What is required to be a Christian, according to the Bible? John 1:12 says, But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. Acts 16:31 says, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved... Romans 10:9-10, 13 says, ...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved...for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. These verses make it clear that salvation is secured when one turns in faith to Jesus Christ. We place our faith in His sacrificial death and resurrection, knowing He did for us what we could never do for ourselves. As the saying goes, "He paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay." Faith is what we use to grab hold of salvation. It's like a fork. A fork doesn't feed us, but it is the means by which we grab hold of what does. That is our side of salvation.
Ephesians 2:8-9 gives us some insight into how this happens in our hearts, showing us God's side. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast. God's grace working in our hearts enables us to have saving faith in what Jesus did for us. Salvation is God's gift, not of works--no one can boast, because none of us could ever earn it.
So, if we have responded to God's grace and received Christ as Savior by faith, we are new creations (Second Corinthians 5:17). We have the Holy Spirit in our lives. So, that leads me back to the question I started with. If we agree on what is the most important thing--salvation and God's Word, what do we do with the things we disagree on?
These non-salvation issues are often referred to as the non-essentials of the faith. These might include things like infant baptism vs. believer's baptism; whether speaking in tongues is a vital part of the Christian experience; how to interpret prophecies in the book of Revelation and other end-time events; the importance of Israel today; whether or not a believer can fall from grace and forfeit his salvation. I know godly people on both sides of all these issues. This is not quite the same as Christians having different convictions. Convictions may differ, depending on where the person is at, what his or her stumbling blocks are, and the culture he or she is in. Bible teachings aren't as subjective as that. When we deal with God's word, we are dealing with truth. I'll explain.
The Bible does not condemn any and all alcohol consumption. What a Christian does with alcohol is dependent on several factors. His own conviction may propel him differently than another believer, and neither one is wrong. The same may be true for preferences. I may prefer hymns and you may prefer contemporary worship music in church. Neither is right nor wrong, and both would be an acceptable preference to hold.
Unlike convictions and preferences, when we're dealing with a truth of God' s Word, there is one truth. In other words, even though well-meaning Christians disagree about some things, there is a right answer, and it isn't something that changes based on our beliefs the way convictions or preferences can. For example:
Some believe gifts like speaking on tongues passed from usage when the Bible was complete, while others believe this is an important experience all Christians should try to have, and still others (like myself) are open to the biblical use of such gifts, but cautious, believing a lot of misuse has occurred. Regardless of what people believe, there is a true, right answer. If speaking in tongues is something God desires for all to experiences, that is the truth, even for those who don't believe in it. If tongues passed from usage, that is true, even for those who practice it. Someone is wrong, and someone else is right. People in all three camps I mentioned (those who disbelieve in it today, those who think everyone should have it today, and those who are cautious about it) are all going to be in Heaven. They all received Christ the way described above, according to the Bible. They all believe the Bible is God's true word, and would agree on the essential doctrines of the faith, and yet they disagree about this issue.
The same is true on other issues mentioned. Some believe Christians are eternally secure and cannot lose their salvation, while others believe they can cross a line and become unsaved again. I have shared in several posts why I am a proponent of eternal security. I won't go into all the reasons here, because that isn't my ultimate point. But this is another issue Christians are divided on, and someone is right, and someone else is wrong. There is one right answer. If we are eternally secure, this even includes those who believe they can lose their salvation. If we can fall from grace, this is even true for those who believe they cannot. Everyone believes his or her view is right (no one believes something they think is wrong!). What do we do with that, and all other non-essential issues?
If we wanted, and had the time to do so, we could examine all non-essential issues. The ones I shared are things strong Bible-esteeming Christians can disagree on. There are others that I didn't mention. There are more liberal Christians who don't believe in a literal 6-day creation, and take some specifically-stated things in the Bible as allegories instead of literal facts. Even though people who believe this way can still be saved by Jesus (assuming they take His death and resurrection literally), I think they are wrong according to the Bible, in a very obvious way, so I am not addressing those kinds of things that call God's Word into question. I am focusing on issues people who believe in the Bible as inspired and inerrant can still disagree on. So I repeat, what do we do with this?
I think the biggest question I wrestle with in thinking about these non-essentials is, if we all love and follow Christ, read His word eagerly, listen to the Holy Spirit, why isn't He guiding us out of error and into truth on these things? If there is a true position on these issues, why isn't the Holy Spirit guiding all of us to it, so there is no more question and disagreement?
I can't claim to know the mind of God on all things, but I can use God's word to give some observations, and also some advice for us to follow when it comes to these non-essentials. First, my thoughts about why God doesn't just correct us when we're in error.
