of course its built on Jesus. without Him there is no church. but He also said "I will build My church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against my church", which is of course the body of believers. Furthermore, Paul says that the church is the pillar and ground of the truth and that we are to keep the traditions whether written or oral, therefore we can conclude that the traditions are important. they do not detract from Jesus at all but rather point us squarely to Him as He revealed Himself to be. if my relationship with Jesus is based upon a faulty interpretation of Him brought about by a change in traditions then i cant know Him as well as if i knew Him as He truly is. For instance, if someone thought i was a black, liberal Hindu they couldnt know the real me bc they have misconceptions about me, and the same goes for God. We need to come to Him as He is, not have Him come to us as we make Him out to be, and that is why unchanging traditions are so important bc they keep our understanding of Jesus consistent, which it definitely is not throughout all Christendom. 2 Thess. 2:13 says we are saved by sanctification and belief in the truth. it doesnt say some truth, or half truths or my interpretation of the truth (Jesus), but rather it says the truth. there is also no distinction btwn core truths and lesser truths. Jesus said if you love Me youll keep My commandments, therefore every word He said is vital. His words have been interpreted in so many different ways, often to say opposite and contradictory things, that ppl dont even know the truth anymore. "The Holy Spirit will lead you into all the truth" Jesus promised the disciples and I have no doubt that It did just that. so to say there is no church with all the truth is making Jesus to be a liar. and to say the church of the apostles was changed, thereby no longer being the same church, is to say that Jesus lied when He promised the gates of Hades would not prevail against the Church. i just cant understand this idea that doctrine doesnt matter. the faith is doctrine...how to be saved is doctrine (whether you believe faith alone or theosis or whatever other views they are, they are all doctrines of salvation). we should probably agree on such doctrines as Paul says we should in 1 Corinthians 1:10. if all we need to know about is Jesus dying on the cross (which of course all of Christendom cant agree on what He did on the cross)then whats the point of the epistles? if the Bible is the sole authority of Christianity then how can you ignore it when it says in no uncertain terms that there should be no divisions and we should all say the same thing? is Christianity following that? certainly not. The Bible is most definitely the Word of God so we should probably follow it when it says to be unified and to flee from those who dont keep the traditions, otherwise we denegrate its authority and make our own fleeting opinions higher than it.
find the fullness of truth and find the fullness of God's revelation of Himself and the fullness of grace. it all leads right to Jesus Christ in a most beautiful and glorious way.
find the fullness of truth and find the fullness of God's revelation of Himself and the fullness of grace. it all leads right to Jesus Christ in a most beautiful and glorious way.
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