Communicating The Truth In Love. . .

We believe in being at peace with all men in as much as it is up to us. (Romans 12:18) Being at peace "with all men" does not include acceptance of all of mankind's various false views of reality. We believe that love is not rude (1 Corinthians 13:5). 1 Peter 3:15 commands us to: "In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." (Emphasis ours). In order to fulfill these requirements of Scripture we believe it is necessary to study the world we live in and have a genuine love and humility toward the lost, knowing that "there but for the grace of God go you or I."

We believe that it is proper at times to speak a bold word of correction "for there are many rebellious people mere talkers and deceivers... ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach....therefore reprove them sharply so that they will be sound in the faith" (Titus 1:10-13 emphasis ours). This should be done after loving polite discourse has first been attempted.

Majoring in the Majors and Minoring in the Minors. . .

Jesus chided the Pharisees for "tithing mint dill and cumin" while neglecting the "more important matters of the law, justice, mercy and faithfulness" He told them they should have "practiced the latter without neglecting the former" Matthew 23:23. This tells us that all scripture is important but some portions are weightier than others. Because of this we ought to put heavier emphasis on those essential doctrines that must be believed in order to be considered a Christian while allowing for loving and courteous disagreement on secondary points of conflict within the church. Those four major areas of absolute doctrinal truth that cannot be compromised are:

1. Christology: The Person And Work of Jesus (Yeshua), The Messiah from Nazareth. That He was both God and Man and that He paid the entire price for the sins of all mankind past, present and future.

2. Soteriology: What must a person do to be saved? Eph.2:8,9

3. The Godhead: Creatorhood, Transcendence, Perfect Moral Character, Omni-Attributes and The Triunity of the Persons of the Godhead.

4. The Inerrancy of The Bible: That God has spoken authoritatively and that the Bible doesn't "contain" the word of God but IS the very word of God from cover to cover.

Mount Carmel Outreach

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