You lump everyone in Denominational churches into the same category - those who are listening to doctrines of demons. You can't justify that. Believe it or not, some denominational churches are very good with godly people, who love Jesus and desire to please Him, and don't blindly believe everything that the man behind the podium says.
I've heard MANY denominational pastors say (usually on the radio or TV), "Don't just take my word for it - look it up yourselves in your Bible."
Others, probably far fewer than the first pastors, say, "There are several different interpretations for this particular Scripture, that many godly men have differed on. Here's what they say - blah, blah, blah. Then here's what my interpretation is - blah, blah, blah. You need to decide for yourself what you believe the correct interpretation is."
Then they go on to say that no matter where you fall in your interpretation, we're not going to reject you or condemn you, Unfortunately, many denominational churches will go to the opposite extreme: if you don't agree with us on all doctrines, they will ask you to leave. I wouldn't even want to go to a church like that.
You also can't lump home churches into the same mold, either. They're all different, unless they are submitted to some strict organization that oversees them. The home church that I go to is totally independent, meeting each Sunday at the pastor's house. We are not under any denomination or overseeing organization. In the 23 years that my wife and kids (they are all grown and on their own now) and I have been attending, only one person was asked to leave. That man was being loud and disruptive and verbally and publicly attacking the pastor, who had shown nothing but love for him for over 10 years. It finally came to a head and we had to ask him to leave.
Any preconceived ideas that our home church people have, almost always comes from their reading of the Bible. They are humble enough to receive correction (1 Timothy 3:16) and the pastor is humble enough to listen to other opinions - he only expects that differing opinions be discussed at a different time than during our church service - which is just common respect.
After each church service, which consists of about 20-30 minutes of singing worship songs, followed by a 20-30 minute teaching. Then an offering is taken and communion is taken once a month. After that, on each Sunday we have a pot-luck meal, where pretty much ANY topic is fair game: the Bible, the teaching, politics, current events, prayer requests, etc. If anyone needs or requests personal counseling, the pastor will make a mid-week appointment with them. At our meal we will sometimes be talking for 2 or 3 hours.
A little rabbit trail there. So, Charismaticlady, where and when do you meet with the body of Christ?
1 John 1:6 is, as ALL the Bible is, addressed to believers. That is a good truth to remember - it also avoids, as we see right here, misinterpreting the Scripture.
"If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; ... "
This appears to be a warning to believers who not only are tempted to return to their sins of the past, but actually fall back into that lifestyle.
Also this verse makes it super clear to all believers in the church if someone is a true believer or just pretending to be a believer. In 1 Corinthians 5:12 Paul says: "For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?"
Why did Paul say that? Not so we can gossip about them and condemn them - but so that we can gently rebuke them and
encourage them to repent.
Once again, 2 Timothy 3:16 speaks of using Scripture for reproof and correction.
You are wrong about 1 John 1:9 We ARE to confess any and all sin that we commit, whether committed willfully or not. We see this plainly in the "Lord's Prayer" in Matthew 6:9-15:
Jesus said to pray "Give us this day our daily bread." In the same prayer, He tells us to ask God to "forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." How often are we to do that? Well, how often are we to pray for food? Daily! So we are to ask God's forgiveness DAILY and to forgive others DAILY.
Jesus assumes that we will sin daily and that we will have others to forgive daily.
Then He gives us a strong warning: "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions."
We know all of our past sins have been forgiven. However, this Scripture makes it crystal clear that current and future sins must also be repented of, and we must seek His forgiveness for those as well.
So if we refuse to forgive others - and consequently God will not forgive our sins, will that keep us from going to heaven?
I don't know, but it's the ultimate foolishness to take that chance, and to ignore Jesus' words. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
If you dare to ignore Jesus' words, may God have mercy on you. That's not a smart thing to do.
