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Essays on Faith, Politics, and Anything Else

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An Explanation of my Web Log’s Name

Membership or Church Covenants

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An Explanation of my Web Log’s Name

I am an ancient arrow. A missile shot into the world, by God, the Ancient of Days [Daniel 7]. An arrow to mark a direction pointing to the Word [John 1:1]. These are the marks from my enduring Christian faith. An account of my journey with my Lord, Jesus. It is my comments on current events, politics, etc. from my biblical world view. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” [Psalm 119:105]

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My Position on Church or Membership Covenants

This topic has been on my thoughts for several years now. And as I have carefully read and meditated upon the Bible and have had many discussions with many different people about this topic. This is my current position on the need and form of a church or membership covenant. The largest leap I made came when I read Ephesians 4:29 “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those that hear.”

Church Membership Covenants
Fruit or Faith
Position Essay against conventional church covenants based on fruit inspection and not belief in true doctrine

Many modern new testament churches are trying to restore accountability and responsibility to their members. Some churches have revived the old tradition of members taking a church covenant to pledge their allegiance to a local church body. There is an ongoing debate about whether or not a new testament church should have the practice of membership or church covenants. I have difficulty with the practice of Fruit inspection church covenants. Church covenants that invite participants to pledge to live out their Christian faith through specific actions. Matthew 5:33-37 and James 5:12, explicitly state that in the past people could swear an oath, but Jesus commanded us not to swear at all. This command by Christ was to put a stop to the man-made practice of swearing by everything under God in an oath as a way to hedge bets when making an oath; But Jesus still said not to swear at all. James, an early church elder in Jerusalem repeated the same commanded in his practical letter. So what is a church to do if the members are commanded to not swear an oath, not even to the local church? But the Holy Spirit convicts believers of their sin in not being responsible or accountable in their Christian faith. What is the believer to do?

Well there is an alternative. Christians are a people of faith. Agreement to common statements of faith (Biblically-based and God-centered) is an alternative to swearing an oath to preform outward actions or works. Jesus even taught that after hearing the word in the famous sower parable that some will produce thirty-fold, others sixty-fold, and still others hundred-fold. This means that not every believer is going to be as fruitful as every other believer. The amount of works flowing from each will vary greatly. Fruit being the outward expression of faith in works. Church covenants demand and measure outward actions or these works that are expressions of inward faith, they expect everyone to be a hundred-fold fruit producer and do no account for the thirty-fold and sixty-fold fruit producers. Discouraging many and creating hypocrites in all. So faith and belief are more important that fruit. Salvation comes by faith in Christ, Faith is the beginning of fruit production or works in any believer, even the newly converted. If a local church wants to encourage a unity of the faith and restore accountability and responsibility to their members, it begins with the beliefs. Biblical doctrine needs to be the foundation of faith everyone builds upon. Beginning with correct doctrine about God–The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit–and on down the list.

The apostle Peter in his second epistle taught, “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:5-7) If the church is trying to promote godliness, brotherly kindness, and love; It needs to begin with faith, virtue, and knowledge. Then add more internal attributes of self-control and perseverance onward to fruits or outward expressions of faith. So membership in the church needs to begin with faith; and faith in true doctrine taught from the bible not false doctrine preached by false teachers. The responsibility begins with pastors, elders, and teachers in the churches to guard true doctrine so members can believe truth over falsehood. The apostle Paul warns on several occasions that in the last days, the days since Christ, that there would be many false teachers that would enter the flock and lead many astray with their words to scratch the itching ears of church members.

Spiritual gifts should abound in the local church, but many church covenants raise an expectation that all members need to have all gifts. All gifts are not given to all believers. They are gifts given by God to whomever He chooses. Church members can not demand of God to give them gifts. God is sovereign, the church is not. Jesus is the head, the church is the body. The church does not demand of the head. But the head gives guidance and direction. The gifts are given to the body to build up the church. What sense would it be for God to give everyone the same gifts, do all need all the gifts? Is everyone to be their own body of Christ? Is there to even be a community of believers? Or are some called to be the heart, others the feet, others the eyes? The local church needs a diversity of gifts and individuals to thrive, but they must have a common unity of the faith–that unity is belief in correct biblical doctrine. Not in outward works or expressions of inward faith, but the unity is common belief in Jesus and other biblical doctrines. Should I swear to my church to give a generous offering whenever I receive a gift. No. I should offer whatever the Holy Spirit directs my soul to give. Will it be generous, perhaps if I have the gift of generosity. I should always give cheerfully, but generously only if it is my spiritual gift. Who can judge which spiritual gift I have? God only. God gives this generosity gift or the ability to care above and beyond personal responsibilities to some so they in turn can give to Kingdom, financially. Others are given the gift of hospitality to be friendly and inviting to others. Not all are given these gifts so should the believer that does not have the gift of generosity and hospitality take an oath to give generously and be hospitable in local church. No. But, each should believe that God gives to some these abilities. All believers are expected to have their faith grow into fruit and to persevere in their faith to the finish line of love, but what fruit will be produced on the way. Only God knows. And it will vary greatly from believer to believer, so why should we expect cookie cutter fruit inspecting covenants to fit every member.

by Jonathan on March 30, 2009.

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