| introduction
to the City's Gate |
Section
2 - The Vows V - D |
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V.
Commitment to King Jesus
and His Rule (Continued)
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| Vow 5: "Do you
submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the church, and
promise to pay careful attention to its purity and peace?
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D. "... and pay careful attention to its purity and
peace.”
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| We must be concerned with both purity and
peace, not one without the other.
Purity and peace must be the norm for both faith and morals, what we
believe and what we practice. Purity and peace balance each other and
keep us from extremism.
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1. To pay
careful attention to purity and peace in faith means neither rigid
dogmatism,
nor lax skepticism is acceptable.
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| Theology and doctrine are not bad, or
unnecessary. True, neither is a substitute for Jesus, and neither
carries the same authority as the Scripture. They are, however,
inevitable. By nature, humans are systematizers; God made us that way.
Theology is nothing more than a systematic presentation of the truth God
has revealed through Scripture. The moment anybody
says, "The Bible teaches [such
and such]," the
next words out of
his mouth are
a doctrinal statement. |
| There are some beliefs that are necessary for
one to be a Christian. One cannot deny that Jesus is the Son of God,
i.e. God in the flesh, and be a Christian. Nor can one deny the true
humanity of Jesus and be a Christian. (John 8:23, 1 John 2:22-23,
4:1-3). Paul could be understood to teach that confession of the
resurrection of Christ is also necessary for salvation (Romans 10:9). |
| One must
also confess his
own sinfulness: to do
so is to make a doctrinal
statement, in
order to
come to Christ. To acknowledge
Christ alone
as Savior is also
necessary; you cannot come
to God
believing that he will
accept you because of
your good works,
or best
efforts. The first two membership
vows are really
theological statements, but they should
be even
more than that.
They must be the
inner convictions of the soul.
One must hold to these
doctrines to be
a Christian, so we
require these convictions for
membership at The City’s Gate
church. |
| There are
other doctrinal positions
about which Christians differ.
To hold the
"wrong"
position, in regards
to these, would
not imperil one's standing before
God. So we
do not
require conformity, in these
matters, for membership
at The City’s Gate.
For us
to do otherwise
would strike at
the peace
of the church. These
positions are, however, the
conviction of the
Presbyterian Church in
America, and they form
the foundation of our
teaching ministry. Officers in
the PCA must confess
their agreement with the
Westminster Confession of
Faith. For us to
do otherwise would strike
at the
purity of the church.
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 | We believe
that the Scriptures
are without error
as originally written.
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| We believe
that everything happens
by the
plan and will of
God, but so
that it does
not destroy the
free will of man
or make
God the author
of sin.
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| We believe
that God, long before
he had
created the universe, chose
many individuals to
form his own people.
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| We believe
that God deals
with mankind by
way of covenants, all
of which
are expressions of
his eternal determination to
redeem a people for
himself.
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| Our understanding
of the
covenant principle leads
us to baptize the
infant children of
believing parents (or a believing
parent). We believe
that this is
a sign of God's grace
to families,
but deny that it
causes a child to be
born again.
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As a
member of
The City’s Gate church,
you are free to disagree
with these doctrines.
You are free
to ask the church at
large to reconsider
its position. But
you are not
free to become divisive
over these issues
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2.
To pay careful attention to purity and peace in practice means neither
intolerant uniformity, nor rampant anarchy is acceptable.
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| The believer's
practice must flow out
of his
understanding of the Bible, often that takes us
back to theology.
We cannot allow
our practice to dictate
our theology.
In fact,
one expression of
our alienation
from God is
that, when a contradiction
occurs between our
beliefs and our
practice, we find it
much easier to
adjust our beliefs. |
| Being Christian
calls us to follow
Christ, and for
that reason we must
pay careful attention
to the
purity of our practice.
We looked at this
in detail
under the third membership
vow: Do you now resolve and promise, in humble
reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to
live as is proper for the followers of Christ? |
| Paying careful attention to the purity of the
church in its practice is also a reason for the Bible's instructions
about confronting another believer. It is not only when he sins against
you, but any time he sins. Period. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and
if he repents, forgive him (Luke 17:3). |
| Zeal for
purity in practice
is not,
however, a license for the church,
or an
individual to
become critical,
censorious, faultfinding, or
rigid. We must
also pay attention
to the
peace of the church.
The Bible also
commends to us
patience and forbearance. "Love
covers a multitude of sins."
(1 Peter 4:8). |
| All of
us observe
certain personal standards, where
the Bible is silent.
They express personal preferences
and help us order
our lives. But
these standards must
not be imposed upon
others, nor may
we wear
them as a badge
of righteousness. Christ alone is
our righteousness, and
Christ alone is Lord
of the
conscience as
he speaks through his Word. The
City’s Gate (hopefully!) will
not require you
to practice what the
Scripture does not
require, nor will
we forbid what the
Bible does not
forbid. |
| Speaking personally, I find this dual
emphasis on the purity and peace of
the church a very attractive feature of the denomination. The emphasis
on purity reminds us that the sovereign God has spoken to us in his Son
and in his word, and that we owe him our allegiance. The emphasis on
peace reminds us that we are still imperfect sinners, thinking wrong
thoughts and doing wrong deeds, but still very much loved and accepted
by God.
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