The Ground Of The Church

[YP0534]

Originally Posted by Oregon

The New Testiment is full of verses showing that in the apostles days all the believers in each city where the gospel went were the church in that city. There were no multible chuches in localities. Because there are no verses in the bible such as II Igzy 4:3 " Thou shalt gather as the church in your city" you claim that the scriptures don't teach one church one city. The posters here willfully take their own logic over the scriptures.

Oregon:

Given that what you say is true, what is your response, if any? How do we relate to our brothers and sisters who do what you say they do? I'm mostly concerned that I might be one who could be subject to such a charge on some issue or other and I'd like to know, if I could, how I might discern the Spirit's leading in the circumstance as opposed to just having to choose between my own logic and another's presentation of verses.

In a room full of Jehovah's Witnesses, for instance, my own logic might be superior to the scriptures cited. On the other hand, faced with substantial scriptural proof from a recognized orthodox teacher, I might stubbornly resist to remain with my own considerations.

I'm in agreement with you on the doctrinal point you have presented. Some on this forum hold sharply divergent opinions. We surely would prefer to preserve the oneness of the Spirit here, but I'm pretty sure I could talk until I was blue in the face and some would never change their minds on this point.

In other words, they insist you and I are wrong and we insist that they are wrong and we're not really getting anywhere with that for whatever reason. How can I be comfortable that I'm not the one in self-delusion other than to take it before the Lord and accept my inner sense as more reliable than their presentation? If the Spirit is the true teacher, what shall we say about those who try to teach us something that the Spirit isn't confirming?

I don't really have any answers but I'm pretty sure that brotherly love should be the key factor with whatever response we have (and such is my expectation from those who might insist that I drop my position instead!)

Obviously, my inquiry goes far beyond the particular topic at hand but I think it's really something we need to consider here if we truly wish to have fruitful fellowship, on this topic or any other point of departure...