Good morning bloggy land.... :) I just had a thought I wanted to share with someone - probably just myself, but that's okay....
We need to be careful within the body of Christ as to what we present to other believers and non-believers as "the Gospel" when it isn't THE Gospel. Understand? No? Okay, let me explain.. :)
THE Gospel is this - God sent His Son - Jesus Christ - who died on the cross to save us from our sins and if we believe that by faith, we will spend eternity with Him in heaven. - That's it in a nutshell - Please reference John 3:16.
Now, here's my concern - Presenting other beliefs about Scripture as "the Gospel" - meaning we believe a certain interpretation of whatever Scripture we are studying and we present it as THIS IS THE WAY IT IS is quite frankly - dangerous. Now, I don't believe there is anything wrong with having an opinion about a particular Scripture as long as it doesn't conflict with THE Gospel. I don't believe there is anything wrong with being convicted about what you believe as long as it doesn't conflict with THE Gospel. I don't believe there is anything wrong with sharing that belief and your convictions. I believe the wrong comes in when we try to SHOVE those convictions down other people's throats and it isn't THE Gospel - and honestly, in my opinion, SHOVING even THE Gospel down a person's throat just isn't going to ever get you very far.
There are doctrinal issues that are hot buttons in the body of Christ. For example - beliefs about what Scripture says regarding the principle of divine election - one of the beliefs that goes with this doctrine is that God has predestined who will choose salvation and who will not because HE has already chosen. Now, don't think I'm gonna stick my finger in that pie and dump my belief about this doctrine out there because that's not my purpose. My point is that whatever you believe about this particular doctrine or ANY doctrine other than THE Gospel is between you and Jesus - that's why we have liberty in the Spirit, isn't it? - Romans 14 clearly states that we are NOT to pass judgment on the opinions about Scriptural things of those believers around us and we are to accept one another even though we might do things differently as God accepts us.
It frustrates me when I see people in the body of Christ slamming their proverbial fists down on tables and speaking with such disdain and contempt for another interpretation of Scripture that doesn't happen to line up with their own. Romans 14:10a - "But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt?" - This is just a clip from this particular chapter - please read it in its entirety to see that I have not taken it out of context, the entire chapter speaks about judging one another for differences in walking out faith in Christ.
We should study God's word very carefully and be convicted in His presence about what His word says and if appropriate - we should share those convictions with those around us. I don't believe there's anything wrong with that. However, we should remember that we are NOT God and we DID NOT write the words of the Bible and part of our journey with Christ is according to Philippians 2:12 - "...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling..."
If I can sum it all up, this is what I would say...
Our conversations with one another should be uplifting and edifying and when we get to sensitive areas, I believe SENSITIVITY IS REQUIRED. Not some snot-faced-high-on-a-horse-I-know-more-than-you-and-you-must-be-stupid-if-you-don't-agree stance. NO ONE IS SERVING JESUS WHEN THEY BEHAVE THIS WAY. Love should define every conversation - 1 Corinthians 13:2 - "If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."
Thank you for reading and I pray you have a blessed day.
We need to be careful within the body of Christ as to what we present to other believers and non-believers as "the Gospel" when it isn't THE Gospel. Understand? No? Okay, let me explain.. :)
THE Gospel is this - God sent His Son - Jesus Christ - who died on the cross to save us from our sins and if we believe that by faith, we will spend eternity with Him in heaven. - That's it in a nutshell - Please reference John 3:16.
Now, here's my concern - Presenting other beliefs about Scripture as "the Gospel" - meaning we believe a certain interpretation of whatever Scripture we are studying and we present it as THIS IS THE WAY IT IS is quite frankly - dangerous. Now, I don't believe there is anything wrong with having an opinion about a particular Scripture as long as it doesn't conflict with THE Gospel. I don't believe there is anything wrong with being convicted about what you believe as long as it doesn't conflict with THE Gospel. I don't believe there is anything wrong with sharing that belief and your convictions. I believe the wrong comes in when we try to SHOVE those convictions down other people's throats and it isn't THE Gospel - and honestly, in my opinion, SHOVING even THE Gospel down a person's throat just isn't going to ever get you very far.
There are doctrinal issues that are hot buttons in the body of Christ. For example - beliefs about what Scripture says regarding the principle of divine election - one of the beliefs that goes with this doctrine is that God has predestined who will choose salvation and who will not because HE has already chosen. Now, don't think I'm gonna stick my finger in that pie and dump my belief about this doctrine out there because that's not my purpose. My point is that whatever you believe about this particular doctrine or ANY doctrine other than THE Gospel is between you and Jesus - that's why we have liberty in the Spirit, isn't it? - Romans 14 clearly states that we are NOT to pass judgment on the opinions about Scriptural things of those believers around us and we are to accept one another even though we might do things differently as God accepts us.
It frustrates me when I see people in the body of Christ slamming their proverbial fists down on tables and speaking with such disdain and contempt for another interpretation of Scripture that doesn't happen to line up with their own. Romans 14:10a - "But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt?" - This is just a clip from this particular chapter - please read it in its entirety to see that I have not taken it out of context, the entire chapter speaks about judging one another for differences in walking out faith in Christ.
We should study God's word very carefully and be convicted in His presence about what His word says and if appropriate - we should share those convictions with those around us. I don't believe there's anything wrong with that. However, we should remember that we are NOT God and we DID NOT write the words of the Bible and part of our journey with Christ is according to Philippians 2:12 - "...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling..."
If I can sum it all up, this is what I would say...
Our conversations with one another should be uplifting and edifying and when we get to sensitive areas, I believe SENSITIVITY IS REQUIRED. Not some snot-faced-high-on-a-horse-I-know-more-than-you-and-you-must-be-stupid-if-you-don't-agree stance. NO ONE IS SERVING JESUS WHEN THEY BEHAVE THIS WAY. Love should define every conversation - 1 Corinthians 13:2 - "If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."
Thank you for reading and I pray you have a blessed day.