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Scott,
Excellent article. What do we make of those who refuse to submit to local church authority by not joining in membership? I wouldn't be so quick to jump on Cyprian's statement of "extra ecclesiam nulla salus" as indicative of every situation, but it certainly has ramifications for those who are more militant in their position against the church. One thing that wasn't brought up in the article are those who have been harmed, spiritually and emotionally, within a church. Sometimes people are hurting and find refusing church membership a means of protecting themselves. Perhaps that is a minority. I certainly have met my share of individuals who hop from church to church, replete with opinions, but no desire to submit to the leadership of the church and the clear teaching of scripture. About these Cyprian's statement may ring true.
Hi Bill,
Four things:
1. If someone has been abused they should complain to a higher/broader assembly. If their polity doesn't include that, then they should go somewhere it does it exist. If a congregation is abusive the question arises: is it really a true church? I've seen cases where people were in a sect and were abused.
2. People are obligated to join a true church. There is no excuse for not joining a true church. If a sect or congregation is impenitently abusive that is no ground for not uniting with a true church; one doesn't quit breathing because of air pollution. One finds a filter or clean air or some way to adapt.
3. We ought to be pastorally sensitive to and patient those who have been abused just as we would be so with a person who was in an abusive personal relationship. That person needs shelter, protection, care etc. It takes time to recover from such abuse. I understand that, but, at some point one has to unite with a congregation. One cannot be endlessly wandering. That would almost as bad for their souls as the abusive congregation was.
4. I'm trying to figure out Deo valente. Did you mean Deo volente?
rsc
Scott,
Excellent article. What do we make of those who refuse to submit to local church authority by not joining in membership? I wouldn't be so quick to jump on Cyprian's statement of "extra ecclesiam nulla salus" as indicative of every situation, but it certainly has ramifications for those who are more militant in their position against the church. One thing that wasn't brought up in the article are those who have been harmed, spiritually and emotionally, within a church. Sometimes people are hurting and find refusing church membership a means of protecting themselves. Perhaps that is a minority. I certainly have met my share of individuals who hop from church to church, replete with opinions, but no desire to submit to the leadership of the church and the clear teaching of scripture. About these Cyprian's statement may ring true.
How would you recognize a true vs. a false non-reformed church? What constitutes pure administration of the sacraments and pure preaching of the gospel?My answer is that prior to joining a Reformed congregation there is a good likelihood that you were not in a “true church” as confessed in Belgic Confession Art 29. In other words, what you left may have been congregations but, if they lacked the marks of a true church (the pure administration of the sacraments, the pure preaching of the gospel, the use of church discipline) then they were something other than a true church.
From The Blog:
If Cyprian and the Belgic Confession are correct, and “outside of the church there is no salvation” then these floating, nominal Christians are placing themselves in spiritual jeopardy."
First of all, let's be clear. The Belgic Confession of Faith does NOT teach that one has to be a member of a local particular church or they are in danger of going to hell. Justification is NOT based upon membership in a local church. This is Roman Catholicism, not Calvinism.
Justification is ONLY based upon the active and passive obedience of Christ imputed to the elect. The fact that we do not read about the necessity of local church membership in Article 23 of the Belgic Confession Of Faith only demonstrates that R. Scott Clark has misunderstood Articles 27-29.
You might hear the pope make such an absurd claim when he visits the U.S., but you will not find this view in Chapter 11 of the Westminster Confession of Faith.
From The Blog:
If Cyprian and the Belgic Confession are correct, and “outside of the church there is no salvation” then these floating, nominal Christians are placing themselves in spiritual jeopardy."
First of all, let's be clear. The Belgic Confession of Faith does NOT teach that one has to be a member of a local particular church or they are in danger of going to hell. Justification is NOT based upon membership in a local church. This is Roman Catholicism, not Calvinism.
Justification is ONLY based upon the active and passive obedience of Christ imputed to the elect. The fact that we do not read about the necessity of local church membership in Article 23 of the Belgic Confession Of Faith only demonstrates that R. Scott Clark has misunderstood Articles 27-29.
