tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post8159981436337972001..comments2023-12-22T08:29:29.230-08:00Comments on WHAT IS TRUTH: Church Membership and the Marriage CovenantKent Brandenburghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13419354741455959191noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-35141332498986768642017-03-27T16:23:22.247-07:002017-03-27T16:23:22.247-07:00Not to be to technical, but if you leave a local c...Not to be to technical, but if you leave a local church for reasons beyond your control and you start attending another local church and you believe God would have you attend this new church, are you saying that its inportant to discuss church membership with the pastor of the new church your attending? Or should you do further research into the Bible? Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16191841072741059097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-84807865584160333692017-03-25T22:26:47.812-07:002017-03-25T22:26:47.812-07:00Anonymous,
I mentioned church membership, not mem...Anonymous,<br /><br />I mentioned church membership, not membership of a single church. I also commented earlier that you can be longer "of a church" and, therefore, not "with a church." Jesus wasn't welcomed in the church at Laodecia. This is why this is "as a" marriage covenant. It is, so it is serious. There needs to be a commitment to the church. It is a commitment to His church though.<br /><br />Craig,<br /><br />Salvation and scriptural baptism are the two basis for church membership. If someone is saved, he can join, no matter what he was before he was saved. 1 Cor 6, Paul mentions a bunch of horrible sins, and he says to the Corinthians, such were some of you. Were.Kent Brandenburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13419354741455959191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-8085565688950516182017-03-25T21:28:25.551-07:002017-03-25T21:28:25.551-07:00Dear kent,
If someone had been divorced and then r...Dear kent,<br />If someone had been divorced and then remarried should they be allowed to join a Bible believing church? They both were saved after their marraige.<br />Thanks. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16191841072741059097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-44567320792597384072017-03-25T19:53:20.274-07:002017-03-25T19:53:20.274-07:00I will have to ask if you would explain a few thin...I will have to ask if you would explain a few things. I am a layman, and this is what God called me to be, so how it would be from a pastor's viewpoint I do not know. What I do know is what my father taught me by his example all of my life: that when a church rejects truth as evidenced by a pastor refusing to deal with sin or to teach the Bible aright, to go out from them and to burn the bridge lest it harm himself or his children. What do you advise when a pastor is guilty of adultery, or condones it among his people, and the board refuses to put him out? Also, if a church begins to use contemporary music, and you have spoken of this being wrong, what do you do then? Suppose you have talked to the pastor and the board about these changes and nothing is going to be done? Am I missing something here?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-86704506292978301222017-03-25T10:04:02.297-07:002017-03-25T10:04:02.297-07:00I'm going to answer a comment I published, the...I'm going to answer a comment I published, then recognized whose it was, someone who I think likes his free agency without church authority.<br /><br />I haven't said that a church is the bride of Christ, but I am saying that church membership is like a marriage covenant. I'm not saying, "is a marriage covenant," but comparable. It is serious. I am saying that based on how the NT treats it. I think most people don't treat it this way because they have a weak soteriology and they want to function as free agents. When we are married, we are bound. Jesus said that church membership was to be bound, see Mt 18. And He treats it very seriously. That Greek word, "bound," is in Mt 18:18 and Rom 7:2, used of membership and of marriage. You've got to deal with that, GC. In Matthew 18, members are bound in locality, not something bigger than that. Does something universal, invisible practice church discipline, GC?<br /><br />It's hard to understand your questions, so it is hard to answer them. In Romans 16:1, "the church" (tes ekklesias) is in Cenchrea, so "the church" is local only. It seems to be bounded by locality there. In Acts 20:17, same thing, Paul called for the elders of "the church" at Ephesus. Christ's church is local. There isn't a universal invisible marriage of a universal invisible man and woman either. The man and the woman of Eph 5 are local.<br /><br />In Eph 5 the husband is the head of the wife "even as" Christ is the Head of the church, speaking to the church at Ephesus. The "even as" makes a sharp comparison. Church membership is seen in Acts 2:41, 5:13 (where it says that others would not "join them"), Paul in Acts 9:26, in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Corinthians 5 talks about being inside or outside of the church. In Romans 12, someone doesn't fit into the body as a body part (a member) thinks more highly of himself than he ought to think. 1 John 2:19, I mentioned someone being with or not with, continuing with or not continuing with. They are not "of" because they are not "with," which mirrors Mt 18:15-20.<br /><br />I think that churches ought to fellowship with one another, which is the point of 3 John 6-9. We deal with that in our book, A Pure Church.Kent Brandenburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13419354741455959191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-6040105446864427942017-03-23T18:04:19.838-07:002017-03-23T18:04:19.838-07:00Craig,
