The Ultimate Decision
August 6, 2014
I wonder what God would think of all the denominations today? The true church started at the cross and ended at the empty tomb. That is it. We are all born dead in our sins and God knew we needed a Savior. He then sent His son from heaven to be born a Virgin then to die for our sins, God raised Jesus from the dead so that all those who believe in Him will have eternal life.
I have been researching church history and it seems that most denominations were led by entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs have a couple things in common.
1. They don’t like the way things are being done and they think they can do it better.
2. Most don’t like working for or following someone else.
If we look back at church history there were no divine revelations that started a denomination. The ONLY divine revelation came in the form of the Bible that we have today. The early church met in peoples houses as a way to stop meeting at the Jewish Synagogue. A lot of churches today have adopted the “Small Group” method. It is a way of getting to know one another, having Christian fellowship in a setting that would be hard to do on a Sunday. For some reason the Lord wants me to stop writing and pray right now before I write anything else.
The Lord prompted me to tell you “I don’t care how they come to me as long as they come to ME (God). Many of you are going to a church (Denomination) that either your parents went to, a friend asked you to go to or that is close to your home. A lot of times we don’t every know what our denomination believes or what are the differences. Today I am not here to talk about the differences as long as your church makes much of God and little of man. Do they or is the Pastor trying to build himself up at the cost of Jesus?
God will not play second fiddle to anyone. No matter what denomination you go to there are some things that are not negotiable.
1. God is the Alpha and Omega - There was no god before Him or after Him
Revelation 1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."
2. Jesus was born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 1:23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."
3. Jesus led a sinless life because He depended on God the Father
Romans 8:3 "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man,
4. There is a Trinity and it is made up of the Father (God - in Spirit form) , Jesus - Son of God and the Holy Spirit who lives inside of all believers. They are three in one. The word Trinity IS NOT in the Bible but there are many references to the Father , Son and Holy Spirit being One.
5. It is faith ALONE by the grace of God in the death and resurrection of Jesus that we are saved.
Ephesians 2:8,9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast."
I am going to use the baptist Faith as an example of a small change in doctrine. The Baptist Denomination was started in 1609 by John Smyth. Their denomination did not believe in Infant Baptism “Sprinkling” that was done in the other denominations. They believe in full immersion of the body. That does not make the church right or wrong it just makes it different. But lets get back to the thief on the cross. He had no time to be baptized so baptism is not a prerequisite to get into heaven. But we have church splits over how someone is baptized and how some say the Apostle Creed. In one part of the Apostle Creed it says, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church”. I have actually heard people in church BLURT out instead of the Holy Catholic Church they say I believe in the "Holy CHRISTIAN Church.”
Why can we not get back to the basics of Jesus Christ crucified for our sins and then God raised Him from the dead to conquer death. That is the Christian faith. Everything else is man made doctrine that was done because someone did not like the way it was done in the past. I am not trying to change denominations but I want to make sure where you start your faith and where it should end - At the cross and the empty tomb. Then Jesus sent His Holy Spirit at Pentecost for all believers to have. Now there are even different factions that are Pentecostals. Not that this is wrong but not speaking in Tongues is not sin or has anything to do with your salvation. Remember the thief on the cross if you have any questions about doctrine.
“Lord please forgive us for taking Your simple and pure gospel and making all sorts of rote prayers and different types of rituals to come to you. May it never be that a “Ritual” is more important than saying that we love You and to please help us to love You. All we need is in your word and you're Holy Spirit. Please help us to see our need for you not in a church service but in You and You alone Lord. May all who Pastor a church lead others to Jesus and to not stray to the left or right or put a yoke on our brethren. Amen
Study the Bible, pray often, think about God often and love others often. That is it.
Brad
www.theultimatedecision.com
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