Sermons to Me: ESSENTIALS AND NON-ESSENTIALS

Thursday, January 7, 2016

ESSENTIALS AND NON-ESSENTIALS

"In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love" ~Rupertus Meldenius, (circa 1627).
A pseudo-truism. Another axiom of ecumenism, frequently tossed out in an effort (no doubt) to "justify" everyone and achieve "balance". A false balance is abomination to the LORD Prov. 11:1.

This slogan is familiar to many, although there is some debate about authorship. Augustine was a great "promoter" of it. Such slogans can be misleading and should be avoided. ESPECIALLY when used to divide Christians, for such is what it does. This statement has misled many in the past and is still doing it today. The only part Rupertus got right is "In all things, love."

But the Scriptures do not speak of some Bible truths as being essentials and others as non-essentials.

We love slogans.
A "Berean" would reject this slogan outright. Do you know why? Well first, a "Berean" would research it as to origin and context. And one would find that it is post-Constantine. Because of the lack of persecution (due to Constantine's "legitimization" of Christianity) there was a great influx of people into the church (mostly unrepentant pagans) who had little interest beyond getting "a ticket" to heaven. Many had little or no interest in living a life in conformity to Biblical teachings, as evidenced by recorded history.

This created conflict in the church (as is still evident today) between those who would compromise the Truth (lukewarm and antinomistic "Christians") and those who would protect it. Augustine attempted to bring peace by declaring that "anything close to perfection in Christian living was impossible", and caved into the world views. To make such a view acceptable, he emphasized, "In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love".

There is quite a lot wrong with this slogan.

First, it fosters an approach that boils down Bible truths to the bare minimum "essentials."
It eliminates the need for Christ to be both Savior and Lord.

Secondly, it makes distinctions in Bible teachings that result in a pick-and-choose attitude. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works, 2 Tim. 3:16, 17.

ALL Scripture! Which of the scriptures, profitable for doctrine, can we assume to be non-essential with regard to Church agreement? Which of the scriptures... which instruction in righteousness, can we dismiss as unimportant to Church unity? No doubt those that are PROFITABLE for reproof and CORRECTION we can more easily (and readily) disagree on. THE ARROGANCE IS (almost) ENRAGING!

It is "a fine and easy way of rejecting the commandments of God, in order to keep the traditions of men. . . Thus making void the word of God" (Mk. 7:9, 13). Many do this in misunderstanding the doctrine of the Law and Grace. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. . . . He who has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him, John 14:15, 21.

… and scripture cannot be broken, John 10:35.

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven, Matt. 5:17-19.

We need to be careful about slogans. Everything, EVERYTHING (in a Christian's life) must express and conform to scriptural truths. Or we can cause great harm to individuals and the Church. A better slogan would be "In Biblical issues, unity. In non-Biblical issues, liberty. In all things, love."

But then one might ask, "What are non-Biblical issues?". Which part of your life does the Word of God, or The Lord Himself, not address and command? Let's consider something so (seemingly) innocuous as "Recreation". We might "agree to disagree" that bowling is more "morally acceptable" than boxing. While the Bible does not say (as far as I know) anything (specific) about bowling or boxing, it DOES nevertheless address "Recreation". And if we fail to correctly discern the lesson and guidance of such, we WILL fall into error. And "specious slogans" will keep us down.
___________________
Some material adapted from Leland M. Haines, © copyright 1997 by Leland M. Haines, Goshen, IN. USA

No comments:

The GOSPEL

"...that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures..." 1 COR. 15:3-4.

As defined by Paul, THE Gospel declares the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ according to the Scriptures. But surely that declaration doesn't explain the full Gospel message of the entire Word of God, which reveals Who the biblical God is (the Father), Who the biblical Christ is (God the Son), what the biblical problem between God and man is (sin), the biblical and only means of man's forgiveness by God (the cross and repentance), and the eternal consequences for those who reject the biblical Gospel (eternal separation from God, i.e., Lake of Fire). None of these is a peripheral point of doctrine (to the Gospel) to be ignored or compromised. To do so would be a departure from the faith into apostasy to proclaim a false gospel.

As AWESOME as that is, even more awesome (to me) is that Jesus Christ should do that for me!

QUOTES

"If the Christian will not elevate his living to the heavenlies by walking in the Spirit, then he lives in an earthly, carnal religion." ~fb

"Can flesh and blood be pre-existent?" ~fb

"Time is short. Eternity is long. It is only reasonable that this short life should be lived in the light of eternity!" ~C.H. Spurgeon

"Ears listen but it's the heart that hears. Eyes look but it's the soul that sees." ~fb

"There are none more asleep than those who are woke." ~fb

"I am not concerned with preparing for death and judgement; I am concerned with living for Christ." ~fb

"Isms... the bane of reason and truth."~fb

"He who does not recognize that he stumbles will never walk uprightly."~fb

"There can hardly be goodness in a man if he be not angry at sin; he who loves truth must hate every false way."~C.H. Spurgeon

"I ask not the favor given to Paul; I seek not the grace bestowed upon Peter, but I beg the mercy granted to the thief on the cross!"~Copernicus

"Love is the highest pinnacle of spiritual maturity."~fb

"Truth suffers in the hands of pride." ~fb

"When the truth is attacked, it is but the defense of a lie." ~fb

"It is incredibly foolish to consider that life would spring spontaneously from non-life, by chance." ~fb

"For some people, the difference between light and darkness is the flip of a wall switch." ~fb

"It is not our doctrines the world laughs at; it is not our faith the world mocks; it is not our religion the world despises; it is our hypocrisy that provokes their scorn." ~fb

