The article misses the Christian way of life entirely.
Once a believer has faith in Christ, he is commanded to remain in fellowship with God through faith in Christ.
The Bible simply provides the canon of Scripture, which provides the Word of God to the believer to study.
It is not the Scripture which changes the mind and heart of the believer, it is God Himself, the Holy Spirit who makes the reading of Scripture understood in the human mind as the Word of God, which is then used in the human spirit by God the Holy Spirit to communicate His Word to the believer.
The church is simply the grouping of believers who then are the body of Christ. We aren’t trained in our spirit by the body of Christ, rather we are developed each in our human spirit by God the Holy Spirit.
God the Holy Spirit is the person who is sanctifying the believer in his spirit, which then makes faith, the work of God, develop in the thinking of the believer. Once in the human spirit it is then developed into GNOSIS, a type of knowledge which is understood in the mind. As it is continued to be processed, again by God the Holy Spirit, while we remain in fellowship with Him, we don;t stray out of fellowship by shifting the focus of our thinking on anything else, but rather through faith in Him, then He continues to develop our faith, and our minds, so that we are able to outprocess that same faith, that doctrine, that Bible doctrine which we have come to learn and process in our thinking, in our memory recall, in our problem solving techniques.
At this point that faith (PISTIS, also used for doctrine) becomes an outward knowledge or EPIGNOSIS, which is then usable for problem solving.
When we are then tested for advancement in the maturity of our faith, we are observed through His plan to see our works, how we respond through faith in all things by His Plan.
Where we fail, then there simply is a reward in heaven which was made from eternity past awaiting the bema seat judgment in order for God the Son to rightfully award us that predestined award, but now where we fail to remain in faith through Him, that predestined award is no longer granted to us by His Perfect Judgment, but will later be either burnt up in the Lake of Fire or set as an eternal memorial of our foolishness for not remaining in fellowship with Him (the former I believe is more accurate).
In all of this process, it is God the Holy Spirit who is performing the work of faith in the believer, continuing the sanctification process after initial saving faith. Salvation continues after initial salvation in saving us from the slave market of sin. No longer are we victims, unable to remain in fellowship or even return to fellowship with Him, but instead, again by the reconciliation provided by our Lord’s work on the Cross, we are able to return to Him, confess our sins, and continue to have the scarred thinking processes in us slowly sanctified.
The Church indeed provides a fabulous environment from which we may hear the Word of God, but the sanctification of the believer doesn’t come from the Church or even any human. It comes from God the Holy Spirit, making a temple in each of us for the indwelling of God the Son, so that we might take on, as commanded, the mind of Christ.
post #8...On the mark...
So somehow a believer (let's call him Alpha) comes to believe in Christ without any outside influences. This pure (undefiled by philosophy or men) believer then "is commanded to remain in fellowship with God through faith in Christ" by whom?
The Bible simply provides the canon of Scripture, which provides the Word of God to the believer to study.
Now Alpha turns to the Bible (the Word of God) and through thoughtful, prayerful study finds the Trinity to be extra-Biblical. Where does he turn to for guidance about this? As Alpha continues to study he looks around and sees that no Protestant church has apostles, deacons, priests, bishops, evangelists, and etc. as is found in the NT. Alpha finds no prophet (or authorized voice of God) at all. Which authority should Alpha turn to when he sees the contradictions in modern Christian life against his sole reference the Bible?
It is not the Scripture which changes the mind and heart of the believer, it is God Himself, the Holy Spirit who makes the reading of Scripture understood in the human mind as the Word of God, which is then used in the human spirit by God the Holy Spirit to communicate His Word to the believer.
So using the Bible alone which church is true? We can see many interpretations each sincerely claiming to be true and under the influence of the Holy Spirit. What is the criteria to choose one from another?