Would you surrender your own beliefs in the cause of doctrinal unity?

[St. SteVen]

the one we purport to worship is the arbiter of what is truth...

Agreed.

Again, there is no consensus of WHAT the scriptures ACTUALLY say.
Which would mean that humankind does not have the truth, only God does.
Since it isn't clear even to Christians, where does that leave us?

You didn't take hold of the "arbiter of truth" title when I offered it to you.
You rightly left that in God's hands. Maybe it doesn't matter that we don't have consensus.
Perhaps we need to submit ourselves to the mercy of God. We can't save ourselves.
If we could figure this thing out, it wouldn't require faith. "Please think about that…."

No one is saved by doctrine. Not yours and not mine.

/

 

[Aunty Jane]

Agreed.

Again, there is no consensus of WHAT the scriptures ACTUALLY say.
Which would mean that humankind does not have the truth, only God does.
Since it isn't clear even to Christians, where does that leave us?

Don’t shoot me, I am only the messenger….!

Read John 6:44 and 65….Jesus said….
”No man can come to me unless the Father, who sent me, draws him…..“This is why I have said to you, no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

No one can come to Christ without an invitation from his Father….so, on what basis does the Father issue this invitation?…..and how does he “draw” those in whom he finds a compatible heart?

You first have to hear the truth, which no one can do with their fingers in their ears…..

Secondly, you have to acknowledge that truth in your mind and heart, even if it disagrees with what you already hold as your belief. Think back to Jesus’ first century disciples….this is what they had to do. Amid the derision of the majority, they had to be different. The road to life is cramped for a reason.

Thirdly, you have to act on what you have heard and engage in a serious study of God’s word to prove to yourself, that what you heard is actually true, and backed up by all scripture, not just some cherry picked verses given a twist by Christendom’s scholars.

Paul wrote to the Romans….
”Therefore, I appeal to you by the compassions of God, brothers, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, a sacred service with your power of reason. 2 And stop being molded by this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, so that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2)

….“the good and acceptable and perfect will of God“ is something that each one of us must prove to ourselves.
Why are we here? What was God’s first purpose for humankind? And why are we so far from what God intended for the human race to be? Do you have a big picture? If so, what is it?

You didn't take hold of the "arbiter of truth" title when I offered it to you.

It was never mine to take.

You rightly left that in God's hands. Maybe it doesn't matter that we don't have consensus.

Oh, but it does matter…..since God is the arbiter of what is acceptable to him, then he reveals to those in whom he sees an agreeable heart, the truth as he states it in his word. The correct understanding will be revealed and you will be invited into his global family of worshippers….the only ones who have the truth.

If you remember the parable of the “wheat and the weeds”, you will know that at the harvest time, there will be no similarity between them…..there will be a complete separation between the two, because the wheat have been identified by God’s appointed judge…..and so have the weeds. When the reapers come to collect all that is growing in that same “field”, they already know which is which, and will dispose of the weeds first, before gathering the wheat into the Master’s storehouse. (Matt 13:24-30; 36-40)
So are we “wheat….or are we “weeds”? How can we tell?

Perhaps we need to submit ourselves to the mercy of God. We can't save ourselves.
If we could figure this thing out, it wouldn't require faith. "Please think about that…."

All you need to do is look carefully at the “fruitage” of Christendom’s church system….what are they producing?
Are they up to their necks in the corrupt politics of their nations? (John 17:16)
Would they send their people to war with “Christians” of another nation if their governments were in conflict? (1 John 4:20-21)
Are they obeying Christ in all things, or only in some things, whilst ignoring others? (John 14:21)
Are they celebrating pagan festivals dressed up to look like “Christian” events? God saw the originals and is not fooled for a moment. He punished his people for doing the same thing….trying to mix true worship with false worship. (2 Cor 6:14-18) Are we dabbling in things that God considers to be spiritually “unclean”?

Everything is a test….and it doesn’t have to be a big one….the small tests of our faith matter too…(Luke 16:10)

No one is saved by doctrine. Not yours and not mine.

I couldn’t agree more….no one is saved by doctrine….. but if one adopts lies as truth, that is a different story altogether…..who we worship matters…..we have to know God and his Christ for who they really are. (John 17:3)
The devil is a deceiver and there is nothing he will enjoy more than taking those who thought they were “believers”, down into the pit with him.