"We must always have in our minds a reverence of God's majesty, a dread of his displeasure, and an obedient regard to his sovereign authority over us: this fear will quicken us to our duty and make us circumspect in our walking. Thus stand in awe, and sin not, Ps. 4:4" ~Matthew Henry

"There must come with decision for truth a corresponding protest against error." ~C.H. Spurgeon

"There is an inherent idolatry in celebrating, or worshiping a 'baby' Jesus." ~fb

"Gospel integrity is the best security against wickedness." ~fb

"You either understand God’s Word as you read it, or you study God’s Word to understand it." ~fb

“It is better to be divided by truth than united with error." ~Adrian Rogers

"The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it." ~George Orwell

"With a sincere commitment to the faith, there comes a sudden spiritual awakening that immediately validates itself." ~fb

“Truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just need to figure out who is worth the pain.” ~Adrian Rogers

“There can be no civility when confronting lies.” ~fb

"The greatest, and perhaps ultimately the only expression in Creation, is to love." ~fb

"It isn’t that LIBERALS are IGNORANT, it’s just that they know so much that ISN’T SO!" ~Ronald Reagan

"Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him." ~Prov. 26:4

"Work as if you were to live 100 Years; Pray as if you were to die tomorrow." ~Benjamin Franklin

"How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?... Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin... Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof." ~Rom. 6:2 and 6 and 12

"Archaic = a term which the 'contemporary' man (from whatever era) introduces in order to do away with that which he will not or can not deal with." ~fb

"Without saving faith, all moral virtues are but splendid sins!" ~Charles Spurgeon

“The reading of good sermons is the most underrated kind of Christian literature on the market today.” ~Joel Beeke

"We look upon the enemy of our souls as a conquered foe, so he is, but only to God, not to us." ~Oswald Chambers

"There is an arrogance within Christianity that would walk away from the faith and presume to call it 'another' denomination." ~fb

"A false doctrine is in conflict with the whole Word of God, while the Truth is in harmony with every part of it." ~W.J. McClure

“What is morally wrong can never be politically right.” ~Lord Shaftesbury

"Error is always in excess." ~fb

"Shall I use the fire God gave me to burn incense all day long? No thank you!" ~Jose Ferrer as Cyrano de Bergerac

“A sacred regard to the authority of God ought to lead us to reject an error, however old, sanctioned by whatever authority, or however generally practiced.” ~Charles H. Spurgeon

"There is more Bible-buying and Bible-selling, more Bible-printing and Bible-distributing, than there ever was! But all this time, I fear we are in danger of forgetting that to have the Bible is one thing; and to read it privately ourselves (with appetite and pleasure) is quite another!" ~J.C. Ryle, 1895

"Naiveté is not a characteristic of Christ-likeness." ~fb

"The kingdom of heaven was never intended to indulge the ease of triflers." ~Matthew Henry

"True repentance is not that which humbles us on any given Sunday, but for the rest of our life." ~fb

"Impress the young convert from the very beginning with the conviction that God has called him into His kingdom to struggle with the corruptions of his heart." ~William B. Sprague

"The will, engaged in evil, feeds on sinful desires, and wastes itself without fruit." ~J.N. Darby

"Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." ~Psalm 90:12

"I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the scriptures do not reign paramount." ~Martin Luther

"The fool will not listen... The wise already know." ~fb

"It is impossible to maintain civilization with 12-year-olds having babies, with 15-year-olds killing each other, with 17-year-olds dying of AIDS and with 18-year-olds getting diplomas they can't read." ~Newt Gingrich

"God does not expect us to do our best, He expects us to manifest His best." ~fb

"Sin is a plague, yes, the greatest and most infectious plague in the world; and yet, how few are there that tremble at it, that keep at a distance from it!" ~Remedies Against Satan's Devices

"I declare I know of no state of soul more dangerous than to imagine we are born again and sanctified by the Holy Ghost, because we have picked up a few religious feelings." ~J.C. Ryle

"So remember, you who profess to be followers of the Lord Jesus, that to you indifference is impossible! You must bless the church and the world by your holiness, or you will curse them both by your hypocrisy and inconsistency. In the visible church it is most true that (no man liveth unto himself, and no man dieth unto himself)." ~Charles Spurgeon

"The conflict is with a heart that loves the thing against which we strive; we do not separate ourselves from it in thought." ~J.N. Darby

"Any one who can think of their god as an 'exalted man' has nothing better than himself as a savior." ~fb

"Knowing that blank page will always remain empty, I do lament what might have been written upon it" ~LSM

“You should always make sure to go to your friends' funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours.” ~Yogi Berra

"I have noticed that the people who are late are often so much jollier than the people who have to wait for them." ~E.V. Lucas

“I am in the prime of senility.” ~Benjamin Franklin

“You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six.” ~Yogi Berra

"It's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future." ~Yogi Berra

“It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.” ~Winston Churchill

“I hate quotation. Tell me what you know.” ~Emerson

“Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary.” ~R.L. Stevenson

“Now the average citizen can't relate to a billion or a trillion. A million dollars in thousand-dollar bills is a stack of bills, four inches high. A billion dollars in thousand-dollar bills is 300 feet high. A trillion dollars in thousand-dollar bills extends from the top of this [table] to 63 miles out in space.” ~Ross Perot

“I am a verb.” ~Ulysses S. Grant

“My anger protected me only for a short time; anger wearies itself out and truth comes in.” ~C.S. Lewis

Thursday, January 7, 2016

ESSENTIALS AND NON-ESSENTIALS

No comments:

Post a Comment