“For it is by grace you have been saved,through faith – and that is NOT from yourselves – it is a gift from God – not by works lest any man boasts.” Ephesians 2:8-10. GOD SAVES – AND GOD GETS THE GLORY. CoC are slicing and dicing scripture trying to distill those thing (doctrines) that we should do or not do to be saved. A faith that saves is a faith that studies, grows, worships, serves, prays and obeys. Yet all this does NOT save it is evidence that one is.

“Sweetly Lord, have we Thee calling, come follow me…”

There is such an “apostasy-consciousness” in the church that the end result has been deeper and deeper divisions over weaker and weaker “issues.” We know the Scriptures teach it is POSSIBLE to drift into error–but is it something we must worry about to the extent that it becomes the focus of our attention (all the time)?

A paradigm shift in the direction of “righteousness-consciousness” and in the preaching of our spiritual identity “in Christ” and what it means to have experienced an encounter with God and his grace is a viable solution.

This does imply that one ignores error, or false teachings (these are dealt with as they arise, by elders who lovingly restore the erring one, while believers surround such a person with their support, understand that time is already required to grow and mature). It is unnecessary for every matter to be elevated to the alert-level status of a “brotherhood” issue.

Years of “preaching against” everything has caused many to reap the consequences of forgetting exactly what we “stand for” as Christians. Grace does not require brothers and sisters to agree on every point with each other, but rather to love and respect one another and to understand that various “issues” can and must be addressed in a calm fashion. It is easier to write one “up” and then write them “off” without ever having had an actual conversation with them as to why they believe what they believe about certain matters.

Chuck Swindoll once observed: “Old Pharisees never die, we only wish they would.” Legalism and Liberalism are not unique to our time. Believers need to catch a vision of the “surpassing riches of His grace” (Eph. 2:7) and to stop “whittling on God’s end of the stick” at it pertains to sinless, doctrinal perfection.

Christ is the “Head” of the church, allow HIM to be who He is. Christ is the only one authorized to “remove” the lampstand from a congregation and He is able to do so without ever once contacting the editorial board of “Contending for the Faith” prior to doing so. In the first century “apostasy” was associated more with “legalism” than ever with “liberalism.” The Jewish believers seeking to impost the Law were being “severed from grace” because of their own theological stance.

“Apostasy” and “False Doctrine” as the focus of attention are those things which consume the time that would be better spent ministering to those who need a relationship with Jesus Christ. How many people get into the vehicles on Sunday morning wondering, “I wonder what we are going to preach against today?”

Those who focus on “doing the will of God” have little time to worry about personal or congregational apostasy because there are “bigger fish to fry.” Being like Christ and growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord that looks beyond the physical distractions common to congregational politics is a realistic solution.

Sorry for rambling. I appreciate the desire to discuss these things. Just having brethren communicate with each over is a new and novel concept!

Royce

In Christ he is safe and saved and he stays in Christ in spite of his mistakes because the blood cleanses him. It is the desire of the heart that makes the difference.

If Phil and Greg would make that statement, I think this discussion would have reached its goal. We’d have to find something else to disagree about – or we’d be faced with the prospect of Christian unity.

Early in the history of the RM, humble hearts understood that strife was generated when anyone tried to force their conclusions from scripture upon others. Paul dealt with this in Rom.14. Today it is the same. PRIDE leads men to assert that their conclusions are God’s will, and try to coerce others to comply, using FEAR of being cut off from God.

Paul was clear, “You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by law.”-Gal.5:4
Those who would add other requirements to trusting in Jesus are, “false brethren” to Paul, Gal.2:4.

John Mark

If this is your position then say so. If not, what on earth do you believe and where do you find it in the Bible?

Royce

What a terrifying picture that paints of God! Jesus, as the exact representation of God, painted a much different picture of our heavenly Father.