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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Baptized before serving in choir | 1 Cor 12:13 | justme | 183317 | ||
Jeff: In Matthew 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you: and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age." NASB Baptism is not optinal, it is a command of Jesus Christ, who Christians are to follow His example. The Church members should be an example of following Christ leadership. The choir should be made up of believers that are following Jesus Christ and His Commands. Therefore when a local body of believers say unless you have been born again and baptized, this requirement is totally Biblical. Scripture tells us to test what we hear and see, against what the WORD says. I believe that the Church, meaning the bride of Christ is growing, and reaching out as never before. I do not believe "the church in general today has been filled with corruption and false teaching in a way never before seen." I do see that and failing in the church or it's members are brought to the attention of an audience that is far greater than ever before. This is due to the vastly improved way we communicate with TV internet, and many other ways of instant reporting. Having served as Pastor in the Souther Baptist, Conserative Baptist, and the American Baptist Churches USA, I can say there is no perfect church or denomination. I can say I have seen souls being transformed by Jesus Christ, as never before. Yes, there are false teachers and those who preach out of selfish motives, but it was that way in New Testament times as well. I am sorry you feel the church is missing the mark today because of lazy and unterested believers. I personally feel it is up to each believer to be respondsible for their own personal growth in Christ. I can do my best to become a believer who studies the Word, and developes a living active love relationship with Jesus Christ. I can show and demonstrate how to become a follower of Christ, but that is up to each person to be accountable to the Holy Father. I believe I have presented the Scriptual support you asked for. If you find a church that is unscriptual in the preaching, teaching or the requirements they have set, then it is your responsibility to find a church which is Scriptual in all the areas you listed. I too am very concerned that the statements I make in this Study Bible Forum are Scriptual, respectful, kind, and open for anyone to question. I believe it is the respondsibility and part of growing as Christians to ask, just as you have done, when something seems to need further explimation. Thank you for asking and I hope his has cleared up any questions you had. I am very optomistic in the Power of the Holy Spirit to convict sinners of their need for Jesus Christ. The Church is growing every minuet. I have seen the lives of changed people after receieving Jesus Christ as Lord. The Bride of Christ awaits the Bride Groom, and until He comes, the command is to GO make disciples. Blessings to you Jeff. Justme |
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2 | Baptized before serving in choir | 1 Cor 12:13 | DocTrinsograce | 183380 | ||
Dear Justme, Your optimism sounds downright Panglossian! The American church is not healthy at all! Quite the contrary! How can I make this assertion? Simple. The American church increasingly embraces the values of the world more than the values of the heaven. Your assertion that the gospel is being preached is equivalently problematic. The American church, in its effort to reduce the gospel to its bear essentials and render it inoffensive, now preaches another gospel, but one alien to that taught by Christ and the apostles. James I. Packer writes that "The sum of the gospel is this, that all who, by repentance and faith do forsake the flesh, the world and the devil, and give themselves up to Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as their creator, redeemer and sanctifier, shall find God as a father taking them for His reconciled children, and for Christ's sake pardoning their sin, and by His Spirit giving them His grace; and if they persevere in this course, will finally glorify them, and bestow upon them everlasting happiness." The modern American church member, when he attends church at all, doesn't want to forsake the flesh, the world, or the devil. He'll devote himself to God as long as God doesn't expect anything of him. He is unwilling to be placed under the knife of a life-changing gospel. He garners to himself ministers who are equally unwilling to deal with their own sin. The whole system renders something that looks no different than any other organization of lost people. No wonder it offers no appeal to the world. The world rightly sees it as no different than itself. In summary, if we are NOT talking about the Scriptural definition of the gospel, the church, the flock, and its ministers, then you're right. In Him, Doc PS My apologies, sister Azure, but I couldn't just leave this alone. "Wrong ideas about God are not only the fountain from which the polluted waters of idolatry flow; they are themselves idolatrous. The idolater simply imagines things about God and acts as if they were true. "Perverted notions about God soon rot the religion in which they appear. The long career of Israel demonstrates this clearly enough, and the