Please read the 1-minute devotion False Confidence as an introduction to this study.
First Timothy 1:7 explains that false teachers often exude confidence.
Sadly, when doctrinal errors are repeated often enough, we not only believe them, we also defend them with confidence.
We can avoid believing and promoting errors by reading our Bibles, studying them in context, and avoiding materials written by those who teach selfish doctrines.(1)
2 Timothy 2:15: "Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth. We have confidence to come boldly to God because we have faith in Christ." (AMP)
I encourage you to read the entire context of 2 Timothy 2:15 which gives a fuller understanding of what it means to correctly handle God's Word: 2 Timothy 2.
To avoid putting confidence in false teaching, we must let God's truth permeate every area of our thinking and living. Then, as the passages below state:
1. We will find confidence in the Lord, not in ourselves.
Jeremiah 17:7: "Blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence."
2. Our righteousness will give us confidence and peace.
Isaiah 32:17: "This righteousness will bring peace. Yes, it will bring quietness and confidence forever."
3. We will have confidence to come to God because we have repented of our sins and have a clean conscience.
1 John 3:21: "Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God."
4. We will have confidence in our salvation because God's love is evident in our lives.
1 John 4:16-17: "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus."
6. We have confidence in our prayers because we want God's will, not our own.
1 John 5:14: "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."
7. We will have confidence because we are persevering in our faith.Hebrews 10:35-36: "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised."
8. We will have confidence that we are doing valuable ministry in the lives of others because we are relying on Him and not on ourselves.
2 Corinthians 3:3-5: "You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God."
9. We will have confidence that God is going to complete His work in our hearts and minds as we yield to His lordship.
Ephesians 3:12: "Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence."
May God increase our confidence in all of these areas and reveal any areas where we have placed confidence in error.
Philippians 1:6: "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."
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(1) For more insights, see:
Dwelling on Scripture
Context Adds Clarity
Don't Trust Teachings that Distort God's Word
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