Tags: Authority

Review and Conclusion
In the series: Denominationalism

In this final class in this series, we take a brief look at what we have found regarding certain ideas found in denominationalism and we look at 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 to see the need to put our faith solely in God’s wisdom rather than that of men.

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Uniforms
In the series: Denominationalism

In South Africa, denominations tend to have specific uniforms to identify their members when they are going to worship. What does the Bible say about that and what similar ideas might there be in churches of the Lord?

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How Churches of Christ Fall Into the Trap of Organizations
In the series: Denominationalism

When we look at churches that in general are trying to follow Christ, where do they sometimes go wrong in following the examples of denominations? What kind of organizations do these churches find themselves operating or supporting and tying themselves together into denominations without even realizing it?

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Denominationalism: Organizations
In the series: Denominationalism

While the local church is an organization, Jesus never set up any other organizational structure in His church. We look in this lesson at some ways in which some attempt to justify the existence of these denominational organizations and see why these justifications do not work.

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Denominationalism: Creeds In the Church of God
In the series: Denominationalism

In God’s church, there are no true creeds. However, in the mind of individuals or groups of Christians, there may be some thinking that is similar to that of creeds (putting faith in some kind of statement of faith rather than in Christ Himself). In this class we look at some ways in which we personally may display this kind of thinking if we are not careful.

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Denominationalism: Creeds
In the series: Denominationalism

What is a creed and why are they are a problem? Is the only problem with creeds that they sometimes contain false teaching or is there a deeper problem than that? That is what we look at in this class.

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Denominationalism: Clergy - How It Creeps Into the Lord's Church
In the series: Denominationalism

While the full idea of clergy can never be in the Lord’s church, some of the concepts that go along with it can easily find their way into our own thinking and practices if we are not watchful. In this lesson, we take a look at some ways we can find these wrong ideas coming in.

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Denominationalism: Clergy (part 2)
In the series: Denominationalism

When we look at the idea of clergy, we must notice that there are those who are appointed within the Lord’s church to various work. What is the difference between this and a denomination ordaining someone to a position? How can the church maintain integrity among those in positions of influence without a governing body over them? We look at some of these ideas in this lesson.

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Denominationalism: Clergy (part 1)
In the series: Denominationalism

Is there such a thing as clergy or laity in the Lord’s church? What do these ideas even mean? Who has authority to determine roles within the church and who has authority to appoint them? We begin looking at some of these ideas in this lesson.

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Denominationalism: Naming the Church
In the series: Denominationalism

In this class, we focus on the name of the church and demonstrate that there is no title given by God to the church. We also see that “name” often means something a bit different in biblical usage than in the way we often think about the word.

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Church History: An Abridged Overview from the Restoration Movement to Today
In the series: Various Topics

Today, we continue our look at the history of some departures from the way of Christ and attempts to return to His way. We are looking at much more modern history that more directly affects some of us and our thinking today. We will pay special attention to what has caused division among those who on some level agree about the need to follow Christ rather than men.

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Church History: An Abridged Overview from the Apostles to the 1850s
In the series: Various Topics

We are looking at history of “the church” in the sense of those who claim to be following Christ but there are many departures from the way of Christ as well as some attempts to get back to His way. This history shapes the thinking of the world regarding the church and also affects our thinking, so it is useful to know.

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Church Supported or Operated Organisations
In the series: Various Topics

So-called “main-line churches of Christ” band together as organisations of churches through sponsoring churches or separate organisations that the churches operate or support. In this class we look at how to view these things and apply some principles we have seen about necessary conclusions and the difference between what Christ expects from a local church and an individual Christian.

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Difference Between the Church and the Individual (or Family)
In the series: Various Topics

Sometimes the argument is made that since the church is the people, anything Christ wants the people to do, the church can do. We want to examine the different uses of the word “church” in the Bible and then focus on a particular usage (the local church) in seeing that it is not just the sum of the people that are its members.

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Conclusions: Necessary, Unnecessary, and Impossible
In the series: Various Topics

In this class, we look at how to properly use necessary conclusions (also known as necessary inference) and see the difference between this and how we sometimes draw conclusions that are not necessary and even some that are impossible to be true. We spend most of the time applying this to the question of who must do the baptising for someone to be saved.

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Questions On Giving
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
In this article, we examine the questions of why do we give, can we give things to the church for it to sell, and is it right to give anything other than money?
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Denominations
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
We examine the problems of denominationalism and whether or not it is approved by Christ.

One of the biggest criticisms of Christendom today is the division that is clearly evident through the thousands of denominations. We can see that there should be unity.
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How to Make Decisions
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Something we must do every day, no matter how old we are, what our social position is, or where we live is make decisions. Some of these decisions are more important than others. Deciding what to eat for supper is usually not as important as deciding what job to take. But no matter how important the decision or what the decision is about, we should make it in the same way - with the same goal in mind.

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How the Church is to Multiply
In the series: Work and Worship of the Church
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

While edification is for the purpose of growing the church spiritually, evangelism is how the church grows numerically. How can the church evangelize?

Obviously, to evangelize, the church must be preaching and teaching the gospel. But there are some factors that influence the response of those hearing the gospel.

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How the Church is to Edify
In the series: Work and Worship of the Church
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

How can a congregation work to edify its members? Romans 15:1-7 shows that edification is something that is done by each member, working together in one church. This is very connected with what we talked about under unity — we don’t do what we want, we do what our brethren want when we see that it will edify them. The end result of that edification is unity and glorifying God. 1 Corinthians 8:1 tells us that it takes love to edify. We have to focus on other people, not ourselves.

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What Is the Work of the Church?
In the series: Work and Worship of the Church
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Determining what is the work of the church is not a simple task. First, one has to read through the whole New Testament and look at the commands and examples that are given. Usually an attempt is made to categorize each command or example to simplify understanding the basic end results and group specifics under those categories.

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