Thou shalt remember that the Bible is a lamp unto thy feet and a light unto thy path. (Ps. 119:105) In other words, the Bible is your lamp-post. now, there are two ways you can use lamp-posts. Most people use them for illumination. Drunkards use them for support. So it is with the Scriptures. Some people get their opinions, attitudes, values, and beliefs from Scripture. Others -- most notably cultists and liberals -- have decided what they believe before they ever open a Bible. All they want from the Bible is support for the opinions they already hold.
It distresses many Christians when cultists seem to know the Bible so much better than we. It distresses us even more because we sometimes fear they might be right. How can they use the same Bible and yet believe exactly the opposite? Let me illustrate.
Suppose you are building a hot rod in your back yard. You ordered a kit from Ford and have followed their shop manual down to the last washer. Everything is complete and up to specs. Now it's time to set in the transmission. Just before you put it in place, a man taps you on the shoulder and says, ``You have it backwards.'' You stare at him in disbelief. ``Who are you?'' you ask. ``Henry Ford III,'' he replies. Well. Who are you to argue with Henry Ford? So you put it in as he tells you to, start the engine, put it in gear, let out the clutch -- and tear off in the wrong direction. Even with 100% factory parts and instructions, you went backwards. The problem is the phony who convinced you he was an expert and told you to ignore the plain words of the shop manual and trust him instead.
This is what all cultists do. They are told before they ever open a Bible that they will not find the Trinity there, or the vicarious atonement, or the resurrection of the body, or a heavenly afterlife. They are told that they will find a millennium, and that Jesus is only man. So it shouldn't surprise us when they do find those things.
As a matter of fact, though, following this Commandment will greatly strengthen your faith. The last time JWs came around to cast mud on the deity of Christ, I decided to search the Scriptures with an open mind before the next time they came. So I sat down with my Bible, started with Genesis, and copied down every single passage that said in plain English, ``Jesus is God.'' I had expected to find a couple dozen passages. Instead, I copied 125 pages of passages -- and another 125 pages of passages that prove the Holy Spirit is a Person rather than a force, which is what JWs teach.
Mormons do the same thing. They find in Scripture what they are told to find. They also use Scripture as a drunkard uses a light post; but Mormons do one thing more, which brings up the Eighth commandment: