Talk:Idol

idol

This needs clean up.

The Cath-Calvanite ++++++++++ has changed the definition of idol.

What exactly is an idol ?

a representation or symbol

of an object of worship

broadly : a false god

Idolatry is the worship of an idol or cult image,

being a physical image,

such as a statue, or a person

other than God

as if it were God.

Calvanite +++++++++++ we need to get a better definition of what an idol is.

An idol is when something or someone becomes more important to us than God.

+++++++++++++++++++

like bowing down to worship a golden statue.

Exodus 20.3-6[1]

[[Colossians 3.5[2]]]

[[Jonah 2.8[3]]]

[[1 John 5.21[4]]]

Isaiah 44.9-20[5]

[[Leviticus 19.4[6]]]

[[Psalm 16.4[7]]]

[[1 Corinthians 10.14[8]]]

Galatians 5.19-21[9]

Psalm 135.15-18[10]

Exodus 20.1-8[11]

[[Jeremiah 11.12[12]]]

Deuteronomy 12.32[13]

[[Deuteronomy 13.18[14]]]

[[Isaiah 45.20[15]]]

[[Revelation 9.20[16]]]

[[Galatians 4.8[17]]]

[[1 Samuel 15.23[18]]]

[[1 Corinthians 10.7[19]]]

[[Jeremiah 7.18[20]]]

[[Exodus 23.13[21]]]

[[Judges 10.14[22]]]

Psalm 115.1-18[23]

Jeremiah 10.3-16[24]

[[Romans 1.23[25]]]

[[Isaiah 44.17[26]]]

[[1 Corinthians 6.9[27]]]

[[Deuteronomy 27.15[28]]]

[[Hosea 11.2[29]]]

[[Micah 5.13[30]]]

[[Deuteronomy 7.25[31]]]

[[Revelation 2.14[32]]]

[[Isaiah 46.7[33]]]

[[Isaiah 2.8[34]]]

[[Isaiah 10.19[35]]]

[[Habakkuk 2.18[36]]]

[[Isaiah 42.17[37]]]

[[Acts 17.29[38]]]

[[Colossians 2.18[39]]]

[[Ephesians 5.5[40]]]

[[1 Peter 4.3[41]]]

[[Jeremiah 1.16[42]]]

[[Deuteronomy 7.26[43]]]

[[Revelation 21.8[44]]]

[[Isaiah 2.20[45]]]

[[Daniel 5.23[46]]]

[[Exodus 20.3[47]]] “You shall have no other gods before me.

[[Amos 4.4[48]]]

[[Zephaniah 1.5[49]]]

[[Exodus 32.6[50]]]

[[Acts 15.29[51]]]

[[Ezekiel 20.31[52]]]

[[1 Kings 18.28[53]]]

[[Exodus 20.5[54]]]

Jeremiah 13.9-27[55]

[[Isaiah 42.8[56]]]

[[Isaiah 17.8[57]]]

[[Genesis 31.19[58]]]

[[1 Corinthians 5.11[59]]]

[[Acts 17.16[60]]]

[[Habakkuk 2.19[61]]]

[[Jeremiah 32.35[62]]]

[[Isaiah 65.3[63]]]

[[Isaiah 57.6[64]]]

[[Leviticus 26.1[65]]]

[[1 Corinthians 12.2[66]]]

1 Corinthians 10.1-33[67]

[[Jeremiah 19.13[68]]]

[[Psalm 115.4[69]]]

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.

[[1 Peter 4.4[70]]]

[[Acts 17.23[71]]]

[[Ezekiel 16.17[72]]]

[[Jeremiah 8.19[73]]]

Isaiah 57.3-13[74]

[[2 Kings 18.4[75]]]

[[Deuteronomy 8.19[76]]]

1 Corinthians 10.20-22[77]

[[Zechariah 10.2[78]]]

[[Micah 6.7[79]]]

Ezekiel 8.1[80]

[[Ezekiel 9.11[81]]]

[[Jeremiah 51.17[82]]]

[[Jeremiah 8.2[83]]]

[[Deuteronomy 5.9[84]]]

[[Exodus 34.14[85]]]

Revelation 17.1-6[86]

Malachi 2.11-13[87]

[[Jeremiah 44.17[88]]]

[[Jeremiah 16.20[89]]]

[[2 Chronicles 28.23[90]]]

[[Deuteronomy 16.10[91]

[[[92]Deuteronomy[93] 17.20[94]]]

Deuteronomy 7.1-26[95]

Revelation 2.20-22[96]

[[Acts 14.13[97]]]

[[Acts 15.29[98]]] United City Church

baptism is a symbol of the work of Jesus in a Christian’s life. It’s a picture of the forgiveness of sins, not the actual forgiveness of sins.

baptism, a Christian goes underwater and comes back up is like a picture of when Jesus was buried and then rose from the dead

By the authority of a true New Testament Church

Baptism is a picture

of the death, burial and resurrection

when the professed Christian

is submerged completely in water

then raised out of the water

in the name of the Father,

and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

It is an ordinance for admission to the Church.

It is not a sacrement.

It does not save.

It does not wash away sin.

--

"...faithful baptized believers should take the Lord’s Supper "

I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

ordinances because they were ordained, decreed, or commanded by our Lord Jesus

two ordinances, or sacraments

Luke 22:19 Romans 6:5,

Matthew 26:26-30

zzzxzzxxxzzzzz The word "church" in the NT never refers to a building or a place. It always refers to a people:

What is a church?

1. "the total number of believers who have ever lived"

2. "a local group of baptized believers."

3. both 1 and 2

For example, in Ephesians 1:22[99], 23[100] Paul says that God, having raised Christ from the dead above all rule and authority, "put all things under his feet and made him head over all things for the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all."

