7.11.2007

The Importance of the Church

Great article in Modern Reformation, by Jason Stellman, "Where Grace is Found."

He contrasts the evangelical view of the Church with a proper confessionally Reformed one.

Evangelicals get religion in daily quiet times, Christian music, retreats.
It ought to be found in corporate worship where the Word is preached and the Sacraments are celebrated.

Evangelicals pass on the faith, as a rule, via dramatic conversion experience.
This is a legit option, but ought to be the exception to the rule of parents baptizing and discipling their children in the Church.

"Rather than the litmus test being one's devotional life, voting record, or collection of Left Behind novels, it should be sought in the fact that those who confess Christ gather together each Lord's Day around Word and sacrament, confessing their sins, singing His praises, and hearing, eating, and drinking the gospel of Jesus Christ."

Referring to 1 Corinthians 5:4-5 where the unrepenant sinner is "handed over to Satan," Stellman asks: "if expulsion from the means of grace is so precarious, then participation in the means of grace should be considered equally beneficial... belonging to the church ought to be thought of as being every bit a blessing as being thrown out of it is a curse."

1 comment:

  1. That IS great! We get MR too, have for years. Conrad is usually several issues behind on reading it, and I don't want to read it until he has his notes in it! It is kind of a joke around here, though often a sore one. ;^)
    Praying for you and yours.

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