Reflections on MY Bible
My thought, exactly. However, my next thought was, “the Bible is the Bible, so they should all be the same, right?” But I have learned over the years that they don’t appear to be.
My belief is that the Bible, not any particular version, contains all things necessary for Salvation, and all the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Right?
But in the last few months a troubling undercurrent seems to have come to light locally. I have had several friends who have been accosted by people in the community who have told them that because they don’t attend the same church, they are going to hell. Can you imagine? I can’t!
If we all believe in the same Bible, then we can’t, A. pick and choose certainly passages and leave out others, and B. we can’t judge who is and who is not going to heaven or hell - that is entirely in God’s hands, not man’s!
How in the world can one Christian say to another Christian of a different denomination that if you don’t attend my church you are going to hell? That is certainly not in the Bible...my Bible or anyone else’s. Nowhere in any Bible does it say that a particular Christian denomination is the only one to be saved. In fact, nowhere in the Bible are denominations mentioned at all.
A different friend told me recently, and I agree with him, that God set down the rules we should live by, and they are really quite simple to understand. If we abide by the Ten Commandments and Jesus’ teaching that we should "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, Love your neighbor as yourself."
Those rules are really easy to understand, my friend commented, but they are really hard to do.
But if we live by those rules to the best of our abilities and when we stumble if we ask God’s forgiveness and endeavor to not break the rule again, God will forgive us. And those rules simply do not mention Christian denominations.
So, I ask you, what do you believe? Do you believe the Bible? Do you believe it contains all things necessary for Salvation?
If so, then your Bible and my Bible are the same, no matter what denomination or Christian sect we attend. We are Christians, that’s all. We are Christians.
Comments
790 Believers who respond to God's word and become members of Christ's Body, become intimately united
with him: "In that body the life of Christ is communicated to those who believe, and who, through the
sacraments, are united in a hidden and real way to Christ in his Passion and glorification."220 This is especially true of Baptism, which unites us to Christ's death and Resurrection, and the Eucharist, by which "really sharing
in the body of the Lord, . . . we are taken up into communion with him and with one another."221
791 The body's unity does not do away with the diversity of its members: "In the building up of Christ's Body there is engaged a diversity of members and functions. There is only one Spirit who, according to his own richness and the needs of the ministries, gives his different gifts for the welfare of the Church."222 The unity of
the Mystical Body produces and stimulates charity among the faithful: "From this it follows that if one member suffers anything, all the members suffer with him, and if one member is honored, all the members together
rejoice."223 Finally, the unity of the Mystical Body triumphs over all human divisions: "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."224
THERE IS NO SEPARATION. WE ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST. THESE PEOPLE ARE SADLY MISGUIDED FOR BELIEVING THAT THEIR WAY IS THE ONLY WAY.
Many of these diverse churches have doctrines that members of other churches may find strange or disagreeable.
Here is what I believe: A person may be a member of any one of these churches, however odd it may seem, and be saved if, through his study of the Bible or witness of his friends or teaching of the Bible in his church, he acknowledges:
I am a sinner. I cannot live my life in a way to redeem myself. I deserve and would face God's judgement. Jesus Christ offered Himself to the cross as a full and complete sacrifice in redemption for my sins. Through Jesus' sacrifice, God is willing to forgive my sins. I thank God and His Son for this gift of His grace.
In thankfulness for this gift, I hope I can share the good news that this is for all people!
Certainly there is only one true Bible. I hate it when someone picks out a particular verse that they use to prove a point. I have seen so much control and manipulation with this. It is wise to know the time and place and who Jesus/God was speaking to and why. Then we have the true message.
Certainly there is only one true Bible. I hate it when someone picks out a particular verse that they use to prove a point. I have seen so much control and manipulation with this. It is wise to know the time and place and who Jesus/God was speaking to and why. Then we have the true message.