The KEY to understanding WHY all the different denominations

[John Zain]

Jesus Himself chose who would be pastors and teachers

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ, til we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting …â€
(Ephesians 4:11-14)
These gifts, or appointments, are the 5 different kinds of church leaders.

â€And God has appointed these in the church:
first apostles, second prophets, third teachers …†(1 Corinthians 12:28)

We are given the reasons (above) why Jesus Himself chose the leaders
He would see to it that all of the churches would have the same doctrines.
False doctrine would be less likely to creep into the churches.
The Holy Spirit would surely lead the Jesus-chosen pastors.
But, would God’s Spirit lead pastors who were NOT chosen by Jesus?

Let’s not forget Satan
He is the greatest liar and deceiver in the history of this world.
When man disobeys (rebels against) God, Satan has more of an open doorway to enter!
He hates God, man, churches … and he comes “to steal, kill, and destroy†(John 10:10).

A related observation
Jesus chose His 12 disciples carefully.
They were ordinary men: fishermen, a tax collector, and a revolutionary.
Not one was from the educated religious class of Jews.

A very important question
Did Jesus ever decide to stop choosing who He wanted to be His church leaders?
If so, WHY would He stop … and allow man to choose for himself?

The grievous error
For various reasons, some men decided to appoint themselves to leadership.
This became more and more of a trend … man-run churches!
And many different doctrines, and many different denominations!

Now for the BIGGEST and most important question
Since the original apostles passed away …
what percentage of RCC, EOC, old Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal, etc.
priests, ministers, pastors, etc. do you believe have actually been chosen by Jesus?

 

[Webb]

Any way you cut it, Satan is the "KEY" to understanding why so much division, NOT the Spirit, Eph.4:1-6.

 

[Vanguard]

Any way you cut it, Satan is the "KEY" to understanding why so much division, NOT the Spirit, Eph.4:1-6.

Ha-SaTan, the accuser who is fulfilling his duty given to him by God...is the cause of denominational division?

Here I was thinking it was people with a different set of views (or agendas) that break away and start something different!

The OP has some good points, but I think you left out the false prophets.

 

[Webb]

Ha-SaTan, the accuser who is fulfilling his duty given to him by God...is the cause of denominational division?

Here I was thinking it was people with a different set of views (or agendas) that break away and start something different!

The OP has some good points, but I think you left out the false prophets.

Where do think the false prophets get their error from? Certainly not God!

 

[Osgiliath]

Jesus Himself chose who would be pastors and teachers

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ, til we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting …â€
(Ephesians 4:11-14)
These gifts, or appointments, are the 5 different kinds of church leaders.

â€And God has appointed these in the church:
first apostles, second prophets, third teachers …†(1 Corinthians 12:28)

We are given the reasons (above) why Jesus Himself chose the leaders
He would see to it that all of the churches would have the same doctrines.
False doctrine would be less likely to creep into the churches.
The Holy Spirit would surely lead the Jesus-chosen pastors.
But, would God’s Spirit lead pastors who were NOT chosen by Jesus?

Let’s not forget Satan
He is the greatest liar and deceiver in the history of this world.
When man disobeys (rebels against) God, Satan has more of an open doorway to enter!
He hates God, man, churches … and he comes “to steal, kill, and destroy†(John 10:10).

A related observation
Jesus chose His 12 disciples carefully.
They were ordinary men: fishermen, a tax collector, and a revolutionary.
Not one was from the educated religious class of Jews.

A very important question
Did Jesus ever decide to stop choosing who He wanted to be His church leaders?
If so, WHY would He stop … and allow man to choose for himself?

The grievous error
For various reasons, some men decided to appoint themselves to leadership.
This became more and more of a trend … man-run churches!
And many different doctrines, and many different denominations!

Now for the BIGGEST and most important question
Since the original apostles passed away …
what percentage of RCC, EOC, old Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal, etc.
priests, ministers, pastors, etc. do you believe have actually been chosen by Jesus?

Hello John,

• 1 Corinthians 1:10 "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment."

Paul said that there should be no DIVISIONS among the church. Denomination means division. In a mathematical fraction, there is the NUMERATOR and the DENOMINATOR. The DENOMINATOR is the DIVISOR, hence we get the word DENOMINATION, which means DIVISION.



