Monday 25 May 2009

What is a church?

As bloggers digest the aftermath of the triumph of sexual perversion in the "Church" of Scotland, I want to assert that these points are basic:
  • What is a church? According to Scriptures, a church is not defined by organisation, or state endorsement. A body is not a church, just because it is called one.

  • A church is defined by the gospel of Jesus Christ. A body can begin to be considered a church, if, for starters, it professes the Biblical gospel.

  • The "Church of Scotland" is a mixed body, some of whose members profess the gospel, and a majority of whom profess forms of liberalism or semi-Romanism The liberals have the massive majority, because even when the evangelicals combine with various forms of traditionalists they can't defeat their will, as we've just seen.

  • Ergo, as the "Church of Scotland" as a whole does not profess the Biblical gospel, it is not Biblically speaking a church.

To my mind, evangelicals in the CoS need to face up to the bogus-ness of the arguments they've been using over the recent decades to justify their organised union with unapologetic unbelief. They speak of "saving the church", or it being wrong to "abandon the church", etcetera. This is nonsense. When those who believe divide themselves from those who don't believe, they have not left the church - they took it with them. To say that there can be "church" when there is no gospel, is an appalling position to be in - but it's the one that these often wonderful brethren have backed themselves into. The foundations were removed years ago, and now we are witnessing the final collapse of the building. The evangelicals are now left in the smoking rubble, and they look spiritually foolish - aren't they meant to be the spiritually enlightened ones who see these things far off, and do what's necessary long before it comes to this?

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