Protestant (bible study fellowship) teachings

[Adamski]

Last year I went to what is called bible study fellowship which is a non denominational Protestant group that studies the bible it is world wide and meets in very large settings 1000+ and then splits into small groups

I went as a self identified Roman catholic to talk to people about the catholic teachings of the scripture they where teaching. Which made them very uncounfortable.

Well I learned on very disturbing thing that they where and are teaching

They teach as Christians we don’t have to follow the ten commandments and Jesus came to abolish them. Is this a common Protestant belief because all of the baptist and presbytians there thought this?

 

[JD27076]

It’s not common at all, but I wouldn’t say that no Protestants teach that.

To be honest, their is a small minority of Protestants that don’t even believe Jesus is the Son of God, nor divine.

It’s crazy.

 

[Edmundus1581]

Last year I went to what is called bible study fellowship which is a non denominational Protestant group that studies the bible it is world wide and meets in very large settings 1000+ and then splits into small groups

I went as a self identified Roman catholic to talk to people about the catholic teachings of the scripture they where teaching. Which made them very uncounfortable.

Well I learned on very disturbing thing that they where and are teaching

They teach as Christians we don’t have to follow the ten commandments and Jesus came to abolish them. Is this a common Protestant belief because all of the baptist and presbytians there thought this?

Most Protestants I have met, including Anglicans with theology degrees, have some trace of this in their theology. I’ve heard some say that the Ten Commandments are the “old law” which Jesus abolished, but what I’ve seen more common is a refusal to accept any particular commandment as binding in any particular circumstance it might apply.

They quite like “Honour your father and mother” as a basis for deference to authority, and, as wealthy people, they obviously like “Thou shalt not steal”. However “Thou shalt not commit adultery” doesn’t need to be taken “legalistically”. They all love “Make no graven images”, which is obviously still binding, literally!

When I was in a Protestant Bible study for a while I found that almost every moral and theological issue was eventually answered with “We are saved by faith alone”.

 

[Cruxis117]

Last year I went to what is called bible study fellowship which is a non denominational Protestant group that studies the bible it is world wide and meets in very large settings 1000+ and then splits into small groups

I went as a self identified Roman catholic to talk to people about the catholic teachings of the scripture they where teaching. Which made them very uncounfortable.

Well I learned on very disturbing thing that they where and are teaching

They teach as Christians we don’t have to follow the ten commandments and Jesus came to abolish them. Is this a common Protestant belief because all of the baptist and presbytians there thought this?

There are two interpretations to their words:

1. Because Christians have been extrinsically imputed with the righteousness of Christ, we don’t need to keep commandments to earn salvation, we do it out of love for Christ.

OR

1. The Ten Commandments actually are abolished, and killing and adultery don’t apply to us.

Now, note that both of the above interpretations run counter to the Catholic notion of the Ten Commandments, which is that they are an essential part of the Moral Law (or Natural Law) and we cannot reject them; we still follow them both because we love Christ and because He has commanded us to keep them.

To your actual question, I don’t believe that most of Protestantism believes what the Protestants that you met have said in the sense of the second interpretation. However, I could easily see them accepting that statement in the sense of the first interpretation. But that’s my observation, I apologize if it isn’t helpful.

 

[SteveVH]

Last year I went to what is called bible study fellowship which is a non denominational Protestant group that studies the bible it is world wide and meets in very large settings 1000+ and then splits into small groups

I went as a self identified Roman catholic to talk to people about the catholic teachings of the scripture they where teaching. Which made them very uncounfortable.

Well I learned on very disturbing thing that they where and are teaching

They teach as Christians we don’t have to follow the ten commandments and Jesus came to abolish them. Is this a common Protestant belief because all of the baptist and presbytians there thought this?

No, we don’t believe Jesus abolished the ten commandments. What he did do is to sum them up in the first two cmmandments. If we love God with all our heart, mind and strength and our neighbor as oursleves, we will keep all the others.

 

[TwinMommy]

Last year I went to what is called bible study fellowship which is a non denominational Protestant group that studies the bible it is world wide and meets in very large settings 1000+ and then splits into small groups

I went as a self identified Roman catholic to talk to people about the catholic teachings of the scripture they where teaching. Which made them very uncounfortable.

