Discernment and growth always stops when the truth is sacrificed for certainty in logic. As Larry Bird the Hall of Fame basketball player said “when you are satisfied with yourself, improvement ends”.

Every cult, every false church’s indoctrination goal is to lead the congregant on something called certainty in false teachings which cannot be found in Scripture and/or test out through Scripture’s doctrines. The truth is disregarded then for certainty at which time that congregant who is fully indoctrinated now will not listen to anything else.

Have you ever ran into such an individual? You present the Biblical Gospel and ask that you be discerned by Scripture, and no matter what the evidence you present, that person believes you are wrong. And they are absolutely certain that their cult or church is correct.

An example I will give is in a Facebook group, a Christian has presented over hundred flaws or contradictions from the Roman Catholic catechism against Scripture. The evidence is shown, and despite the clarity, Roman Catholics invariably will argue against it based on their indoctrinated certainty.

If you believe you are beyond correction, your growth will end. “The preacher told me or the church told me so, so that’s it” is the mindset in this. If Scripture is not your ultimate authority leading you to all truth and practice in your faith, you are not growing but actually dying.

By this, every statement of faith should be tested to its limit! Paul said in 1 Thess 5:21 “Test all things, hold fast to what is good”. How could this be done if there wasn’t an objective truth standard? And that standard is always the revealed word of God, Scripture, it is inerrant and the objective. Paul did not say “test somethings”, but “all things”.

If indoctrinated by a false church or teacher in certainty, the sinner will be shown to be non-pliable. They are above any correction, above any further testing. You could show them for example word for word from Scripture and the contradiction of their belief, and they will say “no, that is wrong”.

Eschatology for example which is probably the hardest doctrine to understand, good Christian folks will be absolutely certain that their 19th century or 20th century originated view is the correct version. They are unwilling to listen to any other interpretation because their preacher said thus. So at that very point, discernment in seeking for the objective truth ends no matter what further evidence might be demonstrated by the Holy Spirit.

If man is leading you in certainty to certain things, beware, you can be led on the path to destruction. If it is Scripture leading you to the certainty of the truth, you will be led by God only who cannot error. You see, certainty cannot be separated from that objective truth as an outside biblical tradition. Meaning, an invention of man is never certain! TEST ALL THINGS, DO NOT ACCEPT ALL THINGS!

By this, I am not saying certainty such as eternal assurance cannot be obtained, it can! But the only way it can be obtained is by the teaching IN SCRIPTURE where that objective truth is clearly shown. Certainty cannot be obtained if Scripture’s truth is not clearly and undeniably backing it up. So a preacher can teach certainty ONLY in the objective truths shown in Scripture. But don’t just take their word on it, study and discern it because many will pervert certain texts and ignore context. Keep studying and testing until that particular teaching is undeniable by the source of Scripture. Only then you can be certain. If the teaching cannot be shown in Scripture and does not test out, discard it!

The teaching in Scripture are immense, never be satisfied with knowledge because in this lifetime you will and can still be corrected by Scripture. You will never know everything, but keep striving for more knowledge and wisdom of which can only come from God. And more importantly know that your preacher will never know everything either, so keep testing, keep studying, depend ONLY on the Holy Spirit to guide you into that certainty which can only come from God’s truth revealed in Scripture!