Thank you for this article. I'm also thankful for this initiative of the Abide Project. If those of us in the CRC desire God's approval, it will be necessary for us, to first of all know His Word as our 'daily bread', and obey what it teaches us through the Holy Spirit. Hebrews defines faith as 'the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen'(1:11), and that those who come to God 'must first believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him' (11:6) because, 'without faith it is impossible to please God'. As children of God then we understand from scripture that we can expect the Lord's discipline in different ways and for different things. Discipline is necessary to deal with all sexual immorality in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Discipline is necessary to maintain the purity of the church and to restore those in err back to fellowship. Discipline is required when we fall into sin and continue in it. We must agree with God as to what sin is. He defines it, He requires repentance of it because Jesus died for it. God will never give sin a 'pass' because Jesus has already givenHis life, 'once for all' to redeem us from sin and death. Discipline is necessary to make us holy unto God. Holiness is purity and being set apart for God's purposes, not our own. The church belongs to God, we are His bride and are to be living sacrifices to Him. Those who excuse sexual immorality or reject discipline are directly in opposition to God and His Word and are warned in Hebrews 6 about the dangers of apostacy. Proverbs 3 also contains many admonitions not to be' wise in your own eyes', 'fear the Lord and turn away from evil', as well as to'not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of His reproof.' So we need to believe that God rewards obedience, but also that His discipline is for our good and His glory. Synod 2024 needs to uphold God's Word as Truth and expose that which is NOT completely in line with it. 'Fear of man brings a snare'....Discipline requires taking into our hearts the Truth that sets us free as part of our 'training in Godliness'. That which God has graciously granted us through His Word, is to be used in lovingly pointing out error and sin when it occurs, and to be loving enough to correct true brothers and sisters in Christ with that truth and discipline in order to lead them to repentance and peace with God and neighbor. God's Word is explicit in this. Unity is not more important than obedience to God's design for holiness for His people. Unity in the Body of Christ can only happen as we submit to God's Truth. As Matthew Henry has said "Peace is such a precious jewel, I would give anything for it but Truth". Overlooking sin in the Church of Jesus Christ is not an option. God's Truth is what we are to be completely committed to upholding. Those who question interpretations on this matter are avoiding what God Himself has plainly spoken and upholds through out His Word. The philosophy and opinions, so called 'knowledge' and worldly wisdom are not to be our source for guidance and direction within the Church of Jesus Christ. The infallible Word of God (IITimothy 3:16&17) proclaims itself profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."
God through the Holy Spirit has made this known to all truly born again believers, that His Word is True, that He and His Word are one, that His Son Jesus was explicitly called 'the Word' and Jesus calls Himself the 'Way, the Truth and the Life'. In the Great Commission Christ not only sent the disciples out to 'Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations,' but He also specifically charged 'teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19&20) We are to know and teach God's Word above and before anything else.
We know that 'scripture interprets scripture', and sometimes we sidetrack knowing & obeying God's Word by leaning on our 'scripturally informed' opinions rather than on the Word itself. Proverbs 3:5&6 reminds us "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths' The more we know the Word, the more we know God, Who reveals Himself as gracious and loving. He teaches us in the book of Hebrews and in other scriptures about the need for discipline, the purpose of discipline and the pain of discipline which eventually yields 'the peaceful fruit of righteousness'. The Word is what brings light into the darkness of our sin and exposes that which needs to be conformed to God's ways. Preaching the Word, teaching what God has said to us is what will provide the Light and the pathway forward in the CRC. Only by abiding in Christ and His Word will we able to come to a unity in the CRC. Not a unity compromising truth with false peace, but true peace will only happen when all those who truly love God and His Word are willing to submit to it together and all of us repent of the sin which continues to beset us, whether it be the sin of sexual immorality grossly sinning while abusing the grace of God, or of being prideful, or not exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit, or of being deliberately illiterate of God's Word and ill equipped to deal with sin because we have chosen to read lots of man's opinions and possible lies, rather than relying and trusting in God's all sufficient Word. May God work in us through the Holy Spirit toward the true peace which God desires for us, a peace that brings unity from standing together in His Truth and loving one another enough to be devoted to commit to disciplinary action when required and to also submit to disciplinary action when we are found to be in sin against a Holy God Who has , in His mercy made a way for us to be His chosen and incredibly blessed children!
