How about verses like:
Matt. 10:33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.Water Dogs and the like have an absolute heyday with that! Well, when dealing with someone who doesn't know how to Rightly Divide, that is. Me, I just tell him that Jesus was talking to a different group of people in a different age under different rules, and tell the guy to get lost (or saved, rather!). Others would just stammer and stutter and turn to a bunch of different verses to try to explain that away, when the fact is that they can't! If you believe that the entire Bible applies to you, right now, then you're going to have a real hard time explaining things like this.
Ok, I have to go to a meeting at church, so I can't continue. I'll work on this subject a little more after church. God bless.
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5 comments:
What do you believe a penetecostal believes that lumps them in with the others? To mention that is a very broad category, kind of like Baptist. :-) It seems your faith is more complicated than simply Jesus died for our sins and if we believe in Him we are saved and forgiven. What exactly do you believe?
While I don't call myself an expert, I'm quite well acquainted with the beliefs of Pentecostals, both mainstream and fringe. Pentecostals place the emphasis on the book of Acts, which is a historical book, and not a Doctrinal book. By doing that they apply the wrong doctrine to themselves and others, and in some cases will wind up sending people to hell because they "Spoke in tongues" and think they're saved.
My faith is that of Jesus Christ. I believe that in order to go to heaven, one must repent of whatever stands between him and God and accept Him as his savior. However, when studying the Bible it becomes apparent that there's more involved than Eph. 2:8-9 and Acts 2:38. One has to believe the whole Bible and base his beliefs not on the teachings of one group, sect or denomination, but on what the Bible says.
As Mark Twain is credited as saying: "It's not the things in the Bible that I don't understand that scare me as much as the things that I do understand." There's so much in the Bible that many people gloss over and ignore because they don't understand it, Baptists and others alike. It's only when one studies the whole council of God that the Bible makes perfect sense. That's what I try to do on this blog, is to help people understand the Bible more clearly.
To be completely honest, I attend a pentecostal-associated church and have no idea what you're talking about. The denomination of the church I attend does not teach that speaking in tongues makes one saved or that it is a requirement for salvation. And there is no particular emphasis on the book of Acts or any book of the bible for that matter. So, perhaps the pentecostal-type churches around your area are more of the fringe type and you are thinking they are mainstream, I don't know. But I don't appreciate being grouped with JWs or Mormons, whom I don't believe are Christian, but are a form of cults.
Well I apologize for the offense, but Pentecostals always put the emphasis on the book of Acts: that where the word "Pentecostal" itself comes from. Pentecostal churches as a whole teach Spirit baptism, a separate filling of the Spirit apart from Salvation, and while some might not teach speaking in tongues as necessary of Salvation, they still teach speaking in tongues, though the Bible clearly says that tongues was only a sign for the Jews.
In fact, there is no place in the Bible that you'll find someone speaking in tongues without Jews present. Moreover, "speaking in tongues" was simply the Holy Spirit speaking through that person in a known tongue, not some random "spiritual language."
Again, the problem is that many people don't know how to Rightly Divide the word of God. Acts is a transitional book, and when a person or group of people tries to apply things found therein, it almost always winds up creating a false doctrine or even a cult.
Again, I don't mean to cause offense, but like the Bible says, let God be true and every man (including me!) a liar.
Thanks for reading my blog and responding. I appreciate the comments. :)
I can't say I agree with your thoughts, but thanks for explaining.
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