There is a dual definition to the term church. One is the corporate body of Christ and the other is the local assembly. Those local assemblies were organized. There is a move away from what some call the "organized church" in our day, they say that the local church in the scriptures was only a loose fellowship of believers meeting in houses with no leadership and no organization. Is that what N.T. churches looked like in the Bible?
1.)They had officers that had to meet specific qualifications. (Eph. 4:11;Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1-13)
2.)They had a prescribed mission. (Matthew 28:19, 20; Acts 1:8)
3.)They had ordinances given to them to observe with instructions on how they were to be observed. (Matthew 28:19, 20; 1 Cor. 11:23-34)
4.) There was a prescribed procedure for judging matters and disciplining errant believers. (Matt. 18:15-17; 1 Cor. 5:1-15; 1 Cor. 6:1-8)
Were there churches meeting in houses? Certainly (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philemon 1:2) But that was not to the exclusion of larger assemblies. 120 believers were meeting in the upper room in Acts 1. A number of believers were meeting in an upper room in Troas in Acts 20. My point is that there seems to be the idea of believers meeting in homes throughout the week, then on Sunday they would meet corporately.
The argument against the organized church is not tenable.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The Contradictions of Egalitarianism
There is a very militant faction today that rebels against all authority. In particular this group says that nowhere in the Bible is a wife commanded to submit to her husband. They generally will proceed with a three phase argument that is self contradictory. The argument goes as follows:
1.) The scriptures that clearly tell women to submit to their husbands are really products of centuries of bad translation. If this fails to convince then they proceed to the next argument:
2.) The scriptures in question should only be construed to apply to the culture of the 1st century only and not to today. If that fails they proceed to the next argument:
3.) Some in this camp that are at least more consistent about their argument simply say that the Bible is wrong on this citing the human component of scriptures as being in error.
The problem with this progression of argumentation is that each point contradicts the previous one. Point one says the scriptures were mistranslated, but point two says they were translated properly but are misapplied culturally. Point three says that neither point one nor two are correct because the original scriptures were always errant in as much as the human component is concerned.
My point? That this demonstrates that the egalitarian group is not interested in the truth or they wouldn't resort to obviously contradictory and dishonest argumentation. What's tragic is that submission is at the very heart of what it means to be Christ-like. "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:5-11) ESV
More on these points later.
1.) The scriptures that clearly tell women to submit to their husbands are really products of centuries of bad translation. If this fails to convince then they proceed to the next argument:
2.) The scriptures in question should only be construed to apply to the culture of the 1st century only and not to today. If that fails they proceed to the next argument:
3.) Some in this camp that are at least more consistent about their argument simply say that the Bible is wrong on this citing the human component of scriptures as being in error.
The problem with this progression of argumentation is that each point contradicts the previous one. Point one says the scriptures were mistranslated, but point two says they were translated properly but are misapplied culturally. Point three says that neither point one nor two are correct because the original scriptures were always errant in as much as the human component is concerned.
My point? That this demonstrates that the egalitarian group is not interested in the truth or they wouldn't resort to obviously contradictory and dishonest argumentation. What's tragic is that submission is at the very heart of what it means to be Christ-like. "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:5-11) ESV
More on these points later.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
The Damnation of Infants
There are those of the more hyper side of calvinism who actually hold to the idea that infants who die are sent to hell. This is a classic example of a paradigm driven interpretation of the scriptures. They suppose that since all are born sinners and since an infant cannot believe they are cast into hell as one of God's nonelect. It's sort of strange how that Calvinists taut the sovereignty of God and then at the same time try to confine him to a box of their own design. The idea of God damning infants is a repugnant doctrine, and anyone who teaches such nonsense does not understand the love of God whatsoever, and they certainly do not understand God's feeling toward children.
What God Says About Children
"And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein." (Luke 18:15-17)
"At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish." (Matthew 18:1-14)
In these two passages we see Jesus teachings about children. He said of children "...of such is the kingdom of God." indicating that the kingdom is made up of children. He said that we must humble ourselves as these children in order to "...enter the kingdom of heaven..." He said that it was not the will of the Father "...that one of these little ones should perish."
Further, if infants who die are damned it would make some of the teachings in the Bible make no sense.
"Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me! I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave." (Job 10:18-19)
"If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he." (ESV) (Ecclesiastes 6:3)
If infants who die are damned then Job's and Solomon's assertion would be ridiculous. How would dying at birth be something that Job longed for? How would a still born baby be superior to a man who lives a long time and does not enjoy the good of this life?
The hyper Calvinist wishes to maintain the paradigm at all costs, even the cost of the damnation of babies. They say that God is holy, just, righteous and sovereign, and then present a God Who is none of these things, but rather the author of sin and corruption. The God of the Bible is holy, just, righteous and sovereign because He is not the Author of sin and corruption.
What Others Have Said About Infant Damnation
“I have never, at any time in my life, said, believed, or imagined that any infant, under any circumstances, would be cast into hell. I have always believed in the salvation of all infants, and I intensely detest the opinions which your opponent dared attribute to me. I do not believe that on this earth, there is a single professing Christian holding the damnation of infants; or if there be, he must be insane, or utterly ignorant of Christianity.” Ian H. Murray, Letters of Charles Haddon Spurgeon: Selected with Notes by Iain H. Murray (London: Banner of Truth, 1992), 150.