Update: So, apparently Classis GRE is in fact carrying out the instructions given to them by Synod 2023 regarding guiding churches and leadership into compliance with the guidelines affirmed by Synod 2022 in the HSR. I did mention before in a previous post on another article published on this website that the majority of Classis GRE had merely opted to postpone/withhold from any substantial action on this front for a while in order to more clearly assess where each church in the Classis is at. They were never planning to refrain from taking action indefinitely on this matter.
Granted, the way they are going about it, is perhaps not what I suppose many of you would do if you were in their shoes. Their approach is much slower and not as immediate/swift as I imagine some of you think it should be. Just thought y’all should know. Also, I’ve been a bit confused as to why people keep referring to Classis GRE collectively as guilty of noncompliance when there’s some churches in GRE that have never gone against the guidelines of the HSR...
I wouldn't characterize discipline as punitive, though it may seem so at the time--this is right of the Hebrews playbook, no?
I think what does go missing is the precondition of mutuality. Why does one stay for the discipline? isn't it easier to walk? This is made the more striking when the questions of discipline (or their obverse, of gravamina) are also bound with the question of confession. This is where things get so messy, and further, why the precondition of mutuality, of what holds us together might want to have a greater profile. Discipline only makes sense if you first know that you are loved, that you are part of a common mission or project, that you are in some sense, secure.
Note: this could all be a bit of special pleading on my side, all given my own location in one of those dissenting congregations. yet, I'm pretty sure we are poorer without the conservatives.
The CRC over the last 3 years on this issue with Neland and GE East has failed to pass one of the marks of the true church-discipline. That is according to Article 29 of the Belgic Confession. This is ridiculous, they needed to be disciplined punitively 2 years ago. Orthodox Christians need to wake up and start taking action or the enemy will take another denomination-time is running out. It is not a goal of Christianity to be "liked" but to do what the Lord has commanded and clearly laid out in His word. I believe this is expressed reasonably well in our confessions, that we are not following.
Thank you for this article. I'm also thankful for this initiative of the Abide Project. If those of us in the CRC desire God's approval, it will be necessary for us, to first of all know His Word as our 'daily bread', and obey what it teaches us through the Holy Spirit. Hebrews defines faith as 'the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen'(1:11), and that those who come to God 'must first believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him' (11:6) because, 'without faith it is impossible to please God'. As children of God then we understand from scripture that we can expect the Lord's discipline in different ways and for different things. Discipline is necessary to deal with all sexual immorality in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Discipline is necessary to maintain the purity of the church and to restore those in err back to fellowship. Discipline is required when we fall into sin and continue in it. We must agree with God as to what sin is. He defines it, He requires repentance of it because Jesus died for it. God will never give sin a 'pass' because Jesus has already givenHis life, 'once for all' to redeem us from sin and death. Discipline is necessary to make us holy unto God. Holiness is purity and being set apart for God's purposes, not our own. The church belongs to God, we are His bride and are to be living sacrifices to Him. Those who excuse sexual immorality or reject discipline are directly in opposition to God and His Word and are warned in Hebrews 6 about the dangers of apostacy. Proverbs 3 also contains many admonitions not to be' wise in your own eyes', 'fear the Lord and turn away from evil', as well as to'not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of His reproof.' So we need to believe that God rewards obedience, but also that His discipline is for our good and His glory. Synod 2024 needs to uphold God's Word as Truth and expose that which is NOT completely in line with it. 'Fear of man brings a snare'....Discipline requires taking into our hearts the Truth that sets us free as part of our 'training in Godliness'. That which God has graciously granted us through His Word, is to be used in lovingly pointing out error and sin when it occurs, and to be loving enough to correct true brothers and sisters in Christ with that truth and discipline in order to lead them to repentance and peace with God and neighbor. God's Word is explicit in this. Unity is not more important than obedience to God's design for holiness for His people. Unity in the Body of Christ can only happen as we submit to God's Truth. As Matthew Henry has said "Peace is such a precious jewel, I would give anything for it but Truth". Overlooking sin in the Church of Jesus Christ is not an option. God's Truth is what we are to be completely committed to upholding. Those who question interpretations on this matter are avoiding what God Himself has plainly spoken and upholds through out His Word. The philosophy and opinions, so called 'knowledge' and worldly wisdom are not to be our source for guidance and direction within the Church of Jesus Christ. The infallible Word of God (IITimothy 3:16&17) proclaims itself profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."
