How do Doctrinal Errors creep into the Church?

Another parallel comes to mind ---- when the children of Israel asked God for a king. Seems they wanted someone to rule their secular lives the other 6 days of the week. A visible "man of God" to lead them in right living who would be more responsive on a daily basis (as Messiah would be).

But what happened? Saul apostacized! Though saved (I believe), he totally went over to the "dark side" in leading Israel. That's precisely like some men who have led these sects off into darkness.

Of course, in Saul's case, God had already "replaced" him with David. And David was after God's own heart in that David was under God's authority continuous (when he made mistakes, he immediately repented and sought God) so that he could be could legitimize his authority from God over God's people.

It is better to have a daily relationship with God (not just a Sabbath one) and be trusting in Him rather than men. Sabbath simply means "rest" and when we focus that rest on one day, we are as the children of Israel, we end up asking God for secular leadership because we don't relate with God often enough to get our own answers. You know, God really would have preferred the former -- no secular ruler but God Himself.

skypair

 

How do doctrinal errors creep in?

The bible says "privily" not "tippytoe".

PRIV'ILY, adv. [from privy.] Privately; secretly.

OK, I guess tippytoe does work :thumbs: . And it does seem both scripture and my experience supports that people get focused on one issue and lose sight of the truth.

However, the "little Bobby" statement is out of line even though THE issue does keep coming up.

Galations 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. 4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.

I don't think the influence of Christ will get us to speak to ane another like that. Hope you don't mind the admonition, it is out of love :love2: .

 

Bob Ryan,

I am surprised you haven't seen this yet. Been vacationing, have you? :saint:

 

Pride?

One can be so inbossed in mind and soul with inerrancy, that the enemy can even use that mind-set, and methodology to trip-up the alleged, "mature" saints.

The Bereans would immediately go to their scripture to make sure that Paul or others were not leading them astray.

The church, in it's desire to be "sola scriptura", can stumble over the block of stumbling, in it's desire to be "right" with God.

Some say "white", others say, "black" while others say "gray".

There is no "gray" in God's economy, though God in His incredible grace allows some to flail-away in the "in-between" of scripture, and man's liberalism in His wisdom, that goes beyond our finite minds.

Balance is needed in the Christian life...........Prayer must not be sacrificed or minimized to emphasize worship, and worship minimized to emphasize scriptural literacy, and scriptural literacy minimized to emphasize the before-mentioned.

Paul said that all the gifts were good, but they were also very "dead" and like clanging noisey bells, if they weren't under-girded with "LOVE"/"CHARITY".

This I believe can be applied both to the very liberal, and very conservative Christian. Both can become so enamoured in their view, that they lose contact or close relationship with the "founder" of their faith.

One quenches the H.S. through a cold, legalistic approach to their birthright in Christ, while the other, quenches the H.S. through their testing of the grace of God via their new found freedoms.

I think that the church suffers so much both on the corporate level and the individual believer level, because of a very skewed understanding of the nature of God.

We carry so much baggage of the world into our new life in Christ, and try so hard to apply it's principles and tools as a means of validating our faith.

We don't let God be who He is, but let Him be what we "expect" Him to be through "filtered" lenses formed by earthly parental experiences.

God becomes in some ways, that skewed and imperfect parental model of our earthly life's upbringing. If we were loved conditionally, we see God as this exacting, strict, omnipotent One, with a leather strap, or switch, that will bang us in the rump or slap us in the face if we falter in our perserverance. We end up calling this, "The Fear Of The Lord", erroneously.

The flip-side, is the believer that takes liberty to such a point, that they are constantly testing the bounds and limits of God's grace. They justify their actions or inactions based on a freedom in Christ, that is also a skewed understanding of the "peace, rest, and security" side of God's promises.

God has expectations, yet He also knows that we are but leaky, clay vessels.

If we are to be a vessel of grandeur, or a common vessel, it is God's perfect wisdom being applied.

I think that the very conservative church and the liberal end of the Christian church have much to learn from each other, and also need to start focusing on the relational part of the Christian life.

We've been given a birthright, from God. It is irrevocable. Awe and trembling need to be part of this understanding. Why? We, are who we are because of the incredible grace of Who? Why God, and through His Son's life, and that alone, and nothing else.

I used to be so critical of music in the church, how often communion was done, modes of baptism, and so many different things, that were just the periphery, of the Christian life or relationship with God.

The more that a church focuses on their totally inability to "please" God, the more that church starts to rely on God's truth to compass their way in this world of so many abhorrent teachings, both covert, and openly taught. The more that the believer relys on God, with the Berean attitude of testing, the more that doctrinal error will not make enroads.

It is very dangerous to believe that a church that sticks to 1950's and older hymns, and follows a particular mode of worship, that goes back to early times is the "safe" church. Doctrinal, is important and a "must", but if the doctrinal church lacks the undergirding of "LOVE", then there is an insidious sickness within that body.

Remember that the Pharisees and Scribes fastidiously followed myriad of laws from the time of Moses, yet lacked, "life". They were white washed and clean on the outside, yet they lacked substance/life on the inside. Their eyes darkened, their inner man, a shallow grave, of self-deceived piousness.

Liberality breeds liberty that pushes the envelope of grace, and leads to sin. Super conservatism, pushes the envelope of grace to the other extreme, and replaces freedom in Christ with exacting, legalism, and judgementalism.

There is a happy medium that isn't gray, but is doctrinal, and doesn't throw out the Spirit of the Word, with the bath water of man's invented ideology, both liberal and conservative.

 

In answer to the OP; by a careless or faulty handling of the Word of God.

 

Sounds like your church got "infected" by the Rick Warren movement as well, eh? (Just kidding :laugh: )

Changed heart but no new birth. New birth is new covenant. His was the old covenant times.

Yeah, you did miss the point. The point is that the law governs the secular, the flesh, in the absence of a spiritual "Governor" within. Law merely added another layer to the previous outside influences (human gov't, family, the presence of God Himself in the Garden, etc.).

But the new covenant teaches us to "live by the Spirit" whereby we are not in bondage to the law and the flesh. It's like this, Ryan --- our bodies are just a "prison"and everything that is accomplished in the flesh fails by virtue of the weakness of the flesh. What allows us to "master" the flesh and be free of that "prison" is the Spirit.

So my point was that the separation of king from priest in Saul showed us that external government in spiritual matters will always be inadequate. Even in the MK when Jesus "law" (Mt 5-7) is in place and enforced, the spirit not in subjection will rebel and die (Rev 20:7-8).

And you serve the law, according to your own testimony.

skypair