As my pastor recently outlined there are;
1/Absolute biblical truths
2/Community standards
3/Personal preferences
1/All Christians stand on the Apostles creed.
2/In P/C forums everyone believes that spiritual gifts are for today.
3/Then there are personal preferences and we see things slightly different from each other.
We have problems when we don’t recognize in which zone we are dealing.
Are you drinking milk of the word like a baby Christian? Are you eating meat of the word like a mature Christian? From my observation some Christians handle milk so often that they end up with cheese. And my oh my, what a variety is out there today.
When reading the scriptures I have come across many “out-of-context” referrals back to the OT. This certainly does open the door for many arguments that are mostly non-productive and sometimes detrimental to the body of Christ. So what’s new with that?
If you want clarity you should take the scriptures in context. They build upon themselves and will reveal the greater part of the truth. Then there is revelation, where God opens the eye of the reader and all of a sudden a problem area makes sense though it doesn’t make real sense in context. Then there are spot moments when something way out of the blue comes across your path and only makes sense if it stands apart form the rest of scripture but speaks volumes about the circumstance that you are facing. Lastly, no scripture at all, just the Spirit opening your heart, mind, soul to the truth. etc?
In the first example that is what you should teach. The second example share. The third and fourth and fifth(?) should be kept in your own heart and seldom shared… unless you are trying to start a new denomination.
Then again, who knows what the Spirit will show and who you are to share it with. If nothing else, it ain’t dull.
I just got another email from someone visiting my site. I do like to receive personal email. I do answer each email that I receive. I have never placed someone’s email address on a list. I do not send unsolicited mail. Still, I hope that you will write. If you wish to write to me know that you will not be bombarded by junk email. I do thank all those who have written to me in the past and look forward to your next email.
just a policy statement
There is faith.
There is unbelief.
Then there is that which breaks the spirit within an individual or a church… presumption.
There are many people who think that because something is written in the bible it is meant for them. That they can name it and claim it. If that is the word of the Lord given to them I say amen. Yet not all have been given this particular word of grace from the Lord. I know that what I read, hear and pray about is possible. In my life I would at some point get a spiritual witness from the Spirit that something is true. When that happens I say amen. It may tarry but experience shows that if I continue to follow the Lord all things witnessed to me by the Spirit come about.
It is like this…
When I first hear the word I hope that such things can be true. At some point in following the Spirit, the Spirit will witness with my spirit that something is true. It is at that moment I move from hope to faith. I agree with the Spirit, I amen his word, and then that particular thing is no longer just possible but will come about. At least that is my experience.
In this context, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
The Spirit of God on some level witnesses to a person’s spirit that the Word of God is true. The person then makes a decision based on that “revelation”. This is a form of mysticism. There are greater degrees of revelation that can be given to people. Sometimes it comes as an intuition and can at other times be a full blown vision. Whatever the degree, it is the Spirit witnessing to the person’s spirit.
Then there are the counterfeits put forward by the enemy. How to tell the difference? Anyone who is accustom to the “taste” of the Spirit will know when that which is before them “tastes” of God or not. Then sadly of course there are many Christians who have never learned to discern what is of the Spirit, a spirit or their own spirit-soul-mind. Another group of “Christians” are those who have been raised in the church without ever meeting their God. Some of these Christians follow another spirit not from God.
Is mysticism good or evil? Depends on what Spirit/spirit/spirit-soul-mind is at work in the experience.
The idea of the “Gap” theory is just one of the many interpretations of scripture put forward by the spiritually minded attempting to see the physical universe in God’s terms.