"So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter." (Acts 15:30)
Doesn't sound like a text which one should choose for a devotional? Personally, I don't like to think of myself as the one who chooses. This is what the Bible calls, "the Words of God." I read this today, and value this text as much as Psalm 23.
The, "letter," referred to here was from the "Council at Jerusalem." The, "letter," has to do with Church order, theology, doctrine. Protestantism has no such "councils." What it does have is thousands of denominations, which includes the so-called nondenominationals. This is a main reason that Catholics say the Reformation was illegitimate; there is no connectional authority.
If you observe Protestantism over the centuries, you will notice that the many "splits" just perpetuated what was said of Israel during the time of the judges, "every man did what was right in his own eyes." I'm not offering any "remedy" to this lack of authority in Protestantism, but I am encouraging all of us to be very, very careful of what 2 Peter calls, "private, personal interpretation," of Scripture. This, my friend, has led to innumerable heresies, much "disillusionment," confusion, and yes, heartaches in the "independent-Church" mentality.
What to do? For me, I would like to affirm that I am open to "challenges" to any of what might appear to be in me of, "private interpretation." No, I never encourage, "vain babbling," argument or just sounding off. What I am writing today, however, is that you and I should have a sense of, "be subject to one another in the fear of Christ." Dunn was right; "No man is an island, entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." This is "Bible 101." This is the Church. The statement of a "Jesus person" in the 1970s, "I'm my own church," could not be farther from the Truth. The call today to all of us is to put a primacy on what Bonhoeffer called, "Life Together."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray that I will walk in, "be subject to one another in the fear of Christ." Amen.
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Conference Prayer Call Tomorrow, January 16, at 18:00hrs (6:00).
Phone Number: 712-770-5505
Code: 889721
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
