People have often asked me how they may recognise a sound Church. I have said that it lies not only in what a Church does preach, but in what it does not preach. In other words, all that they do preach may seem sound, yet what they do not preach may give them away. The most common example is the Church which does preach the grace of God -- but only the grace of God, or predominantly the grace of God, in such a way as to be out of keeping with the emphasis of Scripture. OBSERVATION: One does not necessarily need to hear false teaching to know one is in the wrong place.
2 comments:
Good test. Jesus was Love in the flesh, yet his message was REPENT of your sins. I feel comfortable at a church that regularly speaks against sin in the life of a believer. It seems so common sense, but where "Pastors" are more concerned about offending lukewarm tithers, the messenger sells-out literally, to the devil, then his message is defiled and the unfortunate sheep who stay there follow the pastor into the ditch.
Yes, you've got it. Thank you for the comment. The core concern is sin in the sense of the first conviction of sin which comes from the Spirit (He will reprove the world of sin and righteousness and judgement), after that it is ongoing conviction combined with God's gift of grace. People often view it negatively. I have said that the conviction of sin is a blessing, a sign of God's presence. There's more than tithing of course.
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