(07/27/2016) Can A Church Not Be "Religious"?

Today, focus is upon features that identify assemblies and congregations of the Lord as “religious” or not.  For many, church exists in the modern world as another commercial business and secular institution having no mystical, or spirit aspect.  In addition to differences in manpower, division of labor, and use of specific clerical roles (e.g., bishops, deacons, elders, lay officials, pastors, priests, popes), groups of Christian believers may differ in terms of bylaws, doctrine, policies, practices, organizational units, and institutional structure (ecclesia, parishes, presbytery, etc.).  While the holy writings proclaim “one faith, one Lord, one baptism, one God and Father of all,” many feel the legitimacy of their own faith community is shown by its accomplishment of preordained “good works.”  Others, who are often labeled as “fanatics”, insist divine approval of a body is demonstrated only by appearance among and within its members of the Holy Spirit (also called the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Prophecy, the Spirit of Truth).  Even so, all the disciples and followers of Jesus have been given the same admonition against becoming complacent, self-centered, and vain (empty; lacking divine substance, therefore, fruitless, pointless, puffed up, unproductive) along with exhortations to remain industrious and vigilant:  James 1:   26-27, King James Version (KJV):  26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.  27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.   A fighter at “Yahoo! Answers” using the ID “Luke” (Level 6 with 15,180 points, a member since February 06, 2014) posted the following:

Why do some Christians say their church is "not religious"?

I've heard them say God hates religion and that all the other churches are religious but not their one.

What does that even mean? How can a church not be religious?

THE GOLDEN ARROW:  Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;  And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.  But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;  Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient:  but rather giving of thanks.  For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.  Let no man deceive you with vain words:  for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.  Be not ye therefore partakers with them.  For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord:  walk as children of light:  (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)  Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.  (Ephesians 5:  1-10, KJV)

THE DOUBLE DAGGER:  Be Ye Therefore Perfect (07/22/2016); Unto The Pure (11/15/2015); Religion And Moral Progress? (10/23/2015); Many Forms of Christianity? (04/30/2015); Faith not Politics? (12/02/2014); Ye Are Not In The Flesh (12/03/2014); Sprinkled, Immersed, Named? (02/01/2014); Forgiveness Through GOD? (02/02/2014); Before Getting Baptized? (11/28/2013); The Rich in Divine Relationship? (11/29/2013)

“Luke”, Christian belief for those who acknowledge the new creation through Jesus Christ centers upon displaying the character, nature, and substance of divinity; carrying out sacred operations to fulfill divine law, proclamation, promise and prophecy; performing unselfish service; providing spiritual comfort to others; and sharing sacred knowledge (we say, preaching the Gospel).  Exchange and interaction among such believers is very different from that among those who are merely continuing as caretakers of formal and inherited sacred practices (e.g., assembly, ceremonies, customs, rites, rituals, traditions); those seeking personal advancement, prosperity, and self-improvement; those pursuing a lifestyle promoted as “acceptable” and “decent”; and those maintaining a social center for families, and those in need assistance programs.  There is a broad range of attitudes, conditions and works that qualify to be spoken of as the “religion” God hates.  Included are coercion; hypocrisy (acting; performing in a way to misdirect commitment and understanding); idol worship; merchandising; oppression; persecution; and vanity (lacking spirit content from the makeup of GOD).  Consider again how this is stated in the Bible:

(1.)  Isaiah 1:  10-14, King James Version (KJV):  10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.  11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD:  I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.  12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?  13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.  14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth:  they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

(2.)  Hosea 6:  6, KJV:  6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

(3.)  John 2:  13-16, KJV:  13 And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:  15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;  16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.

There is far more to be said, carefully examined, and spiritually understood.  (For example, (4.)  Ephesians 5:  25-27, KJV:  25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;  26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,  27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.)  Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful.  Be it unto you according to your faith.

THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC

(09/20/2015) A True Apostle?

