Do you brethren recall this part of the story of Paul's journey to Rome:
Acts 27
[22] And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.
[23] For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
[24] Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
I hope to use this to draw a spiritual illustration. We are the generation that has had handed to us, (on a silver platter of schismatic dogma,) the doctrines, creeds, and interpretations of our forefathers. Many, but not all, are from the Reformed school of theology, both Calvinistic and Arminian, (Calvin and Arminis were both Reformed theologians.) We also have the testimonies of the anabaptists, and the many churches that never did affiliate with Rome and her doctrines.
Today we (generally,) fall into one of the two camps of the Reformed, (Calvinist or Arminian.) I'd like to make a case for NEITHER. Instead of A, Arminian, or C, Calvinist, perhaps we could chose, B, Balanced Bible Believer. Right down the center. Back to our passage of scripture.
The Angel of the Lord told Paul, that there would be no loss of any man's life, only the ship. However, if someone would have jumped overboard and tried to make it on their own, they would be OUTSIDE of the promise of God. They were only safe IN THE SHIP, even though it appeared to be in peril.
We are safe in Christ. Jesus said:
John 10
[27] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
What clean doctrine, the Doctrine of Christ. . . the Apostles doctrine. Figure out if you are one of his sheep, and follow him. Do not stop. Those who are still following at the end, they are his sheep. Do some lose it? Did some never have it? Let me ask, why make a schismatic case? Just do the simple thing, follow. That's were we are safe, just like in the ship.
W@e have both a promise and a warning, which is right?
John 10
[28] And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
[29] My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
John 15
[6] If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Before you reach for you "pet theology" remember:
Prov. 30
[5] Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
[6] Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
This keeps us from our tendency to say, "Yes, but. . . " or "But, also. . ." Why don't we just leave God's word alone and let it preach to us?
If we do this:
2 Peter 1
[10] Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
Does that make us a Calvinist or an Arminian? Why don't we chose neither and start begging God to make us SIMPLE disciples, brethren, believers.
2 Tim. 2
[23] But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
"Which is right, Calvinism or Arminianism?" can be heaped in there with, "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" Questions that only gender strifes. I've seen where this cause brethren to have a hard time obeying:
John 13
[35] By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
We are always going to have our "preferences" when it comes to interpretation, but we must always hold our "preferences" in "humble" hands. Hands that know they can be wrong in some points. This will help us to:
Eph. 4
[2] With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Just some thoughts on this topic I have discussed many times in the chueches I attend, (which generally come from a different theological viewpoint than I had originally learned.)
Ben
Acts 27
[22] And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.
[23] For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
[24] Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
I hope to use this to draw a spiritual illustration. We are the generation that has had handed to us, (on a silver platter of schismatic dogma,) the doctrines, creeds, and interpretations of our forefathers. Many, but not all, are from the Reformed school of theology, both Calvinistic and Arminian, (Calvin and Arminis were both Reformed theologians.) We also have the testimonies of the anabaptists, and the many churches that never did affiliate with Rome and her doctrines.
Today we (generally,) fall into one of the two camps of the Reformed, (Calvinist or Arminian.) I'd like to make a case for NEITHER. Instead of A, Arminian, or C, Calvinist, perhaps we could chose, B, Balanced Bible Believer. Right down the center. Back to our passage of scripture.
The Angel of the Lord told Paul, that there would be no loss of any man's life, only the ship. However, if someone would have jumped overboard and tried to make it on their own, they would be OUTSIDE of the promise of God. They were only safe IN THE SHIP, even though it appeared to be in peril.
We are safe in Christ. Jesus said:
John 10
[27] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
What clean doctrine, the Doctrine of Christ. . . the Apostles doctrine. Figure out if you are one of his sheep, and follow him. Do not stop. Those who are still following at the end, they are his sheep. Do some lose it? Did some never have it? Let me ask, why make a schismatic case? Just do the simple thing, follow. That's were we are safe, just like in the ship.
W@e have both a promise and a warning, which is right?
John 10
[28] And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
[29] My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
John 15
[6] If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Before you reach for you "pet theology" remember:
Prov. 30
[5] Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
[6] Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
This keeps us from our tendency to say, "Yes, but. . . " or "But, also. . ." Why don't we just leave God's word alone and let it preach to us?
If we do this:
2 Peter 1
[10] Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
Does that make us a Calvinist or an Arminian? Why don't we chose neither and start begging God to make us SIMPLE disciples, brethren, believers.
2 Tim. 2
[23] But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
"Which is right, Calvinism or Arminianism?" can be heaped in there with, "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" Questions that only gender strifes. I've seen where this cause brethren to have a hard time obeying:
John 13
[35] By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
We are always going to have our "preferences" when it comes to interpretation, but we must always hold our "preferences" in "humble" hands. Hands that know they can be wrong in some points. This will help us to:
Eph. 4
[2] With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Just some thoughts on this topic I have discussed many times in the chueches I attend, (which generally come from a different theological viewpoint than I had originally learned.)
Ben
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