A proposition for the Body of Christ

[kingdom-heir]

A formal education I don't have, but I do have several thousands of hours in studying the Bible. About a year ago I discovered the Restoration Movement, and I have been very impressed with some of the writings of the founders. In 2006, Alan Rouse posted on the web; The 13 Propositions of Thomas Campbell and his comments, plus The Legacy of Sand Creek. Excellent reading!

Barton Stone made a statement that I very much agree with. It's only one short paragraph, but the main point, he said; "No formulary of doctrines can unite the Christian world. "I have spent many hours thinking about this issue, and I think that all Statements of Faith and Creeds and Church Constitutions etc. should be thrown out. In their place we need a very simple statement, such as this.

KNOWING GOD'S WILL AND DOING IT IS #1 TOP PRIORITY
Ep 5:17   Mt 7:21   Lk 12:47

The most important requirement for doing proper Bible study is to be born again. It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing. Jn 6:63. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Co 2:14.

To be born again does not require Bible study and spiritual discernment, it only requires hunger for truth. If ye continue in My Word - ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Jn 8:31,32. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Mt 5:6. No man can come to Me unless the Father - draw him. - Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned from the Father cometh unto Me. Jn 6:44,45. The Holy Scriptures - are able to make thee wise unto salvation. 2 Tm 3:15.

We must understand that God's message was given to us in Hebrew and Greek only. Therefore it is imperative that we get a correct understanding of each and every word that God gave us without omissions or additions or changes. Our task is not to doubt the validity of the claims of Scripture, but to bow in submission to the authrity of the Bible. We cannot simply sidestep passages that are personally unpalatable, or are inconsistent with our theological position. The authority of Scripture forces us to face every verse squarely and to seek to interpret it accurately, regardless of how unpopular or unpleasant it may be.

Logical reasoning demands that we pay close attention to context for accurate understanding. We must abide by the usual rules of grammar and word usage when reading and interpreting the Scriptures. First, look for the plain literal meaning of the text, but if there are obvious contradictions of known facts we look for a figure of speech.
The book by E. W. Bullinger "Figures of Speech Used in the Bible" is very helpful, also "Principles of Biblical Interpretation" by Louis Berkhof.

There is no commentary on the Bible so helpful as the Bible itself. There is not a difficult passage in the Bible that is not explained and made clear by other passages of the Bible. And the Old Testament can only be understood through the light of the New Testament. "The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge" lists 500,000 references connecting scriptures together.
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Borrowing from Blituri, Ekklesia is supposed to be "a school of the Bible" But how many centuries have gone by without churches being a school of the Bible?? It's no wonder there is no unity of the Faith! The way to learn God's Word is by learning HOW to think, with reason and logic and discussion, NOT by preacher-indoctrination.

I believe that if people knew God's will and would do it, all of the problems in the churches will fade away or work out. I spent 3 months searching the Bible for an understanding of God's will. Here's what I arrived at;

KNOW HIM

John 17:3  Jeremiah 31:33,34  2 Thessalonians 1:7,8  Jeremiah 9:24

BELIEVE IN HIM

John 6:29, 40  Matthew 18:3  John 1:12  2 Peter 3:9

FEAR - LOVE - SERVE HIM

Deuteronomy 6:4-7; 10:12,13  1 Chronicles 28:9  Matthew 4:19; 5:16; 20:25-27
2 Timothy 2:24,25  Luke 6:40  John 13:34; 14:12

Knowing Him is #1, we can't Believe in Him if we don't know His Word, the better we know His Word, the better we know Him. We can't Fear - Love - Serve Him if we don't know Him and Believe in Him.

[Johnb]

The RM has failed mostly because we can not agree on what God's willis and trying to make a rule book of the Good News.

[James Rondon]

Great thoughts, k-h. You have rightly concluded that Christianity can be summed up in one word: "Him". Thus, it is both implicit and incumbent upon the Christian to "know Him", "believe in Him", and "fear - love - serve Him".