God through the Holy Spirit has made this known to all truly born again believers, that His Word is True, that He and His Word are one, that His Son Jesus was explicitly called 'the Word' and Jesus calls Himself the 'Way, the Truth and the Life'. In the Great Commission Christ not only sent the disciples out to 'Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations,' but He also specifically charged 'teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19&20) We are to know and teach God's Word above and before anything else.
We know that 'scripture interprets scripture', and sometimes we sidetrack knowing & obeying God's Word by leaning on our 'scripturally informed' opinions rather than on the Word itself. Proverbs 3:5&6 reminds us "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths' The more we know the Word, the more we know God, Who reveals Himself as gracious and loving. He teaches us in the book of Hebrews and in other scriptures about the need for discipline, the purpose of discipline and the pain of discipline which eventually yields 'the peaceful fruit of righteousness'. The Word is what brings light into the darkness of our sin and exposes that which needs to be conformed to God's ways. Preaching the Word, teaching what God has said to us is what will provide the Light and the pathway forward in the CRC. Only by abiding in Christ and His Word will we able to come to a unity in the CRC. Not a unity compromising truth with false peace, but true peace will only happen when all those who truly love God and His Word are willing to submit to it together and all of us repent of the sin which continues to beset us, whether it be the sin of sexual immorality grossly sinning while abusing the grace of God, or of being prideful, or not exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit, or of being deliberately illiterate of God's Word and ill equipped to deal with sin because we have chosen to read lots of man's opinions and possible lies, rather than relying and trusting in God's all sufficient Word. May God work in us through the Holy Spirit toward the true peace which God desires for us, a peace that brings unity from standing together in His Truth and loving one another enough to be devoted to commit to disciplinary action when required and to also submit to disciplinary action when we are found to be in sin against a Holy God Who has , in His mercy made a way for us to be His chosen and incredibly blessed children!
Update: So, apparently Classis GRE is in fact carrying out the instructions given to them by Synod 2023 regarding guiding churches and leadership into compliance with the guidelines affirmed by Synod 2022 in the HSR. I did mention before in a previous post on another article published on this website that the majority of Classis GRE had merely opted to postpone/withhold from any substantial action on this front for a while in order to more clearly assess where each church in the Classis is at. They were never planning to refrain from taking action indefinitely on this matter.
Granted, the way they are going about it, is perhaps not what I suppose many of you would do if you were in their shoes. Their approach is much slower and not as immediate/swift as I imagine some of you think it should be. Just thought y’all should know. Also, I’ve been a bit confused as to why people keep referring to Classis GRE collectively as guilty of noncompliance when there’s some churches in GRE that have never gone against the guidelines of the HSR...
I wouldn't characterize discipline as punitive, though it may seem so at the time--this is right of the Hebrews playbook, no?
I think what does go missing is the precondition of mutuality. Why does one stay for the discipline? isn't it easier to walk? This is made the more striking when the questions of discipline (or their obverse, of gravamina) are also bound with the question of confession. This is where things get so messy, and further, why the precondition of mutuality, of what holds us together might want to have a greater profile. Discipline only makes sense if you first know that you are loved, that you are part of a common mission or project, that you are in some sense, secure.
Note: this could all be a bit of special pleading on my side, all given my own location in one of those dissenting congregations. yet, I'm pretty sure we are poorer without the conservatives.
The CRC over the last 3 years on this issue with Neland and GE East has failed to pass one of the marks of the true church-discipline. That is according to Article 29 of the Belgic Confession. This is ridiculous, they needed to be disciplined punitively 2 years ago. Orthodox Christians need to wake up and start taking action or the enemy will take another denomination-time is running out. It is not a goal of Christianity to be "liked" but to do what the Lord has commanded and clearly laid out in His word. I believe this is expressed reasonably well in our confessions, that we are not following.