God-breathed

God-Breathed

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

2 Timothy 3:16

Many people are at least somewhat familiar with the Amish and Mennonites, but another Anabaptist group, established in Europe some two centuries ago, is River Brethren:

Jacob Engel separated from his Mennonite congregation, wishing only to be baptized in a scripturally correct mode. . . .

Given Engel’s understanding of Christ’s scriptural baptism as face-forward, [triple] immersion, he and the other dissatisfied Mennonites in his society were left with no other alternative than to begin a quest to secure baptism either by a minister of an existing religious group or by mutual baptism.

The River Brethren are a small group (2010 figures indicated fewer than one thousand), and they baptize by total immersion. They live plain lives and believe in foot washing. They oppose involvement in the military, the use of alcohol and tobacco, and worldly pleasures. They also carry out missionary work in Asia and Africa.

How do people reading the same Bible have such varied means of living it out? I strive to follow God’s Word, but I don’t live like the Amish. The Amish, the Mennonites, and the River Brethren strive to live it out, too, and yet they do so in different ways.

God’s Word is inspired. His Spirit breathed the Scriptures into His scribes. It’s profitable, which means we benefit when we follow it. It convinces us of the truth and corrects us. And above all, it reveals God to us and points us to Christ.

Men and women may focus on various Scriptural teachings, but we can be all united in God’s body when we choose to “major on the majors.” What are those? God’s creation of this world and men and women; human sin, which leads to death; and Christ’s death, which leads to life.

The body of Christ may look different, and even live and worship differently, but those who focus on the big issues of God’s Word can find common ground with those who look and live differently.

Dear heavenly Father, I thank You that even though I live and serve differently from other Christians, You are the breath of inspiration who changes everything.