The fact that there are so many denominations (divisions) simply serves to demonstrate the apostasy of the Christian church. Believe it or not, the apostasy of the church was completed before the death of the apostles.

• Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
  Acts 20:30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

Here are a few of those grievous wolves and the extent of that apostasy:

• 2 Timothy 1:15 "This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes."

"All they which are in Asia" were the seven churches of Revelation 2-3. They all turn against God's own apostle while he was still alive.


Here is a verse which demonstrates the extent of the power of the apostates in the church while the apostle John was still alive.

• 3 John 1:9 "I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
  3 John 1:10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church."

The Christian church had already fallen away into apostasy while the apostles were still alive! Any church that has a 'creed' or a 'statement of beliefs' is a DIVISION, and is a false church which is a daughter of the Great Harlot. We know that is so because of this verse of Scripture:

• Matthew 4:4 "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

The only "creed" or "statement of faith" that any Christian can profess is to hold up "every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God". Anything less is a DIVISION:

• Revelation 22:18 "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall ADD unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
  Revelation 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."

 

[Vanguard]

Where do think the false prophets get their error from? Certainly not God!

Free will and being consumed with greed, power, envy, etc. Before you tell me that Satan is the cause of all that, go learn who and what he is based off the Classical Hebrew interpretations. I have a thread on it.

 

[Webb]

Free will and being consumed with greed, power, envy, etc. Before you tell me that Satan is the cause of all that, go learn who and what he is based off the Classical Hebrew interpretations. I have a thread on it.

I have not intimated satan is the cause of "free will". Be careful about assuming too much and putting words in anothers mouth.

 

[Vanguard]

I have not intimated satan is the cause of "free will". Be careful about assuming too much and putting words in anothers mouth.

I never said you did. It was a pre-emptive measure just in case.

 

[Sinthesis]

Christians have throughout the last two millennia existed, expanded and thrived within innumerable environments that prove the resiliency of our foundation, Christ, of whose allegiance we proclaim to the world through our shared fundamental beliefs and actions. Variations in unessential doctrine produce denominations which are more effective at attracting specific people to specific godly purposes at specific times and specific places. This is a good thing. However, variations in essential doctrine eventually result in the severing of the deviant denomination from the Body of Christ. The obvious problem illustrated by the OP is the difficulty in agreeing on exactly what is essential doctrine. Fortunately for us, we are not the Judge.

 

[Eugene]

Why all the different denominations? You are carnal or fleshy!

1 Corinthians 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

1 Corinthians 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

1 Corinthians 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

Do you like being called AOG, Baptist, Catholic, CoC, etc?

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

 

[John Zain]

At the top of one of pages here is an advertisement with the heading:
Do you want to be a Minister?

... instead of:
Has Jesus called you to be a Minister?

This is a simple example of why the Church has lost the spiritual power it had in NT times.
Throughout the years, many men have thought it would be a good profession to become
"men of the cloth" ... prestige, power, security, etc.

 

[Osgiliath]

This is a simple example of why the Church has lost the spiritual power it had in NT times.
Throughout the years, many men have thought it would be a good profession to become
"men of the cloth" ... prestige, power, security, etc.

Well, as the Scriptures I previously posted have shown us, the apostasy of the Church was going full steam ahead before the Apostles were dead!

And considering what the Scriptures have shown us on the whole concerning the Church, this was to be expected.

• Where do we find them who "say they are apostles of Jesus Christ, yet are not?" ANSWER: IN THE CHURCH (Revelation 2:2).
  
  
• Where do we find them who have "left their first love?" ANSWER: IN THE CHURCH (Revelation 2:4).
  
  
• Where do we find them which "say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan?" ANSWER: IN THE CHURCH (Revelation 2:9 & 3:9).
  
  
• Where do we find "Satan's throne?" ANSWER: IN THE CHURCH (Revelation 2:13).
  
  
• Where do we find "where Satan dwells?" ANSWER: IN THE CHURCH (Revelation 2:13).
  
  
• Where do we find "the doctrine of Balaam?" ANSWER: IN THE CHURCH (Revelation 2:14).
  
  
• Where do we find "them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I [Jesus] hate?" ANSWER: IN THE CHURCH (Revelation 2:15).
  
  
• Where do we find "that woman Jezebel, which calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols?" ANSWER: IN THE CHURCH (Revelation 2:19).
  
