Do You People Have ANY Standards?

[Barb]

Haven't read the entire thread, so if this point has been addressed, please dismiss my posting...

If our 'standard' of holiness and excellence in Christ is based solely on appearances, we have missed the mark.

FOR THE RECORD: I am NOT advocating dressing any old way, with modesty an idea long forgotten...God forbid!!

But I am saying, to judge whether one is Apostolic merely on dress and hair alone is to judge unfairly.

Ever buy a head of lettuce...looks clean and good on the outside. The leaves are green and bright, and when you pick it up, it just feels right.

But when you get it home and cut it in two, you see that it's rotten to the core. Judging by appearances can deceive big time.

Our standard is the Holy Scriptures and the indwelling Spirit.

The Bible says, "When the enemy comes in, like a flood the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him." That standard is the Word of God.

Jesus said, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you..." The Word of truth coupled with the Spirit of the Most High will convict and direct.

He is the inward holiness that will show us what to wear and not wear...where to go and not go...what to say and not say.

God is not going to lift up my uncut hair in the devil's face, but the Lord will lift up in my defense the standard of His Word and my godly conduct and character...just as He did with Job.

This is JMHO...

[missourimary]

Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Acts 15:27-29
27] We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.
[28] For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
[29] That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

They didn't give them a laundry list. Some things they dealt with later in the letters to the churches, but most things they left to the Holy Ghost and common sense.

[clgustaveson]

Originally Posted by missourimary

Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Acts 15:27-29
27] We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.
[28] For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
[29] That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

They didn't give them a laundry list. Some things they dealt with later in the letters to the churches, but most things they left to the Holy Ghost and common sense.

I enjoy the simplicity and thoroughness of this post, while I agree I think maybe that the OP had some intentions in mind that have gone un-questioned.

I believe whole heartedly in keeping a separate lifestyle and living pure and holy, but my convictions of holiness may not be the same as yours are.

Should I be considered any less a believer if I wear short sleeves or miss church every now and again? Am I a sinner if I fall and repent? Do I lose report with you if I have a tattoo? Do my offenses make me less of man striving for perfection?

When one man opens the Bible and reads, "In the beginning, God Created the Heavens and the Earth," he thinks to himself... "Wow, God is powerful"... when I read that same scripture I find the power in how far Gods creation has come, and how powerful he must be to create such a dynamic system.

Now, simply because my mental process is different and I find a more noticeable power between the lines am I misrepresenting God's power?

Surely not...

So if one man chooses to live a life of relative modesty, and another chooses the same, is his relative understanding of modesty a misrepresentation of God's word?

I refuse to accept that these scriptures do not lend to a relative understanding....

If you disagree, that's fine but you are wrong... and you are also condemning..