One thing we do know for sure, is that there is just one truth, not many versions of it that are all somehow acceptable to the God we claim to worship….we cannot please ourselves and we cannot please the true God if we are unwittingly serving the pretender. If God is not drawing us, then he is rejecting us. The only reason he rejects anyone is because they are not obedient to his word through the teachings of his son.

Go back to Eden and see that all God has ever required of us humans is that we obey him…..it seems that in our sinful state, none of us can do that without his help. We need to surrender our will to his, and do it without hesitation. Hesitation only comes from not knowing the truth….once you know it, you cannot forget it….and you have the confidence to stake your life on it.

 

[St. SteVen]

Don’t shoot me, I am only the messenger….!

No worries.

Read John 6:44 and 65….Jesus said….
”No man can come to me unless the Father, who sent me, draws him…..“This is why I have said to you, no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

Absolutely.
Consider this. Who will not be drawn eventually?

John 12:32 NIV
And I, when I am lifted up[a] from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

No one can come to Christ without an invitation from his Father….so, on what basis does the Father issue this invitation?…..and how does he “draw” those in whom he finds a compatible heart?

Nope. A compatible heart is not required.
Consider Saul on the road to Damascus. Armed with seething hatred and letters to bring back any found in the Way in chains to Jerusalem.
A compatible heart? Not until he was struck down and blinded. Not by a choice of his own free will, that's for sure.

/

 

[St. SteVen]

Secondly, you have to acknowledge that truth in your mind and heart, even if it disagrees with what you already hold as your belief.

Acknowledge the truth?
Typically a person in that position knows nothing except that they need God.
They depend on the church to tell them what "we" believe.
Spiritually they are newborns. Not someone you hand the car keys and send down the road of life.

Thirdly, you have to act on what you have heard and engage in a serious study of God’s word to prove to yourself

Not everyone is so gifted.
If everyone was an eye, where would the hearing be?
We all have a part to play. Not everyone is a diligent student or teacher.

/

 

[St. SteVen]

Oh, but it does matter…..since God is the arbiter of what is acceptable to him, then he reveals to those in whom he sees an agreeable heart, the truth as he states it in his word. The correct understanding will be revealed and you will be invited into his global family of worshippers….the only ones who have the truth.

A religious cult is easy to identify.
They are in the church across the street from yours.
And they feel the same way about you.
Where does that get us?

Again, no one is saved by doctrine. Not yours and not mine.
Frankly, no one has a corner on the truth. Though some certainly claim to.
Sound familiar?

/

 

[Aunty Jane]

Consider this. Who will not be drawn eventually?

John 12:32 NIV
And I, when I am lifted up[a] from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Again this is where careful study is involved in ascertaining what is truth....
The Word “all” here doesn’t mean “all humans regardless of whether they claim to be “Christians” or not”.
This word in English may be seen to have limited meaning, but not in Greek.

The Word is “pas” and it means

“individually

1. each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything.
2. collectively
   1. some of all types”

This is speaking collectively, so it means “some of all types” of people. So this does not say what you think it does. The separation of the “sheep and the goats” means everlasting death for the “goats”, and everlasting life for the “sheep”.....was Jesus lying?
Do you know what the difference is between the sheep and the goats? Jesus does. We may not.

Nope. A compatible heart is not required.
Consider Saul on the road to Damascus. Armed with seething hatred and letters to bring back any found in the Way in chains to Jerusalem.
A compatible heart? Not until he was struck down and blinded. Not by a choice of his own free will, that's for sure.

Yes, consider Saul.....why would God chose this man to be singled out from among the many Jews who hated the Christians? Saul admitted that he was the foremost persecutor of Christ’s followers. But why was he so zealous in his persecution of them? It was his zeal for the faith in which he had been raised....he was a Pharisee, and a son of Pharisees....imbued with all the wrong ideas about God and his Messiah through generations of apostasy. God saw what motivated this man and redirected his zeal to accomplish much good as the only educated apostle, one who was sent as “an apostle to the nations” as well as to the Jews. He could address the Pharisees as one of their own....well versed in the scriptures and well acquainted with Bible prophesy concerning the Messiah.
He was quite at home speaking with the Greek philosophers as well...something that humble fishermen would be hard pressed to handle. Though not one of the 12, his was a special assignment. He was not educated by the other apostles, but was taught by Jesus, the same as the others were, only not in the flesh.

