Quote:
Originally Posted by countmeworthy
I don't have an answer to this question but Ephesians 4:11 has bothered me for a long time. I believe in leadership by the Spirit to 1) build up the body of Christ, 2) so as the body of Christ is built up, they/we will grow strong and also then be able to bring people to Christ, disciple them and build them up so they can do the same.. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing (immersing) them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Matthew 28).
Bur Ephesians 4:11 and others similar (deacons, bishops for example) opened up a can of religious worms!
Those 'offices' became 'titles of men'. Religious men. Deacon so and so.. Pastor so and so.. Bishop so and so.. and thus the religious institution was born IMHO due to those scriptures.
If someone can explain those scriptures to me, I would appreciate it greatly.
Blessings of Love and Peace to all.
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In both cases it says "God gave", not Paul, or Peter, or a Seminary, etc. You can't put "apostle" on your resume or business card. No man can "give an apostle".
I am reminded of an experience I had. I was on campus and had to go to my professor's office. It was clear across campus and we were in the habit of passing out gospel tracts. However, I dug around in my bag and I only had one tract that was at the bottom of the bag. So I wanted to make it count. As I walked across campus I prayed for the Lord to lead me to the person that needed it. I must have seen 100 students as I walked, praying the entire time, and no leading. By the time I got to the office I was miffed, as I walked in I saw a girl also in the office so I went straight to her and said "Here, this is for you". She took the tract, looked at it for an uncomfortably long time and then said "that is appropriate, I just learned I have lung cancer". The tract was "life at best is very brief like the falling of a leaf".
Now my point is this, if that tract was sent to her, it was by God, not by man. That is the key point. Man has nothing to do with it. If they do (the religion you refer to) then it is no longer an issue of being sent by God.