Disputes
and difference of opinion are always going to happen in any Church.
When this occurs it means God is calling your attention to the
Scriptures. So what if someone disagrees with you... what does God's
word say? Your relationship to your Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, is yours and yours alone. Churchanity demands conformity, God simply asks for harmony.
The
Apostle Paul's perspective on Jesus Christ and the gospel of the
kingdom was different from that of the original twelve. The disciples
Jesus called before his crucifixion knew Him as a man. Paul knew the
risen Jesus and was taught by Him:
Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter (aka
Cephas), and abode with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother. ~ Galatians 1:17-19
The Apostle Peter admitted that some of Paul's letters were... hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. ~ 2 Peter 3:16
The conflict that Peter and Paul had revolved
around a letter Paul wrote to the Galatians whether or not people needed
to convert to Judaism before they could become Christians.
Becoming Jews first would mean that the men would have to be
circumcised and they would have to follow the Jewish ritual law. Read
the account in Galatians 2.
Notice in verse 9 how they resolved this dispute over doctrine without
falling out with one another as so many Christians do today.
Don't let difference of doctrine, or opinion, discourage you from searching for hidden treasure. As it is written: The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. ~ Matthew 13:44
In Matthew 18 Jesus instructs His disciples to first go to the person you disagree with privately and try to work it out on a personal level, not talk behind their back or start spreading discord among the brethren.
As a servant of the Lord we must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in
humility correcting those who are in opposition to the truth, if God
perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. ~ 2 Timothy 2:24-26
To learn more about your Heavenly Father's plans,
You are cordially invited to Renew Your Strength Bible Study... https://mlf1070.blogspot.com/
The
purpose of Renew Your Strength Bible Study Group is to get people to
think about what they believe and why they believe it, not debate who's right or wrong.
Over the years, as Renew Your Strength has continued to
grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have
recognized that some of the things we once held as true, in fact, are
not; and therefore we will not “cast in stone” a statement of our
beliefs. We reserve the right to be wrong and to repent of such error
when we discover it.
To
learn the revealed truth of God we must know and understand the true
meaning of the words God inspired to be written. Use Strong's
Concordance to check the original word before it was translated. Do your own research, make up your own mind, rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you.