Think for a moment what his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus must have done to Saul.
He was faced with a humiliating situation...confronted by the voice of his nemesis and struck blind.....would he allow his pride to interfere in the situation and try to carry on regardless, or would he realise that what had happened was God’s doing?
Fortunately for us, he chose to bury his pride and follow Jesus’ instructions. His valuable contribution to the Christian scriptures still teaches us to this day.

 

[Aunty Jane]

Acknowledge the truth?

Yes....Jesus said that his true disciples would “know the truth” when they heard it, and that it would “set them free”....what freedom is this? The same freedom as his first century disciples experienced when they were freed from the apostate Jewish religious system.

Typically a person in that position knows nothing except that they need God.
They depend on the church to tell them what "we" believe.
Spiritually they are newborns. Not someone you hand the car keys and send down the road of life.

Indeed, as free willed beings, we can choose what our hearts incline us to do and believe.....it is that very inclination that will either draw us or repel us, depending on what we have accepted as truth in the first place.

Paul said we had to grow up, no longer needing milk like a baby, but getting teeth and beginning to chew over the many things in the Bible for ourselves.
It’s “who” we choose to believe, rather than “what.”
To believe what someone tells us, we have to first trust them.....what has the church done to earn anyone’s trust? Look at their track record and see what God sees. What was Israel’s track record when Jesus came as Messiah? Did Jesus have a good word to say about the religious leaders who had led the whole nation astray? (Read Matt ch 23)

Not everyone is so gifted.
If everyone was an eye, where would the hearing be?
We all have a part to play. Not everyone is a diligent student or teacher.

You don’t have to be a gifted teacher or student....the basics of the truth of God’s word is simple enough for a child to comprehend.....this truth is what Jesus mentioned in John 17:3.....we first have to know who God is and also who Jesus is in order to even be on the right path. Once we have that knowledge everything else just falls into place. We then go on to confront the other doctrines and can dismantle them one at a time with a Bible study. JW’s offer free home Bible studies to whoever would like one.....we don’t have to attend theological colleges in order to teach the truth.....Jesus specifically chose the 12 who were uneducated so that there would be less of the religious traditions to put down, before they picked up the real truth.

 

[Taken]

Would you surrender your own beliefs in the cause of doctrinal unity?

Not possible, nor would I “IF” it were possible.

Glory to God,
Taken

 

[Aunty Jane]

A religious cult is easy to identify.
They are in the church across the street from yours.
And they feel the same way about you.
Where does that get us?

Nowhere, if we are looking at the wrong street number....all those houses look the same, with the same core of teachings that identify all the “weeds”....in fact, the same core of teachings that identifies all false worship, whether they are claiming to be “Christian” or not.....i.e. multiplicities of gods, often in triads, belief in an immortal soul.....and a fiery hell of eternal torment for the wicked...NONE of those things originated from the Bible.

Just as it was in the first century, it is the hated and persecuted minority who believes none of what the majority accepts as truth (John 15:18-21)......you have to look for.....the “few” who are travelling a different road that seems to the majority to be on the wrong path, (Matt 7:13-14) because they do not accept that core of teachings....in fact, they utterly reject them.

Again, no one is saved by doctrine. Not yours and not mine.

Again, I agree.....but no one is saved by believing lies either.

Frankly, no one has a corner on the truth. Though some certainly claim to.
Sound familiar?

I’m afraid that is where you are dead wrong.....the “wheat” are in the world, growing along with the weeds.....Jesus said so. There are those who teach what Christ taught and who obey his commands, the last of which was....

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.”

Jesus also said that “.....this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
If I asked you what denominations in Christendom go out to the people with the message of the kingdom as the first century Christians were instructed to do, who comes to mind? (Matt 10:11-14: Acts 20:20) Are any of them doing so on a global scale? All teaching the same truth?

Who obeys the Christ in ‘hallowing (sanctifying) God’s name’? The churches, like the nation of Israel before them, refuse to to use it, making excuses for why they don’t. What does Psalm 83:18 say in the KJV?

