Results 1 - 6 of 6
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | denominations. | Eph 4:3 | Wild Olive Shoot | 149166 | ||
Since I’ve been reading all the talk concerning denominational beliefs, I thought I could share my thoughts and pray they help to somewhat place things into perspective. Now I haven’t read all of the posts but it seems to me the ones I did read kind of repeat themselves, so I believe I have received the gist of it. The following is two-fold and looks into Ephesians 4 and then Ephesians 2. All scripture that I have quoted is taken from the NIV. We are all Christians, that is, we have established our faith in Christ. We believe that God incarnated Himself in human form, God the Son, Jesus Christ. He was born into this world by a virgin. He died on the cross for our sins and transgressions, was resurrected and ascended to Heaven and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father. He sent His Holy Spirit to baptize and indwell us, who believe, and mark us as His until His return, when we believers, will be seated with Christ for eternity and in the presence of God. We should be unified in those beliefs. In those beliefs we are the body of Christ (the church) to which He is the head. Read Ephesians 4. It displays how we (the church) should be unified in Christ and then gives us practical applications on how to achieve that. Paul explains in Ephesians 4 that we are to make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. Then shows the seven ways in which Christians are unified. How are we to make that “every effort” to keep the peace without surrendering basic beliefs? We all have noticed and especially as of late, how one denomination jokes or ridicules another because of differences, not so much fundamental beliefs, but more so on organizational beliefs. Many people jump on the Catholics for their belief that priests should not marry and many have problems confessing sins to another “man”. Many jump on the Pentecostal church for their speaking in tongues. I’ve done it. The Baptists have their organizational doctrine as well as the Methodists and they differ in practice, all of them. Each church organization has their own guidelines that members are to adhere to. Many have a no tolerance approach in dealing with those who don’t worship within those guidelines. I think this passage speaks directly to those people. Christians have a fundamental belief that I kind of outlined when sending the questions for this week. We need to keep the peace with others who promote the same fundamental beliefs. I think we do that with a loving disposition towards the body of Christ. Our Lord has established a common ground for to anchor to. Paul whenever he preached the Gospel to a new group, he established a common ground and worked within that realm. We need to see that example and follow it. When talking to another who may be from a different background or upbringing, we need to focus on similarities and not differences. So long as the fundamental beliefs are the same, we should be focusing on those in Christ. Promoting unity within the church, the whole church, just not our denominational church. Continued in next post. |
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2 | denominations. | Eph 4:3 | Wild Olive Shoot | 149167 | ||
Continued from previous post. In keeping the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace, what are the seven unifying features among Christians. These are items that establish our common ground as Christians. They are found in verses 4 and 5 of chapter 4. 4There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to one hope when you were called– 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. There is only one church, the church of Christ. It doesn’t matter what denominational name you place on it. There is only one Spirit that was sent to guide us and mark us. There is only one hope to which all of the believers are called. There is only one Lord, Jesus Christ. There is only one faith, the faith in Him who does offer us salvation. There is only one baptism in which we are baptized to Christ. There is only one God the Father, creator of the heavens and the earth. The great I Am, who is sovereign over all. These are the items that all Christians have in common that unite us into the body of Christ. Proverbs 6:16, 19 mentions things we are to avoid. Which of those do you think specifically addresses efforts to keep the peace? 16 There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19 a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. Look at the last part of verse 19. The Lord despises a man who stirs up dissension among his brothers. They are everywhere. We have all probably done this in some way shape or form. I know I have. Many of us look at our church as being the correct way or the only way. Let me tell you my thoughts, there is only one correct way and that is through faith in Jesus Christ. John 14 6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. By focusing on Christ, we can all agree and promote unity, the way it is intended and most assuredly, the way it will be when He returns, one way or the other. Knowing the things in which we should be unified, Ephesians 2:19-22 speaks to where we should be turning for answers by mentioning the foundation of which God’s house (us or the church) is built on. This is specific to us because we because though some of our answers are similar, some are very different as well. However, they should be coming from the same source, a common ground (or foundation), to guide us in our unification with one another and God based on common beliefs. Our answers may be different in application but only because we are all not in the same sphere spiritually and that is to be considered and expected since we are not the same person. We mature in Christ, mentioned in verses 11 through 13 of chapter 4, at a rate and speed most likely determined by Him and how open we are to His word. We mature with the help of those mentioned specifically in 4:11 as well as others. With all of that being said… What is the foundation spoken of in verse 20 of Ephesians 2? And what does each represent? This is a really neat answer, I think. The foundation mentioned in the verse is made up of the Prophets and the Apostles. What do you normally think of when you think of each? The Prophets for the most part are from the Old Testament. The Apostles are from our New Testament. Together, they comprise our Holy Bible. Now when Paul was writing Ephesians, of course there was no New Testament. But they did have the direct teachings of Jesus Christ as He had giving to His Apostles, which is basically our New Testament now. The teachings of the Prophets and the Apostles are our foundation in which we, the Temple is built, with Jesus Christ as the Cornerstone, holding us together. So in essence, our answers that we reply with are taken from The Holy Bible. Any answers to question concerning God and Christ and His church have been revealed to us and should be found in The Holy Bible. Finished in next post. |
