What Does It Mean to Be a Christian, Anyway? (Part 4)
Before I move on to the next priority in the life of a Christian, I feel I need to clarify something that I related in Part 2.
In that article I talked about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues.
It actually took a few days for me to realize that I may have offended some of my Christian brothers and sister by bringing up that subject.
Some Christians believe in these experiences and others do not.
Honestly, I was simply trying to share what happened to me.
I was not trying to be controversial.
I don't believe that we should be arguing about these issues.
We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, and I believe that is the most important issue.
We all believe that Jesus is the only Begotten Son of God and He came and gave Himself as a sacrifice to establish a new covenant so that we can be washed of our sins and therefore be reconciled to our Creator.
There are different denominations throughout the Christian world.
I believe we all belong to the Body of Christ, and we are each called to do different things.
The Apostle Paul speaks to this in 1 Corinthians 12 when he speaks of the Body of Christ being made up of many part, each designed for a different reason, just as our human bodies are.
Many apply this passage to the local church or a denomination as a whole.
But I believe that this should also be apply to the entire Body of Christ, which is made up of all who believe in the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and have truly accept Him as their Lord and Savior.
I know that some may have issues with this stand, but I also believe that God will work it all out in the end.
We just need to be most concerned about being about our Father's business of spreading the Gospel message of salvation and doing whatever good works He has empowered us to do.
I also believe, as it says in 2 Corinthians 5, we are called to a ministry of reconciliation.
We should not only be working to help reconcile God's creation to Himself, but reconciling ourselves to each other.
I truly believe that the Holy Spirit is at work right now to help us do just that.
How else can Christ's Bride be presented to Him without spot or wrinkle? We must allow the Holy Spirit to work in us to let go of the old arguments that have divided us through the centuries.
This is part of our first priority that I talked about in my last article.
Our first priority is to Him who loves us and created us.
It includes glorifying Him in this world.
How can we glorify Him if we are always squabbling about this or that? Our Lord Jesus said in John 13:35, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
" Again, I don't believe this should be applied to just the local church or denomination.
It should be applied to all of us who know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, in other words, the entire Body of Christ.
I pray that my fellow Christian brothers and sisters join me in loving each other as our Lord commanded us to do.
I am not advocating winking at heresies or condoning sin.
I'm a strong believer that there is a big difference between condoning and forgiving.
I just want us to be careful with our dialog, especially our public discourse.
Let's, at least, start to learn to love each other as fellow disciples of Christ.
I also pray that those of you who have not yet met our Precious Lord will not be put off by some misguided folks who say they represent Christ but fail to walk in the love that He calls us to demonstrate to the world.
In that article I talked about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues.
It actually took a few days for me to realize that I may have offended some of my Christian brothers and sister by bringing up that subject.
Some Christians believe in these experiences and others do not.
Honestly, I was simply trying to share what happened to me.
I was not trying to be controversial.
I don't believe that we should be arguing about these issues.
We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, and I believe that is the most important issue.
We all believe that Jesus is the only Begotten Son of God and He came and gave Himself as a sacrifice to establish a new covenant so that we can be washed of our sins and therefore be reconciled to our Creator.
There are different denominations throughout the Christian world.
I believe we all belong to the Body of Christ, and we are each called to do different things.
The Apostle Paul speaks to this in 1 Corinthians 12 when he speaks of the Body of Christ being made up of many part, each designed for a different reason, just as our human bodies are.
Many apply this passage to the local church or a denomination as a whole.
But I believe that this should also be apply to the entire Body of Christ, which is made up of all who believe in the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and have truly accept Him as their Lord and Savior.
I know that some may have issues with this stand, but I also believe that God will work it all out in the end.
We just need to be most concerned about being about our Father's business of spreading the Gospel message of salvation and doing whatever good works He has empowered us to do.
I also believe, as it says in 2 Corinthians 5, we are called to a ministry of reconciliation.
We should not only be working to help reconcile God's creation to Himself, but reconciling ourselves to each other.
I truly believe that the Holy Spirit is at work right now to help us do just that.
How else can Christ's Bride be presented to Him without spot or wrinkle? We must allow the Holy Spirit to work in us to let go of the old arguments that have divided us through the centuries.
This is part of our first priority that I talked about in my last article.
Our first priority is to Him who loves us and created us.
It includes glorifying Him in this world.
How can we glorify Him if we are always squabbling about this or that? Our Lord Jesus said in John 13:35, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
" Again, I don't believe this should be applied to just the local church or denomination.
It should be applied to all of us who know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, in other words, the entire Body of Christ.
I pray that my fellow Christian brothers and sisters join me in loving each other as our Lord commanded us to do.
I am not advocating winking at heresies or condoning sin.
I'm a strong believer that there is a big difference between condoning and forgiving.
I just want us to be careful with our dialog, especially our public discourse.
Let's, at least, start to learn to love each other as fellow disciples of Christ.
I also pray that those of you who have not yet met our Precious Lord will not be put off by some misguided folks who say they represent Christ but fail to walk in the love that He calls us to demonstrate to the world.
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