In all my years on this planet, I have never received a visit from any church members who were sent to tell me about God’s Kingdom. They can’t seem to put into words what it is exactly......yet the Bible explains it quite clearly.

I will put it out there as I have often asked and never received a cohesive answer........
”What is God’s Kingdom”?
“How does it “come” and what does it mean for God’s will to “be done on earth as it is in heaven?
When is this supposed to happen?
Can you answer?

 

[St. SteVen]

If I asked you what denominations in Christendom go out to the people with the message of the kingdom as the first century Christians were instructed to do, who comes to mind? (Matt 10:11-14: Acts 20:20) Any of them doing so on a global scale? All teaching the same truth?

Is that a promotion of the Jehovah's Witnesses? (the denomination)

But you are right, evangelism in the church is extremely rare.

Personally, I think a large share of the problem is that Christians don't want to be associated with Christianity.
Nor do those few who are being witnessed to. And for valid reasons, I would say, And you seem to agree.

Current reading on the subject, and highly recommended. All about the kingdom, really.



/

 

[Aunty Jane]

Is that a promotion of the Jehovah's Witnesses? (the denomination)

TBH when I was studying the Bible, that is the one thing that stood out to me the most…..since all the first Christians were preachers, where are they today? Most churches don’t participate in the “great commission” and it is really because few are equipped to take part in such a work, imagining that they must need degrees in theology to preach…..we need knowledge, not college degrees to take the message of the kingdom to people who need good news now more than ever!

Jesus trained his disciples before he sent them out to preach, so that they would know what to say to people about the Kingdom of God…..in my experience no church member has ever been able to explain to me with any clarity, exactly what God’s Kingdom is…..so how are they to preach about something they know nothing about?

The book you mentioned is really talking about first century Christianity which was supported by the miraculous gift so that the Jewish people would know that God was with the Christians, but according to Paul, the gifts were going to cease because the need to “see” miracles was not the kind of faith needed to stand firm in the days to come when persecution would increase from both the political and religious sectors.....Paul strongly urged his fellow Christians to cultivate the qualities of “faith, hope and love” if they were going to withstand the pressures and stay on the cramped and narrow road to life. Spiritual babes would not last long under pressure.

How many who profess to be Christians today, would die for their faith?

But you are right, evangelism in the church is extremely rare.

Yes, but how can that be if God’s spirit is the power behind the preaching work....Jesus promised...”I am with you all the days until the end of the age” (Matt 28:19-20)......if Jesus supports the work with God’s spirit backing it, we have no excuse to think it’s is someone else’s job.

He said that the “good news of the kingdom” would be preached “in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations” before the foretold “end” of this horrible world would “come”. (Matt 24:14) This was part of the sign of Jesus “presence” in kingdom power, indicated by all the “signs” he gave to his disciples to show them what would take place upon his return….IOW, Jesus would return “in the same manner” as he left….without any great fanfare and only his closest disciples witnessed it. Jesus has been “present” during all the time that the signs have been in evidence. (Matt 24:-14) He is already here and has been since the first sign he gave was unprecedented global warfare. The First World War was the first of its kind in human history and marked the beginning of the last days, before Jehovah acts to bring the curtain down on this poor excuse for a life. We are well along into this “time of the end”.

Personally, I think a large share of the problem is that Christians don't want to be associated with Christianity.

And that is a test all by itself.....if one is proud to be a disciple of Christ, and can defend their faith without hostility, witnessing to others about something good to come is sorely needed in a world where there is no light at the end of the tunnel that isn’t a train, ready to run them over.

Aren’t we tired of all the bad news that is fed to us via the media? It’s grinding everyone down. People need to know what God is doing, and why he is doing it…..they need to know the reasons why people suffer with seemingly no hope in sight. What hope do they see? The church has told them that they are all going to heaven or else a place of fiery torment for all eternity…..that is nothing close to what the Bible teaches.

I know of no truely happy people these days.....the world will not let them. People are burdened down by family problems, health issues, and financial distresses that rob them of their joy.....just trying to keep a roof over their heads and food in their belly takes all the energy and resources they have. Imagine the strain of a celebration like Christmas on top of all that!? Some have not paid the debt from the last one....and there is no money left for food, let alone the expensive gifts that todays kids expect. Can Christ be a part of this greedfest?