history of the Church confirms it. So necessary to the Church is a lofty concept of God that when that concept in any measure declines, the Church with her worship and her moral standards decline along with it. The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God. "Before the Church goes into eclipse anywhere there must first be a corrupting of her simple basic theology. She simply gets a wrong answer to the question, 'What is God like?' and goes on from there. Though she may continue to cling to a sound nominal creed, her practical working creed has become false. The masses of her adherents come to believe that God is different from what He actually is, and that is heresy of the most insidious and deadly kind." --A. W. Tozer "A great many Christians at the end of the twentieth century appear to be interested in everything except Christ. You name it, we've got it! But the one thing we no longer believe in is the gospel. There's no room for irrelevant dogmas about original sin, total depravity, guilt, atonement, propitiation, substitution, justification, the sovereignty of God, regeneration and sanctification, judgment, heaven and hell. Nearly every one of these doctrines in our day is up for grabs; one does not have to hold a narrow position on these issues to wear the evangelical label." --Michael Horton |
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3 | Baptized before serving in choir | 1 Cor 12:13 | justme | 183422 | ||
Doc: Thank you for your post. This is is a good topic to dialogue on, I have not had this many responses in a long time. I was not dialoguing about any one county, and not the UK or the USA for sure. When the word Church is used that is the Bride of Christ, meaning the total complete number of believers. From the time that the first believers in Jesus Christ, came to salvation in Jesus Christ, until this present day is what I write about. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says the gates of hell will not overcome the Church. I do agree there is a constant growth of agressive assults of believers and the Church all over the world. This is in keeping with what Jesus said would take place in Matthew chapter 24. The number of believers is growing every day, more than ever before. There are lots of "tares" and they seem to be growing faster then ever before as well. Matthew 13:25,30, and 36 Jesus told us that the "wheat" would be mixed with the "tares". Perhaps, we never expected the "tares" of today, to bring such pressure and all but crowd us out? Are Christians in this present age, so convinced that we will be rescued before the tribulation, and not see a great "falling away" by those who have been "enlightened"? (Hebrews 6:4 to 6) FOXE'S BOOK OF MARTYERS severs us well to remind us that from the very first Christians to this present age to be a follower of Jesus Christ one will suffer, and there will be those who hate us because they hated Jesus. (Matthew 10:22) There are those who may look and act like believers, and Jesus warned us in Matthew 7:15 that just because someone looks like a believer does not mean they are. Matthew 7:21 Jesus said that not everyone who calls Him Lord belongs to Him. This should not surprise any genuine born again believer. Some denominations and churches, have gone astray and fall into what Romans 1:32 clearly warns us to be on alert for. The very issues and problems Paul faced are still alive and well today. However within some of these denominations and churches there is a "remnant" that struggles to show the error of the direction that gows against Jesus Christ and His teachings. Even in the conserative denominations the issue of same sex relations has been a topic of much heated debate. Year after year when denominations have their annual conventions the homosexual, lesbianism are persisteant in waging their war to gain a foothold, for being recognized as being equal, and acceptable for any and all positions of leadership and ministry. Sadly, some denominations have given into these perverts, and in doing so polluted themselves to the place they are more worldly than the world. I sincerely hope your statement to Azure "Wrong ideas about God are not only the fountian from which the polluted waters of idolatry flow; they are thenselves idolatrous. The idolater imagines things about God and acts as if they were true." are not a reflection of how you understand me to be or a response to my post. Augustine wrote 'In essentials, unity. In nonessentials, liberty. In all things, Charity." Having just a basic usage of English, I attempted to look up "panglossian". THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE does not have this word in it, would you be so kind to exlpain the meaning of this word? Please excuse my ignorance. I openly admit your superiorty with English, has me embarrassed to ask such a elementary question. justme |
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4 | Baptized before serving in choir | 1 Cor 12:13 | DocTrinsograce | 183427 | ||
Panglossian –adjective, Blindly or naively optimistic. [Origin: 1825–35; after Pangloss, an optimistic character in Voltaire's Candide] --American Heritage Dictionary | ||||||
5 | Baptized before serving in choir | 1 Cor 12:13 | justme | 183430 | ||
?: Checked again and it's not in our edition. Thanks. Justme |
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