Quote:
Originally Posted by llthomasjr
Arn't personal convictions most of the time "Man made doctrine"? Especially if we think ourselves righteous for living by such standards. If they are biblically based.... then they are not personal.... right...
What you think?
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A personal conviction is when a person (you or I included) is convinced by their conscience about something, whether it be right or wrong, true or false. Every one of us has them, and none of us agree absolutely about everything in life because we have different personal convictions. So they are very important.
While God's word is THE truth, and final authority in all matters of faith and practise for the Bible believing Christian, we still don't always agree on eveything in it. Call it private interpretation or personal conviction, the fact is we don't all agree on eveything when it comes to the word of God. God knows this, and so He tells each of His children to work it out, to be fully persuaded in our mind, and if we choose to ignore certain truth so be it, we will be accountable:
Philippians 2:12b ...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Romans 14:5b Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
1 Corinthians 14:38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.
I don't like the "personal conviction" excuse any more than you do when it comes to something in the Bible that I see and understand to be so clear and simple, but I have grown enough in the Lord to know that Christians are all at different levels of spiritual growth, and that over time personal convictions DO change. They may not change to be exactly the same as mine, but I will not be giving an account at the judgment seat of Christ for anyone else's personal convictions but my own!