Evidence for God from Science

Mat 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against her.
Mat 16:19 And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. And whatever you bind on earth shall occur, having been bound in Heaven. And whatever you may loose on the earth shall be, having been loosed in Heaven.

This scripture has been interpreted to me, and I agree with this understanding of the interpretation, that Christ has given His church the power to loose or bind, a jewish concept, the practices to interpret scripture as a body of believers seems to believe the Holy Spirit leads them. Example, the idea of tithing, the body of believers come togther and decide how they understand the meaning of what scriptures says and then follow their understanding lead by the Spirit. Proof text is.....

Mat 18:18 Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on the earth will be, having been bound in Heaven. And whatever you loose on the earth will be, having been loosed in Heaven.
Mat 18:19 Again I say to you, If two of you agree on earth as to anything, whatever they shall ask, it shall be to them from My Father in Heaven.
Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.

Also with Romans chapter 14 as a basis on how a brother worships God. Rom 14:5 One indeed judges a day above another day; and another one judges every day alike. Let each one be fully assured in his own mind.

This is written because I have seen too many divisions in believers over trivial things that one group of believers follow and others fight that they are right. This could even come down to presestination and free will. Both have a belief and both follow the Lord so follow Romans chapter 14 and there should be peace and a growth of christian fellowship. AGREE?

God bless
LXX

LXX wrote:AGREE?

no

As far as unity goes, yes, we should strive for unity.

I would never say strive for unity. Strive to be unified under Christ. We should all strive for Christ, which is where we will find unity. Because it is there that self dies. We should strive not to have arguments, to be kind, patient, loving, etc.

We must always weigh the whole counsel of God. Have you seen anyone excommunicated, or disciplined in your church in the last year, 5 years, etc.

All scripture is God breathed and good for rebuking, teaching and correcting. To be unified requires some dividing.

jlay wrote:

As far as unity goes, yes, we should strive for unity.

I would never say strive for unity. Strive to be unified under Christ. We should all strive for Christ, which is where we will find unity. Because it is there that self dies. We should strive not to have arguments, to be kind, patient, loving, etc.

We must always weigh the whole counsel of God. Have you seen anyone excommunicated, or disciplined in your church in the last year, 5 years, etc.

All scripture is God breathed and good for rebuking, teaching and correcting. To be unified requires some dividing.

Of course. I'm not quite sure what your point is? When I made that statement, I was thinking more of unity between groups. A person wouldn't be one of Christ's arms. I obviously didn't get into the scriptures and his concerns more yet.

I'm not quite sure what your point is?

My point is that unity can be a dangerous word. Should a church ignore or accpet heresy to maintain unity? Of course not, and I know that is not the intent of your post. Unity is just one of those words that perks up my radar.

I would say that true unity is a result of seeking after the proper thing. Jesus. Unity itself is not the thing to seek after, because it can lead us into compromise. Not that compromise is incorrect. It is correct in certain situations. Paul even compromised to keep peace in the church. But we'd all agree that there are tenets of the faith that are absolute and can not be manipulated, changed or compromised in any way.

So, if there is something within a denomination or sect that violates these tenets, then unity must be sacrificed for truth. Even if it is painful. Paul's letters deal with this exhaustively, as he has to rebuke these young churches that are drifting.

In regards to the original post. There is something dwelling in there that gives me pause. I need to sink my teeth in a little more and see what it is.

the body of believers come togther and decide how they understand the meaning of what scriptures says and then follow their understanding lead by the Spirit.

I guess this is it. I'm not sure contextually that this is what Jesus is referring to. You certainly have a lot out there today who are using this line of thinking for the name it and claim it, word of faith movement.

Jlay...I agree that unity itself sought after by forgoing the doctrine is heresy. The perfect example is the trinity. Perfect unity with perfect diversity. But the point here is we can have unity in Christ even if we have scriptual differences in the areas that don't conflict in the dogmatic faith.

example...(free will/predestination), (tounges and no tounges), (loose salvation/security) ect...

God bless
LXX

LXX quote
the body of believers come togther and decide how they understand the meaning of what scriptures says and then follow their understanding lead by the Spirit.

jlay response;
I guess this is it. I'm not sure contextualally that this is what Jesus is referring to. You certainly have a lot out there today who are using this line of thinking for the name it and claim it, word of faith movement.

Yes this is the main point of my comment....this is true about these other movments but hasn't scipture been misused before? I am addressing the pure motives of the church. This was Christ's intent. All scripture is not followed to the letter in todays world.
Example...1Co 14:34 Let your women be silent in the assemblies, for it is not allowed to them to speak, but to be in subjection, as also the Law says.
This is now interpreted in different ways by churches. It is not followed to the letter. It has either been decided it was a cultural matter in those times or something else. They loosed the meaning of the scripture as to not apply literally to us today. SEE?