What About 'This Doctrine' or 'That One'?

We frequently have people write to us to ask about different religious doctrines they have encountered. Some of these questions are from honest questioners and I’m glad to share my convictions as the Lord enables, knowing that they will have to seek the Lord for themselves and be fully persuaded in their own minds. Other times we hear from those whose letters have a different flavor – a single-minded attachment to some idea and a spirit to correct and/or persuade anyone they can get to listen to them.

The following was the second communication with someone who wrote about a doctrine that contends that we must use the correct name for God and His Son or be rejected. There are several flavors of this doctrine, each with its own version of the correct names! Although my answer concerned a particular teaching, the principles involved apply in many situations. As I prayed about answering, I felt that I was dealing with a spirit and that reasoning and debate would be fruitless and hence the answer.


I do not believe that there is any argument I can offer which will convince you. Although it is possible for men to originate doctrines (teachings), most religious doctrines are the result of inspiration from the spirit realm. The inspiration may come from God or it may come from a demon (I Tim. 4:1). To the extent we receive any doctrine that comes to us from demon inspiration, to that extent does that demon gain a hold in our lives and minds. When someone has been “bitten” by such a doctrine there is no argument that will avail.

Jesus gives us a key to identifying the inspiration for doctrines in John 7:17. “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.” The key is our wills. If in our hearts we desire God’s will above our own then we may look to Him and expect His help in recognizing that which is of Him and that which is from some other source.

In all my experience with the Lord, He has never required that I or anyone else I know use a “magic name” in order to gain His attention or favor. I hope you will sincerely turn your heart to the Lord and humbly ask Him about all this, your will submitted to His, without prejudice. In your questioning of me, you adopt the posture of one who has embraced these ideas and is trying to convince me of them. In approaching the Lord I hope you will adopt the position that Paul spoke of when he said, “And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.” I Cor. 8:2. The best approach is to let the Lord know that you don’t know, just want His will, and intend to rest in Him until such time as He reveals Himself to you on the subject.

Do not be swayed by plausible arguments. The world is full of them. I’ve heard it said, “The Bible is like a fiddle: you can play any tune on it you want to!” That’s true. That’s why spirits are so deceptive. They know how to subtly twist scriptures, connect them together with some plausible logic and totally pervert the intent of the Author.

The long and the short of it is this: you can know if you really want to!

May God bless you,
Phil Enlow

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