House Church Talk - Purposeful Church/WWW CHURCH

[jim sutton]

"Bruce Woodford" wrote:

>So to the extent that any of us embrace or believe teachings that are false 
>or contrary to scripture (i.e. believing and practicing old covenant 
>principles in new covenant times), are not we in bondage to an old covenant 
>religious system even though we know the Lord?


Well, one thing is certain, Bro. Bruce:  you and I both tend to lay on way too 
many words.  And when we combine all or most of those words in one post, it 
causes my monitor screen to lean dangerously.

I think we may be guilty of turning things upside down, as regards bondage and 
knowing God.  For example, you mention the Galatians.

Paul certainly did give the true and genuine Gospel to the Galatian people, 
and no doubt, some embraced the message with gladness and "joined" the 
fellowship in those churches.  But when a false gospel was presented later, 
many seemed to embrace that with equal enthusiasm, which raises the question: 
did these folks really know the Lord at all?  Or had they simply been convince 
of some ideas that happened to be true?

To be sure some of them did know Jesus, or there would be no church.  But 
others among them must not have had much of a walk with Jesus Christ. 
 Otherwise, how could they have been so easily and quickly moved by the clever 
appeals made by Jewish legalists who only wanted to "hold the line" to an old 
religious standard?

And we also see many religious people today, in every Christian grouping -- 
including hc -- who do not really know the Lord Jesus.  Yes, they are very 
eager to be right with God.  They keep trying to get the "one answer" that 
will make them feel right and secure and whole.  So they keep listening to the 
logical ideas and arguments of men.  They follow men.  They embrace the 
teachings of men, searching for the truly right way.

But knowing God through faith in Jesus Christ cannot be reduced to a system of 
theological ideas and persuasions.  Granted, we may look at a person's ideas 
and persuasions and try to deduce from that evidence whether or not they 
really know the Lord.  But a system of doctrine -- even a very proper and 
Bible-centered system of doctrine -- does not produce a relationship between a 
lost sinner and God.

God is not a theology or a world-view.  He is not a religious feeling that 
people get.  God is a living Spirit, a Being, a mind and heart, if you will. 
 And to know God is to actually know Someone.

Many religious people on this planet are convinced of the truth, to some 
degree, of the claims of Jesus Christ.  But not all of these people have come 
to know Him.  And just as Jesus deliberately challenged the "believers" in 
John 8:30 and following, so He challenges many of us today.  In that passage 
in John, we see how these ?believers? went quickly from believing in Jesus to 
calling Him demon-possessed.  And He rightly determined that many of them 
still had the devil as their spiritual father.

To accept certain good and correct ideas about Jesus is not the same thing as 
to actually know and love Him.  

Yes, those who know Jesus will embrace the truth, and they will continue in 
the basic truth, because He is the truth.  If we really know Him, then we will 
be following Him, and not the interpretations of religious men.  Yes, we all 
need to be encouraged in the truth of Scripture, the truth of God.  But we 
should not think that because we change our minds about a few things that we 
have truly been born again.

But is the other side of this also true?  Yes, in every way.

A Roman Catholic may have grown up with many ideas that are not really 
Bible-based or true of God.  And yet that man or woman may have responded to 
the Holy Spirit, and come to know God through a new and living faith in Jesus 
Christ.  And the Lord Himself may have seen fit to leave that person in the RC 
church, rather than bring them out.  

Why?  Well for one, because others in that system may also need to know the 
Lord Jesus.  And a stranger?s voice on a distant hill is not so helpful on a 
dark night as a bright light at one?s side.  

Being part of a religious system with other believers does not mean bondage to 
that system.

Religious purity has long been a quest for many religious people.  And that 
alone has made hc appealing to some people, to a lot of people.  Unable to 
accept anything or anyone that differs form their own ideas, many have decided 
to simply get away and start over.  And after a while, some learn that no 
matter how few you meet with, you will eventually find things you disagree on. 
 And so some end up all alone...

The same exact mentality gave birth to many denominations in the first place ? 
religious purists always breaking away from other Christians who disagreed 
with them.  So instead of having a great variety of believers in one church, 
we have many smaller splintered groups, all trying to be complete in 
themselves.

But there still remains only one church, one faith, one Lord and Shepherd. 
 And how we choose to view others in the body of Christ is telling about our 
own spiritual condition -- and about our true relationship with God.  If we 
really know Jesus, and not just a system of ideas about God and religion, then 
we will also recognize His people, our true brothers and sister in the faith. 
 And we will be able to see beyond the differing ideas here and there.

We may even be able to see that our own system of ideas and practices are no 
better than those of other believers.  Our ideas and practices may be perfect 
for us, but we should be able to see that ?our way? is not the only way God is 
working among His people. 

I agree that denominations, as we see them today, did not spring up from God 
Himself.  But I also see that He has His own people everywhere.  Some of them 
are planted by God Himself among the Baptists, some among Methodists, some 
among hc fellowships, some among Presbyterians, and so on.  God has His people 
where He wants them to be.  And we are wise not to judge them harshly just 
because they follow Him.

That's all I'm saying, Bro. Bruce.

Jim