Any Other Gospel? - 1 John 2:19

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. -  1 John 2:19
              

    As a Confessional (i.e. Reformed Christian) the bulwark of my faith rests on the reliable veracity of the Bible. It is clearly the final arbiter when I weigh out suppositions regarding the doctrinal beliefs of others who call themselves “Christians.” As you can imagine it brings me into some challenging exchanges from time to time. “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” - Acts 17:11.
    It has always been that we must consider, even debate, issues regarding the proper interpretation of Scripture. It has divided the Reformed Church from the Roman Church from the Eastern Orthodox Church. It divides denominations! But there cannot be two or more interpretations of the words that our Holy God has inspired! “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” - 1 Corinthians 14:33.
    Erudite exegesis is absolutely necessary for the truthful interpretations which we hold as essential to salvific doctrines. Wrong interpretations result in the presentation of what Paul referred to as “any other gospel.” In fact, it was an issue of such gravity that he mentioned it twice in a paragraph - “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” - Galatians 1:8-9.
    I find that most contemporary non-Reformed Christian churches tend to try to soften the edges of the gospel, sometimes even avoiding the harder sayings of Scripture altogether. What it translates into is what Paul referred to as “another gospel!” After careful exegesis, we weigh what others say with what Holy Scripture says, and when the two diverge we can truly know that they “were not of us.” And as John says, they diverged from rightly interpreted Scripture to teach another gospel so that it would be made manifest to us that they are not of us. They are not truly Sola Scriptura Christians. They want to reinvent and reinterpret the Bible in spite of the fact that we are forbidden to do so.
    The Old Testament certainly proscribes the alteration of the Scriptures - “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.” - Deuteronomy 4:2. And again,  “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.” - Deuteronomy 12:32. In this book, Deuteronomy, Moses was explaining the law to the Israelites; It was simply that important!
    And what of Christ’s own words warning us to abstain from altering the Holy Scriptures in any way? “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” - Revelation 2218-19.
    Let us always pray for the Holy Spirit’s illumination when interpreting our Bibles, allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture, rather than allowing “other agendas” to exegete and define what God has truly revealed to us.