Scriptures

We attending this small fellowship have made a choice. We have chosen to be defenders of the Faith, and being of like mind to worship together in order to encourage and edify one another in our walk with Christ and bring glory to God’s name. An awful alternative would be to fellowship with apostates and heretics- a journey of compromise and error. There is no middle-of-the-road.

What then is deemed to be heresy and apostasy? Heresy is an opinion or doctrine at variance with orthodox or accepted doctrine evidenced in God’s Word. Apostasy is a departure from one’s religion; a departure from one’s religious principles and belief. God never compromises by adjusting Himself or His world to the tastes of mankind. God commands all people everywhere to repent - why? Because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man - Jesus Christ -whom He has ordained. God has given assurance of this by raising Him from the dead.

There is no softening of the Gospel to make it “Seeker-Friendly”, for example Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral; Rick Warren’s Saddle Back church; Bill Hybel’s Willow-Creek church and other large churches in the U.S.A. Now there is Brian McLaren’s Emergent Church movement which has spread to New Zealand. God must be sought on His terms, not man’s. It is not music, icons, labyrinths, coffee bars or other embellishments that create the true ambience of sacredness! These establishments are further evidence that the end of the Last Days is near. We must stand firm in our Faith and make sure our “lamps are filled with oil.” We must be fully aware of the times in which we are living.

The earnest seeker must come to God in repentance and cry out for mercy. Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.” Romans 6:23 “for the wages of is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” John 14:6 “ Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father but by Me.”

A heretic is a person who denies a core Gospel doctrine such as the divinity and sinlessness of Christ; original sin in man; the eternal punishment of the wicked and the eternal reward of the righteous; salvation by Grace alone, based on what Christ achieved on the cross when He took on the sins of the world and suffered the just punishment in our place; that He died and rose again bodily from the grave and ascended into heaven. There is no Christianity without belief in Christ’s physical resurrection; this is pivotal.

Scriptural doctrine has been under attack since the establishment of the Church. Sometimes the attack has been violent and overt; sometimes it has been subtle and

Popery has added to Scripture e.g. Purgatory; the doctrine of Transubstantiation. Roman Catholic traditions founded by men are given equal standing with God’s Word. Heretics such as Robert Schuller distort and twist the Scriptures leading to falsification of God’s Word. Atheists totally deny the Word.

The Lord has raised defenders and champions of the Truth who have preached, lectured, and written about the Truth to be found in God’s Word. Many of these apologists experienced persecution and death and this state of affairs still pertains in many parts of the world. Despite this, there exists among many Christians a lack of clarity and certainty on Scriptural doctrine - also a lack of discernment eg people watching Robert Schuller before going to their own church meeting. Some professed Christians reject doctrine in order to facilitate false unity between different denominations. This unity is based on love without doctrine, why, because doctrine divides.

Can there be theology without doctrine? NO. We become members of God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour predicated on His Gospel. Gal 3:26. As soon as one repents and turns to GOD and away from sin that person is regenerated through the action of the Holy Spirit and deemed to be Born Again.

Romans Catholics, Lutherans and certain cultish sects believe that salvation is effected through water baptism. This is a denial of Sola Fide whereby one becomes a member of God’s family solely through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ - the faith being based on His birth, death and resurrection. However baptism is important, being an outward sign of an inner conviction. It is an act of obedience and an encouragement to others.

Let us now consider Biblical doctrine. Doctrine rests upon five (5) pillars. These pillars are: 1. Divine inspiration. 2. Inerrancy (infallibility) 3. Providential preservation of Scripture. 4. The authority of Scripture. 5. The sufficiency of Scripture. Divine inspiration. Timothy 2: 3-16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of GOD and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

Avoiding doctrine as some professed Christians do can only lead to error. Professed = declared ones belief in (Christianity); to affirm.

2 Peter 1: 21 “… for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of GOD spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

2 Peter 2: 1 “But there were also false prophets among these people, even as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the LORD who brought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.”

“Given by the inspiration of GOD” translates the Greek word THEOPNEUSTOS - “breathed out by God.” It is a declaration that the scriptures emanated from God. The verse 2 Peter 1:21 reminds us that men spoke it and wrote it down through the interaction of the Holy Spirit. God worked through men - chosen men - who wrote down the truth.

1 Corinthians 2: 13 “…not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches.” It is not simply that the men were inspired but their writings were inspired. Infallibility (inerrancy).

This is the consequence of Scripture being divine in origin - it cannot err, be wrong or mistaken. The veracity of the Bible is the same as the veracity of its divine author.

Providential Preservation of Scripture. ( Providential = of, by, or as derived by divine providence of God.) Psalm 12: 6-7. “The words of the Lord are pure words like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. You shall keep them O Lord, you shall preserve them forever.”

The Westminster Confession of Faith. “The Old Testament in Hebrew-and the New Testament in Greek being immediately inspired by God, and by His singular care and providence kept pure in all ages are therefore authentic.”

The Reformers called the entire professing church to return to the Scriptures. Sola Scriptura- the Scripture alone was authoritative- authoritative in its own right and certainly not by any “authentication” given by the Church of Rome. This assertion on the part of the Reformation Movement was challenged by Rome - the major challenge was to question the reliability of the scriptures in the original languages.

In the place of the Scriptures in the original languages namely the Masoretic Text and the Greek text - the Textus Receptus accepted as infallible by the Reformation movement, Rome supported the Jerome version ie The Vulgate Bible along with Rome’s own body of supposed infallible traditions and dogma. John Jewel, Anglican Bishop of Salisbury in 1507 stated “There is no sentence, no clause, no word, no syllable, no letter, but it is written for thy instruction; there is not one jot but it is sealed and signed with the blood of the Lamb. No word, no syllable, no point or prick thereof, but it is written and preserved for thy sake.”

