How can you not be in error? How can you avoid mistakes that will make you miserable? In Matthew 22:29 Jesus told the Sadducees they were in error for two major reasons. Mark’s gospel has Jesus asking them to think about why they were in error. I think Jesus’ thoughts here are a great place to start when we try to consider why we don’t seem to have the answers.

Here’s the answer to all your questions. You can only understand this world when you fully considered the Scriptures and the power of God. The Sadducees had their “panties in a wad” so to speak because they did not believe in the resurrection, and they had a compelling reason for believing this way—marriage. After all, if your spouse died and you married another, it’s not a problem until you get to the resurrection and how do you decide who your spouse is then? It made perfect sense to them. This was their age-old question to trap Jesus. Don’t laugh. This was serious to them. It caused them to separate from the other religious leaders; it was their line in the sand!

Here’s the problem. They did not read the Scriptures. No, the Scriptures did not spell out exactly that we will be like angels in that we will not marry or reproduce in heaven like we do on earth. However, the question of eternal being was implied when you read the Scriptures. The Sadducees were religious leaders. They had access to the Scriptures. They supposedly had read the Scriptures and were most likely familiar with the Scriptures that Jesus pointed out to them. Everyone knew the account of Moses and the burning bush. God told Moses that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God of the living!

What about the power of God? That was not spelled out to them by Jesus. Again it is implied throughout the entire Bible. God created people. God created angels. God resurrected the dead. God spoke to Moses from a burning bush. Need I go on? The power of God is everywhere you look. His power is in the sun that rises and sets daily. His power is in the air we breathe. His power is abundant in the midst of the chaos of this world.

If you do not want to be badly mistaken in this life, I suggest that you get to know the Scriptures and the power of God. Don’t let the circumstances in which you find yourself define what you believe about God. Look at the way He reveals Himself in His Word, in His world, and most especially in His Son. You will find all the answers you need. You will find all the answers that are available to you. One of the best answers I receive (after a lot of inquiry, which is mandatory before this answer makes sense) is that I can never know the answers. What I can know is God. When the Scriptures do not spell out the answer then I can find comfort in the power of God. God is infinite and I am finite. I cannot possibly understand all there is to know. That doesn’t stop me from wanting to know. I follow the latest discoveries about the universes. I love learning more and more. I don’t come to the same conclusions as others because I base my knowledge on the Scriptures. I do not contradict the Scriptures even when science seems to have proven them wrong. I know there is more to discover.

A case in point. When they started excavating first century Jerusalem, they thought they had proved the Scriptures wrong because there was no Pool of Bethesda where the gospels stated Jesus had healed a crippled man. A few years later they found the place. I have no idea how old the earth is. I know that the Bible tells me God created it with the word and in a process. I have no way of knowing exactly how it was done and neither do scientists. They have made a step of faith to use their best dating but they have no way of knowing absolutely.

I don’t want to be in error about my doctrine or my life decisions. The safest way to make good decisions is always to consult the Scriptures and never underestimate the power of God!