To begin with, to understand what an Apostolic is on the Conservative/Liberal scale, you have to first understand several underlying concepts.
First is the view of salvation. There are 2 main views. It would be wrong to say that everyone is one or the other. It is more accurate to see the 2 views on a line. Everyone falls somewhere along that line. Either at one point or the other, or possibly between the two.
The views are:
The Water/Spirit doctrine. This is also called “3 Step” or “PAJC” (you are likely to hear W/S or 3 Step at church but PAJC is strictly a forum thing and we use it as short hand)
The Water/Spirit doctrine states that a man must be born of the Water (baptism) and Spirit (Holy Ghost). W/S doctrine teaches that one is saved only when they have obeyed the Gospel (message of the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ) by fulfilling all that is found in
Acts 2:38. Repent, be baptized in Jesus name (emersion) and receive the Holy Ghost (evidenced by speaking in other tongues)
The second view is called the PCI view. Again “PCI” is a term we use on the forums but I don’t really think it has wider usage. It has also been called “1 Step” but I don’t like that term either. However, I don’t really have a good term for it.
The PCI view is that a person is saved at repentance.
Now within the PCI view there is some variance. Some believe that Salvation is at repentance period. Others believe that Salvation is at repentance, and all saved people will follow that with baptism in Jesus Name and will be Spirit filled, thus satisfying
Acts 2:38.
So you see on the issue of initial salvation, an Ultra-Liberal would be one that believes one is saved at repentance (that being a very broad term that might include anything that ever said “I am sorry”. And a Conservative view would be
Acts 2:38, no exceptions.
There are other things that impact views of salvation.
Once can be Water Spirit and believe in doctrines like “Light Doctrine” which states that a person can be saved without the
Acts 2:38 message so long as they are “walking in all the light they have” meaning if they never heard the Apostolic message, they would not be held liable for it.
Then there is the “Friends of the Bride Doctrine” which is a belief that while
Acts 2:38 constitutes “Full Salvation” other Christians who are not Apostolic in Doctrine will be in heaven, but not as part of the bride. They will be “Attendants” to the Bride.
Both of these secondary salvation doctrines have an impact of moving a person along that line between the PAJC and PCI views.
Second, Standards play a large role in understanding what a Conservative or a Liberal is.
Standards have come to mean those things that we do that help to separate us from an ungodly world. As with everything else, it isn’t one camp or the other but more where one is on a line between two points.
Hair is one of the top issues.
Depending on how one views
1 Cor. 11, One may believe that Men should have short hair and women long, uncut hair. Or one may believe that men should have short hair and women long hair. Or one may believe that this particular scripture is simply written to a specific group of people and in no way applies to Christians today. Or that while it applies, it only applies as treaties on gender distinction and not specifically about how long a man or woman should keep their hair.
The most liberal view is that this passage doesn’t apply today. The most conservative view is that men should have short hair, and women long, uncut hair, and that this (particularly uncut hair on women) is a heaven or hell issue.
Next the standard related to men and women’s clothing. The most conservative view is that Pants are men’s clothing and if a woman wears them, it is a salvation issue. The most liberal view is that God doesn’t care what we wear.
Makeup, Jewelry, length of sleeves and hemlines, skirt splits, swimming in public (mixed bathing), going to movies, bowling ally’s, skating rinks, sporting events, amusement parks, drinking alcohol, etc are all things that fall into the area of standards.
The most conservative view is that doing any of these is a sin and is a heaven and hell issue. The most liberal view is that God does not care about these things.
Then there is the third leg of what makes one a Liberal, Moderate, Conservative.
Television. The most conservative view is that ANY use of the medium is a sin and is a heaven and hell issue.
The most liberal view is that God doesn’t care what you watch.
Most everyone falls somewhere in between these two views but Television has become an area all on its own separate from Standards in general. This is so, because it is the one area right now where the real debate has been going on.
So given that basic understanding, you can figure out where someone is or if they say they are Conservative, you can know what they believe.
There are exceptions and complications to the rules as well.
There are men who have a PCI view of salvation but hold very conservative Standards. There are also Water/Spirit men who are quite liberal on standards. But by and large, the following rules apply
PCI tends to mean liberal/mod to liberal or even ultra liberal (this includes all 3 areas, Salvation, Standards, TV)
PAJC tends to mean Ultra Conservative to Mod/lib
Conservatives will not have Television. Some may consider it a sin, others simply not prudent but none will have it. It is very unlikely that a Conservative will even air an Ad on television. A Conservative may fellowship those that advertise on Television but an Ultra Conservative is likely to not fellowship anyone having any involvement with television. Mods and Liberals may or may not have Television but will likely look favorably at advertising. All except the most ultra liberal will have some limitations on what is watched and when.
On standards, Conservatives tend to hold more of the standard, Standards while liberals tend to reject most. All Apostolics believe in modesty. The application however is vastly different. For a Conservative, it is immodest to swim with anyone of the opposite sex, outside of ones own family. For a liberal, a modest bathing suit is modest.
I hope this has helped explain the basics of what is meant, it is by and large the superficial definition of Conservative/Moderate/Liberal and not a deeper explanation of the underlying doctrinal issues surrounding Justification, Sanctification, Holiness, Separation. On the doctrine of Salvation there are a number of deeper issues that lead to the views that each side has which I have not covered.
It was my intention to be as unbiased as possible and not provide any value judgment on any side of any issue. Where I have said “Most Liberal”, honestly I don’t believe there are many (if any) on either GNC or AFF that fit the definition. There are those that fit the “Most Conservative” label and they are happy to say so.
On the subject of “Ultra-Conservative” there are 2 different schools of thought. First the label has been embraced by many who are but at the same time not mean, and controlling. However, the term is also used by many as a pejorative term for controlling men who use standards as a weapon. While there are men like that, there aren’t many. Most of the very conservative men you find on these boards are former not the later.
Linear Mode
