When we look at all the doctrinal statements of churches which all profess to believe in the ONE, true God, it is no wonder the world looks at the church, mocks us, and says, No thanks! According to mission statements and/or beliefs of three different churches, I, who am a committed follower and disciple of Jesus Christ do not belong to the one, true church, I am spiritually arrogant if I believe with absolute certainty (eternal security) that Im going to heaven when I die, and I do not have full salvation and the Holy Spirit in me if I dont speak in tongues! The United Pentecostal Church Internationals fundamental doctrinal statement says: The basic and fundamental doctrine of this organization shall be the Bible standard of full salvation, which is repentance, baptism in water by immersion in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the initial sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. The Pentecostal church calls out Evangelicals for believing in eternal security, and also, on a page for the Apostolic Pentecostal church, it states: It is scriptural to expect all who receive the gift, filling, or baptism of the Holy Spirit to receive the same physical, initial sign of speaking with other tongues. In 2007, MSN reported: Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says Orthodox churches were defective and that other Christian denominations were not true churches. According to the Catholic church, I can only receive Jesus into me by being served communion as a Catholic believer, and I must repeat this process every time I want Him to come into me. From a website about the Amish: The Amish think the doctrine of eternal security would be a sign of personal arrogance. Although they believe in salvation by grace, the Amish hold that God weighs their obedience to the church during their lifetime then decides whether they merit heaven or hell. As believers and followers of Jesus Christ, are we to call out false teachings and false prophets? Did Jesus? Yes. If we are His followers, we must do the same, because silence in the face of evil is still evil. (Since I regularly call out the evangelical church for its own hypocrisy, Im not focusing on it in this post.) Last week John MacArthur led Strange Fire, a conference that called out the charismatic movement for being blasphemous against the Holy Spirit, and people are riled. While I dont have transcripts to quote him, I do have notes I took which include: Yes, people have been saved in the charismatic movement, but not through the Charismatic movement; theyve been saved only through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yes, there are people in the charismatic movement who know the truth, but it didnt come from the charismatic movement; it came from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yes, it is possible to be a believer in the charismatic movement, but not from the movement itself; only from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Evangelicalism has thrown their arms open and embraced charismaticism in their own churches. Worship has become trivial and frivolous and Evangelicals have bought into it. The work of the Holy Spirit is to secure us forever; when we say we cant know we are saved once and for all, (having eternal security in Jesus Christ), we grieve the Holy Spirit and that is blasphemy. We take His name in vain when we misrepresent His name. Its bizarre to think about the Holy Spirit making Jesus fall down, talk jibberish, laugh hysterically, bark, etc. Everything the Holy Spirit was to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is to us. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus was conceived (born), Jesus matured, Jesus was anointed to preach, Jesus was sustained and strengthened, perfected in obedience, raised from the dead ... and these are all the things the Holy Spirit gives and does to us. It is utterly horrifying to think about how much of what we ALL believe is what we have absorbed into us from mans interpretation of the Bible. Just as MacArthur has been mocked by those who didnt listen to the messages in their entirety (which would require a lot of time), and are only believing what they are being told, so it is with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sadly, it isnt only the world; its many churches and many so-called believers: We would rather get our information from what man chops up, blends, processes, purees, seasons, and then serves us through a straw, than to take the time necessary to go to the Gospel of Jesus Christ ~ which is His Doctrine ~ which is His Words ~ and feed on it exactly as Jesus prepared it and serves it to us. If ALL of us who say we believe in Jesus Christ would, at the very least go to the book of John, and read it slowly in its entirety, and believe HIM, then and only then can we and will we be united in Him. Then and only then will we read and know for ourselves that we can know with absolute certainty if we are saved and going to heaven. Then and only then will we know WHO the Holy Spirit is, and WHAT the Holy Spirit does. If we choose to read the Gospel in its entirety, and learn that Jesus Christ came to clarify ALL Scripture with His Light and absolute truth, and learn that He is the absolute authority on every issue and subject, and if we learn everything the Holy Spirit did and does, we will then know and understand that: The Holy Spirit does to us what He did to Jesus Christ. If He did not do it to Jesus Christ, He will not do it to us.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 09:48:59 +0000
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