In Regards To Church Differences

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening everyone, I hope that you all are doing well today.
For this article we are going to be taking a look at some different viewpoints that the church has concerning the various beliefs within Christianity. Much of these differences come as a result of not enough study of scripture, not rightly dividing the word, misinterpreting passages, or even deliberate disregard of the bible. This article is not intended to be a detailed or thorough breakdown of each of these beliefs but rather a brief summary, if you would like to research these topics a bit more in depth may i recommend clicking on the subheading for a link to a separate article.

Food Laws

The First issue that i want to write about today is the dietary laws, are they still applicable today?
Back in the Old Testament, God gave the Children of Israel some rules regarding which animals were ok to eat. Concerning beasts of the field they had to divide the hoof and eat the cud in order to be acceptable to eat, things in the water needed scales and fins, and specific flying creatures were listed as ok or not ok to eat. Some Christians today still consider these food laws still binding on Christians today while others do not.

Spiritual Gifts

Christians are also divided on the issue of  whether some, if not all the spiritual gifts have ceased (Cessationialism) or if they are still imparted to believers today (Continuationism), though there may be other categories to this as well. Although i don't cover this particular issue myself on my other blog i do however have a relevant article on the gift of tongues that you can check out by clicking the sub-heading.

The Rapture

The division that occurs regarding this issue is the timing of when it will occur. Does Christ return for his bride (the church) before the great tribulation of the last days, during it, or after.

Age of Earth

As perhaps a consequence of so many being taught in public schools and through media that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago, many people even though they were raised christian try and fit evolution and deep time into the bible. Most Christians will fall into either two camps, theistic evolution which states that God used death over millions of years to bring about the world today, or there are young earth creationist which hold to a 6,000 year old earth.

Female Pastors

This is another issue in which Christians take different stances. Should women be allowed to teach or take leadership roles in the Church? There are bible verses that each side may use to support their position, so which one is right?

Soteriology

Which is the doctrine of Salvation. The two primary camps that people fall in this section are Calvinism and Armenians, though I myself as well as Dr. Leighton Flowers don't fall into either of these two camps. Dr. Flowers considers himself a Provisionist. I personally have listened to hours of his work and agree with him that Calvinism isn't the way the bible portrays God or Salvation.

Repentance

The confusion that arises regarding the doctrine of repentance is whether it is done before or after salvation or both. Is it necessary for one to repent first before they become saved? If one preaches repent and believe are they teaching Lordship or works based salvation? Then there are those that hold to Antinomianism, this is the belief that one doesn't need to seek obedience to Christ put only needs to put their faith in him. Jude 1:4 is a prime example of those that hold to this doctrine.

Word of Faith

This is also known as the prosperity Gospel, where you can name it and claim it. Many Christians are falling into this false system of beliefs where men are referred to as "little gods", and faith is used as a means of making God do what you want him to do for you instead of the biblical way which is submitting oneself to the will of God and trusting him no matter what life throws your way.

Hell

There are at least two different viewpoints of Christians when concerning the punishment of the wicked in the afterlife. Either the wicked suffer eternally in fire or they burn up and cease to exist (this is known as Annihilation-ism).

Identity of Christ

There are some who profess the name of Christ but are mistaken about who exactly Jesus is.
Take the Seven day Adventist and Jehovah's Witnesses for example they teach that Jesus is Micheal the archangel. The amount of biblical evidence to support this view however is severely lacking if  not completely non-existent. The Common and most logical view concerning Christ identity among believers is that he is God in the flesh. There are dozens are verses that support this view.

Denominations

Within the religion of Christianity there are perhaps hundreds of denominations and although they do have minor differences most of them at least share the basic fundamentals of the faith, namely Salvation by Grace through Faith, Christ dying for the sin of the world to redeem sinners, and rising again the third day, and the preaching of repentance from sin. Some of the most well known denominations are Baptist, Pentecostal, Lutheran, and Methodist, just to name a few.

Baptism

The different viewpoints in Christian circles regarding this issue is whether it is done by sprinkling, pouring, or full immersion. Another schism in the body of Christ concerning this is whether or not one must undergo water baptism in order to be saved.

Communion

Catholics believe in transubstantiation. Lutherans believe in consubstantiation. Most in the Reformed camp hold to a spiritual presence view. There is a fourth view, which is that the bread and wine are simply a memorial meal of Christ's work at Calvary.