1) Within our salvation and relationship with God, He gives us all we need for life and godliness. Second Peter 1:3 says, His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.
2) The Bible contains the answers we need. Second Timothy 2:16-17 says, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. A teacher once told me, "You can complain about what isn't clearly stated in the Bible after you've read and studied everything that is."
3) God is patient with us. Both the Old and New Testament say that God is long-suffering (Numbers 14:18, Second Peter 3:9, among other passages). I know there have been times I held certain theological beliefs. As I grew in my relationship with the Lord, and came to see the error in my thinking, I changed my view. God gently works on all of us. One belief I once held and no loner do is the King-James-Only position. I had a very loving King-James- Preferred pastor in high school who really impacted me, so as a college student, I tried on the King James Only position for myself for a little while. God didn't just rip that position from me. He gently worked on my heart as I studied the issue, and the Bible, and continued in my relationship with Him. He revealed to me in His good time why I had been so impacted by this good pastor, and that, even though he was very loving and had been a good impact on my life, didn't mean I had to agree with him in everything. But it took time for Him to work on me. He was so patient and gentle, and He is that way with all of His children, even when they might be in error in some of these non-essential issues. God knows where each and every Christian is at, and what we need. He works gently on us, and reveals truths we are ready to receive.
Before I move to the next point, I will add that many times, our beliefs are more psychological than theological. Maybe someone of a certain theological bent has really impacted us--for good or bad--and we choose our own beliefs based on a reaction to that person or experience, rather than on what we have found to be the truth from time in God's Word. Reaction is never a good way to choose a belief, but God is so gentle and patient with us as we work through things.
4) Even if some of these non-essential viewpoints are incorrect, God allows them to grow together, just like the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24-30). Unlike that parable, this isn't between Christians and non-Christians growing up together in the same church. This is Christians of different non-essentials beliefs all being part of the same family. God allows us to be wrong. He doesn't cause us to be wrong. He allows it, and (as I said in the last point) gently prods us to the truth. One day, we will know the truth completely (First Corinthians 13:12). I think every one of us probably has some small level of error on non-essentials. We are prone to mistakes and misunderstanding.
I have examined why I believe God allows Christians to differ on these things. Now I'm going to look at what we can do about it.
1) Realize we don't know everything. There are some things God didn't tell us. He told us what we need to know, but there are mysteries we won't know until Heaven. As I said above, First Corinthians 13:12 tells us, Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.
2) Study God's Word diligently, and cultivate a relationship with God where you are used to hearing from the Holy Spirit. This takes time, study, and dedication. We must daily submerge ourselves in God's word, and allow the Holy Spirit to convict us and show us what we need to know and do. If we are wrong, we promptly admit it, and ask God to help us live in accordance with the truth learned. When I was in my King James Only stage, I made some dogmatic statements, and I had to go back to some people I had said them to, and tell them I was wrong.
3) Study the issues out for yourself. Look up what Christians have historically believed on these non-essentials, and see where your view fits into church history, and with the rest of scripture. Always go back to the Bible for answers, but look at what historic Christian leaders have said as well. Read godly writers who both agree and disagree with your position. Engage is peaceful and healthy conversation with believers of varying views.
4) Give other Christians grace. Allow them to be wrong, and love them anyway. Pray for them to know the truth, as you pray the same for yourself. When you are in conversations about these things, and you are led to share where you stand, do so humbly. Don't get sucked into wars with your brothers and sisters, even if you truly believe you are right and they are wrong about this.
5) Very important--don't major on the minors. These issues are non-essentials. They don't matter nearly as much as the truth of God's word, salvaiton by grace through faith, or what God has done for us. You can have beautiful fellowship with another Christian who disagrees with you on non-essentials.
The missionary agency my husband and I serve with has a statement of faith any Bible-believing Christian could sign. It is detailed, but actually pretty basic. We have Christians who are Baptists, Assembly of God, Presbyterian, Methodist, and others serving with us. The reason the non-essentials we may differ on don't get in the way is that we have another paper we also have to sign, called the Doctrine Protection Policy. This policy basically says that we focus on the Gospel and evangelism while we serve, and those 99% of things we agree on, but we don't address the non-essentials (the 1% of things we disagree on) in our ministry. Neither among ourselves nor in the Bible classes we teach would we ever talk about end-times theology, Calvansim vs. Arminianism, cessationism vs. continuationism, or modes of baptism. Those are issues for our churches to discuss, but in our ministry, we just want to share the Gospel and bring people into the Kingdom. There is certainly a time and place to discuss these issues, but they aren't as important as some have made them. Let's focus on loving Jesus and His Word with all we have and all we are, and let the Holy Spirit guide us in all truth.
