Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Ephesians 4:11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 4:11 And [His gifts to the church were varied and] He Himself appointed some as apostles [special messengers, representatives], some as prophets [who speak a new message from God to the people], some as evangelists [who spread the good news of salvation], and some as pastors and teachers [to shepherd and guide and instruct], |
Bible Question:
HELP ME HERE! I quite agree with you in principal. But there are nearly 300 different denominations and sects most of which say they believe the Bible, yet they disagree with each other. For example I might say I could not fellowship with a Catholic Church because I disagree with too many important doctrines. You may pick a different church but could find some that you feel the same way about. Where one draws that line is a real point of concern for me. As we have attempted to fellowship with local churches, we find that our personal fellowship with God through scripture has made us unpalatable to these churches and them to be very uninteresting to us. The more we read and study our Bibles the less Biblical the churches seem and the farther to the right we tend to draw that line. Is there a chance that we are seeing II Timothy Chap 3 and 4 being fulfilled? |
Bible Answer: I can understand what you are saying. I too have been saddened by denominationalism. In my personal experience, I find to many Bibical reasons why I refuse to attend most denominations. The creeds and statements of many to me seem to exhalt some man's teachings above God's word. I have found that non-denominational churches better. Even in the church i presently attend and am a member of, I find that I don't agree with every individual on every matter. But I find that we have the freedom to dicuss those things we don't all think alike on, such as the timing of the rapture, free will, whether the atonement is limited or unlimited, whether once saved always saved is Bibical or not. The thing I find is that we all agree on the essentials of our faith, Jesus virgin birth, Jesus atoning sacrifice, his death, his resurrection, etc. etc. The preaching focuses on the essentials, and in the Sunday school classes we have the liberty and freedom to differ on the non-essentials, without being considered as odd. |