The Sabbath

Where Christians disagree on this issue is when is the Sabbath? is it Saturday or Sunday? and must we as believers keep it today in order to be saved? Although the seventh day Adventist may be right about the sabbath being on Saturday as that is when God's people the Israelite's keep it, they are mistaken when they teach that we must not work on that day or we will not be saved.

Holidays

Another dividing factor among Christians is whether or not it is wrong to keep Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and other days such as these. Although many Churches teach that at least Christmas and Easter are good for Christians to observe, all one has to do is google or youtube pagan origins of such and such days to find out biblical reasons to not observe them.

Divorce&Remarriage

Although undoubtedly Divorce is frowned upon by the vast majority of Christians, there are a few different viewpoints on whether or not Divorce and Remarriage is lawful under the New Testament.
And they are 1. It's never ok to divorce and remarry, 2. It's ok in cases of fornication only, and 3. for fornication or if the unbelieving spouse departs.

Judging

There seems to be much confusion today even in the church as to whether Christians are to judge. Sometimes when I watch street preaching video's on youtube people in the crowd will say don't judge and point to Mat 7. The truth is there are bible verses both for and against judging. It is the hypocritical judging that is condemned in scripture, but we are to judge righteous judgment.

Doctors&Medication

There is a difference of opinion on whether or not Christians should go to doctors, take medication (drugs), or simply to trust in God for their physical well being. There are also those who stick with the natural approach to health and use healthy food and alternative medicine to treat  their ills.

Educating Children

Should Christian parents let their children attend public schools?
While most Christians wouldn't see a problem with sending there children to public schools, others decide to rather home school their kids. While public schools do teach kids several important things such as math, reading, and history; kids also have negative influences there as well such as peer pressure to do drugs, the teaching of Evolution, Foul language and bullying from other kids, and in some schools perverted sex education. Ultimately it is the parent that will have to give an account to God on how their children are brought up, may you seek wisdom in deciding on how to care for and raise your children.

Trinity

The doctrine of the Trinity, that is the belief that there is only one God who is expressed in three distinct persons. The Father, The Word, and The Holy Spirit. While most Christians accept this teaching, there are some that teach modalism which is the belief that there is only one God and one person who just changes mask during times. One day God is the Father, and at another time he puts on the Jesus mask, etc; as stated earlier JW's and Adventist outright reject the deity of Christ, as well as of the Spirit.

Christian Music

What type of Music should Christians listen to? Is listening to secular music wrong? Is CCM acceptable music to play in church or is the old timey hymns the only type of music we should sing/play. Are instruments ok in church? These are a few examples regarding the different viewpoints we have regarding music in a Christian's life.

Alchohol

Is it ok for a Christian to drink Alcohol? There are many bible passages/verses that condemn drunkeness yet there is also many verses/passages about wine being seen in a positive light. So also there are many Christians that condemn drinking alcohol and still others that teach that it is acceptable if done in moderation.

Modesty

What kind of apparel is appropriate for Christians to wear? Those supposed Christians that wear revealing clothing in public fall into the category of  either ignorance of the biblical principle of modesty or they simply disregard the passage about it.

Debt

Another issue where Christians differ is on whether going is debt is something God would want us to do. In today's age where saving for a house or piece of land could take several decades depending on one's occupation, many Christians instead of saving and patiently waiting to obtain a place, they will take out a loan and buy a house outright. Is this decision sinful? I urge the reader to search the scriptures and seek the Spirit's guidance on this matter.

Abortion

The last issue that I will be covering for today is a sensitive one, and it's the topic of abortion. While I would hope that all Christians would share my view of pro-life on this issue sadly not every one that names the name of Christ is on the same page with me. Scientifically, the child in the womb is considered at human from the time of conception, the only difference from you and me is it's size, location, level of development, and degree of dependency. None of these differences give anyone the right to kill a baby in the womb.


To conclude this article allow me to briefly state that although we Christians may vary somewhat on the various doctrines of Christianity we shouldn't let that cause strife, maliciousness, or contention between us. We as believers should always strive for unity and peace within the body of Christ (1Cor 1:10, Php 2:2, 2Tim2:22) while at the same time holding true to our convictions, anyways thanks for reading.

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