Daily Devotion: Fundamentals Of The Faith by J.E. Smith

Bible Reading: Acts 2:40-47 KJV 

Key Verse:  "And all that believed were together, and had all things common;"
- Acts 2:44 KJV

Satan has intentionally divided Christians, by giving each (individually and in groups) a little truth and a little lie. In many instances Christians will pointlessly argue positions that have no eternal value. In this case, Satan has won and we have been distracted from what is meaningful. Often we will infer ignorance on the the person due to their different position and not listen to valid points brought up. At the same time, we should not listen to heretical teaching, but where do we draw the line?
Consider these Five Fundamentals of the Faith as a place to draw the line between fellowship and no fellowship:

1. The deity of Jesus, who is both God (John 10:30) and Son of God (Mat. 3:17)      
2. One God in three distinct Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Mat. 28:19)        
3. Jesus' virgin birth (Luke 1:26-38), sinless life (2 Cor 5:21), death (Rom. 5:6-8) and resurrection (Luke 24:1-12)      
4. Salvation by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ alone, not of our works. (Eph. 2:8)      
5. The Word of God is our final authority (2 Tim. 3:16)     

You will notice that all five have a focus on Jesus. How we see Jesus is what separates Christians from the lost, Christians from other religions and Christians from cults claiming to be Christian. We should be able to have a spiritual conversation with someone that agrees with us by believing all five of the above.

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