Selwyn writes today about two issues that he believes are essential beliefs, ‘about which there should be no disagreement’.
He goes on to say that close fellowship, with people who do not subscribe to these beliefs, cannot be maintained.
The two matters are: the Person of Christ – ‘to be Christian means accepting Him as Saviour and Lord (God). “The second belief to which every Christian should subscribe is the authority of the Bible. If we do not believe its truths, bring ourselves under its authority and obey its commands, we cannot call ourselves Christians. … “
I would qualify Selwyn’s last statement by adding that it’s the truth, authority and commands of the Bible as revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. In John 16:13-14 (NIV), we read: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.”
The Bible can be misused – individual verses can be manipulated to suggest actions which go against the will of God. There is no better example, than what we read in Matthew, Chapter 4, where we find that Satan has an excellent knowledge of Scripture. [Matthew 4:5-7, NIV], “Then the devil took Jesus to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ’He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’
Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ … “
It is this type of area where we need the Holy Spirit’s guidance to determine the relative importance of particular verses, and to protect us from taking verses out of their context in support of our own agenda.
What do you think of Selwyn’s position regarding Christian fellowship; which is, no agreement on these two basic beliefs - means, no close fellowship is possible?
The irreducible minimum
Selwyn writes today about two issues that he believes are essential beliefs, ‘about which there should be no disagreement’.
He goes on to say that close fellowship, with people who do not subscribe to these beliefs, cannot be maintained.
The two matters are: the Person of Christ – ‘to be Christian means accepting Him as Saviour and Lord (God). “The second belief to which every Christian should subscribe is the authority of the Bible. If we do not believe its truths, bring ourselves under its authority and obey its commands, we cannot call ourselves Christians. … “
I would qualify Selwyn’s last statement by adding that it’s the truth, authority and commands of the Bible as revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. In John 16:13-14 (NIV), we read: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.”
The Bible can be misused – individual verses can be manipulated to suggest actions which go against the will of God. There is no better example, than what we read in Matthew, Chapter 4, where we find that Satan has an excellent knowledge of Scripture. [Matthew 4:5-7, NIV], “Then the devil took Jesus to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ’He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’
Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ … “
It is this type of area where we need the Holy Spirit’s guidance to determine the relative importance of particular verses, and to protect us from taking verses out of their context in support of our own agenda.
What do you think of Selwyn’s position regarding Christian fellowship; which is, no agreement on these two basic beliefs - means, no close fellowship is possible?