House church or excuse?

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by shazeep

ok, but this makes Acts 2:38 the doctrine, when the doctrine is "love one another."

That is not the doctrine of salvation, Shazeep. Loving each other does not save us from sin. It's how people know we are His people, but not the doctrine of how to be saved and apply the work of the cross to our lives.

"6And this is love: that we walk according to His commands. This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: you must walk in love."

Agreed. But that is not a doctrine of salvation.

and don't get me wrong; Acts 2:38 is great, until it gets into the hands of some OP determined to use it as a yardstick for others.

"4But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another."

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"15But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint."

I'm not sure the text agrees with your interpretation here, but regardless--that is just the first verse that came to mind at the time, in response to the Acts 2:38 cult; Scripture provides about 50 others. And you could pick any thread on AFF to demonstrate that the real yardstick, "love one another," is quickly forgotten in the rush to Acts 2:38.

If you are saying love is a yardstick to see how much we know God, fine. But Acts 2:38 is indeed a yardstick that determines if we are saved from sin or not. You';re talking apples and oranges when you speak of what the purpose of love is and what the purpose of Acts 2:38 is.