What Ordinances Are Christians Are to Keep?

[Enow]

1 Corinthians 11:1Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 2Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.

Granted, I have seen statements of faith specifying what those ordinances are, but reading the New Testament, I do not see how anyone can say for sure those are the only ordinances in regards to their statement of faith.

What I do read about ordinances are:

Ephesians 2:15Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

Colossians 2:14Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

Colossians 2: 20Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 21(Touch not; taste not; handle not; 22Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 23Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body: not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

So for those that know about these present day ordinances as per statements of faith, Paul speaking on so many things, how do you know which one was an ordinance and the other was not?

Example: one says the keeping of the Lord's Supper as being done in remembrance of Him. Not sure why they insist on calling the bread and the wine as sacraments when it is a term identifying with a system of works in the RCC: truly, Luther should have dropped that word, but if citing 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 for the Lord's Supper, Paul mentioned other things before getting to that, but I do not see the emphasis on men not having long hair as an ordinance in statement of faiths or that Christ is the head of every man as every man is the head of every woman or that a man should not have his head covered when praying or prophesying as an ordinance mentioned in any statement of faith. See my meaning?

Sometimes, I think statement of faith has a finality to it that if an error was introduced, believers' identity by it would refuse correction no matter what the scriptures says. It would take a miracle from God to see the error through His words to reprove the works of darkness should it be found in that statement of faith.

Granted, the Lord said for us to do the Lord's Supper in remembrance of Him, but has believers been presumptuous in making ordinances out of what Paul has said and yet he did not specified what those ordinances were for surely Paul had mentioned other things for the order of the church.

All I am asking is, has the churches been presumptuous in presenting their statement of faith in regards to what they deem those ordinances are when Paul did not specify only them in light of the fact that he mentioned other things to establish order in the church?

Shouldn't a statement of faith be something you would simply say unto others like:

I am a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ as I trust Him as My Saviour for my salvation as I trust Him as My Good Shepherd to help me live as His in departing from sin and enabling me in loving others as He has loved me.

Simple as the Gospel, right? Yet, we tack on so many things to that statement of faith that one wonders if the Gospel is that simple.

Ecclesiastes 5: 1Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. 2Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. 3For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. .......6Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands? 7For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.

Matthew 12: 34O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 36But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Matthew 15: 7Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 10And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.....18But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20These are the things which defile a man:

Pride comes before any fall and God addresses each church in Revelation to prune many and exhort a few so that they may find themselves worthy to escape the hour of trial that shall try all upon the earth as God is coming to judge His House first.

So I do wonder what those ordinances are, and if in fact need to be mentioned in a statement of faith?

[mattfivefour]

Hey, bro! I think your view is absolutely correct. This topic has been one that we chew over from time to time here. But it is one that is always worth discussing since so many Christian run on the rocks over this matter. For that reason, if I may, I'll append something I posted a year and a half ago which dovetails with your post.
__________

Keeping the law.

There was a thread started in RF which I saw earlier today but which I now cannot find. Perhaps it has been removed.

But it asked the question “How do we know what law we are to obey and what law was done away with?” It pointed out that Jesus said “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” And then it asked some questions about which law He nailed to the cross and which laws we are to obey-- Mosiac law, Levitical law, ceremonial law, etc.

Now we could get into a deep discussion of how the Mosaic law gave specific application to God’s requirements for how man should be and live, how the Levitical and ceremonial laws were given to show man his exceeding sinfulness before God, how man must watch himself at all times lest he offend by commission or omission, how he could never live up to God's standard, and how a perfect sacrifice was required to cover sin so that man might not be cut off from God, etc.

The problem if you approach the question in that way is that you wind up in a maze from which it is difficult to extricate an answer. Indeed it requires much studying and prayer to figure it out that way and often leads people into erroneous beliefs..

But Christ gave us a much simpler way. In Matthew 22 He told us that the greatest commandment is this: “To love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind.” The second greatest (but actually the wording He used implies it is almost equal with the first) is this: “You shall love your neighbor as you do yourself.” And as recorded in Matthew 22:40 he summarized: “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” In other words, everything the Mosaic law says, everything the prophets taught, all the reasons for the various laws given to man are summed up in those two commandments which were given by God through Moses.

But Christ changed the last of those two commandments. You see prior to his coming to earth, the highest brotherly good that Jesus could appeal to in us was our own self-interest … our own care for ourselves. Hence, the commandment that we should love our neighbor as we love, cherish, care for, look after ourselves.

But after He came, He gives a new commandment. But one which John says is not a new commandment … but IS a new commandment.

“Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.” —1 John 2:7-8 And John then goes on to talk about loving one another, referring back to what he had recorded in his gospel: “(Jesus said) A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:34)

Why is it an old commandment? Because it tells us we should love our neighbor. Why is it a new commandment? Because God raised the bar. It is no longer enough to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We are to love our neighbor as Christ loved us … giving His all for us. Wow! Not as we love ourselves, but as He loved us.

THAT is what God requires of us. That … and no more.

But that … and no less! Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (to quote Mark and Luke). And love your neighbor as God loved us. It’s all summed up there.

So Jesus freed us from all obedience to the law ... which was no more than the codifying, or the express but external manifestation, of the purposes of God. But He did not free us from the necessity of living in obedience to those purposes— namely love to God, and love to our brothers.

But, all praise be to God, through grace He enables us to live in obedience to those laws. Not through self effort … for, as He said to the Galatian Church through Paul, “O Foolish Galatians … did you receive the Holy Spirit (ie: salvation) by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:1-3). But we can live in obedience to those laws through the Holy Spirit within us. For it is God who works IN us … both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)

The works of our old nature, the sin nature, are these: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. (Galatians 5:19-21) These are sins … but they are only the works, they are only the manifestations, of Sin. Sin is the old nature with which we were born, the old nature inherited from Adam which tightly, indeed inextricably, has woven into it the seeds of rebellion against God. But Christ died to remove the penalty of that sin and to break the power of that nature. Indeed He gives us a NEW nature, one birthed of the Holy Spirit and empowered by that same Spirit as we daily allow ourselves to submit and surrender to Him. And that is why the Bible tells us it is not by will power but “through the power of the Holy Spirit that we put to death the works of the flesh." (Romans 8:13)

So don’t worry about the external keeping of the law. Concern yourself instead with that daily lifting up of your cross, that daily expression to yourself and the world that you are as good as dead to self … but alive to Him. And as He lives in you, He will keep His own law … and the fruit of that will more and more be evidenced in your life as you allow Him more and more control: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Rest in Him, desiring always to obey Him in His leadings and through His power in you ... and always looking forward to that Glorious Day when we shall finally be freed from even the presence of sin! Hallelujah!!!

[myinnuendo999]

Right on mattfivefour,,

The New Testament is the New Covenant and it is based on the HEART. The Lord Jesus Fulfilled the LAW. Jesus said in Luke 22:20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. We are not under law, we are under GRACE cause Jesus fulfilled the Law for us and paid the price for our sins at the cross

"The LAW was given through Moses; GRACE and TRUTH came through Jesus Christ" John 1:17.

Most Christians forget that we serve a LIVING SAVIOR and start trying to live in their flesh- which gets mighty burdensome--Paul said in Rom 5:10 "For if, when we were God's enemies,[B] we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life![/B]

Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

we are to YOKE with Jesus not the law. Any time you have rules without a RELATIONSHIP-- that is harsh and will = rebellion and exhaustion. Jesus Said we are SHEEP and sheep are not burden carrying animals. We need to Go to Jesus and learn from HIM. Many of us Christians have put Jesus on the bookshelf and tried to DO it ourselves. The best lessons are learned WITH Jesus. Look to Jesus and make sure you have a Relationship you are persuing and not rules-

-Paul persued a relationship--Phl 1:21 "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

[GlennO]

Mat 22:35-40
(35) And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.
(36) "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"
(37) And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
(38) This is the great and first commandment.
(39) And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
(40) On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."


Act 2:37-43
(37) Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
(38) And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
(39) For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself."
(40) And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation."
(41) So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
(42) And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
(43) And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.


1Co 11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,
1Co 11:24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."
1Co 11:25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
1Co 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

[Enow]

Act 2:37-43
(37) Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
(38) And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
(39) For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself."
(40) And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation."
(41) So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
(42) And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
(43) And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

1 Corinthians 1:17For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 18For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

Paul did not seem to declare such an emphasis so I do wonder if Paul had considered that as an ordinance.

1Co 11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,
1Co 11:24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."
1Co 11:25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
1Co 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

But what if it is being done more than just in remembrance of Him? Aside from the Mass, there is an ecumenical drive called the "World Wide Communion" in which many denomenations participates in as saying that they are also taking communion as all other brothers and sisters are taking communion: and obviously, other denomenations participating in this world wide communion are not taking it in remebrance of Him only so does that mean that everyone that partakes of this world wide communion are taking it in an unworthy manner now?

I had attended my former church and the associate pastor included the words of worldwide communion in with regular communion: I wonder if the churches are paying attention?

