- Mar 28, 2005
- 21,810
- 10,792
- 76
- Country
- New Zealand
- Faith
- Charismatic
- Marital Status
- Married
I grew up in the Baptist church. I decided to read the bible and came across this:
Matthew 19:16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
And the baptist church was not teaching this. The baptist church taught, basically, believe Jesus died for your sins, ask for forgiveness and you are saved. Every once in a while thy would say you have to repent first.
I read the new testament and saw where Jesus taught we must try to follow the commandments and love our neighbors as ourselves to the best of our ability and ask forgiveness when we can not.
I kept searching for a church that actually taught this and I have come across a couple ministers who taught this, but the majority did not.
I studied the bible to see where the church went wrong and I found the concept of dispensation, basically saying Jesus wasn't talking to me. So they believe God came down as a man, spent 30+ years then taught a message that would only be good until he died in, what, two years? It was rediculous on the face of it. I studied many religions and it is hard to find any that teach what Jesus taught.
People go on about dispensationalism, which is just not true. They need to do this because they can not comprehend that following the ten commandments is not works, it is simply repentance, trying not to sin, turning from sin. So because they can not understand this they get confused when Paul says we are not saved by works, even though in the next chapter Paul says we must love our neighbors as ourselves and live in the spirit. So they have to invent dispensationalism, which is their religion and dogma.
They run across Paul saying he's elect and believe everyone saved is elect concluding in the errors of Calvanism. I see that God shortens the days or not *even* the elect are saved, so we need to ask ourselves then who besides the elect are saved? Paul even says I'm elect and you are saved because you hear and believe the word.
If any religion, which is most, has to throw away the words of Jesus our Lord and Savior, I want no part of the falsehoods.
I have been going to a non denominational church and while some non-denominational churches teach the word, this one teaches baptist dogma.
It pains my soul when I sit in a congregation and hear a pastor spew falsehoods. I have found that it is no use trying to teach the actual word of God, people always say, "but my pastor says this" and I explain from the scripture whete their pastor has erred and I get, "you should talk to the pastor, he'll explain it to you.". Argh!
When Jesus spoke to the rich young ruler, He was speaking in terms of the Old Covenant still. But Paul said that the Law of Moses was not done away with because it was good and instituted by God. In the Old Covenant, the Law was observed with rituals and sacrifices, because no one could keep the whole Law, so they had to have sacrifices at least once a year to keep them right with God. God knows the heart of people so, even then, He would know whether a person had a heart full of faith and trust in Him or not. Even so, a person approaching God through faith still had to make sacrifice for sin once a year.
When Jesus died on the cross, He became our one and only Sacrifice for sin. Hebrews tells us that there is no further sacrifice for sin. When a person accepts Christ as Saviour, he is covered by the righteousness of Christ and is fully justified by faith. Now, having said that, Paul says shall we continue in sin so that grace will abound? God forbid!. So he didn't believe that people could go on doing what they did before and still show a genuine faith in Christ. James agrees with him in that he said that if a person says he has faith, he needs to show it by his works. The RCC interprets that as a person is Justified by faith and works, but Paul says that people who teach that are false apostles.
Paul says that the Law is good and is not done away with. He says that it is fulfilled in Christ. This means that instead of having to try and follow an outwardly imposed set of regulations (which are different depending on what church you go to), the genuinely converted believer has the new law written on their heart. This means that their is an inner motivation to seek to live a holy life. Paul, in Galatians 5, shows the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. Sanctification is the believer's transformation from the works of the flesh to the fruit of the Spirit. This is a gradual, developmental process as the believer grows in grace and in the knowledge of God.
You mentioned Calvin. Have you read his Institutes? I have. He says quite plainly that if a professing believer is pressing in to holiness of life it shows that he is a genuine believer. He also says that when a person accepts Christ as Saviour and turns from evil and starts doing good, this is the evidence of Election. The evidence of Reprobation is when a person totally rejects Christ. He does not teach Election and Reprobation in terms of "You cannot make a decision for Christ because you are not one of the Elect", not did he at any stage say that because a person is Elect that he does not have to persevere in faith and holiness. He never taught that God deliberately reprobated people and blocked them from receiving Christ. The Scripture says that God is not willing that any should perish but that all may come to repentance. This means that God gives the invitation to all, but not all are going to accept, and that is what makes them reprobates. It was Calvin's followers later on who perverted his doctrine.
I think that many churches concentrate on justification by faith because so many good people are so sin conscious and trying to do good works in order to remain saved and acceptable to God that they are suffering condemnation. This is come about through false holiness teaching that suggested that holiness is essential to salvation. People who believe that are confusing Justification with Sanctification. Justification is by faith in Christ alone. No good works of ours will achieve that. But the evidence of a genuine conversion is that a person will have a passion for and be doing the good works that develops sanctification.
Upvote
0