Question: Hi
Greg,
Don’t
you think that we can argue about religion over and over again and really not
know the true answers until we see Jesus?
I
am a Catholic and I read the PT magazine from cover to cover and find it to be a
very fair look at religion. I belong to the Charismatic Group of the Catholic Church.
Just so you can see where I am coming from, I am very well versed in the
Bible.
Ruth
Answer: Dear
Ruth,
Thanks
for writing – and for reading the PT! Several
comments:
1.
There are some things that we can know – those things are confirmed in
the Bible and in the historic faith of Christianity.
They are essentials – they cannot be compromised.
Such things as the Trinity, the deity of Jesus Christ, the universal
nature of the body of Christ (that God places all of us in the body of Christ as
it pleases him, and we should not be divisive in claiming that we - and our
denomination alone - have the complete “truth”, salvation by grace through
faith, etc. These things are
essential core beliefs.
2.
There are many non-essentials – whether the mode of baptism should be
by immersion or by sprinkling when we are infants or when we are adults; whether
alcohol in moderation can be consumed or not; whether the bread of communion is
literally or symbolically the body of the Lord, etc.
These are issues that we may differ about, discuss and “argue” about.
God gives us the opportunity to differ on some of these issues and still
remain brothers and sisters in Christ. BUT
– we cannot say that our belief and teaching about some of these kinds of
non-essential, inconclusive (in terms of what the Bible teaches) issues is the
ONLY, or even the BEST – so that our brother or sister who does not agree with
our teaching or practice has less standing with God, in our eyes. Romans 14 is a classic passage that teaches against such a
practice – that we should receive one another on such issues, without hitting
each other over the head with the Bible.
In
essentials unity, with non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity.
Hope you continue to enjoy the Plain Truth!
Thanks for being a reader!
In Christ,
Greg Albrecht