LET THE PEACE OF GOD RULE
1 Corinthians 1:12-13 -- Now I say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas," or "I am of Christ."
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
1 Corinthians 3:4-11 -- For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal?
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Many think that their particular church is more acceptable to Jesus Christ than all the others. The truth is that JESUS died for all, and when we place our belef in him and confess him as LORD of our lives, we are transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of his glorious light. Jesus tells us in the scriptures that the world will know us by our love for one another.
Just as was happening in the church of Jesus Christ in the early days of Christianity, some believers were saying "I'm of Paul, or I'm of Apollo, or I'm of Cephas (Peter). In modern terms it would be similar to what I've heard many times. I'm of such and such Pastor's church, or I follow so and so's teaching. It's fine to love your Pastor, and the church you attend which is made up of individuals, but not to exalt one's self above others, as if to say "we're more acceptable to God because of our Pastor or denomination."
I'd like to be clear here, so please bear with me. We should be following sound Bible teaching, but we shouldn't be bashing other Christians who don't see things exactly like we do. We should instead be loving them and encouraging them to dig into the scriptures themselves, and allow the Holy Spirit to teach, lead and guide them, instead of appointing ourselves as everyone elses Holy Spirit helper.
When we are saying "look at me, look at me, look at me," we are acting just like the Pharisees of Jesus' day. They loved being noticed, sitting in places of honor and praying long prayers in public to be seen and heard.
I've had the distinct honor and privilege of meeting many Christians through Facebook connections. Many are loving and accepting of our different backgrounds, while some are not.
It saddens me when I see brothers and sisters in Christ, verbally lashing out at other Christians because they do not view every detail of the scriptures in the exact manner that they do. They think everyone else should listen to them, to deterrmine who does and does not measure up to the criterion that they believe is important to follow.
But what does the Word say? Romans 10:9 states that if we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus, that we shall be saved. Not, we might be saved or we could be saved...but that we shall be saved! The criterion is simple to be saved. The scriptures are clear on this point, but we are to be growing in our faith by obeying the Word once we are saved.
We can not grow by only listening to others' teachings and never study the scriptures or seek God in prayer for ourselves. Yes, we learn and grow by listening to sound Bible teaching, but we can't simply hold onto someone else's coat tails and expect to gain all the knowledge and wisdom for growing to maturity in Christ.
Everyone matures at their own pace, and we are all new hatchlings at the beginning of our Christian faith. But even baby birds mature and learn to fly without expecting to always have the parent birds feeding them every morsel. Once they're flying, they're also learning to find food for themselves.
Like the baby birds, it's truly imperative that they learn to fly and feed themselves, and we can see a parallel for here. Studying the scriptures ourselves, is what I'm getting at, in addition to listening to sound teaching, attending a good Bible based church, and fellowshipping with other Christians. Reading and studying the scriptures is a must if we want to grow in our Christian life.
If you'll make all of the things mentioned a priority, you will find yourself loving the Word, and others more, while growing and maturing in your Christian faith. The greatest benefit will be your desire for a much closer relationship with Jesus Christ. It will become a reality as you submit your life's purpose to pleasing HIM
by Cheryl Ellen Baxter ©
