The 'New Vision for a Better Christian Community' of positive encouragement and lessening of debate and conflicts seems to be missing this element of NT Christianity:
Galatians 2:11 (NIRV)
When Peter came to Antioch, I told him to his face that I was against what he was doing. He was clearly wrong.
2 Tim 2:23-26 (NIRV):
23 Don’t have anything to do with arguing. It is dumb and foolish. You know it only leads to fights. 24 Anyone who serves the Lord must not be hard to get along with. Instead, they must be kind to everyone. They must be able to teach. The one who serves must not hold anything against anyone. 25 They must gently teach those who are against them. Maybe God will give a change of heart to those who are against you. That will lead them to know the truth. 26 Maybe they will come to their senses. Maybe they will escape the devil’s trap. He has taken them as prisoners to do what he wanted.
2 Tim 4:2 (NIRV):
Preach the word. Be ready to serve God in good times and bad. Correct people’s mistakes. Warn them. Encourage them with words of hope. Be very patient as you do these things. Teach them carefully.
Titus 2:15 (NIRV):
These are the things you should teach. Encourage people and give them hope. Correct them with full authority. Don’t let anyone look down on you.
Jude 1:3 (NIRV)
Dear friends, I really wanted to write to you about the salvation we share. But now I feel I should write and ask you to stand up for the faith. God’s holy people were trusted with it once and for all time.
1 John 4:1-6 (NIRV):
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit. Test the spirits to see if they belong to God. Many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 Here is how you can recognize the Spirit of God. Every spirit agreeing that Jesus Christ came in a human body belongs to God. 3 But every spirit that doesn’t agree with this does not belong to God. You have heard that the spirit of the great enemy of Christ is coming. Even now it is already in the world.
4 Dear children, you belong to God. You have not accepted the teachings of the false prophets. That’s because the one who is in you is powerful. He is more powerful than the one who is in the world. 5 False prophets belong to the world. So they speak from the world’s point of view. And the world listens to them. 6 We belong to God. And those who know God listen to us. But those who don’t belong to God don’t listen to us. That’s how we can tell the difference between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of lies.
Christians in the early church went astray, accepting false teachings and false prophets. What did the apostle say the Christian community had to do with these people?
Oz
Galatians 2:11 (NIRV)
When Peter came to Antioch, I told him to his face that I was against what he was doing. He was clearly wrong.
2 Tim 2:23-26 (NIRV):
23 Don’t have anything to do with arguing. It is dumb and foolish. You know it only leads to fights. 24 Anyone who serves the Lord must not be hard to get along with. Instead, they must be kind to everyone. They must be able to teach. The one who serves must not hold anything against anyone. 25 They must gently teach those who are against them. Maybe God will give a change of heart to those who are against you. That will lead them to know the truth. 26 Maybe they will come to their senses. Maybe they will escape the devil’s trap. He has taken them as prisoners to do what he wanted.
2 Tim 4:2 (NIRV):
Preach the word. Be ready to serve God in good times and bad. Correct people’s mistakes. Warn them. Encourage them with words of hope. Be very patient as you do these things. Teach them carefully.
Titus 2:15 (NIRV):
These are the things you should teach. Encourage people and give them hope. Correct them with full authority. Don’t let anyone look down on you.
Jude 1:3 (NIRV)
Dear friends, I really wanted to write to you about the salvation we share. But now I feel I should write and ask you to stand up for the faith. God’s holy people were trusted with it once and for all time.
1 John 4:1-6 (NIRV):
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit. Test the spirits to see if they belong to God. Many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 Here is how you can recognize the Spirit of God. Every spirit agreeing that Jesus Christ came in a human body belongs to God. 3 But every spirit that doesn’t agree with this does not belong to God. You have heard that the spirit of the great enemy of Christ is coming. Even now it is already in the world.
4 Dear children, you belong to God. You have not accepted the teachings of the false prophets. That’s because the one who is in you is powerful. He is more powerful than the one who is in the world. 5 False prophets belong to the world. So they speak from the world’s point of view. And the world listens to them. 6 We belong to God. And those who know God listen to us. But those who don’t belong to God don’t listen to us. That’s how we can tell the difference between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of lies.
Christians in the early church went astray, accepting false teachings and false prophets. What did the apostle say the Christian community had to do with these people?
- Test the spirits to see if they belong to God;
- Correct them with full authority;
- Stand up for the faith;
- Correct people’s mistakes. Warn them. Encourage them with words of hope. Be very patient as you do these things. Teach them careful;
- Don’t have anything to do with arguing;
- They must gently teach those who are against them;
- Paul was against what Peter was doing. He was clearly wrong.
Oz
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