Denominations

I love it when evangelical Christian groups tell me that I should be in a "Bible-based" church. They seem to have an aversion to traditions in "The Church" -- even as they establish their own traditions.

Who was instrumental in producing The Bible as we know it?

"The Church."

For the first couple of centuries of Christianity, there was no Bible, and there were many counterfeit "gospels" that kept cropping up like weeds ("The Gospel according to Judas" and trash like that). Finally, "The Church" got together and decided what scriptures should be recognized as genuine, and "The Bible" was born.

How did "The Church" decide what was genuine and authentic, and what was counterfeit? In part, the decision was made based on which scriptures were keeping with the traditions handed down from Christ Himself.

Traditions

2 Thes 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.

2 Thes 3:6 But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.

1 Cor 11:2 Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.

Christ's Apostles established five patriarchates. Little by little the one in Rome changed its traditions and "evolved" away from the other four, until, finally, after roughly one millenium of Christianity, there was a decisive split of the Western Church (which became the Catholic Church) from the Eastern Church.

Roughly half a millenium later, a group of Christians in the West, reading their Bible (which had been translated, finally, into a language they could understand) decided that the Roman Church had gotten away from the Scriptures, and the Protestant Reformation was born.

Just as Martin Luther accused the Catholic Church of getting too far from the Holy Scriptures, so did others then accuse Luther's movement of doing the same; and, now we have a whole plethora of denominations, thousands of them. Pandora's box is wide open; the genie is out of the bottle.

So, how should you answer someone who tells you that you need to be in a Bible-based church?

The Church should not be founded on the Bible! The Church should be based in Christ Jesus!

1 Cor 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Am I saying that you will not get into the Kingdom of God unless you are Orthodox Christian? Absolutely not!

What I am saying is this:

1) Don't tell me I have to believe what you believe or I'm going to Hell, because that is so wrong as to be quite foolish!

2) And don't arrogantly tell me that you stand closer to the Cross than I do, because that is more foolishness!

It is up to Jesus Christ to decide who "stands closer to the cross" -- and I imagine He will consider who is keeping His commandment:

John 13:34-35 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

And don't ask me if I have been saved, and when, or tell me that you were saved on thus-and-such a date, as if it were some event, when salvation is, in fact, a process. Rather,

Php 2:12 ... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;

and, if someone tries to pin you down to a specific moment when you were saved, you would be wise to reply that, like the rest of humanity, you were saved in that moment when our Lord and Savior was crucified for our sins.

God bless you, my friends, and I will see you in the Kingdom of God, if not before!