to be convicted is to judge you of sin. Don’t confuse His moderation with sin. Yet if you don’t temper and control (moderate) your life, you will not have Christ as supreme and THAT IS SIN. If you are sinning so much that you have to keep getting personal convictions, you need to be born again!

If we are to have any real move of God in these last days, we must associate with people who are obeying the Word of God. God works in unity of the brethren. If we shun another that does not meet some areas that we have added to the Word, we sin. We must bear patiently with each other and be careful not to add spiritual burdens to others that will cause them to stumble. We are all at different places in our growth. Again I repeat, that sin is always wrong for everyone!

Proverbs 30:5 "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. 6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." Rev. 22:18 "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book."

Personal Convictions

There is a phenomenon that has grown somewhat during my lifetime that I feel has constantly caused disunity among the very folks that need unity. The folks involved are the conservative, Holiness and the Pentecostal groups. I see constant division and lack of fellowship because of beliefs that are different. This is amazing seeing that most of these groups use the same Bible (KJV). What I see has nothing to do with individual growth and maturing in the Lord. These main problems stem from the leaders and older saints who will not live by scripture. Instead they enjoy living by their personal convictions, which has become their standard of holiness. De 12:32 "What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." It is sad that some even are proud and boastful of having standards above normal holiness. At some point, pride always leads to destruction. Who do you think you are to receive a standard that no one else has?

This has come about through much misunderstanding of the Holy Spirit. You may recall hearing people say that a scripture means one thing to one person and another thing to the other person. The Bible is of no "private interpretation" and that means the Spirit inspired and meant what He meant, not what folks need or want at the time. We make the scripture too blurry by using this manner to interpret the Bible. The Holy Spirit had ONE thing in mind with each verse He inspired. He did not intend for the Word to be fuzzy and omnidirectional. Our duty is to pray and fast that the Spirit will show us what He meant, while we are reading the Holy Scripture. Most verses are clear to a truly saved person. Few verses need special help. Too many people discuss what they think God wants, and do too little reading to really see what He wants.

This also happens in personal lives. One "holiness" man states that the Spirit told him something, yet the same Spirit told another "holiness" man the opposite or different manner of living. This is impossible! God cannot have double standards. He is a God of equity! What is wrong? Men would rather preach their personal convictions than the clear, saving gospel of Jesus Christ! It is easy to come up with a manner of life change, in your mind, and THEN get some scripture to back up what you FEEL. Yet we are actually supposed to study scripture and let the scripture show us the changes needed in our lives. (Most sermons and lessons consist of very little scripture and lots of opinion.) One sad result is that many people will not follow clear scripture unless they feel "convicted" to follow it. "Doers of the Word" are always blessed.

It is my understanding that there is no such thing as personal convictions of holiness and that the term has been misused and became a tool of disunity (which is an abomination to God). Many churches do not associate because they don’t have the same personal convictions. If something is wrong for me, it is wrong for every Christian in the world. If it is to be done by me, it ought to be done by every Christian in the world. Here’s what I think has happened. When a believer had an area in his life that caused a struggle (NOT SIN) and the Spirit had to nudge him to control that area; he dropped that area instead of controlling it and proceeded to preach that it was wrong to do that area. Example: A dear person may get involved in fishing, hunting, shopping, working, etc too much.

God will always call for you to moderate your life with Him as the center and forefront of your heart. Anything that threatens to keep you from His Lordship will cause jealousy on His part and He will move your heart to be careful! Exodus 34:14 "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." He is not threatened by your fishing, etc. unless it gets too much attention. We are to moderate our lives to put Him in supremacy. Yet many will feel this call to take care and stop it altogether; THEN they will preach it is a sin to do the thing they should have controlled. I know someone who stopped eating ice cream on Sunday by this method. I know others that would not buy a car with chrome on it.

Now we have splintered groups who won’t fellowship because they have different convictions that have no Bible basis. If you ask them about it, they say, "It’s just my personal conviction". Oh for people that would only preach clear scripture. There are enough things to do and not do that are in plain Bible English that would keep us reaching for a closer walk for years.

These personal convictions eventually replace God’s Word as the guideline for holiness in some hearts. Sermons and classes begin to be based on these "convictions" rather than clear Bible teaching. The next step leads to a "holier-than-thou" feeling which then breeds the disunity. Many well-meaning men became cultic in their groups because of "personal convictions" separating them.

You know that God has only one standard of holiness. All who meet that standard (by grace and gracious works) will live forever and reign with Jesus Christ. Anything above and beyond that standard is useless for more holiness. Anything less will be judged by a righteous God. The men who wanted to stone the adultress were convicted by their own conscience. John 8:9 "And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst." You need to respond to your conscience. God will help you moderate and plan your life until you please Him perfectly. Mt 5:48 "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." DON’T EQUATE HOLINESS WITH "NOT HAVING FUN". We should enjoy life because we have been set free!

The word conviction comes from the word "convict". That word comes from "con" and "vict". Con is a bad point, while pro is good. (Pros and cons) Vict is to judge. A convict has been judged of wrong or bad things. A conviction is the act of being judged of wrongdoing. God will not judge you wrong in an area and not others. He is equal to all. Actually, to be convicted is to judge you of sin. Don’t confuse His moderation with sin. Yet if you don’t temper and control (moderate) your life, you will not have Christ as supreme and THAT IS SIN. If you are sinning so much that you have to keep getting personal convictions, you need to be born again!

If we are to have any real move of God in these last days, we must associate with people who are obeying the Word of God. God works in unity of the brethren. If we shun another that does not meet some areas that we have added to the Word, we sin. We must bear patiently with each other and be careful not to add spiritual burdens to others that will cause them to stumble. We are all at different places in our growth. Again I repeat, that sin is always wrong for everyone!

Proverbs 30:5 "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. 6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." Rev. 22:18 "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book."