Nathan James

Rx for the Ailing Bride: a Biblical Template for the Ideal Christian Nathan James

Publisher Marketing: Today's church has shackled itself to many Reformation doctrines not supported in scripture. Regarding salvation, two of those doctrines that have been particularly detrimental are Calvinism and Arminianism. Both of these have selectively filtered Biblical passages through their man-made theological construct, effectively rejecting the whole council of God. Baptist churches in particular have widely subscribed to either the doctrines or mission of Arminianism, which essentially requires that every believer's primary responsibility is to be an evangelist. Preaching this man-made doctrine from pulpits every Sunday has played a significant role in stunting the spiritual growth of most members, as they are crammed into a role outside of their spiritual gifting. At the same time, the real work associated with a believer's true spiritual giftedness is going unused, failing to minister to the body of Christ as God designed. The cumulative effect is that the local church is focused on enticing those outside the church to join an assembly that essentially ignores the needs of those within. The key marker that Jesus said would show the outside world who we belong to is our love for one another. The early church understood this clearly, as they shared all things in common with their fellow believers. They sacrificially gave of their physical possessions to meet the tangible needs of the saints and used their spiritual gifts to edify and strengthen one another spiritually. So, if the Arminanistic model is not valid, what does the ideal Christian look like? Based on Scripture, we see these essential characteristics: -Seeking to be daily clean before God and filled with the Holy Spirit;-Operating in the Body of Christ in accordance with the spiritual gift bestowed to each believer; and-Actively obedient to the Commands of Christ. Join Nathan in exploring these characteristics as he seeks to bring maturity to believers and to restore the well being and health of the sickly bride of Christ.