No Divisions Among You

“I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, ‘I follow Paul,’ or ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Cephas,’ or ‘I follow Christ.’ 

“Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:10-18 ESV)

In today’s vernacular, this could be like saying, “I am a Baptist,” or “I am a Methodist,” or “I am a Lutheran,” or “I am a Catholic,” or “I am Pentecostal,” or “I am a Presbyterian,” etc. Or, it can be like, “I follow Rick Warren,” or “I follow Billy Graham,” or “I follow Max Lucado,” or “I follow John MacArthur,” or “I follow Steven Furtick,” or “I follow Joel Osteen,” etc. Or, it can be like, “I am an Arminian,” or “I am a Calvinist.” For what it all comes down to is being followers of man over being followers of God, of Christ Jesus. It comes down to identifying more with a human being than with Jesus Christ.

Years ago I recall some people coming to my front door (back when I lived in a house, and not in an apartment) and asking me what religion I was. I told them that I was a Christian. But that is not the answer that they wanted. So they tried to get me to say that I was a Baptist or a Methodist or a Lutheran or a Presbyterian, etc. But I just kept answering back to them that I was a Christian. So then they were trying to tie that in with a particular church denomination, for they just couldn’t understand that I identified as a follower of Christ alone and not as a follower of any man or church denomination.

Now, I am well aware that Paul’s list of men were all men of God who followed Jesus Christ with their lives. At least, that is my understanding. But my lists include some men and/or church denominations and/or church theologies who/which are or were false teachers and teachings or they are or were those who diluted and/or altered the message of the gospel to make it more appealing to human flesh. And I include them in these lists because the greater danger here is not just in being man followers but followers of false theologies or church doctrines and teachings regarding Christ’s gospel.

But the bottom line here, in reality, is that we are not to be followers of men (or women), nor should we be followers of church denominations and their particular theologies, some of which, or many of which are now succumbing to the flesh of man and to marketing schemes for how to attract the people of the world to their “Christian” gatherings. But we are to be followers of Jesus Christ and those who study the Scriptures for ourselves (IN CONTEXT) under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit, and who are willing to change our belief systems if we find them to not agree with the Scriptures.

For if we are truly followers of Jesus Christ then we should be able to be united together with other followers of Christ, and we should not be divided by church doctrines and theologies and denominations and affiliations, etc. And we should all be those who are paying close attention to what we are being taught and who are testing whatever we hear and read against the teachings of the Scriptures, in their full context. For so many false teachings stem from Scriptures taught outside their context and made to say what they do not say if taught in the appropriate biblical context.

Now I began teaching the Scriptures at the age of 16 and I am now 74. I had a period of time where I was not teaching, so I probably have taught for 50 years. And I have learned a lot over those years, and I had to unlearn some things I was taught wrongly, too. And I am still learning and growing in my understanding of what the Scriptures teach. But I was teaching a ladies’ Bible study and I was teaching what the Scriptures taught, but some ladies objected because that is not what their pastor taught them. But even though they could see what the Scriptures said, they chose their pastor.

And this is what I am seeing on a much larger scale today as so many people calling themselves “Christians” (followers of Christ) are really followers of man, and they will choose to listen to what men are telling them rather than to listen to what the Scriptures themselves are teaching, if read and understood in their appropriate context. And many of them will absolutely rebel at the thought that what they are being taught may not be the truth (or the whole truth) and that they may be being led astray by lies, instead. And if you try to show them the truth, they may hate you for it.

So, what is the point of all of this? We are not to be followers of man, and that includes being followers of church denominations and particular church theologies which may or may not be true to the Scriptures. But our lives are to be surrendered to Jesus Christ alone, and we are to be students of the Scriptures who study them for ourselves (IN CONTEXT), and who rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us to all truth. Can we use Bible helps? Absolutely! But we should not let Bible helps replace the Holy Spirit or the pure word of God. But we must trust in the Lord to guide us into all truth – His truth!!

But by doing that we must be willing to receive from the Lord that we may have gotten some things wrong. And we must be open to being corrected and to changing our beliefs if the Lord shows us through his word that what we had been taught is not what the Scriptures teach. And we must cease being followers of man and instead be followers of Christ alone. And we must cease raising up man to God status and to think that any man (or woman) is infallible (without error). For not one of us is without error, and we won’t be complete until Jesus returns and takes us to be with him.

For the gospel of our salvation that Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught is that, by God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So we are not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, and not godliness and righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord, then regardless of what our lips profess, we will NOT inherit eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

So, please take this to heart. Please believe what these Scriptures teach, and please study them in their full context. Then please follow Jesus in obedience to his commands and live holy lives, pleasing to him, because you love him. 

My Heart’s Desire  

An Original Work / June 29, 2013

Based off Romans 10:1-21; Luke 9:23-26; Ephesians 4:17-24

Loved Ones, Oh, my heart’s desire

Is that you might come to Jesus.

Many appear zealous for God,

But they do not trust in Him.

They have not submitted to the One

Who saved them from their sins;

Not forsaken their sins,

Nor have they obeyed their King.

The word of the Lord is near you:

The word of faith we’re proclaiming:

That you must confess your faith

In Jesus as your Lord and King:

Believe in Him as your Lord, 

And follow Him where’er He leads.

Share the gospel; be a witness,

And meet others’ needs.

Beautiful are the feet of those

Who bring the good news of Jesus:

Anyone who would come to Him

Must deny himself today;

Die to sin and self, and

Let the Spirit transform you in heart;

Put on your new self in Jesus,

Yielding to the cross. 

https://vimeo.com/115643303