LSM's Sacrament - the "Ground of the Local Church" NIGEL TOMES

[ZNPaaneah]

Originally Posted by Nigel Tomes

LSM’s Sacramentalism

LSM’s local churches concur with the major tenets of evangelical Christianity. They are harsh critics of Roman Catholicism. However, LSM’s distinctive doctrine about the “ground of locality” is sacramentist; they claim that the physical ground of locality affords them an advantageous status before God. The fact that a local church is “standing on the local ground,” calling itself “the church in [city X]” (defined by the city’s physical boundary) allegedly provides members with greater divine blessings, compared to other Christians not “standing on the local ground.” Hence Witness Lee states that,6 “If you want the fullest blessing…you must come to the local churches.” Conversely, on leaving the “local ground” a believer (allegedly) forfeits God’s blessings; “when a person is in the church, he is blessed,” says W. Lee, 7 “but when he leaves the church, he loses the blessing. When I speak of the church, I am particularly referring to a local church that is standing on the proper ground.”

The Greek word for heresy meant “school of thought”. It has come to mean an opinion or teaching that is at odds with the orthodox beliefs. (The word should not be confused with apostasy or blasphemy.)

I think that by any viewpoint WL’s teaching “one city one church” is a heresy. It is a school of thought on what the NT teaches that is at odds with orthodox beliefs. The Apostle Peter referred to “damnable heresies”. These are heresies that involve God’s damnation and blessing. This quote from WL clearly ties his teaching of “one city one church” to God’s blessing and curse. You are blessed if you receive this teaching, you lose this blessing if you reject this teaching. The teaching is used to create the LSM sect. The teaching is used to denigrate other Christians who do not subscribe to this teaching. We have spent a lot of time examining this teaching and I think we have done a good job proving that it is a “damnable heresy”.

False teachers, according to Peter bring in “damnable heresies even denying the Lord that bought them”.

So then I have a question. Does WL’s teaching on “one city one church” deny the Lord that bought us? The NT is very clear that we have only one foundation, and that foundation is Christ. We stand on Christ alone (all other ground is sinking sand). So then, does adding a second requirement that we stand on “the ground of the church” in addition to Christ who is the foundation, does this requirement “deny the Lord who bought us”?

Originally Posted by Nigel Tomes

God’s “approval…based on their ground & not…their personal condition”—W. Lee

Moreover, W. Lee alleges that the mere position of “standing on the local ground” merits God’s approval. This privilege, he asserts is independent of the believer’s condition. Arguing by analogy from the Jewish exiles’ return from Babylon, W. Lee states,8 “among those [exiles] who returned, we find many who were not that spiritual…However, as far as their ground was concerned, they were approved by God…No matter how poor their situation was, their ground was still the right ground…no matter how poor and confused the returned captives were, they stood on the proper ground which God had ordained for them...Their approval was based on their ground and not on their personal condition.” Note the last statement asserts that God’s “approval was based on their ground and not on their personal condition.” W. Lee contends that this principle applies today;9 he argues that New Testament believers (regardless of condition) who “stand on the local ground” (defined by city boundaries) secure God’s approval, just as Jewish exiles’ who returned to Jerusalem merited God’s favor. He alleges that (independent of condition) if a believer “stands on the local ground,” this position earns God’s approval. This implies that, other believers, not in this position, are disapproved by God! Thus Witness Lee elevates a positional matter--“standing on the local ground”--into a sacrament which secures God’s approval.

The NT teaches clearly that we stand before God based solely on Christ's redemption and not on our merit. It is not by anything that we have done but by His grace. So then, does this teaching "deny the Lord that bought us"?

Originally Posted by Nigel Tomes

To justify this, LSM contends that the Spirit connects the church ground to the Triune God (the physical with the spiritual). They first state that,10 “three elements—the oneness of the Spirit, the ground of locality, and the reality of the Spirit—keep the genuine oneness of the church.” Here the physical, “ground of locality” is grouped with the Spirit. Then W. Lee insists,11 “it is by this Spirit that the genuine ground of the church is linked with the Triune God.” This is sacramentalism; the physical (ground of locality) is “linked with the Triune God.”

What are the alleged benefits of this linkage? We’ve already mentioned “God’s approval.” W. Lee also links being “in the local church on the ground” with “the full experience of the triune God.” He proclaims,12 “We know where we must be today—in the local oneness, that is, in the local church on the ground of oneness. If we are not in the local oneness…we cannot have the full experience of the…Triune God…Only on this ground can we have the full experience of the processed Triune God.” Lack of this ground, W. Lee argues, is the13 “reason many Christians today are in spiritual poverty.” Thus a physical attribute—being “in the local church on the ground”—is deemed to provide spiritual benefits in terms of “the full experience of the Triune God.” Again, this is sacramentalism. In essence LSM claims that “standing on the local ground” (defined by city boundaries) is a means by which the divine life &/or grace are dispensed to believers. This matches Catholic assertions that, “the sacraments are…means by which divine life is dispensed to us.”14 This substantiates our claim that the “local ground” is LSM’s distinctive sacrament. Let’s examine LSM’s doctrine of the local ground in more detail.

According to WL you have to stand on "the ground of the church" in order to have the "full experience of the Triune God". Jesus taught "I am the way, the truth and the Light, no man comes to the Father but by me". So then, again I ask, does this teaching of "the ground of the church" deny the Lord that bought us?