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz "That is the universal church, the whole number of the redeemed who look to Christ as their life and their authority. " WRONG John Piper IV

"In this sense there could never be such a thing as churches. "WRONG John Piper IV

There is only one church, "one body" (Ephesians 4:4[101]).

But in the NT the word "church" also is used to refer to the group of believers in a particular city and in a particular house.

For example, Acts 11:22[102] refers to the "church in Jerusalem," 1 Corinthians 1:2[103] refers to the "church of God which is at Corinth,"

1 Thessalonians is addressed (in 1:1) "to the church of the Thessalonians," and so on. 1 Corinthians 16:19[104] says,

"The churches of Asia send greetings.

Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord."

In Colossians 4:15[105] Paul sends greetings "to Nympha and the church in her house."

And Paul's letter to Philemon is also addressed to "the church in your house."

a group of Christians associated because of their geographic

the {local} church:

to find the minimum of what makes a group of people into a church;

how small is too small?

The question of minimum

(1 Corinthians 12:12–14[106]).

I would define a {local} church like this: (Only one kind of church. The Church is always visible)

a {local} church is a group of baptized believers who meet regularly to worship God through Jesus Christ, to be exhorted from the Word of God, and to celebrate the Lord's Supper under the guidance of duly appointed leaders. (What is the commission? Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:)

1) The people must give evidence that they are believers—that they trust Jesus as Savior and Lord.

The NT makes it clear that we are adopted into the family of God through faith (John 1:12[107], 13[108]).

2) The people must be baptized.

Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19[109] that the way to make disciples was by "baptizing them . . . and teaching them." This was the uniform practice in the early church.

3) There must be a regular assembling. A group of people who only came together say once a year could not rightly be called a local church because there are essential activities of the church which lose their meaning when not done corporately.

Therefore Hebrews 10:25[110] commands us not to neglect to meet together.

4) Among these meetings there must be gatherings for worship. This follows inevitably from the ultimate value placed on Jesus Christ who calls us together and from our relation to God through him. The church is destined to live to the praise of God's glory (Ephesians 1:6[111], 12[112], 14[113]); therefore, it would contradict our nature not to assemble for worship (Acts 2:47[114]; Romans 15:6[115], 7[116]).

5) Our meetings must include exhortation from the Word of God.

We were born anew through the living and abiding Word of God (1 Peter 1:23[117]);

and our life in Christ is preserved not by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4[118]).

The shepherds of the church are the provision God has made for feeding his sheep.

Therefore we strive not to be the church where the Word of God is neglected.

6) Along with worship and exhortation we must celebrate the Lord's Supper in order to be the church.

We are commanded to "do this in remembrance" of Christ (Luke 22:19[119]; 1 Corinthians 11:24[120]).

Neglecting this ordinance might seem inconsequential at first, but I think a church will bleed to death through that amputation.

7) Finally, all of this must take place with the guidance of duly appointed leaders.

Paul appointed elders in all the churches (Acts 14:23[121]), he gave instruction about the qualifications of deacons and elders in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, and he said that Christ had given pastor-teachers to the church to equip the saints for ministry (Ephesians 4:1[122], 12[123]).

There have always been disagreements about what to call these leaders and how to organize them.

But that they must be present in a group in order for that group to be a church, historic Christianity has always affirmed.

It seems to me that these seven things are the minimum of what it takes to make a local church:

a {local} church is a group of baptized believers who meet regularly to worship God through Jesus Christ, to be exhorted from the Word of God, and to celebrate the Lord's Supper, under the guidance of duly appointed leaders. (win souls) (teach --how to be saved)

(Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:)

With this definition we should be able to determine what groups are and are not churches.

For example, Campus Crusade meetings, Inter-Varsity chapters, Navigator groups, Bible Study Fellowships, Young Life and Youth for Christ clubs—these are not local churches.

And the reason this is important to see is so that no Christian will content himself with participation in any of these groups (or others like them) while neglecting the regular life of the local church.

They have tremendous value while working alongside and in harmony with the churches, but they can never replace the local church.

But now here we are as Bethlehem Baptist Church with the minimum qualifications in order.

We are a church.

But now what?

The answer to that surely is that God is not interested in merely finding minimum standards;

he calls us to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.

He is interested in maximum church not minimum church.

Maximum church means maximum fulfillment of the goals God has for the church.

So we shouldn't stop with the question,

"What makes a local church?" We must go on to ask, "What makes a maximum local church?"

What should we be doing with all our heart so that the world and the cosmos will see the glorious wisdom and power of God on display in our church?

Maximum: Zealous for Good Deeds

The answer I want to give to that question is the one the NT gives most often. But it is one that in my own past has not received an emphasis proportionate to its biblical importance. And I think only in the past decade has the evangelical church begun to resurrect this biblical theme after a century of partial neglect. The most common NT answer to the question, "What makes a maximum local church?" is good deeds: doing good things for other people. Keep in mind that the question now is not, What is the ultimate goal of the church? That was last week: the ultimate goal of the

"...church is to live in such a way that God's wisdom will be displayed to the world..."

No. That is not the commission

Jesus said, for example, in Matthew 5:16[124],

Ephesians 2:10[125],

Titus 2:14[126]

Hebrews 12:2[127]

"Many churches have forgotten why they exist: "

"...namely, to do good deeds..."

(Matthew 5:16[128]).

(Mark 10:44[129]).

Acts 9:36[130] 1 Timothy 5:9ff[131].

Titus 3:14[132]

Colossians 1:10[133]).

1 Timothy 6:17[134], 18[135]

1 John 3:17[136]

Galatians 6:10[137]

1 Thessalonians 5:15[138]

Romans 12:20[139]

John Piper[140] IV is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books[141], including Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist[142] and most recently Providence[143].

--