Results 1 - 9 of 9
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Creating converts to Islam? | 1 Cor 1:12 | Brian.g | 32889 | ||
Joe Sorry for the delay in responding. Christ bestowed unity on his Church from the beginning. Christ always gives his Church the gift of unity, but the Church must always pray and work to maintain, reinforce, and perfect the unity that Christ wills for her. This is why Jesus himself prayed at the hour of his Passion, and does not cease praying to his Father, for the unity of his disciples: (John 17:21)"That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be one in us, . . . so that the world may know that you have sent me." The desire to recover the unity of all Christians is a gift of Christ and a call of the Holy Spirit (John 17:12) “When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled”. (Matthew 16: 19) I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." If an individual seeking God is within the light of a true Christian community, regardless of our personal feelings as to how imperfect the community or incomplete the light: we are not justified in attempting to pull that person from the light, on the belief that the they will eventually receive a more complete light within our community. It is during the time, away from the light, in which the soul can be lost. (Colossians 1: 18) “And He is the head of the body, the church.” All true Christian denominations, together, form The Church of Christ, the body of which Christ is the head. (1 Corinthians 1: 12) “I mean that each of you is saying, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Kephas," or "I belong to Christ." Our responsibility as Christians is to build up and support all parts of the Body of Christ. If you feel that one part of the Body is insufficient, then work to build up that part of the Body. Then, the Body of Christ, as a whole, will be stronger for Christ and His people. (Matthew 12:25) Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand” (Mark 3:25) If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand (Luke 11:17) Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. (1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 20-27) As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. Now the body is not a single part, but many. But as it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I do not need you," nor again the head to the feet, "I do not need you." Indeed, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are all the more necessary, and those parts of the body that we consider less honorable we surround with greater honor, and our less presentable parts are treated with greater propriety, Whereas our more presentable parts do not need this. But God has so constructed the body as to give greater honor to a part that is without it, So that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same concern for one another. If (one) part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy. Now you are Christ's body, and individually parts of it. Christ bestowed unity on his Church from the beginning. Christ always gives his Church the gift of unity, but the Church must always pray and work to maintain, reinforce, and perfect the unity that Christ wills for her. Brian |
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2 | Creating converts to Islam? | 1 Cor 1:12 | Reformer Joe | 32956 | ||
Brian: I was wondering where you had disappeared to! You wrote: "Christ bestowed unity on his Church from the beginning." This an interesting statement, one that has been examined in the history of the church. In what exactly does this unity consist? We see from the epistles that there were indeed divisions and contentious people and false teachers in congregations almost from the beginning. Paul even had to rebuke Peter publicly at one point! Obviously, we differences among Christian denominations today, and divisions because of those differences. So what is your understanding of this "unity" which Christ bestowed upon the church? "If an individual seeking God is within the light of a true Christian community, regardless of our personal feelings as to how imperfect the community or incomplete the light: we are not justified in attempting to pull that person from the light, on the belief that the they will eventually receive a more complete light within our community. I agree with you here to a certain extent. Of course, what makes a community a "true Christian community"? The people of God are defined by the Word of God. Also, how "imperfect" does the light have to be to fall out of that "true Christian community" category? A very good example are churches which hold to certain orthodox doctrines (e.g. the Trinity) but are led by greedy and abusive leaders. The fact is that just because a congregation labels itself a Christian church does not mean that it is one. What is your criteria for determining whether a community is a Christian one or not? --Joe! |
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3 | Creating converts to Islam? | 1 Cor 1:12 | Brian.g | 33212 | ||
