Orthodoxy

There is a lot of talk in today's church about unity and not causing division in the body of Christ. And while these things are true and good (causing division for the sake of division is not healthy), there are two things the modern church needs to keep in mind.

1. Disagreement is not the same as division. In any healthy body of Christ, there is room for disagreement on some issues. Two people discussing the merits of a particular theology or idea or policy is not only not a bad thing, but it can be very healthy. Now, said discussion should be done in love and with respect, but love and respect does not mean that both sides must agree. It also does not preclude serious discussion. In the end on these issues, it is okay to agree to disagree.

2. There are some things that must be disagreed over. They must be fought for, and choosing to agree to disagree is not an option. These are what the church has called issues of orthodoxy. Orthodox means conforming to established traditions. In the case of the Christian faith these are doctrines that must be agreed upon. These are things that are so clearly stated in Scripture that the church throughout the ages has always agreed upon them, and to not agree is to be guilty of heresy. But what are the things that the church holds to be Orthodox? Well there are certain denominations that hold certain doctrine tightly, but some of it might or might not be Orthodox. So, with that in mind, lets look at what would overall be called orthodox doctrine of the church.

God: He is eternal (John 1:1). He is holy and just. He is one God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Through Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Spirit, we come to know the Father (Matthew 11:27). God the Father created all things through the Son, in the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1; 2; John 1:3; Job 33:4), and we are called to worship Him (John 4:23). The Father loves us and sent His Son to reunite us with himself (John 3:16).

Christ: He is the Second Person of the Trinity. He is also eternal. He became a man, and thus He is at once fully God and fully man. His coming to earth was foretold in the Old Testament by the Prophets. In reciting the Nicene Creed, Orthodox Christians regularly affirm the historic faith concerning Jesus as they say, "I believe...in one Lord Jesus Christ, begotten of the Father before all ages, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again from the dead, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, whose Kingdom shall have no end."

The Holy Spirit: It is one of the Persons of the Trinity and is one in essence with the Father. Orthodox Christians repeatedly confess, "And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified. . ." He is called the "Promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4), given by Christ as a gift to the Church, to empower the Church for service to God (Acts 1:8), to place God's love in our hearts (Romans 5:5), and to impart spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:7-13) and virtues (Galatians 5:22, 23) for Christian life and witness. Orthodox Christians believe the biblical promise that the Holy Spirit is given in chrismation (anointing) at baptism (Acts 2:38). We are to grow in our experience of the Holy Spirit for the rest of our lives.

The incarnation: This refers to Jesus Christ coming "in the flesh." The eternal Son of God the Father assumed to Himself a complete human nature from the Virgin Mary. He was (and is) one divine Person, fully possessing from God the Father the entirety of the divine nature, and in His coming in the flesh fully possessing a human nature from Mary. By His Incarnation, the Son forever possesses two natures in His one Person. The Son of God, limitless in His divine nature, voluntarily and willingly accepted limitation in His humanity, in which He experienced hunger, thirst, fatigue--and ultimately, death. The Incarnation is indispensable to Christianity--there is no Christianity without it. The Scriptures record, "Every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God" (1 John 4:3). By His Incarnation, the Son of God redeemed human nature, a redemption made accessible to all who are joined to Him in His glorified humanity.

Sin: The Westminster Confession of Faith says of Sin: "Our first parents, begin seduced by the subtlety and temptations of Satan, sinned in eating the forbidden fruit. This their sin God was pleased, according to his wise and holy counsel, to permit, having purposed to order it to his own glory. By this sin they fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body. They being the root of mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed, and the same death in sin and corrupted nature conveyed to all their posterity, descending from them by original generation." Our Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1,2). We are born spiritually dead in our Sin (Ephesians 2:1). To save us, the Son of God assumed our humanity, and being without sin, "He condemned sin in the flesh" (Romans 8:3). In His mercy, God forgives our sins when we confess them and turn from them, giving us strength to overcome sin in our lives. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

Salvation: Salvation comes when the work of Christ is applied to a person by the Holy Spirit. Salvation is a free gift from God and can not be earned, asked for, begged, or in any other way be a work of man. Man is wholly ineffectual in any attempts to save himself from the judgment of God. Only through the free gift of God, the work of Christ, applied to us by the Holy Spirit are those that were known before time.

Baptism: The Westminster Confession of Faith states. "Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible Church, but also to be unto him a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, of his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in newness of life: which sacrament is, by Christ's own appointment, to be continued in his Church until the end of the world. The outward element to be used in the sacrament is water, wherewith the party is to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, by a minister of the gospel, lawfully called thereunto. Although it be a great sin to contemn or neglect this ordinance, yet grace and salvation are not so inseparably annexed unto it as that no person can be regenerated or saved without it, or that all that are baptized are undoubtedly regenerated."

To be continued....

The above is compiled from various sources.

Mike