Week 3 Day 2 - Autonomy

-A-

Day 2 – Autonomy of the Local Church

(Matthew 16:15-19)

¹⁶Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹ And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

(Matthew 18:15-18)

¹⁵“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’  ¹⁷And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. ¹⁸“Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

From Article VI Baptist Faith & Message, 1963; 2000 update underlined):

“A New Testament church of the is a local body and an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, committed to His teachings, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. Members are equally responsible. Its Scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages.”

  

    Each church as a body is under the direct headship of Jesus Christ, not to a denomination and not to a creedal statement. The autonomy of the church and the following section on the Priesthood of the Believer are both restricted to following the clear teachings of Christ in the Bible.

    What if a church begins to affirm, believe, or practice things which are not in compliance with the clear teachings of Christ in the Bible? Baptist churches, like First Baptist of Killeen, voluntarily associate and cooperate with other groups of like-minded churches. In our case, we associate with the Bell Baptist Association, the Texas Baptist Convention, and the Southern Baptist Convention. If a certain church goes outside the teachings, those associations and conventions have the right to withdraw association with those churches.

-P-

Day 2 (Continued)  – Priesthood of Believers
(1 Peter 2:5, 9)

You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

The following comes from “What We Believe,” www.texasbaptists.org:

    “The Old Testament contains two passages that prophesy a coming time when all of God’s people will be priests (Exodus 19:5-6, Isaiah 61:5-6). The New Testament says those prophecies are fulfilled in the Christian church. 1 Peter 2:4-10 is the most explicit text, calling Christians as priests. Three times in the book of Revelation (1:6, 5:10, 20:6) believers are called priests unto God.

    “The doctrine of the priesthood of each and all believers influences Baptist convictions regarding believer’s baptism, local church autonomy, congregational government, religious liberty, and separation of church and state.”

    Church autonomy and priesthood of believers are similar and can also lead to misunderstanding and possible abuse. We are created in God’s image. “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them,” (Genesis 1:27). Trouble arises when we turn this around and create a false god in our own fallen image, sprung from our own fallen imagination.

    Priesthood of believers is also similar to Individual Soul Liberty and Responsibility (Day 4 of this week). Priesthood addresses access to God, and Individual Soul Liberty addresses accountability to God.

     On the positive, Priesthood of Believers means that we go directly to Christ in our prayers, confessions, and intercessions for others. Hebrews 4:16 encourages us to “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

    As a result, while both the autonomy of the local church and the priesthood of the believers are Biblical identifications of our church, both are under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and limited by the Word of God.

    Churches which stop following biblical teachings can be dis-fellowshipped from other churches. Likewise, church members who refuse to repent from clear biblical teachings can on rare occasions be dis-fellowshipped from the local congregation. The Bible and our church Constitution apply Scriptural principles in doing this last resort of “church discipline.”

    Read Matthew 18:15-18 and place in proper sequence, 1-4, below:

__ Bring before church

__ Confront alone

__ “let him be to you like a heathen”

__ Bring another or two

Click here for answers

    The Apostle Paul described a case in 1 Corinthians 5 in which, like Matthew 18, the goal was not punishment, but rather correction and redemption. Discipline tells the person and the church that certain actions are not permissible.

    Like the physical discipline of exercise, the church body is to be strengthened when unbiblical and unrepentant sins are corrected. By the way, 2 Corinthians 7 appears to give the redemptive, forgiving, and comforting outcome of this church discipline situation.

For Week 3 Day 3, click here