2 Corinthians 6:14Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. 18And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Anyway, I am not contesting the two commandments we are to follow by in John 3:22-24, but I am wondering the validity of incorporating what we perceive as ordinances within the statement of faith.

I am not even contesting in taking communion unless it is being done in an unworthy manner, thus the call to not take communion.

I am contesting water baptism as being an ordinance since Paul was not making a point of it in ministry. I am not forbidding water baptism, but I just do not see it as even one of the ordinances Paul was speaking about.

I realize that it is usually mentioned in statements of faith, but scripturally, I fail to see water baptism as an ordinance that Paul was talking about since I see a lack of emphasis on it in ministry as Jesus saves.

[GlennO]

baptism has nothing to do with salvation....repentance does.

You asked the question, I contributed some scripture

contest what you will

[Enow]

baptism has nothing to do with salvation....repentance does.

You asked the question, I contributed some scripture

contest what you will

No thanks. By His grace, I believe I have said all that needed to be said. It is on God to cause the increase.

[Robert]

For what it is worth, I think we need to look at the word "ordinances";

The original word used in the greek text was παράδοσις (par-ad'-os-is), which according to Strong's means "a handing down or over, a tradition". It comes from the greek word paradidomi; transmission, i.e. (concretely) a precept; specially, the Jewish traditionary law -- ordinance, tradition

Strong's Greek Dictionary: 3862. paradosis

In the old english of the KJV, words back then held a somewhat different meaning in many cases than they do now. The word offend in Matthew 18:6-7 KJV is a prime example of this. With this in mind, we need to remember we are talking about teachings. Yes, we are to follow what scripture tells us, I will not contest that. But we need to make sure we are doing it in the right spirit: the heart and not the letter of it. In this case, scripture us not giving us a "shopping list" of things we need to do to prove we are saved, but evidences that we are saved because we do them; i.e. they are things we will end up doing out of our love for the Lord, and showing his love and demonstrating his sacrificial ministry to others.

[jesuschangesall]

I say....MAMMA MIA!!!

I was not looking for Jesus
He was looking for me....
I did not find Him
He found me
I did not save myself
He saved me
I am not capable to follow Him
He leads me
I am not capable to love Him and my fellow man
He loves me and gives me love for fellow man.
What did I do right,what do I do right?
Nothing,He makes me right by giving me His righteousness by faith
He gave me faith to believe
He increases my faith in Him
I have to depend on Him, consciously and unconsciously...
Yes,I breath because He gives me breath....
I woke up this morning because He woke me up...
I am utterly dependent on HIM and HIS GRACE ...and that makes me really HAPPY because
HIS GRACE is IMMENSE like HIM...I can RELAX,just believing in HIM..
HE is faithful...even when I am not....
Ordinances?
What? water baptism?
I got baptized 20 days after BELIEVING and GETTING SAVED on the very moment I asked HIM to SAVE ME,because DEAD as I was in SIN,I was DEAD ( all sinners are walking dead just waiting to fall in the bottomless pit and be eternally dead )...when the Gospel of Grace reached me and The Blessed Holy Spirit convicted me of my utter desperate situation and POINTED to JESUS WHO died on that cross and ROSE again on my behalf,OBEDIENT to THE FATHER and LOVING me to that extent I CRIED:SAVE ME! and HE DID,right there on the spot!
He revealed me HIMSELF....He REVEALED to my spirit :"I AM GOD" I am YOUR SAVIOUR...
wow,I cried SAVE ME and HE did 2000 years ago on the cross 38 years ago in my time and space trip...and my MERIT? ZERO...HIS MERIT=IMMENSE
So when the pastor asked me if I wanted be baptized,I JUMPED in the water man,because I would have jumped anywhere where i could do something to be with MY SAVIOUR,MY LORD MY GOD! Oh yes....my MERIT=ZERO then ZERO now...HIS MERIT=IMMENSELY IMMENSE,I really ADORE JESUS,man I do,and WHO gives me this adoration for HIM?
Guess...HE DOES... hallelujah...it is all about HIM....it is ALL ABOUT THE FATHER and THE SON and THE HOLY GHOST! It is ALL ABOUT HIM... The ALL BOOK is about HIM not us.....
oh yes,yes,He includes us because HE SAVES US,BAPTIZES US WITH THE HOLY GHOST and KEEPS US SAVED US in spite of ourselves,man,I WANT TO PRAISE HIM!
Holy supper?Communion!
OH YES, a great moment to commemorate HIS DEATH UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN..... hallelujah!!!
Merit on my part to be water baptized or participating to the love feast? no merit
no merit in us...THE GLORY IS TO HIM...and if repenting means turning to HIM,changing my mind to get HIS MIND .....I am ready to repent NOW,because HE IS ALWAYS RIGHT.....
ORDINANCES:
BELIEVE IN JESUS and CONTINUE TO BELIEVE because HE IS COMING...I say this to myself...and men,I want to be with HIM and ALL HIS FAMILY!!!!!

