Biblical Ignorance within the Church

Biblical Ignorance within the Church
Wednesday, March 4, 2026 by Dr. James W. Walraven

Categories: Apologetics / Contemporary issues / God’s sovereignty / Scripture discussion / Spiritual deception / The church / Thought for Today / Truth telling

Biblical ignorance. Sadly, it seems that all too often, all too many Christians do not know what the Bible directly says. They’ve listened to a favorite preacher, teacher or theologian (perhaps even a blatantly unbiblical so-called “public theologian”), and concluded that whatever the favored person said is “the Gospel truth.”

Unfortunately, all teachers and preachers are human, myself included, and what we speak does not have the authority of Scripture. Just as the Bereans checked the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was true, so must we, to make sure that what any given preacher or teacher says is true.

But, what do we often find on social media? The other day I saw a discussion that centered around the certainty that Jesus’s death did not cover everyone’s sin. To insist that Jesus’s death did cover all sin was viewed by the writer as a heretical position. Indeed, some were making the point that if Jesus’s death covered the sins of everybody, everyone would be saved; there’d be universal salvation.

Biblically, none of that is remotely true. First, Jesus’s death does cover everyone’s sin. Jesus’s death paid for all sin (1 John 2:2). On the other hand not everyone will be saved. Jesus makes that abundantly clear in many different places. Much of 1 and 2 Thessalonians as well as the books of Jude and Revelation says the same.

Many, if not most, will be lost for all eternity. Consider how often Jesus warned of Hell. Consider His parable of the tares: the wheat is gathered into the barn, the tares are burned. Consider that a time is coming when God will send a strong deluision upon those who love wickedness.

Although a smattering of Christians have believed in universal salvation over the centuries—Origen was a huge proponent of it—it is a biblical lie (see my book: “Will God Save Everyone? Christian Universalism, Hell, Heaven, and the Scriptures”).

Sadly, over the years, I’ve run across the writings of extreme hyper-Calvinists who think that anyone who disagrees at all with their position is a heretic destined for Hell. On the other hand, I’ve also run across writings of extreme free-will advocates, who insist that anyone who dares disagree with their hyper free-will position is a heretic, destined for eternal Hell. Biblically, Jesus is clear. Will the world know we are his disciples by the way some declare all Christians who dare disagree with their favored theological position are heretics? No! The world will know we are his disciples by believers’ love for one another.

Scripture does speak of division, some of it even due to those who teach what is biblically true as compared to those who do not. 2 Peter and Jude go into that topic in depth. But in those cases we are not talking strictly about those who are part of the body of Christ. We’re talking about those who’ve infiltrated it attempting to wreak havoc. 2 Corinthians speaks of false teachers as well, of those who disguise themselves as angels of light, but who are in fact messengers of Satan.

Scripture must be our authority. The wisest thing we can do as Christians is to spend lots of time reading it. That is the sure way to know if someone is speaking what is biblically true or is in biblical error. Doing so is even more important as we get closer to Christ’s return. Jesus warns us of how false teachers and false prophets will increase in number; of how they will attempt to deceive Christ’s true disciples.

It is noteworthy that when it comes to the armor of God mentioned in Ephesians 6, the Word of God is the only offensive weapon that we have. When tempted, how did Jesus deal with Satan? He quoted Scripture.

When reading Scripture we have a choice. We can either place ourselves under the Scriptures, and let them inform us, or we can place ourselves over Scripture and dictate to it what it must mean; how any given passage must conform to our own theological ideas and interpretations. Reading one way leads to life, reading the other way leads to death.

Let us all immerse ourselves in Scripture. Let it inform us and change us.

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