I'm listening to Brian Broderson go through Ephesians now and thought I'd share these thoughts that were also in one of his talks. Its a good thing now and then to get a healthy reminder that Christ and the cross are central and of vital importance.
So here goes.
There's a lot of division among those who claim to be Christian today. There is a lot of it within the actual body of Christ and even more among all who claim the label of Christian. Division of the latter is completely appropriate, because there are some essentials that are, well, essential. Without them, the label will be just that -- a label. Division over the latter is rather pointless though. Too often folks part ways because of issues that are not key. And when we cannot agree to disagree amiably, it certainly doesn't do much to draw unbelievers in to church buildings.
I'd like to go through some of the essentials versus non-essentials.
The essentials:
1. There is one God.
2. That God exists in three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
3. Jesus is God.
4. Jesus died for our sins.
5. Jesus was born of a virgin. If the savior was conceived with a human father and not the Holy Spirit, than Jesus is a sinful person just like us and not the Son of God. He would not be able to save us in that case.
6. Jesus led a sinless life. Same argument.
7. Jesus rose from the dead in bodily form. Without this we have no guarantee that anything Jesus said was true. We have no guarantee that the sacrifice he made to pay the price for our sins was acceptable.
8. We are saved by grace through faith. We can't do anything on our own to get right with God. If any human effort could make us right with God, than Jesus died for nothing.
Some non-essentials:
1. Modes of baptism. Immersion versus sprinkling. Adults versus infants.
2. Ministry models. Bishop rule versus elder rule versus congregational rule.
3. Eschatology (end-times). Amillennial versus post-millennial versus pre-millennial views. Pre-tribulation versus mid-tribulation versus post-tribulation views.
4. Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
5. Human freedom versus God's sovereignty.
6. Eternal security.
7. Creation of the Earth (6 literal days versus millions of years).
There are many more non-essentials. I'm sure if one thinks hard there are more essentials, but this is just an example of the kinds of things we should and should not split over. Really I haven't even given much thought to most of those non-essentials, other than the beginning and end of the world. I listed because they are just that, non-essential. Bickering over them distracts from the central message of the cross.
Grace and Peace
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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