Page 68 the principles laid out in this chapter, it will save a church from many splits and conflicts. There are many things that are not sinful. But they are not spiritual either. Morally speaking, they are neutral in God’s eyes. They are parking spaces. And God leaves the choice to us. God’s moral will is one thing. But the application of it is another. When Christians differ on the boundaries of the parking lot, it is typically a case of a difference on how the moral will of God should be applied. For instance, God’s moral will is that Christians be separate from the world (John 15:19ff.; 2 Cor. 6:14ff.; Rom. 12:2; Jam. 1:27; 1 John 2:15ff.). But how exactly a Christian is to be separate from the world is an open question. With that said, the Holy Spirit must bring the rest of this message. You will not find any specific rules to follow in the ensuing pages. But you will be introduced to some broad principles that are envisioned in the New Testament. Principles which will help you to follow the mind of the Spirit in such matters. The Holy Spirit give you light and apply these principles specifically to your life. Returning to Mount Sinai I have been a Christian for over thirty years now. And I have met scores of believers who had their own convictions about the
Many of those whose task it is to broker the truth of God to the people of God in the churches have now redefined the pastoral task such that theology has become an embarrassing encumbrance or a matter of which they have little knowledge; and many in the Church have now turned in upon themselves and substituted for the knowledge of God a search for the knowledge of self.
David Wells