Points are shared on the denial of legitimacy for the apostleship through Saul of Tarsus within the early church.  It is written:  27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.  28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.  29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?  30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?  (1st Corinthians 12:  27-30, King James Version (KJV) )  While the Scriptures record a special election among the surviving apostles and disciples of Jesus to maintain their number as twelve, and to fill the office of bishop that had been vacated by Judas through his suicide, the office of apostle is no less by the appointment of divinity than the offices of High Priest and Head of the Church that are being filled by Jesus Christ.  The fighter at “Yahoo! Answers” using the ID “Jonny” (Level 1 with no points shown, a member since June 17, 2015) posted the following:


Why do some believe the apostle Paul wasn't a true apostle?

Believe it or not there are some who claim to be christians but they reject the apostle Paul. That means rejecting all his epistle letters


THE GOLDEN ARROW:  Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you.  For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?  But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.  Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.  For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.  For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong:  and this also we wish, even your perfection.  Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.  Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.  (2nd Corinthians 13:  3-11, KJV)


THE DOUBLE DAGGER:  Ruling With Christ? (02/12/2015); How Many Apostles? (04/30/2014); The Ruler Of the Earth? (05/01/2014); Saul of Tarsus (03/26/2014); The Nature of Scripture (03/27/2014); Succession (02/05/2014); On Youth Doing Enough (02/06/2014); The Benefit of Grace (03/19/2013); Magical Resurrection? (03/20/2013); The Slave to Law and Sin Made Free (11/16/2012); Lawful Divorce (11/17/2012)


“Jonny”, here are some points I would like to share:

(1.)  Many Christian believers discount the apostleship of Saul of Tarsus (we say, Paul) because he never walked with Jesus as a disciple, sat at his feet to receive instruction, or was publicly chosen during the Savior’s living ministry.  In their view, personal contact with Jesus, friendship with the Lord, and a long-standing intimate relationship are necessary before a person may have the authority and status as apostles in the church founded by Jesus.  While the twelve were chosen to represent somewhat the tribes of Israel, and will serve as Judges over the tribes of the New Jerusalem, the apostles were not selected on the basis of one from each of the tribes.  The common thread among the twelve is that they were chosen for the role of apostle to serve as “eyewitnesses” to the resurrection of Jesus.

(2.)  Additionally, apostles are to authenticate the appearance and manifestations of the Holy Spirit (also called the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Prophecy, the Spirit of Truth).  For the early church, the sacred events of Pentecost that had occurred within the upper room were to be repeated for those making commitment to Christ.  Accounts in the Bible show that, both before and following water baptism, believers were anointed, endowed, and equipped with the same spiritual gifts granted the 120 men and women that had tarried at Jerusalem in obedience to Jesus.

(3.)  Many reject the apostleship of Paul because his claims to having seen Jesus were made long after the Savior’s crucifixion, and after the public witness by the other apostles.

(4.)  Saul of Tarsus was a Pharisee at a time when the rulers of the Sanhedrin and Temple community were Sadducees—the very ones who denied Jesus as Messiah, and condemned the Son of the Highest to die upon the cross for blasphemy. Prophecy after the model of such men as Moses, Samuel, Ezekiel, Isaiah and Malachi had ceased to appear for more than 400 years; John the Baptist (in the line of Levitical priests) and Jesus were the first of the “new prophets.”  Insisting upon the “law and the prophets” without the prophets, the Sadducees opposed doctrine and teachings that endorse angels, miracles, spirits, and resurrection from the dead.

(5.)  Before committing himself to Christ, Paul served as the “Lord High Executioner” commissioned to destroy the early church “by any means necessary.”  In that  office, Paul practiced bribery, deceit, slander, spying, torture, turning husbands against wives, setting wives against husbands as well as encouraging children to betray their own parents.  Unlike the others chosen directly by Jesus, Paul had formal education, and, like John the Baptist, was part of the elite within the Temple community.

There is much more that could be said, and that must be correctly understood and spiritually taken into account.  (For example, (6.)  Many are offended by the appearance of Paul as a second Moses, generating doctrines, explanations and judgments for the early church that seem to go beyond the record of the Gospels.  The bottom line, however, has to be discernment and recognition that the Holy Spirit is active and present as the “field agent” for the Lord through the apostles.  The sacred process must be uppermost, not the peculiar actors and players.)  Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful.  Be it unto you according to your faith.

THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC