Rich Kid wrote:
Westonman, you sometimes quote biblical references in your postings, (as above), and your comments reflect obvious signs of faith, may I ask you what 'branch' of Christianity you follow?
R.K. It is my privilege to identify my Christianity. My primary allegiance is to the Word of God, the Holy Bible, Scripture; the inerrant source of all wisdom and Truth. In Paul's 2nd letter to Timothy he defined the source, value, equipping, and power of Scripture:
2Timothy 3:16 - 17 [ESV2011])Quote:
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
As far as Christian denomination is concerned, I began my Christian life in 1972 in Chatham Dockyard, where I attended an unaligned a Free Church community; I then joined a Baptist church; many years I joined another Free Church congregation; and later still another Baptist congregation. I have worshipped in Anglican, Methodist, Free Churches, and House Churches – where I currently am. But my primary concern is to belong to a Christian group where the teaching and doctrine are firmly grounded in the Holy Bible. Sadly, Bible teaching churches are increasingly difficult to find these days; this is another of those signs to indicate that we are now approaching the end of this age.
A major problem today, is that very many churches have lost there way. They have left the authority of Holy Scripture in favour of liberal and non-Bible-backed teaching, which is why the messages coming from much of the Church today are politically correct, and Biblically incorrect. I left the last Baptist Church I attended because they had completely swallowed the nonsensical Green Agenda of “saving the planet”, and liberal political correctness. They had lost sight of the Biblical teaching that God has cursed this earth, and the whole of creation.
The only saving available to us is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, where we must accept the penalty for sin that Jesus Christ paid for us on the Cross at Calvary. 'Saved' by Christ Jesus, for Christ Jesus. Only the believer's faith in the cleansing power of the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross has the power to cleanse us of ALL our sins and bestow on us the Righteousness of Jesus Christ. Only by faith in Jesus Christ and his atoning blood can we experience the grace and power of salvation. Not by our own 'good works'! Outside of Christ Jesus we are dead to God and to Righteousness.
See here:
(Ephesians 2: 1 -10 [ESV2011])Quote:
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
The “good works” mentioned in that last sentence are not 'good works' that we may imagine that we can perform in order to please the Holy God of the Bible; these “good works” are the new life we lead AFTER salvation in Jesus Christ, a new life (works) lived in the POWER and guidance of the Holy Spirit, who enables us.