HeadTheology

II John 9 says; “Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.”

I have wondered for the past couple of months ‘who is my brother and sister in Christ?’ and this verse stuck out to me in reading it the other day for it seems to mark a importance in abiding in the teaching of Christ. So I thought what exactly is the teaching of Christ as witnessed by the whole Bible.
For instance, a couple of days after the tsunami hit south Asia I was watching the news and they interviewed a Episcopal priest about God’s place in that disaster. He stated in no uncertain terms that God had nothing to do with the tsunami and had no control over it whatsoever. Immediately when he said that I thought to myself that that man was not my spiritual brother for in no way do we serve the same God though regretfully we might be both called ‘Christian’. So my mind began this unofficial quest for the unbendable doctrines of Christianity. Basically, how do I determine who is and is not my brother in Christ by what they beleive.

This happened early on in Christianity in what led to the Nicene Creed from the Arian controversy. Basically the Nicene Creed explains that Christ is fully divine on the same level with the Father and eternal whereas the Arians believed ‘when he [Christ] was not] and is a little lower than the Father but still worthy to be worshipped. To make a long story short the folks who followed Arianism were condemned as heretics and considered anathema (cursed). That is a traditional line in the sand that a Christian must believe to be Christian but I wondered what were some of the others.
I have come up with a few based on my Bible reading and creeds that I have learned my church history courses: (feel free to comment and add some or argue for the removal of others for obviously if God wants us to abide in the teaching of Christ be must first believe it)

1. The reality of Adam and Eve

2. The virgin birth

3. The full deity and humanity of Christ

4. The Trinity (one God in three persons) FYI - TD Jakes (the preacher) and Philips, Craig, and Dean (these ‘Christian’ singers do not believe in this) - they are Oneness Pentecostals

5. The death and bodily resurrection of Christ

6. Christ is the only way to heaven (sorry Joel Osteen fans, if you think I am kidding read his interview with Larry King, or at the very least he needs to be kicked out of the pulpit cause he doesn’t know what it takes to get to heaven)

7. Reality of heaven and hell

8. The depravity of humanity (that’s not hard to believe just look at a two year old)

…Right now I can’t think of anymore and it’s late but I’m sure open to more suggestions but no I am not willing to make that the Calvinism and Arminian debate one of those lines.