MAN THINKING

I left you last time with a couple of verses to look at and ponder. These will be the springboard for our continuing thoughts on the thinking of man and his traditions.

As we begin today I want us to look at these verses very closely. This is very important as we need to know what the writer had in mind as he penned these words. In Philippians 1:27 and Ephesians 4:5 there are two great statements made by The Holy Spirit through Paul that are too often overlooked or not taken as importantly as they should.

First, Paul says in Philippians 1:27, " Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you stand firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel," (RSV).

Second, He speaks in Ephesians 4:4-5, "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, (RSV)

This brings up a subject we have all probably had come our way at one time or other. "To what "faith" do you belong?" When asked this question people are generally wanting to know what denomination a person follows. Denomination!? I was reading one of Ed Bousman's sermons on his website a few days ago and he made a great point. He said that if a person living in the first century were to go into a city looking for a place to worship and ask for the local Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic or any other denomination, the locals would be at a loss as to what they wanted. There were no denominations until hundreds of years later beginning with the catholic denomination in A.D. 606. All the other denominations came as a result of disagreements over doctrine or one group following one man over another. In the first century, when the Church was established by Christ and His apostles, there was only one Church body though different cities, one faith, one Lord and all Christians believed the same thing.

In our world today we have come so far from what the Lord originally set up as HIS Church. His Word, as written, is still true today and in the verses we listed above it is very clear if we are only willing to see. There is ONE Lord, ONE Faith, ONE Baptism (IMMERSION), not many from which to choose. The Greek language of the New Testament speaks so clearly on this and does not offer differing "faiths" depending on where a person goes to worship. There is only One Gospel which is the death, burial, and resurrection of the one accepted sacrifice, Jesus Christ. When a person says they are of a particular denomination, they are stating their claim to a certain set of doctrinal practices that are so often not based on God's Word but man's ideology.

Picture the Church as a piece of beat up old furniture, say a dresser. You find it, you buy it, and you want to repair it. Now, do you reform it to be a something different like a tool chest and use it in a way different than it was originally intended? Or do you restore it to be as much like the craftsman meant for it to be in the first place. When it comes to Christ's church, it does not need to be reformed into something HE never intended, but rather restored to what the master craftsman, God and Christ, meant for it to be originally. He still knows today what The Church needs and HE has already set down in HIS Word what HE desires for HIS Church. Man should never step in and try to improve or change God's design. History shows us time and time again where this concept does not work. The Church as seen in the first century is THE STANDARD set down by God.

God is the architect of The Church and man should never try to redesign HIS structure. I would encourage everyone to put aside all doctrine of man and look to the Bible for the guidance we need as individuals and as the Church.

Thanks for the opportunity to share and I pray God will bless each one as you continue to read and study. As I close today, read Acts 17:11 and "see if these things be true."

Feel free to send questions or comments if you have any concerns or appreciation. God Bless until our next time.