Nor do those few who are being witnessed to. And for valid reasons, I would say, And you seem to agree.

In my country, secularism is the norm...Aussies are not very spiritually minded people. They don’t take things very seriously because of our rather laid back attitude.....”she’ll be right” is a catch cry here.

The holidays observed throughout the year are for Aussies, an excuse to have a day (or days) off work and to drink lots of alcohol and gorge themselves with food. The religious significance, borrowed from pagan sources, is completely lost in the rush of commercialism. No sooner are the shelves stacked with the latest holiday stuff, than the next ‘fleecing of the masses’ takes place…..unwelcome and intrusive advertising is driving us all mad! What is at the base of that, but pure unadulterated greed.…yet we support it.

Current reading on the subject, and highly recommended. All about the kingdom, really.

Because it involves the supernatural, it is not a book I would be inclined to read.....I do not believe in supernatural things from God in our day.....the scriptures tells us that is now the domain of the devil.
Those offering their excuses to the judge when he manifests to make an accounting, recount all the things they did “in his name”…..
“Many will say to me in that day: ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them: ‘I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’”
…..supernatural things are associated with those whom Jesus rejects.

Paul also warned…
”But the lawless one’s presence is by the operation of Satan with every powerful work and lying signs and wonders 10 and every unrighteous deception for those who are perishing, as a retribution because they did not accept the love of the truth in order that they might be saved. 11 That is why God lets a deceptive influence mislead them so that they may come to believe the lie, 12 in order that they all may be judged because they did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2Thess 2:9-12)

So supernatural things are no longer the work of God, but a deception from the devil…..
God withdrew his supernatural gifts because they had served their purpose back in the first century…..satan can mislead spiritual babes because they think that God still does these things…..he will again, but not in this world. (Rev 21:2-4)

 

[St. SteVen]

The book you mentioned is really talking about first century Christianity which was supported by the miraculous gift so that the Jewish people would know that God was with the Christians, but according to Paul, the gifts were going to cease

Shh...
Don't tell Kevin Dedmon that!
They are seeing miracles all over the place.
I wouldn't want to spoil their fun, or disappoint those who need the kingdom of heaven in their lives now.

The book is NOT simply theoretical "hope so" writing. It's practical "miracles in the market place" reality.

The Cessationists are VERY wrong about the gifts going away.

/

 

[St. SteVen]

So supernatural things are no longer the work of God, but a deception from the devil…..

What do you make of these?

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 NIV
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,
but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,
5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

2 Timothy 3:5 NIV
having a form of godliness but denying its power.
Have nothing to do with such people.

'

 

[Aunty Jane]

Shh...
Don't tell Kevin Dedmon that!
They are seeing miracles all over the place.

Are they? I didn’t say that there would not be miracles…..but what if the power is NOT coming from God?
What then?

I wouldn't want to spoil their fun, or disappoint those who need the kingdom of heaven in their lives now.

Is it miracles from God though? Is their “fun” based on deception? Wouldn’t that be more disappointing?
The devil has power too remember….and he presents himself as “an angel of light”…so all is not as it appears.

What is “the Kingdom of heaven” since you provided no answer for me? How do people “get the kingdom of heaven in their lives”? Please explain….

The book is NOT simply theoretical "hope so" writing. It's practical "miracles in the market place" reality.

The Cessationists are VERY wrong about the gifts going away.

You had better hope we are wrong because otherwise the devil is having a lend of you…big time….and if the devil has you, Jehovah doesn’t. These then would be “lawless” works, because dabbling with spiritistic things is forbidden in God’s law.

The “gifts” seen today are scaled down mimics of those seen in the first century….and todays miracles are often lackluster and fail……if it was the same “spirit” as operated in the first century, there would be no failures and there would be a healer in every hospital putting doctors and surgeons out of a job. Healing was only performed on unbelievers to bring them to Christ, but it wasn’t to stay because faith was needed in the things unseen, (2 Cor 4:18) so the genuine Christians would be the ones seeking medical attention….like Paul advised Timothy to take a little wine for his frequent cases of sickness. (1 Tim 5:23)

 

[Aunty Jane]

What do you make of these?

