We’ve all seen it at some time or another, one church/denomination declaring the other one is wrong and their doctrine is right. And the thing is, usually the majority of the congregation will always stand on the side of whatever denomination is posted above the doorway of their church and in some cases, even separate themselves from others as if they were demons.
I’ve never quite understood this myself, because when you question them, several of them will know and can even quote what their doctrine teaches, but they snip and paste little bits of scripture to form their conclusions. Satan did this same thing when tempting Christ by trying to contort what the scripture says. See Matthew 4:1-11.
I’ve also found that often the individuals have never read it for themselves (not just the 1-2 verses, but the chapter/verses as a whole) with an open mind and open heart to see just what it really says. They will often answer “Oh yeah, I’ve read the Bible” and some of them have, but some of them have by reading books about the Bible, the preacher’s sermons and ideas on what that particular verse means, and through commentaries, but NOT the actual word written in the pages of it.
So what provoked this you might wonder? Well, I remember some years ago some friends visited the church I was attending with me and it just so happens we were taking the Lord’s Supper that service. I had never heard of it, but they believed in “closed communion”, which basically means if you’re not a member of that church, then you can’t participate.
I knew this was in no way right and never had read in the Bible where it says “Judge one another to determine if they are worthy to for-take in the Lord’s Supper, and if they aren’t on the church roster, they are unworthy”. The closest thing I found was in Genesis and it said they must be circumcised, so I hope that isn’t their reference since that would be awkward checking for.
After a quick Google search, I found this: http://www.baptistpillar.com/bd0411.htm, which explains why they do so. The part that gets me is where they mention the letter from Paul to the church at Corinth and the divisions among themselves (much like denominations?) and they use this as a reason to separate themselves. They then reference http://read.ly/1Cor11.18.NASB, which when read by itself, would indeed seem to confirm this ideology. But when you read that whole chapter at one time and especially starting with verse 23, you will see it’s taken out of context and he’s actually condemning having “separate” communions and that each individual should judge themselves.
Also notice how they never use more than a verse or two here and there and not reference a whole chapter or book. That’s because if they did read it as a whole, it would contradict them.
What’s my point?
READ IT YOURSELF!! Not a commentary, not a book on what the Bible says, but instead read it for yourself and see what you find. If it doesn’t make sense to you, pray about it and ask God to give you understanding and find a version that is easy to read. Yes, KJV is a good version and still closest to the actual original text, but if you can’t read it or understand it, what good does it do you? NONE!