Well I learned on very disturbing thing that they where and are teaching

They teach as Christians we don’t have to follow the ten commandments and Jesus came to abolish them. Is this a common Protestant belief because all of the baptist and presbytians there thought this?

That has been taught in every protestant church I have gone to, including the one I am leaving(well I guess have left).

The teaching is that it was under the Old Covenant and that the New Covenant goes by the two commandments which Jesus gave and if we follow those it covers any other kind of commandment or law. I was always in Baptist and non-denominational(they may as well be the same thing)

 

[Sarah_23]

That has been taught in every protestant church I have gone to, including the one I am leaving(well I guess have left).

The teaching is that it was under the Old Covenant and that the New Covenant goes by the two commandments which Jesus gave and if we follow those it covers any other kind of commandment or law. I was always in Baptist and non-denominational(they may as well be the same thing)

I’m Presbyterian, I agree we are taught that but in my Church we are taught we still need to keep the other commandments. I haven’t been to a Church that didn’t tell you to follow the 10 Commandments.

 

[triumphguy]

That has been taught in every protestant church I have gone to, including the one I am leaving(well I guess have left).

The teaching is that it was under the Old Covenant and that the New Covenant goes by the two commandments which Jesus gave and if we follow those it covers any other kind of commandment or law. I was always in Baptist and non-denominational(they may as well be the same thing)

Well it’s kinda/sorta true - if you love your neighbour as yourself you’re not going to steal from them, kill them, run off with their spouse, be envious of their 401K or steal their car.

 

[Adamski]

It came right from the the pastors at the following churches
Calvary chapel
Westminster chapel
Christian missionary alliance
Covedent denomination

 

[SteveVH]

Well it’s kinda/sorta true - if you love your neighbour as yourself you’re not going to steal from them, kill them, run off with their spouse, be envious of their 401K or steal their car.

What is true is that we still must keep the Ten Commandments. The fact they they are all contained within the first two is just the wisdom of Christ, it doesn’t mean they no longer matter. I think that is pretty self-evident.

 

[AbideWithMe]

Last year I went to what is called bible study fellowship which is a non denominational Protestant group that studies the bible it is world wide and meets in very large settings 1000+ and then splits into small groups

I went as a self identified Roman catholic to talk to people about the catholic teachings of the scripture they where teaching. Which made them very uncounfortable.

Well I learned on very disturbing thing that they where and are teaching

They teach as Christians we don’t have to follow the ten commandments and Jesus came to abolish them. Is this a common Protestant belief because all of the baptist and presbytians there thought this?

Adamski–Can you provide a source from Bible Study Fellowship that shows where they teach what you’re saying?

In doing an online search for BSF and the Ten Commandments, the only thing I came up with was that Bible Study Fellowship teaches that Christians don’t have to keep the Sabbath. But almost all Christians believe that–we don’t worship and rest on Saturday, the Sabbath in the Ten Commandments.

 

[Gaelic_Bard]

Well I learned on very disturbing thing that they where and are teaching

They teach as Christians we don’t have to follow the ten commandments and Jesus came to abolish them. Is this a common Protestant belief because all of the baptist and presbytians there thought this?

This would not be common among Presbyterians at all. Presbyterians follow Covenant Theology which, like Catholicism, teaches that the 10 Commandments are the essence of “moral law.”

The Mosaic Covenant, which includes the decalogue, as a distinct redemptive-historical covenant with the Israelites, is abolished. It is replaced by the New Covenant. This does not mean that individual strictures within the 10 no longer apply, though some, like the Sabbath do not.

 

[Edmundus1581]

There are two interpretations to their words:

1. Because Christians have been extrinsically imputed with the righteousness of Christ, we don’t need to keep commandments to earn salvation, we do it out of love for Christ.

OR

1. The Ten Commandments actually are abolished, and killing and adultery don’t apply to us.

Now, note that both of the above interpretations run counter to the Catholic notion of the Ten Commandments, which is that they are an essential part of the Moral Law (or Natural Law) and we cannot reject them; we still follow them both because we love Christ and because He has commanded us to keep them.

To your actual question, I don’t believe that most of Protestantism believes what the Protestants that you met have said in the sense of the second interpretation. However, I could easily see them accepting that statement in the sense of the first interpretation. But that’s my observation, I apologize if it isn’t helpful.

You summarised that very well.

