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| Earl Gillespie |
Are We Prepaired to Meet God?.
The requirements to meet God
In the days past when we were young and playing in the sandbox, we had a way of bringing bullies under control. At first it was a simple statement, "I am going to tell my daddy" was enough to bring the bulling to a halt. To counter this threat the other party would respond in kind, "I will tell my daddy." The effectiveness of this ploy soon faded because of the lack of involvement by the fathers. It became necessary to reinforce this ploy with a response such as, "My daddy can whip your daddy." Each party would continue to recite the phrase, increasing the intensity and velocity until someone gave up out of frustration and either walked away or upped the ante. Did any of the parties involved believed their father was going to get involved in a childish argument? I doubt it. Thus began the preparation of our mind for the indoctrination that was sure to follow.
The rise of denominations within the Christian faith can be traced back to the Protestant Reformation, the movement to "Reform the Roman Catholic Church during the 16th century, out of which four major divisions or traditions of Protestantism would emerge: Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist and Anglician. From these four, other denominations grew over the centuries.
The Lutheran denomination was named after Martin Luther and was based on his teachings. The methodists got their name because of their founder, John Wesley, was famous for coming up with "methods" for spiritual growth. Presbyterians are named for their view on church leadership, the Greek word for elder is presbyteros. Baptist got their name because they have always emphasized the importance of baptism. Each denomination has a slightly different doctrine or emphasis from the other, such as baptism; the availability of the Lord's Supper to all or just to those whose testimony can be verified by the church leaders; the sovereignty of God verses free will in matters of salvation; the future of Israel and the church; pre-tribulation verses post-tribulation rapture; the existence of the "sign". Gifts in the modern era, and so and on.
These points of contention are never about Christ as Lord and Savior, but rather differences of opinion by godly but flawed people seeking to honor God and retain doctrinal purity according to their consciences and their understanding or lack of understanding of God Word. All who can accept this is on the road to a deeper understanding of the Word of God.
There are different methods of expressing the reception of the Spirit of God within one's life, it can vary from a simple prayer and an expression of faith (The sinner's prayer) to a dancing, shouting and wallowing on the floor while foaming at the mouth. Aside from the denominational division there is also an ethnic division within the household of faith. There are those that tone up, scream and shout to deliver a message, and those who simply teach the Word of God. If we try to determine what is right and what is wrong or even who is right and who is, we will become awash in a sea of confusion. Our argument becomes the same as the kids on the playground screaming, " my daddy can whip your daddy."
The Bible itself reveals the doctrines that are essential to Christian faith. They are 1. The deity of Christ, 2. Salvation by Grace, 3. Resurrection of Christ, 4. The Gospel and 5. Monotheism. These are the doctrines, the Bible says are necessary. Though there are many important doctrines, these five are the ones that are declared by the scripture to be essential. A non-regenerate person will deny one or more of these essential doctrines. There are other derivative doctrines of scripture that become necessary also, the Trinity is one, but how can you accept the Gospel without accepting the Trinity.
These five core doctrines should promote the teaching of a church or an assembly at every level. To deny one or more of these core doctrines is the base of false teaching. Is the Gospel hopelessly confusing? Not so, not even for little children. Here I must inject my favorite oxymoron, its called deliberate confusion. The devil started this game in the garden of Eden, the idea is not to deny the Word of God, but to inject confusion in the Word of God.
There are many times good men and women have a message that is good for the assembly, but because of the structure, the hierarchy of the assembly, they are not allowed to speak. In order to create an avenue of exposure they elect to form their own independent assembly. If this independent assembly is successful it began to branch out, and the problems it creator was trying to get away from, began to manifest itself again. Men and women in fancy suits and titles before their name began to appear and preverted the true message of God. Bogus checks are being drawn on bogus accounts and God is not honoring the claim.
The rise of denominations within the Christian faith can be traced back to the Protestant Reformation, the movement to "Reform the Roman Catholic Church during the 16th century, out of which four major divisions or traditions of Protestantism would emerge: Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist and Anglician. From these four, other denominations grew over the centuries.
The Lutheran denomination was named after Martin Luther and was based on his teachings. The methodists got their name because of their founder, John Wesley, was famous for coming up with "methods" for spiritual growth. Presbyterians are named for their view on church leadership, the Greek word for elder is presbyteros. Baptist got their name because they have always emphasized the importance of baptism. Each denomination has a slightly different doctrine or emphasis from the other, such as baptism; the availability of the Lord's Supper to all or just to those whose testimony can be verified by the church leaders; the sovereignty of God verses free will in matters of salvation; the future of Israel and the church; pre-tribulation verses post-tribulation rapture; the existence of the "sign". Gifts in the modern era, and so and on.
These points of contention are never about Christ as Lord and Savior, but rather differences of opinion by godly but flawed people seeking to honor God and retain doctrinal purity according to their consciences and their understanding or lack of understanding of God Word. All who can accept this is on the road to a deeper understanding of the Word of God.
There are different methods of expressing the reception of the Spirit of God within one's life, it can vary from a simple prayer and an expression of faith (The sinner's prayer) to a dancing, shouting and wallowing on the floor while foaming at the mouth. Aside from the denominational division there is also an ethnic division within the household of faith. There are those that tone up, scream and shout to deliver a message, and those who simply teach the Word of God. If we try to determine what is right and what is wrong or even who is right and who is, we will become awash in a sea of confusion. Our argument becomes the same as the kids on the playground screaming, " my daddy can whip your daddy."
The Bible itself reveals the doctrines that are essential to Christian faith. They are 1. The deity of Christ, 2. Salvation by Grace, 3. Resurrection of Christ, 4. The Gospel and 5. Monotheism. These are the doctrines, the Bible says are necessary. Though there are many important doctrines, these five are the ones that are declared by the scripture to be essential. A non-regenerate person will deny one or more of these essential doctrines. There are other derivative doctrines of scripture that become necessary also, the Trinity is one, but how can you accept the Gospel without accepting the Trinity.
These five core doctrines should promote the teaching of a church or an assembly at every level. To deny one or more of these core doctrines is the base of false teaching. Is the Gospel hopelessly confusing? Not so, not even for little children. Here I must inject my favorite oxymoron, its called deliberate confusion. The devil started this game in the garden of Eden, the idea is not to deny the Word of God, but to inject confusion in the Word of God.
There are many times good men and women have a message that is good for the assembly, but because of the structure, the hierarchy of the assembly, they are not allowed to speak. In order to create an avenue of exposure they elect to form their own independent assembly. If this independent assembly is successful it began to branch out, and the problems it creator was trying to get away from, began to manifest itself again. Men and women in fancy suits and titles before their name began to appear and preverted the true message of God. Bogus checks are being drawn on bogus accounts and God is not honoring the claim.
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