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 NIV
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,
but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,
5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

This is a first century declaration by one who was imbued with that spirit’s power….
But a demonstration is what? If something is demonstrated to you, it is an indication of how something functions…..all the gifts were a demonstration of what was to come under the rulership of God’s Kingdom……so if people actually knew what the kingdom was, they would also know why we needed the demonstrations.

2 Timothy 3:5 NIV
having a form of godliness but denying its power.
Have nothing to do with such people.

What is the power of “godliness”? It has the power to transform lives, but we don’t need miracles to attain godliness…..in Greek, this word is “eusebeia” and it means “reverence, respect; in the Bible everywhere piety toward God, godliness”. We can attain that by reading and understanding God’s word….through careful Bible study.

People today are too lazy to study God’s word for themselves….they rely on their church to teach them (spoon feed them) what they want to believe…..If the churches were united in one truth globally, you might have a case for trusting Christendom’s scholars, but seriously, pick a scholar and some other scholar will decry everything he says. It all boils down to who you trust……what have the churches done to earn our trust in that first place? Does their conduct tell us that they have genuine “godliness”….or is it a very thin veneer?

I have already outlined the reasons why I lost faith, not in God, but in the church system in which I was raised…..Christendom is nothing more than a modern day version of first century Judaism…they are mirror images of one another.

Jesus foretold that an apostasy would come to Christianity, just as it came to Judaism, yet the churches pretend that it either never happened, or it’s the other fellow’s church that has it all wrong.
Whilst they are bickering over who is right, the genuine Christians are out there with the kingdom message and offering hope to people who feel hopeless, and who are spiritually “lost”…..just as they were in Jesus’ day.
The message will appeal only to right hearted ones and then they will receive God’s invitation to come into his kingdom arrangement. (John 6:65) Jesus told us not to waste time on people who just want to argue, so we give people our time and attention until it becomes obvious that nothing is getting through, so then we “shake the dust off“ and move on to find another person to offer the kingdom message to…..(Matt 10:11-14)

 

[St. SteVen]

St. SteVen said:
Right.
As I wrote in the OP...
"I do not seek Christian doctrinal unity. Defined as EVERYONE surrendering to a predetermined set of beliefs.
I believe that unity comes when we accept each other no matter our differences.
That we seek to understand each other instead of rejecting those whose Christian doctrine may differ."

Yes, the emphasis really should be to understand and respect that we have but one unity and it is being our own part(s) of Him, which is the very thing that makes us One--one new man in Christ, but otherwise a body of many (different) members.

That's a great way to put it.
Unity comes from recognizing that we are made up of different parts. (if I am understanding you)
We need to honor the differences that make up the whole. Rather than view the body as cookie-cutter duplicates of ourselves.

/

 

[ScottA]

St. SteVen said:
Right.
As I wrote in the OP...
"I do not seek Christian doctrinal unity. Defined as EVERYONE surrendering to a predetermined set of beliefs.
I believe that unity comes when we accept each other no matter our differences.
That we seek to understand each other instead of rejecting those whose Christian doctrine may differ."

That's a great way to put it.
Unity comes from recognizing that we are made up of different parts. (if I am understanding you)
We need to honor the differences that make up the whole. Rather than view the body as cookie-cutter duplicates of ourselves.

/

1 Corinthians 12:4-14​

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.​

​

Unity and Diversity in One Body​

12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.​

 

[Runningman]

Did you say "breakdown"? - LOL

View attachment 38498

/

I mean how the post was separated into parts and explained well.

 

[St. SteVen]

I mean how the post was separated into parts and explained well.

Yes, of course. No worries.
A poor attempt at humor on my part.
It was intended to rib the quoted poster.
Your post was fine.

Have a blessed day.

/

 

[Ezra]

Mariology. A created christ. Sabbath commandments. Personal holiness rules. Saved by faith alone, etc...

all through the ages man has complicated the Gospel of Grace they have added to it some feel you have to beg and plead to God to stay saved. kind of like a old saying i heard as a kid step on a crack break your mom back. there is bit of legalism in all of us you know cant play cards dont shoot a game of pool . certain dress code . prove your salvation by speaking in tongues . i probably kicked and broke the Golden cow of religions ceremonies, we read a scripture and make it a doctrine . i agree to the above