"Among the gross falsehoods that have been uttered against the Calvinist proper is the wicked calumny that we hold the damnation of little infants. A baser lie was never uttered. There may have existed somewhere in some corner of the earth a miscreant...a criminal...who would dare to say that there were infants in hell but I have never met with him nor have I met with a man who ever saw such a person. We say with regard to infants, Scripture saith but little and therefore where Scripture is confessedly scant it is for no man to determine dogmatically but I think I speak for the entire body, or certainly with exceedingly few exceptions and those are known to me when I say we hold that all infants who die are elect of God and are therefore saved. And we look to this as being the means by which Christ shall see of the travail of his soul to a great degree and we do sometimes hope that thus the multitude of the saved shall be made to exceed the multitude of the lost. Whatever views our friends may hold upon the point, they are not necessarily connected with Calvinistic doctrine. I believe that the Lord Jesus who said 'of such is the Kingdom of Heaven' doth daily and constantly receive into His loving arms those tender ones who are only shown and then snatched away to heaven." – C.H. Spurgeon
The damnation of infants is a repugnant, despicable doctrine put forth by those who neither understand nor possess the love of God.
What God Says About Children
"And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein." (Luke 18:15-17)
"At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish." (Matthew 18:1-14)
In these two passages we see Jesus teachings about children. He said of children "...of such is the kingdom of God." indicating that the kingdom is made up of children. He said that we must humble ourselves as these children in order to "...enter the kingdom of heaven..." He said that it was not the will of the Father "...that one of these little ones should perish."
Further, if infants who die are damned it would make some of the teachings in the Bible make no sense.
"Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me! I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave." (Job 10:18-19)
"If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he." (ESV) (Ecclesiastes 6:3)
If infants who die are damned then Job's and Solomon's assertion would be ridiculous. How would dying at birth be something that Job longed for? How would a still born baby be superior to a man who lives a long time and does not enjoy the good of this life?
The hyper Calvinist wishes to maintain the paradigm at all costs, even the cost of the damnation of babies. They say that God is holy, just, righteous and sovereign, and then present a God Who is none of these things, but rather the author of sin and corruption. The God of the Bible is holy, just, righteous and sovereign because He is not the Author of sin and corruption.
What Others Have Said About Infant Damnation
“I have never, at any time in my life, said, believed, or imagined that any infant, under any circumstances, would be cast into hell. I have always believed in the salvation of all infants, and I intensely detest the opinions which your opponent dared attribute to me. I do not believe that on this earth, there is a single professing Christian holding the damnation of infants; or if there be, he must be insane, or utterly ignorant of Christianity.” Ian H. Murray, Letters of Charles Haddon Spurgeon: Selected with Notes by Iain H. Murray (London: Banner of Truth, 1992), 150.
"Among the gross falsehoods that have been uttered against the Calvinist proper is the wicked calumny that we hold the damnation of little infants. A baser lie was never uttered. There may have existed somewhere in some corner of the earth a miscreant...a criminal...who would dare to say that there were infants in hell but I have never met with him nor have I met with a man who ever saw such a person. We say with regard to infants, Scripture saith but little and therefore where Scripture is confessedly scant it is for no man to determine dogmatically but I think I speak for the entire body, or certainly with exceedingly few exceptions and those are known to me when I say we hold that all infants who die are elect of God and are therefore saved. And we look to this as being the means by which Christ shall see of the travail of his soul to a great degree and we do sometimes hope that thus the multitude of the saved shall be made to exceed the multitude of the lost. Whatever views our friends may hold upon the point, they are not necessarily connected with Calvinistic doctrine. I believe that the Lord Jesus who said 'of such is the Kingdom of Heaven' doth daily and constantly receive into His loving arms those tender ones who are only shown and then snatched away to heaven." – C.H. Spurgeon
The damnation of infants is a repugnant, despicable doctrine put forth by those who neither understand nor possess the love of God.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
My Blog List
I just wanted to let everyone know that just because I read a particular blog and place them on "My Blog List" dose not necessarily mean that I endorse everything that is posted on it. I believe that if we can deal with specific issues that are expressed on these blogs by shining the light of scripture on them perhaps we can learn to at least treat one another in a Christian manner.
I must admit that I am disturbed at the apparent animosity against full time pastors on some of these blogs. The fact is that the scripture clearly teaches that people that have dedicated themselves to full time service are to be supported by the body of believers. This is what God says in His scriptures.
I invite your comments on this, but please bring the Bible to bear on the subject and don't make arbitrary statements like:"Paul preached for free", back it up with the scripture.
I must admit that I am disturbed at the apparent animosity against full time pastors on some of these blogs. The fact is that the scripture clearly teaches that people that have dedicated themselves to full time service are to be supported by the body of believers. This is what God says in His scriptures.
I invite your comments on this, but please bring the Bible to bear on the subject and don't make arbitrary statements like:"Paul preached for free", back it up with the scripture.
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