Friday August 17, 2012

If someone asked you why you think your church is a true church, what would you say?

 

Read Luke 22

 

John Calvin the great reformer argued that ‘where we see the Word of God purely preached and heard and the sacraments administered according to Christ's institution, there it is not to be doubted a church of God exists.’

 

For the reformers the Word of God was to be central. It was to be expounded and taught to all in the church whenever the church was constituted. If the Word is not clearly and faithfully proclaimed in your church, you have grounds to question, to rebuke and, if repentance is not forthcoming, to move on. Authority lay in the Word of God, not in tradition nor the priesthood nor the so called human head of the church. The Word of God had central supremacy.

 

The Reformers also believed that the Word and Spirit were indissolubly bound together. They could not and should not be separated. If you belonged to the fellowship of the Spirit you would submit yourself to the Word that this same Spirit had inspired and authored. The Spirit led each true believer to the Word and brought change and conviction through the Word. The Reformers could not imagine a love of God and of each other that was not bound to faith and truth.

 

The other true distinguishing mark for the Reformers was the right administration of the sacraments - Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. They profusely rejected the seven sacraments of the other churches and admonished people to adhere to the sacraments as Christ Himself taught, not as tradition taught. Unfortunately, today we see entire churches built on having no sacraments because of the disunity caused by the sacraments in the past. Jesus clearly saw Baptism (Mat 28:19ff) and the Lord’s Supper (Lk 22:19) as fundamental to the continuing life of the church.

 

Prayer:

¨ Pray that each and every person in your congregation would be growing in love  for God and in awe of His salvation. Pray that grace would increase in each person.

¨ Pray that each person in your congregation would know the height and depth, width and breadth of God’s immense love, that they would know Him better and serve Him more.