[mattfivefour]

Ordinances?
What? water baptism?
I got baptized 20 days after BELIEVING and GETTING SAVED on the very moment I asked HIM to SAVE ME,because DEAD as I was in SIN,I was DEAD ( all sinners are walking dead just waiting to fall in the bottomless pit and be eternally dead )...when the Gospel of Grace reached me and The Blessed Holy Spirit convicted me of my utter desperate situation and POINTED to JESUS WHO died on that cross and ROSE again on my behalf,OBEDIENT to THE FATHER and LOVING me to that extent I CRIED:SAVE ME! and HE DID,right there on the spot!
He revealed me HIMSELF....He REVEALED to my spirit :"I AM GOD" I am YOUR SAVIOUR...
wow,I cried SAVE ME and HE did 2000 years ago on the cross 38 years ago in my time and space trip...and my MERIT? ZERO...HIS MERIT=IMMENSE
So when the pastor asked me if I wanted be baptized,I JUMPED in the water man,because I would have jumped anywhere where i could do something to be with MY SAVIOUR,MY LORD MY GOD! Oh yes....my MERIT=ZERO then ZERO now...HIS MERIT=IMMENSELY IMMENSE,I really ADORE JESUS,man I do,and WHO gives me this adoration for HIM?
Guess...HE DOES... hallelujah...it is all about HIM....it is ALL ABOUT THE FATHER and THE SON and THE HOLY GHOST! It is ALL ABOUT HIM... The ALL BOOK is about HIM not us.....
oh yes,yes,He includes us because HE SAVES US,BAPTIZES US WITH THE HOLY GHOST and KEEPS US SAVED US in spite of ourselves,man,I WANT TO PRAISE HIM!
Holy supper?Communion!
OH YES, a great moment to commemorate HIS DEATH UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN..... hallelujah!!!
Merit on my part to be water baptized or participating to the love feast? no merit
no merit in us...THE GLORY IS TO HIM.

Awesome. Awesome! AWESOME!!! Brother you have nailed it right on the head. What a BEAUTIFUL HEART He has given you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

\o/ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Robert]

Hey! I have a nice looking heart too ya know!!!


*pulls heart out of chest*

See? It's got veins and arteries, and it's still BEATING!!!

*women screaming hysterically in background*

WHAT?! Was it something I said? I..er... I'm feeling a little woozy here...don't feel so good right now....


*THUD*

[jesuschangesall]

Awesome. Awesome! AWESOME!!! Brother you have nailed it right on the head. What a BEAUTIFUL HEART He has given you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

\o/ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Matt,my brother,
the best part is that He has given YOU too a beautiful heart,and to all His children too!
we know,do not we,that HE IS "NUMERO 1".....and Matt we know HE IS COMING BACK,to take us HOME,to celebrate the LOVE FEAST of being FINALLY married to HIM......
My prayer is that HE will help us all to RECEIVE HIS LOVE and be less theologically right( if we believe in HIM we are anyway!) and MORE OPEN to RECEIVE HIM ....
Matt,HE IS COMING.....in spite of all the clutter,the noise and all...HE IS COMING and it is going to be MIND BLOWING!!!!

Shalom Brother,may He bless us all,WE LOVE YOU JESUS,because YOU LOVED US FIRST!

Ciao Ciao

[jesuschangesall]

Hey! I have a nice looking heart too ya know!!!


*pulls heart out of chest*

See? It's got veins and arteries, and it's still BEATING!!!

*women screaming hysterically in background*

WHAT?! Was it something I said? I..er... I'm feeling a little woozy here...don't feel so good right now....


*THUD*

ROB....way too funny...you are the best!

[mattfivefour]

I absolutely LOVE the beautiful hearts He has put in all of my dear brothers and sisters on this site ... and whom I know around the world.

Thank you, Lord. You are so AWESOME!!!!