[Jimmy]

The RM has failed mostly because we can not agree on what God's willis and trying to make a rule book of the Good News.

Why would you think the RM has failed at all?  In what specific way do you think the RM has failed? I think "trying to make a rule book of the Good News" is perhaps more your perception than reality.  Could it be that maybe you simply disagree with the theology that has historically been presented by the RM.  In which case I am not sure I understand the statement, "we can not agree".

Beyond that are all Presbyterians five point Calvinists?  If not, have they failed?  Or the reformed Baptists?  Are they all OSAS?  If not have the Baptists failed?

[phoebe]

Posted by: kingdom-heir Posted on: November 15, 2008, 09:18:16 PM
KNOW HIM

John 17:3  Jeremiah 31:33,34  2 Thessalonians 1:7,8  Jeremiah 9:24

BELIEVE IN HIM

John 6:29, 40  Matthew 18:3  John 1:12  2 Peter 3:9

FEAR - LOVE - SERVE HIM

Deuteronomy 6:4-7; 10:12,13  1 Chronicles 28:9  Matthew 4:19; 5:16; 20:25-27
2 Timothy 2:24,25  Luke 6:40  John 13:34; 14:12

Knowing Him is #1, we can't Believe in Him if we don't know His Word, the better we know His Word, the better we know Him. We can't Fear - Love - Serve Him if we don't know Him and Believe in Him.

Personally, I believe loving God is the most important. If we choose to love Him, to place Him before anyone and everything else, we will seek and know Him, and we will revere and serve Him. I am not even so convinced anymore that I have to believe He exists before I make that choice. Sometimes, I think choosing to love the Unknown might bring that belief.

And the Old Testament can only be understood through the light of the New Testament.

Seems a bit backwards, to me. Isn't that kind of like letting the NT define Jesus, rather than letting Jesus define the NT? It's true that hindsight shows us much, but I can't say that I believe that I cannot understand the OT unless I filter it through the NT. In fact, it is through Genesis that I understand those difficult Ephesians and Timothy passages. Without filtering them through Genesis first, it has been too easy to misunderstand them. I believe that is why it was mentioned by Paul.

kingdom-heir, I am an avid student of God's Word, but not everyone shares the same passion. Not everyone is going to devote thousands of hours to study and research. I admire what I think you are trying to do - bring unity. But I don't believe that study alone will do it. I believe that unity, like love and belief, is a choice we make. Unity, not uniformity. I believe that we are, with a few exceptions, united under the belief in Jesus as God's Son, Messiah, Crucified and Risen Savior. And, I believe that is all we need. I don't believe unity requires identical cookie-cutter Christ-followers.

I'm sorry. This is probably not what you expected. But I thank you for the invite.

[kingdom-heir]

phoebe,

quote - I believe that unity, like love and belief, is a choice we make. Unity, not uniformity. I believe that we are, with a few exceptions, united under the belief in Jesus as God's Son, Messiah, Crucified and Risen Savior. And, I believe that is all we need. I don't believe unity requires identical cookie-cutter Christ-followers.

I agree with you 100% I believe that if we know God's will and do it, we will unite. There are plenty of scriptures instructing us how to interact in a Godly way, but our churches have not followed God's instructions! Is it because churches are not a "school of the Bible" as Paul gave us instructions for??? 
Philippians 2:1-4 is just one example.

[s1n4m1n]

There is no commentary on the Bible so helpful as the Bible itself. There is not a difficult passage in the Bible that is not explained and made clear by other passages of the Bible. And the Old Testament can only be understood through the light of the New Testament. "The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge" lists 500,000 references connecting scriptures together.

Acts 13:2 - "ministering to the Lord"

What were they doing? What other passages use "ministering to the Lord" or something close.

[phoebe]

phoebe,

quote - I believe that unity, like love and belief, is a choice we make. Unity, not uniformity. I believe that we are, with a few exceptions, united under the belief in Jesus as God's Son, Messiah, Crucified and Risen Savior. And, I believe that is all we need. I don't believe unity requires identical cookie-cutter Christ-followers.

