Basis of authority - 2
Submitted by Forgiven on June 18 2000 04:31:23
In reply to True. submitted by ChoirBoy on June 17 2000 20:05:17
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But as his later posts a bit further down indicate, he's not prepared to accept this 'natural law' argument any more than he is willing to accept the bible. To start at the beginning: 1) To become a Christian is to repent. Repent should mean a change of direction so that we are commited to going God's way in our life, not our own. The issue then becomes one of wanting to find out God's way for our life. 2) The ideal way for this to occur is for us to hear directly from God for ourselves in every situation. This was how Jesus lived, and because he was a man, we know that this is proper pattern for us to aim at. 3) Because in practice we are bad at listening to God, and only too willing to allow us heart's desire to substitute for what God is saying, we need additional guidance to know when we are deceiving ourselves about what God is saying. These are found in the bible and the church. Note that Jesus operated in this way - in setting aside the Pharisee's laws of behaviour, his appeal was back to the bible as contradicting their position. 4) Where there is a clear consensus of the living church, the church in history and the bible as normally interpreted, there is little justification for holding to the opposite view. At some point such behaviour is apostasy - the rejection of God in your life - which is not recommended. 5) Underlying all this is a belief in the promise of Jesus that the part of work of the Holy Spirit is to lead us into all truth. Note also that His work includes 'Convicting the world of sin'. It is a necessary part of being a Christian to KNOW that you are a sinner. Hope that makes some sort of sense!! |
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