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What we preach and teach at The Victory Fellowship UPC is often different from what one would hear from an evangelical or Protestant church. We are an Apostolic Pentecostal body of believers. What those who walked with Jesus we find in the New Testament.

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 1st John 1:1-3

One of our deepest convictions is that we will find the way to salvation in their writings, which range from the Gospel according to Matthew to the Revelation of John.

Context

Each author and work in the New Testament has an audience and purpose. Knowing the context helps one understand what is written. So often, people take what is written and spoken out of context. Sometimes, it is done entirely by accident; other times, the twisting or misplacement of statements together is meant to misdirect or even deceive. Whatever the case, people think they are receiving the truth but, in fact, are not. One of the best ways to lie is to tell something very close to the truth. If the person is trying to deceive, the fact that the hearer does not entirely know the truth can assist the deceiver in crafting his lies to deepen the confusion. This is how Satan deceived Eve. She told the serpent if she touched the fruit, she would die. This was an exaggeration, but it seemed enough to indicate to the deceiver that she didn’t know and could cast doubt on the Word of God. The deception worked, removing the couple from their place with God.

Questioning

Part of the Pastor’s testimony was that he was not raised in any faith tradition. He was also raised and educated to respect the sciences, logic, and reasoning. Part of the scientific tradition is to question everything and courageously explore the unknown. We were all born “empty slates.” Family, experience, and the world around us wrote their stories on us. Whatever the message, we come to a place where we all need to question what was inscribed on our souls. Even what we believe about God, eternity, and life, we need to probe and explore for ourselves. The Apostle Paul wrote:

12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Phil. 2:12

The thought of damnation is fearful. Therefore, believers should heed the Apostle’s charge.

The Source

Jesus’ disciples became the Apostles and the New Testament. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said,

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; John 17:20

“These” are His disciples with Him in the garden. Praise God Jesus did not pray for them only but for us who would centuries later believe in Him because of what those disciples wrote. That is us. We are to believe in Jesus and “The Way” based on what the disciples wrote. The teaching of the Apostles leads us to salvation. Jesus spent three-and-a-half years teaching them who He is and what they would do. C.S. Lewis wrote:

We must therefore stick to the original, obvious meaning. The name Christians was first given at Antioch (Acts xi. 26) to “the disciples,” to those who accepted the teaching of the apostles. [1]

The author is a member of an association of ministers. We all accept the teaching of the apostles. What we mean by “apostle” is the authors of the New Testament, which is the Word of God. We derive what we teach and preach from their writings in their appropriate context. This sometimes leads us to teach and preach things at odds with evangelical and Protestant orthodoxy. But, what is delivered from the pulpit or in the Bible study must either conform with scripture or be disregarded, no matter the preacher’s organization.

Out-of-Context Example

Many things taught in evangelical and Protestant churches are taken from their proper context and presented as truth. This is dangerous. Let’s examine an extreme example of taking things out of context but are in the Bible and crafting a doctrine from that. In Matthew 27:5 (KJV), the passage says, “[Judas]… went and hanged himself.” Jesus said in Luke 10:37, “Go, and do thou likewise.” We could combine the two with the teaching: “Judas hanged himself. God and do likewise.” We would never advocate that. It is an extreme, nonsensical example. But any salvation doctrine taken from the Bible but is out of context is every bit as bad as “Judas hanged himself. God and do likewise.” It leads someone to what Paul called “a gospel that is not the gospel (Gal. 1:6-7).”

In-Context Example

Studying history is essential to understanding how we got to the way things are. What people did and said initially is often foundational, sometimes even prescriptive. Such is the care with the Apostle Simon Peter’s first sermon on the birthday of the New Testament church. That brief sermon culminated years of Jesus’ teaching and revelation. The Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit that leads into all truth, led Peter to preach what he did on that morning and was consistent with what Jesus taught him in Luke 24, Matthew 27, and Mark 16. Moreover, nothing in the Book of Acts or anywhere else in the New Testament indicates what Peter taught is no longer valid today.

Your Mission

We should always question and compare our beliefs with the scriptures. The Bible is the standard. Jesus is the “chief cornerstone” from which we take our bearings. If we were taught something differently as children, so be it. It’s better to be right now (at last) than wrong forever. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Your mission, <<fill in your name>>, should you accept it: “Examine your beliefs against scripture; discard what is incorrect and adopt what the Apostles taught.”

‘[1] Lewis, C.S. (1952). Mere Christianity. Garden City Press Ltd., London, p. 9.

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