Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Tenet 10

10. The church is defined by its orthodox confession and faithful teaching of God’s word; by the presence of the Holy Spirit; by the rule of qualified elders; by the biblical administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper; by regular meetings for worship, instruction, breaking bread, and fellowship; and by the exercise of discipleship and discipline. (Gal. 1:8; 1 Tim. 3:15; 1 Cor. 12:13; 1 Tim. 3:1ff.; Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 11:20ff.; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 5)
Gal. 1:8 – But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
Orthodox confession –yes. (By the time we get to the end of the TBP's tenets on men and women, education, and older children, you can judge for yourself if "the gospel centered doctrine of biblical patriarchy", as the tenets call itself, is the real gospel, or "any other gospel.")
1 Tim. 3:15 – I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
How is this relevant to the tenet? Does “pillar and ground of the truth” mean the orthodox confession and faithful teaching? Is the living God the pillar and ground of truth, or is His church that?
1 Cor. 12:13 – For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
The sacrament of baptism and presense of the Holy Spirit, yes.
1Tim. 3:1 and further (Excerpt):  This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless …
This covers qualified elders. (By the way, the original Greek of this contains no gendered word like "man" or "he".)
Matt. 28:19 – Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Baptism and discipleship is in the tenets.
1 Cor. 11:20 and further (Excerpt):  …the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come…
Acts 20:7 – Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.
Breaking bread together is something the disciples did, but it does not say this is what defines the church. 

10a) The church is defined by its orthodox confession and faithful teaching of God’s word;
 Yes.
b) by the presence of the Holy Spirit;
Yes. It could be covered by more verses, not just half of 1 Cor. 12:13.
c) by the rule of qualified elders; by the biblical administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper;
Yes.
d) by regular meetings for worship, instruction, breaking bread, and fellowship;
Nothing in these verses mentions either regular meetings or worship, or instruction. Breaking bread is mentioned, but not as a definition of the church. Fellowship is not mentioned.
e) and by the exercise of discipleship and discipline.
Discipleship is mentioned in Matt. 28:19. Discipline by God, not by elders, is mentioned in the 1 Cor 11:20 and further passage. Discipline by the church elders is meant by TBP, but not covered in the Bible verses.
Other ways Christians understand this:
Some Christians emphasize that the church is not a building or a meeting, but each and every believer. The church can firstly be known, they say, by this:
 Joh 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
This verse, interestingly enough, is not part of how the New Patriarchal leaders define the church, and none of their definitions, except Matt. 28:19, comes from Jesus himself.
Summing it up
How reliable is this tenet? I will use a color code:
      The color code:
      This is a partial truth. (The other part of the truth, that together make it Biblical, will be added in brackets.)
      This is not Biblically defended

      This can be defended Biblically, but TBP don't give such a verse.
10. The church is defined by (the love of Jesus’ disciples for one another,) its orthodox confession and faithful teaching of God’s word; by the presence of the Holy Spirit; by the rule of qualified elders; by the biblical administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper; by regular meetings for worship, instruction, breaking bread,  and fellowship; and by the exercise of discipleship and discipline.

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