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Unity of the Faith

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by kingdom-heir, Nov 18, 2008.

  1. kingdom-heir

    kingdom-heir New Member

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    Ephesians 4:11-14 says, "He appointed some to be apostles, some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ, until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, and become perfect men, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and their cunning and craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
    Also, 1 Corinthians 1:10; Now I beseech you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you.

    It seems to me that "Christians" disregard God's Word whenever it don't suit their wishes. I have spent many hours thinking about this issue, and I think that all Statements of Faith and Creeds and Church Constitutions, etc. should be thrown out. In their place we need a very simple statement, such as this.

    KNOWING GOD'S WILL AND DOING IT IS # 1 TOP PRIORITY
    Ep 5:17 Mt 7:21 Lk 12:47

    The most important requirement for doing proper Bible study is to be born again. It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing. Jn 6:63. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Co 2:14.

    To be born again does not require Bible study and spiritual discernment, it only requires hunger for truth. If ye continue in My Word - ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Jn 8:31,32. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Mt 5:6. No man can come to Me unless the Father - draw him. - Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned from the Father cometh unto Me. Jn6:44,45. The Holy Scriptures - are able to make thee wise unto salvation. 2 Tm 3:15.

    We must understand that God's message was given to us in Hebrew and Greek only. Therefore it is imperative that we get a correct understanding of each and every word that God gave us without omissions or additions or changes. Our task is not to doubt the validity of the claims of Scripture, but to bow in submission to the authority of the Bible. We cannot simply sidestep passages that are personally unpalatable, or are inconsistent with our theological position. The authority of Scripture forces us to face every verse squarely and to seek to interpret it accurately, regardless of how unpopular or unpleasant it may be.

    Logical reasoning demands that we pay close attention to context for accurate understanding. We must abide by the usual rules of grammar and word usage when reading and interpreting the Scriptures. First, look for the plain literal meaning of the text, but if there are obvious contradictions of known facts we look for a figure of speech. The book by E. W. Bullinger "Figures of Speech Used in the Bible" is very helpful, also "Principles of Biblical Interpretation" by Louis Berkhof.

    There is no commentary on the Bible so helpful as the Bible itself. There is not a difficult passage in the Bible that is not explained and made clear by other passages of the Bible. And the Old Testament can only be understood through the light of the New Testament. "The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge" lists 500,000 references connecting scriptures together.
    _______________________________________________________________

    I believe that if people knew God's will and would do it, all of the problems in the churches will fade away or work out. I spent 3 months searching the Bible for an understanding of God's will. Here's what I arrived at;

    KNOW HIM

    John 17:3 Jeremiah 31:33,34; 2 Thessalonians 1:7,8 Jeremiah 9:24

    BELIEVE IN HIM

    John 6:29, 40 Matthew 18:3 John 1:12; 2 Peter 3:9

    FEAR - LOVE - SERVE HIM

    Deuteronomy 6:4-7; 10:12,13; 1 Chronicles 28:9 Matthew 4:19; 5:16; 20:25-27
    2 Timothy 2:24,25 Luke 6:40 John 13;34; 14:12
     
  2. annsni

    annsni Well-Known Member
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    Oh look! Another newbie with no intro - just a first post teaching us something. Oh joy!
     
  3. kingdom-heir

    kingdom-heir New Member

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    Thank you for that outstanding compliment!! I will now delete this website from my bookmarks and never return. Good bye.
     
  4. annsni

    annsni Well-Known Member
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    How about a "Hi! I'm Lou. I found out about Baptist Board through.... I attend a Baptist church in my state and teach Sunday School. I'm looking forward to getting to know you all and sharing some of my thoughts and learning from you too."

    That's kind of the way I think common bulletin board courtesy is typically practiced around the net.

    So get to know us. See what we believe. Say "Hi" and let us get to know you!
     
  5. Gold Dragon

    Gold Dragon Well-Known Member

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    This is an ungracious and unwelcoming response to a brother or sister in Christ. I see the anti-newbie response in many secular boards but I would hope Christians would be a little more gracious to a new poster calling us to be more obedient to scripture.
     
    #5 Gold Dragon, Nov 18, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 18, 2008
  6. webdog

    webdog Active Member
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    With thin skin like that...it's probably a good idea.
     
  7. webdog

    webdog Active Member
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    These thread have been popping up quite frequently and I can understnad the frustration. There is no questions asked, no opinions asked...just a thread started to declare something. We have had WoF, conditional salvation, and one who outright questioned God's authority who was promptly banned. Where is the discussion / debate / fellowship in that?
     
  8. Pastor Larry

    Pastor Larry <b>Moderator</b>
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    You should spend many more hours thinking about it. Statements of Faith and Creeds serve to summarize what a church believes about God's will about what we should believe.
     
  9. Nicholas25

    Nicholas25 New Member

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    Calm down man. :) You are not coming across very good. Most people do not treat message boards like they do actual face to face encounters. God bless.
     
