I think if Paul (and others) knew that his letters were going to be collected and thought to be the inerrant Word of God, he would have spent more time and ink explaining things. He wrote letters to new churches springing up here and there. They didn't have the resources and backgrounds in theology, we have today. Considering most of them couldn't read and many were unstudied, what he gave them was a rudimentary introduction into Christianity. The letters that he wrote were inspired by the Holy Spirit, but is that Spirit not still with us today?
Why can nobody have an original thought without being considered a heretic? Was all that had to be said, spoken by the apostles? With science and technology, many things of God are being explainable. Still as the Pharisees of Christ's day, we look to paper and ink for truth instead to God Himself. Even though the words penned by Paul were inspired by the Spirit, words can only say so much. After being with Christ several years, the apostles still got tripped up by His parables. The Word of God does not translate well on paper. The Bible only makes sense when you have the answers, given by God through His Spirit. It's like checking the answers in the back of the text book to see if you get it. The apostles didn't understand until Christ was resurrected, and even more when the Spirit came.
I fear many people don't get it. They recite words out of context, claim promises given to other specific people and ignore the greater part of scripture to validate a few passages. Ignorance will not be an excuse on the day of judgement. If you claim to follow Christ then you must give an account. We are the Body of Christ. All of the imagery, given by Christ to describe He is the vine and we are the branches. He is the Head and we are His body. The head sends signals to all parts of the body, directly. The mouth doesn't have to initiate the foot to take action. Scripture is important but to one who is born again, God speaks to directly. Your life should align with the Word because you are walking in the Spirit and not according to the flesh. You shouldn't be trying to act out scripture. The Spirit guides us, teaches and rebukes. Words can be twisted and misunderstood. The reason there is so much disagreement among those at CC is directly related to the fact that we choose to learn from the Bible instead of God Himself. Then we turn to men for explanation because we are too lazy or distracted to listen to the Creator.
I said I was taking a break from CC but never from God. He continues to talk to me and teach me. Some things just need to be said, so I might not check back for a bit. I'm still a bit too busy to spend as much time here as I like, but blessings to you all.
Why can nobody have an original thought without being considered a heretic? Was all that had to be said, spoken by the apostles? With science and technology, many things of God are being explainable. Still as the Pharisees of Christ's day, we look to paper and ink for truth instead to God Himself. Even though the words penned by Paul were inspired by the Spirit, words can only say so much. After being with Christ several years, the apostles still got tripped up by His parables. The Word of God does not translate well on paper. The Bible only makes sense when you have the answers, given by God through His Spirit. It's like checking the answers in the back of the text book to see if you get it. The apostles didn't understand until Christ was resurrected, and even more when the Spirit came.
I fear many people don't get it. They recite words out of context, claim promises given to other specific people and ignore the greater part of scripture to validate a few passages. Ignorance will not be an excuse on the day of judgement. If you claim to follow Christ then you must give an account. We are the Body of Christ. All of the imagery, given by Christ to describe He is the vine and we are the branches. He is the Head and we are His body. The head sends signals to all parts of the body, directly. The mouth doesn't have to initiate the foot to take action. Scripture is important but to one who is born again, God speaks to directly. Your life should align with the Word because you are walking in the Spirit and not according to the flesh. You shouldn't be trying to act out scripture. The Spirit guides us, teaches and rebukes. Words can be twisted and misunderstood. The reason there is so much disagreement among those at CC is directly related to the fact that we choose to learn from the Bible instead of God Himself. Then we turn to men for explanation because we are too lazy or distracted to listen to the Creator.
I said I was taking a break from CC but never from God. He continues to talk to me and teach me. Some things just need to be said, so I might not check back for a bit. I'm still a bit too busy to spend as much time here as I like, but blessings to you all.