Christ will build His church, and as the gospel spreads, so will the membership of His church. And yet, the idea of church membership has fallen on hard times, even among Christians. This is not surprising. Human nature prizes personal autonomy and sneers at submitting to a higher authority. In our highly-customized, hyper-personalized, self-satisfied way… Read More »
Have you recently used the phrase “the fullness of the blessing of Christ”? Probably not. What does it mean? And, to use it in the sense that it has in Romans 15:29, how does one come “in” it to someone else? In context, Paul has just ended the body of his letter (Romans 1:16–15:13) and… Read More »
A spiritual gift is a God-granted ministry to each member of the body of Christ in order to edify its members. There are a variety of gifts (each member with his own gift or combination of gifts), but this variety is united in purpose—to edify the church. They are granted by the Triune God—the Spirit,… Read More »
A Day to Worship: From Saturday to Sunday In the Old Testament, God created for six days and rested on the seventh. He also blessed this seventh day and made it holy (Genesis 2:1–3). Later, God commanded Israel to remember the Sabbath day by setting it apart for rest and worship, “a Sabbath to the… Read More »
As believers and as a local church, we promote the gospel of Jesus Christ. We necessarily protect it as well, which calls for separation from certain people from time to time. This article is a reminder about what we believe concerning holiness and separation for us as a church and individual believers. Our church confession… Read More »
Some churches host elaborate programs to entertain an audience. (Or some churches try this but do it very poorly.) Other churches have a liturgy so formal that only its ministers understand what is going on. Yet other churches may sing hymns, read Scripture, and do biblical things, but only for the sake of connecting with… Read More »
The body of Christ is something bigger than the local church, and believers should in theory be able to serve at one church just as at another. However, heresy, ecumenicism, ungodly living, misunderstanding, and disagreements abound in many churches today, making it necessary for a local church to spell out in detail its confession and… Read More »
Generally speaking, as I have been taught, there are three kinds of separation from other people, which could involve believers or unbelievers. The intent of separation is never to shun or disparage but that the “disfellowshipped” will see the biblical reasons as to why he has been excluded, repent, and be restored to fellowship again.… Read More »
Who is “the Israel of God” in Galatians 6:16? Good men have disagreed as to how to answer this question. My purpose in reviewing the debate here is not to explore every argument in detail but to at least review the various views, state my view, and give a snapshot of the primary arguments for… Read More »
Galatians 6:10 gives a concise statement that prioritizes our personal giving as believers and guides the church’s stewardship of its resources. This verse states, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal 6:10 ESV). In examining this verse, let’s… Read More »