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To: kosta50
Which matters more in the Kingdom of God:

1) That a man belong to a great and well respected institution founded by an apostle two thousand years ago.

2) That a man has the Spirit of God dwelling in him.

My understanding is that God is no respecter of persons.

I suspect there are unsaved people in every denomination, as well as spirit filled servants of Christ in each one.

Is any of this against orthodox doctrine?

2,130 posted on 08/11/2007 2:34:20 AM PDT by AndyTheBear (Disastrous social experimentation is the opiate of elitist snobs.)
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To: AndyTheBear
Which matters more in the Kingdom of God:
 
1) That a man belong to a great and well respected institution founded by an apostle two thousand years ago.
 
If you are referring to His Church, then we are speaking of belonging to the Body of Christ and I would say that it does matter very much. The Church was founded by Christ, not "an apostle." The rest of Christian assemblies were founded by various men at various times.
 
2) That a man has the Spirit of God dwelling in him.
 
What matters is that men—when they die—have become Christ-like as much as they honestly could, and that they honestly tried, even if they honestly failed.
 
My understanding is that God is no respecter of persons.
 
The term "no respecter" means "impartial," namely that God is impartial (which is why He is a perfect Judge). It doesn't mean that He doesn't respect men.
 
I suspect there are unsaved people in every denomination, as well as spirit filled servants of Christ in each one
 
No doubt. The intent of all of us is what matters. Our faith is shown through the fruits it produces. The question is really how Christ-like are we in our daily living? Do we look at others and love them as we love ourselves?
 
Is any of this against orthodox doctrine?

The orthodox doctrine says that without the Church people tend to stray more than within it. That is our nature.

2,139 posted on 08/11/2007 10:18:19 AM PDT by kosta50 (Eastern Orthodoxy is pure Christianity)
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