Have you ever heard an individual say, “It doesn’t make any difference what you believe, just as long as you are sincere, and want to please God and go to Heaven when this life is over?”
It would not make any difference what one believes IF it doesn’t make any difference where that one spends eternity! The individual who desires to be with God in eternity will desire to know “all that is commanded” of God, as did Cornelius in Acts 10:33.
The apostle Paul admonished the members of the church at Corinth that they be united in their belief. “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” ( 1 Corinthians 1:10).
While some people rejoice that everyone has a right to his own belief, the concerned Christian quakes at the thought of the multitude of “ways” that man has invented to serve God. Our religious freedom is a great blessing and is just one of the many things for which we should be thankful as we live in this great land of America. Freedom to assemble is guaranteed by our Constitution. God, however, has never allowed anyone to serve Him any other way than which He designates in His Word. Anytime man does anything in the name of worship that is not after the commands of God, he is engaged in worship that is vain. “But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:7).
For instance, the doctrine of faith only: from what verse of scripture is this verified? Where does the Bible teach that a man is able to repent before he has faith? The doctrine of “Christ only” – where is the scripture that proves this? By what authority can people call each other by various denominational names? By what authority can Christians use instrumental music in worship? Where in the scriptures is there a reference to church being called by any name other than that referring to God or Christ? By what scripture authority can a man call himself, “reverend” simply because he preaches?
What does the Bible say about these things? HOW READEST THOU?
– Glenn B. Ramsey