This statement is the essence of the Protestant Doctrine of Providential Preservation. The Protestant Church possessed the pure Word of God.

It is one thing to ascribe infallibility to the original manuscripts; it is another thing to maintain that what we possess today is the same. Do we have God’s authentic Word now? Is the Bible essentially the same as the original manuscripts.

Providential Preservation is the belief that God has preserved His Word in the Masoretic Text of the Old Testament and the Received Text of the New Testament recognized as the Majority Text. These text types were translated into English in the Authorised Version and this version remained the standard Bible until 1881 when the Revised version burst onto the scene. This was a translation of a different Greek text-type heavily influenced by two English academics - Westcott and Hort both of whom had no belief in providential preservation. This watershed has spawned the variety of Greek texts underlying every Bible translation in use today - with one exception, the NKJV. These texts are known as the Minority Text.,

The Authority of Scripture. What is Scripture for? It is the Word of God - the Sword of the Spirit - hence it can instruct and direct believers in their lives - in their walk with Christ on the “narrow road” leading to Glory. In the Scriptures God speaks and we as believers must hear and obey. Scripture has the right to rule and command, for Scripture is God speaking. Psalm 119:40 “ Behold I long for your precepts. Revive me in your righteousness. Let Your mercies come also to me O Lord. Your salvation according to Your Word.” We must voluntarily be under its authority for ourselves and be a willing people. A strange dichotomy exists these days between inspiration and authority. Many professed Christians subscribe to the orthodox position of Divine inspiration, yet ignore its authority over their lives.

The Sufficiency of Scriptures. The content of the Scriptures is all we as believers need. Psalm 19: 7 “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the Soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”

There is no modern issue or problem that can elude the provided wisdom of God in His Word. Scripture is sufficient - there should not be a need to consult a “ Christian psychologist.” Many so-called evangelical preachers have twisted the Truth contained in God’s Word eg Robert Schuller, Brian McLaren. Rick Warren uses paraphrases such as The Message in his writings and in his preaching. It certainly indicates we are in the End-Times. The secular world has been enticed into the Mega-churches through slick marketing; people are hearing what they want to hear but not what they need to hear. Apostasy abounds in the Western world. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been laid aside in favour of a social gospel as exemplified by Rick Warren’s PEACE plan. The extreme need is not a social plan aimed to solve the problems of poverty and disease, the need is to restore God’s Word to a place of supreme importance in our lives, in the churches and in the world at large.

The Gospel must be preached as it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. “ Romans 1:16.

John 3:16,17,18. “ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned….”

What then is our responsibility as sons of God? To be a light in an increasingly dark world.

Philippians 2:16. “holding fast the Word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or laboured in vain.”

We are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. May we let our light so shine before men that they see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.

Great posting. It's great to hear the truth spoken. Our nation has allowed people to “move the boundaries” (laws) and take God and His word out of the public. I pray this administration is held back from further damage. It appears those on the left hope to label Christians and stop the message of the gospel to be heard. I know evil people will try to stifle the truth, but God's word will go out and not come back void. Thanks for the posting.

It is not music, icons, labyrinths, coffee bars or other embellishments that create the true ambience of sacredness! These establishments are further evidence that the end of the Last Days is near....
Popery has added to Scripture e.g. Purgatory; the doctrine of Transubstantiation. Roman Catholic traditions founded by men are given equal standing with God’s Word. Heretics such as Robert Schuller distort and twist the Scriptures leading to falsification of God’s Word. Atheists totally deny the Word....

Romans Catholics, Lutherans and certain cultish sects believe that salvation is effected through water baptism....

This is my first posting - enjoy it!!!

IB4TZ?

Daviddownunderinnz
Since Sep 1, 2009

It is not music, icons, labyrinths, coffee bars or other embellishments that create the true ambience of sacredness! These establishments are further evidence that the end of the Last Days is near.

So the end is near because people drink coffee? Wow, I've heard plenty of people engaging in "headline eschatology," but this takes the cake.

The first post of yours I read was your second. “The Two Witnesses” posted ONE second apart from this one...weirdly there was no reply section in that post. I hope you are for real and not just a troll from DU or Kaos trying to cause trouble here at FR.

In this modern age, I would say that the closest we have to the prophesied two witnesses would be Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. I seriously think nutty liberals would gladly stone these two to death in the public square! May God protect them from harm if it is His Will!!!

Sorry brother, but you missed all of the message of the Word of God, and the message of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and only seen “coffee” you must be as:
“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God shine unto them.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)

“For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)

It’s a nice first post, though it is possible to speak your mind about your faith without saying things which might hurt another’s feelings. I could, for instance, point out that Jesus founded only one church, a universal church known for that phrase in Greek, Katholicos. I would not do so to hurt your feelings. I am, truly, glad that you, too, love the Lord. My intention is only to point out that it is possible to say well-intentioned things in fervor that inadvertently cause others grief. Still, a good first effort.

I’m trying to understand what you’re saying, but I’m pretty sure your post killed at least half a dozen English teachers. Could you read what you posted and maybe clarify it some? I’m not referring to the Scripture - just the part you wrote.

Sorry, but please go back and read your reply!

I did. It's written in plain English. I still have no idea what yours was trying to say. Sentences have subjects, verbs, and objects, and a reader should be able to distinguish between them.

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