CathlissemblyBapticostal…

CathlissemblyBapticostal

By Mary Ann Wray

Sometimes people ask me what denomination I am. Well, if I had to give it a name, I would say I’m a bit of a mixture. I was raised Catholic, then attended an Assembly of God Church for a number of years. After that, we were members of a non-denominational church. Now, God has landed us in a Southern Baptist Church.

I must say if there is ONE important thing I’ve learned over nearly 50 years of walking with the Lord, is that there is only One Lord, One faith, and One baptism. (Ephesians 4: 4-6) Christians across the vast Body of Christ have ONE Head and His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 12:12-27)

We may not agree on every point of doctrine, but there are several main things we ALL agree or must agree on to call ourselves followers of Christ. Christians agree there are certain things absolutely necessary for salvation. You may say these are the non-negotiables of Biblical Christianity because they come straight from the mouth of our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ himself and His Apostles.

You might ask what are the non-negotiables taught by Christ and His Apostles regarding Christianity that are essential for eternal life? I’m glad you asked. They are as follows: the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, 3 in One but One God. The Virgin birth of Christ. Therefore, Jesus was the Only begotten Son of God. Jesus grew into manhood, tempted in every way that we are but never once sinned. He was the second Adam.

Jesus was God incarnate on the earth: fully human yet fully God. Jesus died on the cross for our sins; therefore, we are saved by grace through faith-not of our works, lest any man boast. While His mortal body lay in the tomb He descended into Hades and took the keys of Hell and Death from Satan thus defeating the power of Satan, death and sin. He rose from the dead on the third day in a glorified body and appeared to over 500 people including His disciples over the following 40 days before His Ascension. He will return to judge the living and the dead. Every eye will see Him and every knee will bow. He will create a new Heaven and Earth void of sin.  Those who have and will accept Christ will be saved and spend an eternity with Him. Those who reject Him and His salvation message will spend an eternity in a place called Gehenna: a place of endless suffering, eternally separated from the life and light of God. (John 3: 1-21) Finally, The Bible is God’s Holy Inspired Words to humanity to live by and be a source of wisdom, correction and discipleship.

Every other point of doctrine that we may or may not agree upon are important points for Bible Study and personal growth but not essential for salvation. A few examples for further study and investigation may include: baptism of infants vs baptism at the age of accountability, full immersion vs sprinkling, speaking in tongues, healing the sick, casting out demons, women evangelists, women pastors, wearing of makeup and jewelry, head coverings, beards, drinking wine or alcohol, tattoos, musical instruments etc.

However, IF you have repented of your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, it doesn’t matter what denomination you call yourself… we are brothers and sisters in Christ and will spend eternity with Him as the family of God.

If you don’t know where you will spend eternity no matter what denomination you may call yourself, it is not too late to find out. Repent of your sins and ask Jesus Christ to forgive you and come into your heart and give you the gift of the of the Holy Spirit and be your Lord and Savior.

After you pray, it’s important to feed your spirit, the same way you feed your body or else you’ll whither up and become spiritually anemic. Be sure to read the Bible and pray every day. Find a church/ body of believers that preach, and teach the unadulterated word of God, and ask the Lord to show you where to worship.

 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4: 7-11)

As Christians belonging to ONE Body of Christ, we MUST seek the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3). The only way to seek, pursue, and have the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace despite our denominational differences, is to lift up, accentuate, and focus on Jesus, and His finished work on the Cross.

 Jesus declared, in John 14:7 “I am the way the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me.” Amen.

 “Jesus Prays for All Believers

 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

John 17: 20-23

 Your sister in Christ,

Mary Ann🙏🏼