What is biblical Separation then?

[JonC]

No, it doesn't, and it never did.
Again, one faith ( not "several" ), one Lord, one baptism ( Ephesians 4:4-6 ).

However, since the two of us can't even agree on this, then I feel that it's time that we dropped it... as such things only lead to arguments and bad feelings.
But, I feel that in the process of solely my posting in this thread, we can both see why my hometown, of less than 6,000 people, has eleven churches in it instead of only one, like was present at Jerusalem.

Because all those that profess Christ today cannot, in these last days, find agreement in much of anything...
Especially doctrine.

Good evening to you.

Sure the church in Jerusalm had different doctrines and practices than the church in Corinth.

The church in Jerusalem maintained doctrines and practices in accordance with their traditions. They were still Jewish and still fell under the Jewish authority. They also went to the Temple on Saturday and attended synagogue as was their custom. The church in Corinth was comprised mostly of Gentiles, and it was determined by the Jewish Christians not to impose their practices under the Law (like circumcision) on to them. These Gentiles had orher issues as they were coming out of a pagan culture.

But yes, they were united in Christ. They had the same gosoel, the same Lord, the same faith, and the same baptism


My point was that if you visited the church in Jerusalm and in Corinth you would notice that they were very different, although united in Christ and in faith.

 

[JonC]

That is my point.

..and where did those come from, if not from the apostles?
There's only one answer outside of that, Jon.

My friend, if Satan hadn't done a bang-up job over the centuries by secretly planting false teachers and teachings among God's people, then we wouldn't have the mess that we now have in these last days.

Would we?

So, the easy part, as I see it, is to determine, from God's word, what to separate over... and what to bear graciously among ourselves.
If it's a false Gospel, then that's important enough for me to separate over.
If overt worldliness among those who profess Christ, another.

What the Scriptures tell us, is what we as believers should be ready, willing and able to separate over.

Scripture warns us not to be carried away by vain philosophies. The thing we need to be mindful of is the point where people are carried away. Vain philosophies will exist as long as we are human, on this side of existance. But we need to be able to distinguish between God's Word and what we belueve is being taught by God's Word (our understanding).

Take Calvinism. A Calvinist can be one who considers his understanding correct but also realizes it is his understanding. Bit tge Calvinist could also be one who believes his understanding is God's Word itself. One is a Christian holding but not leaning on his understanding while tge other has been carried away from the faith.

Many of the doctrines and practices held by the Church in Jerusalem came from the Old Covenant. Many came from Jewish tradition. They remained a oart of the Jewish people even though they had a matured faith.

Many of the doctrines of the church in Corinth was developed to address their experience coming out of pagan religions.