Most Protestants I have met accept the first statement quite emphatically, and, while most don’t say the second explicitly (although I have heard that also), they accept it implicitly when confronted with particular issues. They don’t like “legalistic” interpretations or people “imposing their morality” on other people.

Protestantism, in general*, has no concept of a “moral law” built on the Ten Commandments as Catholicism does. Where they accept the Ten Commendments it is as scripture - and then they become subject to interpretation in the light of other scripture. “The Law of Love” is often used to justify adultery, homosexuality, abortion, etc…

– Edit –

• I wrote this while the other responses were coming in. This has been my own encounter with Protestantism. Of course, I accept your statements that specific groups do accept the moral law in the Ten Commandments.

 

[SteveVH]

There are two interpretations to their words:

1. Because Christians have been extrinsically imputed with the righteousness of Christ, we don’t need to keep commandments to earn salvation, we do it out of love for Christ.

And did not Christ say “He who loves me will keep my commands”? Can we love him and not keep his commands? Keeping the commandments, then. is absolutely necessary.

 

[AbideWithMe]

Protestantism, in general*, has no concept of a “moral law” built on the Ten Commandments as Catholicism does. Where they accept the Ten Commendments it is as scripture - and then they become subject to interpretation in the light of other scripture. “The Law of Love” is often used to justify adultery, homosexuality, abortion, etc…

– Edit –

• I wrote this while the other responses were coming in. This has been my own encounter with Protestantism. Of course, I accept your statements that specific groups do accept the moral law in the Ten Commandments.

Oh my…Protestant certainly do have a concept of a moral law built on the Ten Commandments.

 

[AbideWithMe]

And did not Christ say “He who loves me will keep my commands”? Can we love him and not keep his commands? Keeping the commandments, then. is absolutely necessary.

Yes, of course.

 

[Edmundus1581]

Oh my…Protestant certainly do have a concept of a moral law built on the Ten Commandments.

I was thinking of specific Protestants I have met with whom I discussed these issues. They were quite emphatic that there is no moral law, other than the “law of love”.

I have also heard it said that the moral law condemns non-Christians, but that Christians are freed from it.

 

[Adamski]

This would not be common among Presbyterians at all. Presbyterians follow Covenant Theology which, like Catholicism, teaches that the 10 Commandments are the essence of “moral law.”

The Mosaic Covenant, which includes the decalogue, as a distinct redemptive-historical covenant with the Israelites, is abolished. It is replaced by the New Covenant. This does not mean that individual strictures within the 10 no longer apply, though some, like the Sabbath do not.

At bible study fellowship this wasn’t my experience the only Protestant that said we needed to follow moral law was a Lutheran (Missouri synod) and he was ripped on along with me

 

[SteveVH]

This would not be common among Presbyterians at all. Presbyterians follow Covenant Theology which, like Catholicism, teaches that the 10 Commandments are the essence of “moral law.”

The Mosaic Covenant, which includes the decalogue, as a distinct redemptive-historical covenant with the Israelites, is abolished. It is replaced by the New Covenant. This does not mean that individual strictures within the 10 no longer apply, though some, like the Sabbath do not.

I think we are making a distinction without a difference. Can we love God and commit murder, or adultery, or bear false witness? The moral law demands that we keep the commandments; to violate them means falling into grave sin and therefore separation from God. So one may choose to believe they have been abolished, but then one may believe they can fly off of a twenty story building. Gravity will win every time.

 

[jrtrent]

At bible study fellowship this wasn’t my experience the only Protestant that said we needed to follow moral law was a Lutheran (Missouri synod) and he was ripped on along with me

I suppose, as with many things, it depends on which Protestant you ask. I’ve been to a lot of different Protestant churches, but never attended one that says the 10 Commandments are no longer binding (though with modifications to the command to keep the sabbath). Most Protestant catechisms (e.g., the Heidelberg, Luther’s, Anglican, Presbyterian) include at least brief explanations of each commandment and what is required of us in keeping them.

Of those denominations that said the commandments were abolished, I can’t believe they were they then promoting sinful living as the norm for Christians! The Christian and Missionary Alliance, in their statement of faith, says, “It is the will of God that each believer should be filled with the Holy Spirit and be sanctified wholly, being separated from sin and the world and fully dedicated to the will of God, thereby receiving power for holy living and effective service. This is both a crisis and a progressive experience wrought in the life of the believer subsequent to conversion.”