I appreciate your comments. There is simi...Craig,<br /><br />I appreciate your comments. There is similarity in the break down of the family and the break down of the church today. God ordained institutions break down when they don't follow God's Word. On the other hand, it can go very well if we are vigilant. There will always be problems to deal with, but we can do that by the grace of God.Kent Brandenburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13419354741455959191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-15277074071363746022017-03-23T18:00:35.526-07:002017-03-23T18:00:35.526-07:00I wanted to add one more thing, it goes to show yo...I wanted to add one more thing, it goes to show you how peoples lives knit together in a happy local church. I really dont know what kents life is like now, other than what I read on his blog,but the Brandenburgs that I remember where a quiet,kind,wonderful family. LAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16191841072741059097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-77858562146710108552017-03-23T15:40:57.377-07:002017-03-23T15:40:57.377-07:00Hello kent,
Theres an asssumption that leaving a ...Hello kent, <br />Theres an asssumption that leaving a church or church problems are bad, it does make people nervous. However following what God says is more inportant than what man says. God says ,"Come out from among them and be ye separate, touch not the unclean thing". <br />I did get into a long conversation with a friend of mine a couple weeks ago about divorce. He said that the acceptance and permission of divorce has resulted in the spread of homosexuality. It used to be frowned upon to get a divorce before the hippies and drug attics came along. Having said that, I dont have a personel beef with people that are divorced or practicing homosexuality, I have a solution to the pain and suffering that these sins are causing.<br />Come face to face with a holy righteous God and repent. Fear God, not in a reverential or repectful way, but fear him in a way that literally makes you tremble and scared. He has power not only to take life away from you, but he has power to cast you into the abyss of hell.<br />Once the church and society that we live in reach a certain point of rebellion the only solution is judgment. We see in the Bible there is hope. Jonah preached judgment and the people put on sackcloth and ashes and repented, i think they even put sackcloth on the animals.<br />I probably sound a little harsh , but im preaching to myself. There is hope with biblical straightforward teaching and willingness to see things the way God sees them.<br />As far as churchmembership goes i didnt know what the loosing and binding meant in Matt 16 but now i know. I shared this post with my wife, and she is coming around to the teaching of church membership, but it may take some time.<br />Also, thought you might like to know the church im currently attending had a special guest. My old youth pastor!!<br />Anyway, for those of you reading this, the only Kent I knew , was the Kent before the collapse of the Belin wall.<br />I have not seen him or spoken to him in person since that time.<br />He was a great college basketball player that was very familiar with the glass backboards at MBBC. Im sure he would much rather be throwing freethrows than tinkering with the comment box. Thanks CraigAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16191841072741059097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-77708549951247492992017-03-23T14:47:06.662-07:002017-03-23T14:47:06.662-07:00Bill and Thomas,
Thanks and good points to add.
...Bill and Thomas,<br /><br />Thanks and good points to add.<br /><br />Vic,<br /><br />I actually am a no-divorce/no-remarriage person. A covenant is unconditional.<br /><br />This is why joining the church in the first place is such a big deal. If the church though changes or the member changes, whichever one goes unscriptural, the 1 John 2:19 says, they are not of us or they would no doubt have continued. It also means some type of active vigilance to keeping a church on the right track. Nevertheless, it is this serious and people should take it this way, because it is how scripture presents it.Kent Brandenburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13419354741455959191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-28106278462441527852017-03-23T14:33:17.597-07:002017-03-23T14:33:17.597-07:00Bro. Brandenburg,
So then, we really should not ad...Bro. Brandenburg,<br />So then, we really should not advise a person to leave their church. What is the "adultery" that a church could commit that would allow a person to divorce/leave it? Or should they not leave it, even because of "doctrinal adultery"? <br />Thanks for the article.<br />Vic Crowne Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-75057348992519663712017-03-22T04:22:22.343-07:002017-03-22T04:22:22.343-07:00Good points and an important way to look at church...Good points and an important way to look at church membership. Following the same line of thinking, you have people who want to take advantage of all the benefits of church membership without the commitment of the covenant of church membership. That's like wanting to take advantage of all the benefits of marriage without the commitment of the covenant of marriage. I wonder what God thinks about that!Thomasnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213892.post-81971497350293778292017-03-22T02:45:54.844-07:002017-03-22T02:45:54.844-07:00Amen. I would add that we will also be held accoun...Amen. I would add that we will also be held accountable at the judgment seat of Christ for active and faithful church membership, too (1 Cor. 3:11-15). In Heb. 13:17, the pastor will give account to God as they watch for souls or the flock (Acts 20:28). Church membership will be a huge item at the judgment seat. It ought to matter to all who desire to please the Lord.Bill Hardeckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15552819877860565186noreply@blogger.com