  
• Where do we find those who "have a reputation for being alive, but are dead?" ANSWER: IN THE CHURCH (Revelation 3:1)
  
  
• Where do we find those who "say they are rich and in need of nothing, but are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked?" ANSWER: IN THE CHURCH (Revelation 3:17).
  
  
• And were do we find "the DEPTHS of Satan?" ANSWER: IN THE CHURCH (Revelation 2:24).

 

[John Zain]

... most denominations (divisions) of the Church teach that our very own Creator;
our own Father - a God WHO IS LOVE (1 John 4:8) - is going to FOREVER torture
and burn alive the majority of the children that He Himself brought into the world.
This truly unbelievable, unsurpassable degree of ignorance and deception BLOWS THE MIND! :crazy

I often enjoy playing devil's advocate, so ...

Are you saying (like many have done) that someone really tampered with the Scriptures?

If thou is, then thou absolutely cannot trust one word of them! ... Sorry.
Next time I hear of the next Bible-burning event, I'll contact you.

And then, you will be left trusting in your own logic, reasoning, etc., which is a total disaster.
I believe you've read the Scriptures. But wait, since you don't trust them at all ...

Warning ...
Historically, man has always been a spiritual idiot (ref: many religions, cults, etc.)

Note: I also play chess, and it's your move. Think carefully.

 

[Webb]

Right on, "man has always been a spiritual idiot", but who is that man?

 

[Osgiliath]

I often enjoy playing devil's advocate, so ...

Are you saying (like many have done) that someone really tampered with the Scriptures?

If thou is, then thou absolutely cannot trust one word of them! ... Sorry.
Next time I hear of the next Bible-burning event, I'll contact you.

And then, you will be left trusting in your own logic, reasoning, etc., which is a total disaster.
I believe you've read the Scriptures. But wait, since you don't trust them at all ...

Warning ...
Historically, man has always been a spiritual idiot (ref: many religions, cults, etc.)

Note: I also play chess, and it's your move. Think carefully.

What are you even talking about John? If you read my posts, every one of them consists of at the very least 95% pure, cut & pasted Scripture KJV verses right from Bible Gateway or e-sword. There are very few of my own words. This is ironic because I post Scripture verses, and others will post their own commentary to the Scripture verses I post (as if the particular Scripture verses 'themselves' that I happen to post are 'suspect'). A principled commitment to Biblical accuracy is my MO - and this means reading the original Hebrew and Greek fluently, and correcting the English when necessary, which I relentlessly do.

Have the Latin and English translations been tampered with? You bet! Were they "intentionally" altered? Perhaps subconsciously, due to doctrinal biases. But either way, they WERE in fact "tampered with" to say the very least!

Had the Scriptures remained in their original languages, the doctrine of eternal torment NEVER would have existed! This is because there is no Greek or Hebrew word for "eternal, everlasting, forever, etc" and there is no Hebrew or Greek word for "hell" which isn't even a translation, but was added to the Scriptures. The Hebrew word Sheol; and the Greek words Gehenna, Hades, and Tartarus (all erroneously translated Hell) have different meanings, not one of which comes remotely close to the meaning of the "orthodox Hell."

So just as you have "warned me" - I will give you a warning in return: WISE UP!

:nod

 

[reba]

Don't go personal guys!

 

[Osgiliath]

Don't go personal guys!

Agreed!

 

[John Zain]

A principled commitment to Biblical accuracy is my MO - and this means reading the original
Hebrew and Greek fluently, and correcting the English when necessary, which I relentlessly do.
Have the Latin and English translations been tampered with? You bet! Were they "intentionally" altered? Perhaps subconsciously, due to doctrinal biases. But either way, they WERE in fact "tampered with" to say the very least!

Gee, I'm glad your understanding of H&G is so outstandingly incredible!

However, perhaps you don't know that one Greek word can have up to 40 different meanings.
But, since you have NO bias about anything, your understanding of the context is always flawless
(as opposed to everyone else's understanding).

Ha Ha Ha! ... Excuse me ... Ha Ha Ha! ... Aaaaaaah, that feels so much better!

Now, what does your H&G tell you about the baptism with the Holy Spirit?

 

[Webb]

Now, what does your H&G tell you about the baptism with the Holy Spirit?

Does anyone have the baptism of the Holy Spirit today?