I agree with you 100% I believe that if we know God's will and do it, we will unite. There are plenty of scriptures instructing us how to interact in a Godly way, but our churches have not followed God's instructions! Is it because churches are not a "school of the Bible" as Paul gave us instructions for??? 
Philippians 2:1-4 is just one example.

Let me see if I can explain my thinking on this. It might start out kind of muddled, but bear with me.

We are already united if we believe in Jesus as God's Son and our Risen Savior. Knowing God's Will is not the uniter, IMO. Jesus is the Uniter.

I am wondering if you are askng why we can't have just one church? That if we just study enough that would happen? But I think we already are One Church, One Body, with different Body Parts everywhere, known as Baptists, Catholics, Methodists, etc. Even Churches of Christ. Each has an important part that it plays. But it is still a part. I believe each is following God's Word as they read and understand it. Differently, yes, but still as they understand it.

There are some who believe they are exclusive, that there is only "one true church", and if you aren't a "member" of that "one true church", then you aren't a "true Christian". They call themselves the Churches of Christ. I know and love those people, They are my roots, my heritage. The SOF where my own church family gathers bears the same name. But they were wrong. And many are acknowledging this error.

My Baptist neighbors are just as much a part of the Body of Christ as my own church family. We're all just parts. "Because there is one loaf, our many-ness becomes one-ness––Christ doesn't become fragmented in us, rather we become united in Him. We don't reduce Christ to what we are; He raises us to what He is." (I've really got to look that up to give proper credit. I believe it is from The Message.) Study doesn't do that for us. The Blood of Christ has already done that.

Does your community have community services of worship? If so, go to them. When all these denominations pray to the same God, sing praises to the same Savior, you will understand what I mean.

Study, yes, by all means. But study is not going to unite us-because we already are.

Still muddled, I suspect.

[kingdom-heir]

s1n4m1n

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge gives Acts 6:4; Dt 10:8; 1 Sa 2:11;  1 Ch 16:4, 37-43;  Rm 15:16;  Col 4:17;  2 Tm 1:11;  4:5,11

You tell us your thoughts.

[s1n4m1n]

s1n4m1n

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge gives Acts 6:4; Dt 10:8; 1 Sa 2:11;  1 Ch 16:4, 37-43;  Rm 15:16;  Col 4:17;  2 Tm 1:11;  4:5,11

You tell us your thoughts.

I guess I don't understand some of the NT references, especially since there are better ones:

Luke 1:23, Hebrews 8:2

And the OT references are good but they egregiously look over:

Joel 1:9, 13

[kingdom-heir]

I repeat, s1n4m1n, Tell us your thoughts

[s1n4m1n]

Certainly, the "ministering to the Lord", as shown by the OT references and the NT references I provided, refer to temple or altar service to God. The passages in Joel are especially revealing as they refer to bread and wine offerings taken away but prophetically restored (Joel 2). Of course we all know that Peter applied the prophecy in Joel 2 to the Pentecost and the Church. So, ISTM, that the "ministering to the Lord" of Acts 13:2 indicates the Church fulfilling that prophecy.

Ken

[Lee Freeman]

Much of the theology of mainline and anti-institutional churches of Christ, teaching I was raised on, looks nothing like the theology of Stone and the Campbells. Were Stone or the Campbells to appear nowadays at the church I grew up in, their preaching would probably not be very well received.

IMHO the Stone-Campbell Movement as a whole failed in large part because we lost the ability to discern between essentials and non-essentials, and because we adopted a sectarian, party spirit. From the CoC perspective it failed when we traded Campbell's goal of reformation and Christian unity, of which restoration was one means to that end, for one where restoring the "True" church became the end itself.

Pax.

[HRoberson]

I'm thinking the RM floundered (I don't believe it has failed) when we decided to base our faith on fear rather than freedom; when we lost sight of the fact that we are called to live like God, not do church "right"; when we decided that intellectual acumen was more important than embodying God.