\o/ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Elijah's Mantle]

was able to get past one hurdle Ive had for long time after reading through
this hey sometimes I get understanding finally

I think what Jesus commands is very important
much more than man ordinated things
yet we ought to keep all ordinances from God
I was never good at keeping abundant rules
I prayed much for help and forgiveness and Jesus was generous

[jesuschangesall]

was able to get past one hurdle Ive had for long time after reading through
this hey sometimes I get understanding finally

I think what Jesus commands is very important
much more than man ordinated things
yet we ought to keep all ordinances from God
I was never good at keeping abundant rules
I prayed much for help and forgiveness and Jesus was generous

Wow,man,what a nickname!
Perfect!
Jesus has that mantle ON all the time,for you and me and all the believers!!!!
in fact He has THE DOUBLE PORTION of THE SPIRIT,for you and all His kids!!!
Lets ask HIM to help NOT TO FALL PREY of the "fruitcakes" that are running the show....
sometimes all this "titles" that they get at "Bible school" are just that,titles,man given titles,not very useful when we NEED a touch from The Lord!
Best to go directly to HIM!
HE IS THE MEDIATOR,HE IS THE ANSWER!!!!
Let's FORGET ALL MAN MADE ORDINANCES and RULES and REGULATIONS made by man,denominations and the many many "POPES" not only Roman Catholic,but also "evangelical Popes"...let us go at the throne of GRACE of Yeshua!
The DOOR IS WIDE OPEN 24/7 for ALL HIS KIDS!!!
GOD IS GRACIOUS 360 degrees GRACIOUS,otherwise NOBBODY,starting with me thank you very much,would have the slightest chance!
Oh yes,man,u can know the Bible from cover to cover,but UNLESS we have a FAMILY BOND with THE AUTHOR of THE BOOK,we are in dire straits,for sure!
Knowledge PUFFS UP,and RELIGION KILLS! but JESUS is LIFE,and HE GIVES LIFE and PARDON and MERCY and COMPASSION and HELP and a SUSTAINING HAND and TRUE SUPPORT to ALL HIS KIDS!!!!
You know,I am getting more and more excited knowing that THE FATHER and THE SON and THE HOLY GHOST ,our TRIUNE WONDERFUL GOD,IS FOR US,WITH US,from the beginning to the very END of this short trip called life and SOON WE WILL MEET HIM,FACE TO FACE,WOW!!!!
We are ACCEPTED in THE BELOVED,our LIFE is HIDDEN with CHRIST in GOD and thanks be to THE MIGHTY ONE of ISRAEL,sooon,verryyyyy sooonnn,the chrysalis WILL BECOME a WONDERFUL COLORFUL BUTTERFLY,WE WILL BE CHANGED,WE WILL BE TRANSFORMED,WE WILL BE LIKE HIM because we will SEE HIM and just a LOOK at JESUS and HIS GLORY will transform us!!!!

JESUS,WONDERFUL JESUS the ONE WHO says: DO NOT BE AFRAID...I AM with YOU...366 days a year ( including the leap year) 24/7....THE DOOR IS OPEN,let us ENTER in HIS HOLY PRESENCE and POUR our hearts to HIM....HE IS WONDERFUL,truly WONDERFUL,MIGHTY SAVIOUR GREAT "EL-SHADDAI",GREAT GREAT KING.....I could go on for ever just TO PRAISE and EXALT HIM,forget all,just PRAISE HIM,because HE IS WORTHY!!!!

Ciao ciao

[Elijah's Mantle]

thank u for the confirmation and encouragement

I surely need it

Ive been spiritually in the dung heap of struggling lately

A lot of confussion

and I may have accepted some things formerly that was told to me by religious folks that basically have a lot of religion but not much sense

I can not find in my Bible the basis for some things practiced

so I was able to get more understood as to why I feel so condemned as a defeat and a horrible failure when it comes to keeping with religion's rules

Any way may God Bless you for your encouragement and help about ordinances

one thing you stated that sticks is knowledge puffs up and religion kills

I agree

the most dead I ever felt in my life was when I was surrounded by a bunch of religious folks who for the most part enjoyed dividing minds joints and all other things dividable like hearts presominatly to promote there own brand of religious TITTLE SHIPS

I could not keep well with the program so I was thrown over board and branded a lost cause on the account of the fact I rebelled against the authority that would have most likely of had me reciting something like cat a cisms with a particuliar note of a hiss that made me cringe in my sleep

[micah719]

Dear E.M.

research the Nicolaitans and their practices....you'll recognise them fairly easily from what you describe ;)

[Elijah's Mantle]

Dear E.M.

research the Nicolaitans and their practices....you'll recognise them fairly easily from what you describe ;)

ok I will look that word up (Nicolatans) and see if they fit the desription of them same ones that hated me because I dont got no kind of a religious tittle
like they all had

[mattfivefour]

What titles did they have, EM?