Joe, Our unity is in the Trinity and all it represents. Looking to Paul and Peter, or more specifically Jerusalem and Paul, as justification for disharmony among Christians is wrong. The Gospel defines our responsibility to build up the Church of Christ, not to attack any part of it. Luke 9: 46-48 An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest (Luke 9:49-50) Then John said in reply, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company." Jesus said to him, "Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you." Creating disharmony among Christians only serves our own egos, not Christ. By diminishing another Christian’s efforts, we are chancing the loss of a soul to seek God in a non-Christian light. That soul is not ours to loose. It is not the proper way to serve God. Brian |
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4 | Creating converts to Islam? | 1 Cor 1:12 | Reformer Joe | 33217 | ||
Brian: You wrote: "Our unity is in the Trinity and all it represents." So ANY church that affirms the Trinity is a truly biblically-functioning church? "Looking to Paul and Peter, or more specifically Jerusalem and Paul, as justification for disharmony among Christians is wrong." I wasn't looking to them for justification, but rather showing that there was disagreement in the church from the very beginning. There has never been a time since the very inception of the church where there has been a lack of disagreement. Most of the church councils (such as Nicea, which gave us the formal codification of the Trinitarian formula) arose from disputes among teachers in the church. The epistles were largely written as defense against false teachings WITHIN the flock. Much of your own Catholic teaching relies on Trent, which was the Roman church's defense against that old "heretic," Martin Luther. Anyone who has done even the most cursory study of church history can easily affirm that there has been at least as much conflict as consensus. You quote Luke 9:49-50 in support of your view. I agree that the "company" I keep is not the only true church. However, we also must take into account passages like Matthew 7:21-23 to realize that not everyone who claims the name of Christian is indeed a Christian, despite their false claims to having done His deeds; and, by extension, every church that claims the name of a Christian church is not a Christian church. I would never diminish the efforts of a Christian church to proclaim the true gospel. It is my duty as a follower of Christ to faithfully tell others of His word, including those who are being told an incomplete or false gospel. The lowest common denominator of biblical Christianity is not simply affirming that God is One in being and Three in Person, in any case. Neither official Catholic teaching nor classical Protestant teaching would hold to that. --Joe! |
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5 | Creating converts to Islam? | 1 Cor 1:12 | Brian.g | 33220 | ||
Joe My words are very clear. Instead of using history to justify creating disharmony, I would hope that people use the Gospel to understand how to promote harmny. That is my understanding as to what pleases God. Brian |
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6 | Creating converts to Islam? | 1 Cor 1:12 | Reformer Joe | 33246 | ||
Your words are not terribly clear, because this whole line of circumlocution can really be summed up in your REAL point: that Protestants shouldn't evangelize Catholics. And I will stop evangelizing Catholics when you all have the evangel right. --Joe! |
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7 | Creating converts to Islam? | 1 Cor 1:12 | Brian.g | 33251 | ||
Joe The Gospel defines our responsibility to build up the Church of Christ, not to attack any part of it. Creating disharmony among Christians only serves our own egos, not Christ. By diminishing another Christian’s efforts, we are chancing the loss of a soul to seek God in a non-Christian light. That soul is not ours to loose. It is not the proper way to serve God. And with that, I think this discussion should be over. Brian |
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8 | Creating converts to Islam? | 1 Cor 1:12 | Reformer Joe | 33297 | ||
Brian: You wrote: "It is not the proper way to serve God." Tell that to the student at my school who has grown up a stranger to Christ in a nominally Catholic environment but came to embrace Christ rather than the church of Rome on Saturday. If the RCC and its magisterium actually didn't raise individuals to be complete strangers to Christ, then maybe your argument would hold some water. Fact is, just like my mother-in-law did several decades ago, this student has found eternal life apart from the local Catholic parish and not within it. Hence the need for a Reformation... --Joe! |
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9 | Creating converts to Islam? | 1 Cor 1:12 | CDBJ | 33311 | ||
Joe, my wife found the truth about Jesus in spite of spending all of her years of growing up in Catholic schools and attending the Catholic church. The true church of Christ isn't an organization it is an organism and only those that have been born into God's family are genuine members. It is impossible to convince those that aren't members that they that they don't really belong, but once the Holy Spirit does his work the change is phenomenal to say the least. But this doesn't happen unless the one in question gives up everything that they are trusting in and turns to Jesus for full assurance! | ||||||