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3 | denominations. | Eph 4:3 | Wild Olive Shoot | 149168 | ||
Continued from previous post. The goal I am trying to reach is this: Though our outlook differs somewhat from person to person, it is only because the Scripture in which we read is applied to our lives differently. Our circumstances our not the same, our physical conditions are not the same, our maturity in Christ is not the same and our application of God’s word in our lives is not the same. All of these play a vital role in the Spirit revealing to us what He deems necessary at the time. But our Lord has still established a common ground for us to anchor in. If we pull from that, though our answers seem different, we still remained unified in Him, the essential source of those answers. Hebrews 6 lays the elementary teachings of Christ. The author of Hebrews tells us that we need to move on to more mature teachings. Hebrews 6: 1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And God permitting, we will do so. In our maturity process, Paul points out in Ephesians that we need to hold on to the fundamental beliefs as we grow in Christ. Ephesians 4: 4There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to one hope when you were called– 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But as we mature, our application of God’s word may differ in our lives. That’s okay. That’s to be expected. But we should be promoting that in unity and with the understanding, that although we differ slightly in the application of God’s word, we still pull those applications from the common source of Jesus Christ and what God has revealed to us in His word. The answers we search our in the Bible. Are all of the answers there? No, I don’t think so. I know God hasn’t revealed to us when His Son will be returning. But what the Bible is to me is God’s complete revelation to us. God, in His infinite wisdom, has given us all we need to know. All the answers that we need to live a life to accomplish His work in us, has been revealed in His word to us, all of them. Now I’m not saying that there isn’t other material available to help us, but in the end, our Holy Bible has to be the final authority concerning our questions of God, Christ and His Church. I trust that God knows what is needed and I realize that, who am I to question God and claim that He still owes me answers. In my finite worldly wisdom, I have done that and I have been wrong. God owes me nothing. He owes us nothing. He has graciously given us what we need to live our lives in a manner pleasing to Him. And we owe it to Him to do that. He has also informed us that all questions will be answered in the end. But we have to get there first. Faith is the key: Hebrews 11 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. So as long as our outlook and answers are rooted in the basic principals of the fundamental beliefs of Christianity, can they be wrong? Not if we let the Spirit guide us on our search for those answers. We know our Bible does not answer all questions, but on a subject to which the Word is silent, we must rely on our consciences, our hearts, the Spirit of God to guide us. We risk much by turning to worldly wisdom to find our answers. Now like I said, there is plenty of material out there to help us along the path, but scripture forewarns us of the dangers of it as well, so let us choose our material wisely, with a godly wisdom. Just my thoughts. WOS |
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4 | denominations. | Eph 4:3 | Wild Olive Shoot | 149169 | ||
Scripture that I hope supports my stance concerning the preceding posts. Corinthians 2:6-16 1 Corinthians 3:18-20 Galatians 1:6-9 1 Timothy 1:4-6 1 Timothy 4:1-5 2 Timothy 3:16-17 2 Timothy 4:2-4 Titus 1:8-16 Colossians 2:4-8 |
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5 | denominations. | Eph 4:3 | EdB | 149192 | ||
Wild Olive I agree with most of what you mention but two things bother me, you seem to excuse denominational differences as merely our differences of application of the truth. Application is crux of the problem not a side issue of Christianity. The Pharisees knew the law but their failure came on application. Jesus told us to be in unity and one accord not at different levels of application. Also you mention maturity, does my maturity or my lack of maturity excuse my actions? They might be an explanation for my actions but the fact is I need to bring my actions into line with God’s commands. Again this almost circles back to the application. God didn’t call us to apply his words according to our environment, our social status, our maturity of lack thereof, of by any other standard other than do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That all said I thank you for thoughtful response to this issue, and I want to think reread what you said because there is a lot of good in it. Thanks EdB |
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6 | denominations. | Eph 4:3 | Wild Olive Shoot | 149206 | ||
Hey EdB, just trying to shed some light on the subject. Please, don't look at anything I stated as argumentative or defensive. Just to clarify something though, when speaking on maturity, I wasn't implying that anyone or any denomination was immature. But many seem to argue over issues of basic Christian doctrine and get stuck at that level, referencing the scripture taken from Hebrews. The arguments over doctrine, which should already be well known to the new or existing Christian, are rather immature, and we should move on. Sort of like moving on to bigger and better things, growing spiritually and progressing towards Christ promoting unity not dissension. Get over what we already know as fact and move on to more mature things that we should be learning. That's all. Regarding application, I agree with you 100 percent. Application of God's word in our life is of the utmost importance. After all, what is the purpose of God's word given to us if we don't apply it? I just feel that application will vary based on where we are in our spiritual growth with Christ. Since we are all not at the same level, application can vary, but application is still the desire. Glad you thought there were some good things you could pull. That's what my hope was and if they helped just one, then it served its purpose. I must let you know, your reply helped my perspective as well and I thank you for that. WOS |
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