You might hear the pope make such an absurd claim when he visits the U.S., but you will not find this view in Chapter 11 of the Westminster Confession of Faith.
Gordon H. Clark correctly states,
"Then too, the universal church is invisible because it does not coincide with the membership rolls of the several visible churches. Some people whose names are on the rolls are not Christians; and some Christians are not members of any visible church. The word church itself (ecclesia) is derived from the verb to call or to call out. It refers to the called, the chosen, the elect. The catholic Church then is the aggregate of all whom God has predestined to eternal life."
(What Do Presbyterians Believe, Chapter 25, page 219)
Clark continues,
"The invisible Church, or more accurately a part of it, becomes the visible church as those who confess Christ, together with their children, are organized into congregations."
(Ibid., page 220)
Let the invisible Church be (A)
Let the visible church be (B)
Notice,
some (A) is not (B)
and
some (B) is not (A)
Also,
All (A) who profess the true faith is (B) (regardless if they have joined a local church or not)
However,
Some (B) is not (A) (regardless if they have joined a local church or not)
A person's assurance should not be based upon being a member of (B), but one can know if they are a member of (A)--if they believe the Gospel (Acts 13:48).
So again, our Justification is not based upon being a member of (B). Judas was a member of (B) and it did him no good. Because (B) is not part of our basis for Justification, we can refuse to join, or even depart from, local congregations, presbyteries, or even entire denominiations claiming to be part of (B), but actually are not. Luther is the example I used above, but one could easily leave or refuse to join any OPC/PCA church which supports Federal Vision as well. Finally, no one has to submit to local church authority when it departs from Scripture Alone. One can even be excommunicated and still be a member of (A). Luther is also the an example of this.
Thanks for the series. Very informative.
One side note: this instruction places a great burden on church officers wrt the regulative principle of church oversight. Because church members are not “free agents” the officers are duty bound to see that all they do is strictly in conformity to the Word of God.
We typically think of this in worship, but the principle extends to all ecclesiastical functions. The officers have no right to abuse the conscience of an individual member in the name of their authority, for it is, in fact, a derived authority from King Jesus. If they cannot say with all certainty "thus saith the Lord" then they ought not to speak or act.
We believe that since this holy assembly and congregation is
the gathering of those who are saved and there is no salvation
apart from it, no one ought to withdraw from it, content to be
by himself, regardless of his status or condition.
But all people are obliged to join and unite with it, keeping
the unity of the church by submitting to its instruction and
discipline, by bending their necks under the yoke of Jesus
Christ, and by serving to build up one another, according to
the gifts God has given them as members of each other in the
same body.
And to preserve this unity more effectively, it is the duty of
all believers, according to God's Word, to separate themselves
from those who do not belong to the church, in order to join
this assembly wherever God has established it, even if civil
authorities and royal decrees forbid and death and physical
punishment result.
And so, all who withdraw from the church or do not join it act
contrary to God's ordinance.
1. Do you acknowledge yourselves to be sinners in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and without hope save in His sovereign mercy?
2. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and do you receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered in the Gospel?
3. Do you now resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ?
4. Do you promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of your ability?
5. Do you submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the Church, and promise to study its purity and peace?
R. Scott Clark wrote,
"Yes, justification and salvation are sola gratia et sola fide but those gifts are only administered in visible, local congregations."
I'm afraid that this is not part of Reformed theology, nor can such a teaching be found anywhere in Scripture.
R. Scott Clark wrote,
"Yes, justification and salvation are sola gratia et sola fide but those gifts are only administered in visible, local congregations."
I'm afraid that this is not part of Reformed theology, nor can such a teaching be found anywhere in Scripture . . .
The idea that one can only be regenerated and converted in a specific place and among a specific group of people is pure superstition.
Let us thank God that one does not have to be present in a local church congregation in order to be regenerated and converted.