By Dr. Don Bierle, FaithSearch President

At His trial, Jesus told Pontius Pilate that He had “come into the world to bear witness to the truth.” Pilate cynically replied, “What is truth?” (John 18:37-38). That is precisely the question in this third and final discussion on Christian doctrinal variation: What is the authority for Christian faith and practice?

In the previous two parts, I featured the Gospel of salvation (grace alone  [sola gratia] through faith alone [sola fide]) and the nature of Jesus (the man Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God [solus Christus]). 

Here I want to examine how various “Christian” groups measure up to the Protestant Reformers’ position that final authority is exclusive to Scripture (sola scriptura). A corollary to that is whether some “Christian” groups might have a “different spirit” (2 Corinthians 11:4). 

By Dr. Don Bierle, FaithSearch President

The apostle Paul identified how you can know whether someone claiming to be a Christian has gone wrong (2 Corinthians 11:4). If they have a: 

• Different Gospel (way to be saved); 
• Different Jesus; 
• Different spirit; or 
• Different authority.

In part 1 of this 3-part series, I identified the biblical Gospel (grace alone by faith alone) and discussed the deviations from this in several groups who claim to be Christian. The major departure is the unbiblical addition of human “works” to be saved.

In part 2, I want to address a “different Jesus.” This test points the way to distinguish between genuine Christian groups and those often identified as “cults.”