1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, ² speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron

I grew up in a town that had a canning factory. The silage from the peas and corn would produce a stench which was like an open sewer during the summer and fall which enveloped the town. The baseball-football field I played on was right next to this canning factory. And although other teams from other towns would come and complain about this stench, those of who lived there couldn’t understand what they were talking about. It wasn’t until I moved away and then came back to visit, that I could smell what the complaint was being waged over, it was a really bad stench!

The analogy of this is growing up in a false church and false teachings such as Roman Catholicism. Your system grows tolerant of the stench of the falsehoods so you do not realize there is a BAD smell. Your friends, family, and community all tolerate it, so when one questions your church, you are oblivious to the falsehoods. You believe your church is right and cannot be wrong.

But if you move away from this indoctrination and study Scripture, you will quickly realize the stench of false doctrines you were encompassed in! You see this direct path straight to Jesus Christ which your church put up roadblocks to and the sins of idolatry and blasphemy, the STINK coming from your indoctrinated worldview.

The smell test with doctrine is conducted only by the ultimate authority of Scripture! The teaching will either pass the test, or you will realize the horrible odor coming off it it. If Scripture is NOT your ultimate authority and instead the world is your authority, you will be like myself in the example of the stench coming off the canning factories silage, you will be OBLIVIOUS to that odor and sadly accepting of these false doctrines. And in time, you will have NO IDEA why there are complaints about your church.

So read Scripture, study Scripture without that stench! It should be teaching you outwardly, don’t inject the smell of your man made doctrines into it. MOVE AWAY from world religion and MOVE TOWARD God and His revealed word, only then you will smell what every Christian is smelling, and that is the horrible ghastly sewer that religion is producing. And that smell is DEATH! Place your faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, and you will now smell the sweet odor of LIFE!