You have no idea how true this is.  No doubt someone will get on here and try to nit-pick some of your peripheral points, but the underlying principle of what you said is so true and even goes a step further. 

I believe, for instance, in the necessity of baptism (with a slightly different take then most Churches have on it).  However, I also believe that we are saved by Faith.  People tell me that I can't believe in both.  I have to pick one.  So one denomination lays claim to one aspect of Christianity and no one else can touch it. 

Labels are necessary for us to identify something, obviously, but they also can be restrictive. 

Interesting post.

Sorry? How does E-M-E-R-G translate to 666? And who cares if it does? My house is near Route 666, and my high school was on the corner of Junction 666. It's just a number.

The modern philosophy that issued forth from the Enlightment had the specific purpose of destroying belief in God.

The holistic world view that had served the ancients so well fell into disrepute as moderns studied things by breaking them into pieces and then labeling the pieces.

Therefore labels are critical in the modern world view.  Additionally, labeling is a futile attempt to bring order to the shattering of reality that results from employing modern philosophies.  Inevitably, moderns are the ones who rely on labels.

Consequently Christians must not be moderns. Our faith is ancient.  It exudes timeless wisdom and so disciples are called to live by that timeless wisdom.  And that wisdom concerns the nurturing, building up, and healing of the human person.

And Christians must also realize the futility of ministering to debased modern philosophy.  Christianity has always been about people.  So ministry must always concern that, regardless of moderns' incessant inclination to label.

@blessed_saint_catherine@xanga - my zipcode used to end in 666 and my next door neighboor used to have a license plate that ended in 666.  Then again, he did have horns . . .

If we're encouraging people to do good works and not reminding them that those good works flow from Christ's work and life in us, then that is undermining the glory of the Gospel. When we emphasize good works we can neglect to teach that Christianity is a life, a relationship w/ the liivng God. Christianity goes beyond following a moral code. We can't put good works before faith. Genuine faith will lead to good works. A true believer is a person who has the life of Christ indwelling them through the person of the Holy Spirit. That life will result in a transformed desire and the power to walk in the good works God has ordained for us. Yes, as Christians we should be doing good works, but we must remember that the only way we can do them is in Christ's power (e.g.-Phil. 2:12-13; John 15 - the vine & the branches - without Christ we can do nothing). All our righteousness is filthy rags; any good works done apart from Christ in us bring no glory to God and Christ does not have the preeminence. We can't put the cart before the horse.

@naphtali_deer@xanga - Matthew would contend that it's all about what you do. And less about what you think. 

@naphtali_deer@xanga - What straight forward preaching! Simple and yet deeper truths keep being knocked aside by so many. Thanks for the post!

@Biblerapture@xanga - To clarify, in Matthew: correct theological beliefs are less important than correct actions based on those beliefs. Matthew contends that the gospel does not nullify the Law. Even if that's what Paul says in his letters (or what we Protestants think he's said). Jesus' words in Matthew say that 'do not think that i've come to abolish the law. not one letter or stroke of a letter will pass away.' 

@brownize221@xanga - Without faith it is impossible to please God. If we don't have the right doctrinal belief, the Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, then we will perish. If we don't believe there is one mediator between God and men, then we will perish.

And it does matter what we believe. Phil. 2: let this mind be in you. Romans 12: be transformed by the renewing of your mind. I Peter 1: gird up the loins of your mind. It begins with the mind, but of course, doesn't end there. If it ends there you have a dead orthodoxy, a dead faith. The living belief and faith translates into works. Right faith will produce works. But our works never save us. George Whitefield said that our works justify our faith but never our person. The blood of Jesus Christ saves us. If it didn't, why would Jesus had given Himself an offering in our place? If we could be saved by our works, why the cross? We need the atoning sacrifice. Our works cannot atone for our sin.

As I wrote my original comment, my concern was (and is) that people substitute good works for Christ's work. And then they can have false assurance and be deceived into thinking they are saved and they really are not.

Throughout Paul's epistles you see this pattern: First you see you are in Christ because you have believed, because you have received His life into you (your faith). Only then does Paul give out the commandments as to how we work that out (the works). We can't ever walk in the works God has ordained for us unless we do so in the power of Jesus Christ. The dead man can never work the works of God.

As Paul said in I Cor. 15: But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

Paul was working, yes, but working through the power of the resurrected Christ who dwelt in him.

I've seen churches where most of the teaching is moral teaching. Yes, there's the Gospel of salvation but it often ends with our justification (your sins are forgiven) but it doesn't go into our ongoing sanctification (your have been set free from sin-you have a new heart and a new spirit in you). That's NOT a complete gospel. Jesus is our righteousness AND our sanctification (I Cor. 1:30-31). In such churches, there's very little, if any, mention of how the life of Christ in us, the Holy Spirit, helps us to live out the beatitudes and fulfill the law. If Christ is not recognized as the source and fountain of our works, then those works will be burned up, and in the worse case scenario as i said above, people can be deceived and lulled into a false sense of security. "I'm doing good works like the pastors are telling me, so I get eternal life." God forbid and protect us from that!

Matthew 25 (I'm presuming that's one of the passages you're referring to when you mentioned Matthew) is saying: if you truly believe, you will do these things, visit the sick and in prison, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, etc. Those works are a result of our salvation, not the cause. The tree is changed through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit so we can bear those fruits of righteousness. Apart from that rebirth, that regeneration, we only work works of unrighteousness. Remember, the Pharisees were doing a lot of good works. It's isn't all about good works, it's about us having the imputed and imparted righteousness of Christ. The imputed righteousness that allows God to declare us not guilty (justification) and the imparted righteousness that allow us to live the holy life God commands (sanctification). When we stand before God in the judgment, the only thing that will make us holy is Christ's blood, Christ's robe of righteousness. Nothing else will matter whatsoever...

@Biblerapture@xanga - But you must "do something" in order to get into Heaven. Believing in Christ is, indeed, doing "something". Doing nothing isn't an option.

@scramBledmegZntoasT@xanga - Yes, of course you are correct. We still must receive that free gift of eternal life. Just 'knowing about Him" is not enough.

It's funny... serving the poor, caring for the sick and the dying, looking after widows and orphans.... these are all things that the Catholic Church has been doing since the beginning.  Even during the Middle Ages, witht the Plague... and with the Reformation, and the conflicts on both sides that happened... the work continued.  Millions of Priests, Sisters, and Brothers and laity did this service to Our Lord, and are known to Him alone.  It is not an Emerging Church thing, or an Evangelical thing, or even, a Catholic thing.  It is a Christian thing... and we should all do it.  It is a part of our stewardship that we tend to ignore.  Tithing is more than the 10 percent we should put in the collection.  We have to give of our time, our treasure, and our talent.  We don't do it to earn our salvation, but because of it... and it makes us stronger and better Christians, which then allows us to do more...