  10. Nicholas25

    Nicholas25 New Member

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    My name is Nicholas Perkins. I live in Johnson County/Mountain City, TN. I am currently a member at a Free Will Baptist Church, but I am praying about taking over as youth director at a Southern Baptist Church in Elizabethton, TN. I am a resource teacher and assistant baseball coach at Happy Valley High School in Carter County, TN. I am also over the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) at HV. My wife and I are excited about building a new house. Jesus is first and foremost in my life. He transformed my life over 4 years ago and I want to please and glorify Him in everything I do. I have a Pug (Otis), a Red-Heeler (Reba), and a cat (Precious).

    :jesus:
     
  11. donnA

    donnA Active Member

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    I've called people on this very thing before and been bashed for my efforts. It turned out I was right. After a while you can see read them and know whose who. No introduction, first post controversial, yep an easy read.
    After reading the rest of the thread I see you have been bashed for it. People will accept any troll, always too gullible to recognize them.
     
    #11 donnA, Nov 18, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 18, 2008
  12. Gold Dragon

    Gold Dragon Well-Known Member

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    I do not see what is so controversial about calling for Baptists to put less focus on creeds and statements of faith and more focus on studying the Word of God. Baptists have traditionally been very anti-creedal.
     
  13. Marcia

    Marcia Active Member

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    I looked at his profile and he is a member of "First Christian Church," which is most likely a Disciples of Christ church, so I'm not sure he is even supposed to be posting here in a Baptist only forum. It seems to me that it's mostly people from sometimes questionable churches/groups who do this. We have this going on now in "Other Christian Denominations" with a Word of Faither and a Church of Christ guy. Both are there to proclaim their beliefs being superior to anyone else's faith; one even said "your church is dead."

    I also find that many from the questionable groups do not like the creeds. I mean, when reading over this post, what is he trying to say? That we are not in unity? That we should not use creeds? It's a mish-mash of confused thinking and lack of doctrinal understanding, imo.

    Of course, I probably would have asked him what his point was had I been able to earlier, but I guess he's gone.
     
    #13 Marcia, Nov 18, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 18, 2008
  14. Gold Dragon

    Gold Dragon Well-Known Member

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    Non-baptist posts should be reported and moved if they are indeed non-baptist. The board rules should be explained graciously to newbies who may not be aware of them. There is no need to be rude, unwelcoming and ungracious.
     
  15. Gold Dragon

    Gold Dragon Well-Known Member

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    I do not think it is confused or incorrect thinking at all.

    I agree with the view that much of division in the body of Christ has to do with the creation of man-made theological differences that have been codified into things like creeds and statements of faith that are not necessarily scriptural.

    Many of the first baptists and protestants held that very same view as well as current ones. The doctrine of sola scriptura is based partially on this view.
     
    #15 Gold Dragon, Nov 18, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 18, 2008
  16. Pastor Larry

    Pastor Larry <b>Moderator</b>
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    Isn't it a false dichotomy to say this? Creeds and statements of faith exist are summaries about what the Word of God teaches. The only way we know how to make a creed or SOF is to study the Word.

    I am not sure that is true at all.
     
  17. Pastor Larry

    Pastor Larry <b>Moderator</b>
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    Such as what?
     
  18. annsni

    annsni Well-Known Member
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    I have read 3 controversial posts as the initial post by a new poster on this board in the last 3 days. I'm also helping to run another board that has been continually attacked by trolls and atleast 15 trolls are banned each day (before they get through the approval). I'm getting tired of someone coming to a place just for the purpose to start trouble or to right away give their "truth" to us. We've seen it before and many have been banned. I don't know but on all of the boards I've been a member of, it's typical to post SOME sort of an introduction.

    Would you join a board and in the very first post you make, you say something that can cause a stir? If so, why did you join in the first place?

    I'm sorry if I offend a true new member but I doubt many of these are truly here for the fellowship and learning from each other.
     
  19. Gold Dragon

    Gold Dragon Well-Known Member

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    Here are some articles describing the anti-creedal tradition in the Baptist tradition.
     
  20. Marcia

    Marcia Active Member

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    I don't think sound theological differences are man-made. The creeds codified essentials of the faith. And when we cannot agree on essentials, then who are we? Christians have confessed for 2,000 years certain essentials of the faith having to do with the nature of God, the Trinity, who Jesus was, the atonment, the bodily resurrection, and the 2nd coming and final judgment.

    Christianity isn't just whatever someone wants to make it out to be (despite Deepak Chopra and his Third Jesus, for example, which btw I have an article on my site on).

    Disagreement is one thing; division is another. We can disagree over non-essentials but remain in fellowship with other believers. However, we are to divide over the essentials - for example, if someone denies the Trinity or denies the bodily resurrection of Jesus.

    The creeds are about the essentials.
     
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