Quote:
Originally Posted by ZNPaaneah
Inherent in the "Ground of the Church" doctrine is that there is a proper ground on which the church is built and stands and that once the church is careless in not being on that proper ground they have lost their standing. The analogy is what happens if you build your house on the property line.
This proper ground is emphasized and reiterated several times in the OT. The temple can only be built on a very particular ground. The same ground where Abraham offered up Isaac in a figure and the same ground purchased by David as a peace offering for his sin in numbering the people contrary to the express command of God.
The Temple is stated clearly in the NT to be a type of the church. The church is very clearly described as a building from the very first. Therefore this principle of the church needing to be on the proper ground applies.
Up to this point I fully agree with WL and WN's teaching.
So then, what is the ground on which the church is to be built? Where is the line that we cannot cross without being equated to that person who build their house on the property line?
I find the approach of WN and WL to this critical question highly objectionable. You lay the groundwork from the OT and matters of righteousness that this is an essential item of the faith, an item once for all delivered to the saints in the fellowship of the apostles, and then provide an inferential teaching rather than one that is spelled out in black and white.
Whether or not you agree with inferring from two verses in separate parts of the NT that "appointing elders in every church" and "appointing elders in every city" applies to this doctrine, to me that is wholly unsatisfactory. I am not willing to condemn 99.99% of all Christian meetings based on this.
As a result this thread was started by me with the intention of examining what exactly is "the boundary of the Local Church"?
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It's not that simple of an issue to reconcile. Let's take "ground of the church" as an example. There are cases of multiple assemblies in any given cities that agree on ground of the church as Znp laid out above. However due to receiving different ministries, there could not be fellowship. I would ask then, what is the standing?
For those who agree on "ground of the church" doctrine, what is the standing in New York? What is the standing in Seattle?