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The Balance Between
Lesson Two: Michael Lewis November 9, 2008 |
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The Balance Between
Opinion & Unity
Lesson Two:
"Rightly Dividing Without Division"
by Michael Lewis
Dalton Gardens Church of Christ
November 9, 2008
2 Tim 2:15:
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who
does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of
truth.” NIV
Summary from last week:
1. We need to talk to each other, rather than about each other.
2. We should make sure the elders sign off on anything new or different and trust their spiritual leadership.
3. When possible, we need to provide Christians the option of participating or not in activities where opinions differ.
4. We need to understand UNITY is not where we all agree on everything… It is where we all choose to be as loving and accepting of each other as we possibly can.
5. We should all look out for each other, for sometimes the wisest thing to do is give-up something we are free to do, for the sake of the body of Christ.
6. We should obey all commands without compromise.
How do we decide what is a command? The study of Hermeneutics (Key Questions):
1. What type of passage are we studying?
2. What is the context of the passage?
3. What does the original language mean?
4. What does this mean for us?
Observations:
1. We should be awe struck that God Almighty has chosen to reveal himself and his will to us.
Hebrews 4:12
2. Each of us has a God given responsibility to do our best to rightly understand God’s Word with integrity and an open heart.
Romans 14:12
3. There is no part of the Bible that is irrelevant to us; all scripture is God’s Word and consists of commands or principles that we may apply to us.
1 Thessalonians 5:25; 1 Corinthians 11:5; James 5:14; Hebrews 10:24; Proverbs 22:6; John 13: 14; Matthew 5;29; Acts 2:38
4. The easiest parts of scripture to understand have to do with salvation .
5. Generally, the more difficult a passage is, the less important it is that we completely understand it.
6. The more complicated a belief is the less dogmatic we should be and the more accepting of Christians we should be who think differently.