Walk in love without compromising the truth!

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth (1 Cor 13:6 NIV)

And Jesus is the Truth. In John 14:6 NIV, Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 

God's Word is Truth too. In John 17:17b NIV, Jesus declared in His prayer to Father God: Your word is Truth 

We see in Apostle John and Apostle Paul, and above all in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, perfect examples of those who live out and practise BOTH Love AND Truth. They did not practise one while neglecting the other. Neither did they emphasize Truth alone forsaking Love nor did they emphasize Love alone forsaking Truth. They lived in both Love AND Truth. So should we. Love walks hand in hand with Truth. We must walk in love always without ever compromising the truth.

Yes, Love does not delight in evil (lies, falsehood, immorality, corruption...) but rejoices in the truth (1 Cor 13:6 NIV).

Unity, Liberty, and Charity

Among all churches, let there be: 

Unity in Essentials
Liberty in Non-Essentials
Charity in all things!

Examples of Essentials:
-One God in three persons-The Holy Trinity
-The perfect humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ
-Christ's Virgin Birth
-Christ's miracles, crucifixion, death, resurrection, ascension, and second coming
-Inerrancy and infallibility of God's Holy Word

Examples of Non-Essentials:
-Worship style
-Languages used
-Carpet and Curtain Color in church buildings
-The physical elements used in the Holy Communion
-Missions Strategies
-Evangelism approaches
-Different leaders'personalities

Value of cooperating with other Baptist congregations

There is great positive value in cooperating with other congregations on the conditions that they all share a common commitment:

-To love God with all their hearts, minds and strength, and to love one another as Christ loved them.

-To the Gospel.

-To the fundamental Baptist distinctives such as Regenerate church membership, Believers' baptism, congressional baptist polity, church discipline, Lord's Supper as solemn remembrance of the Lord, religious freedom, and separation of church and state.

-To serve together in the execution of the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20).

The topmost primordial prerequisite for a most fruitful God-pleasing and God-glorifying cooperative endeavor among Baptist congregations is loving God absolutely and one another sacrificially unto death (Matt 22:36-40; John 13:34-35; 15:12,17; 1 John 3:16).

Gospel invitation in the church worship service

Integrity and purity of motive of the preacher is most important when issuing a public invitation following the preaching of the Word. There is the danger of falsely assuring those who come in front of the church that their walking up, or emotional response, or tears proves their conversion. On the other hand, not offering the invitation is missing an opportunity for a public response to the Gospel. So, the real problem does not lie in the invitation (done in pure motive) itself, but rather in false assurance of guarantee of salvation.

As the Word of God is powerful and effective unto salvation ( 1 Cor 1:18) and following Christ is, in fact, a public endeavor and lifestyle, it is appropriate to provide the opportunity for a lost soul to respond without delay following the hearing of the Good News of Salvation. The key is integrity and pure motivation from the preacher and sincerity from the heart of the lost soul. The meaning and significance of becoming a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ should be clearly explained to the one who walks up in front. Well-organized follow-up ministry is also essential to those who would respond positively.

Who can limit the Sovereign omnipotent omniscient God? He has saved people truly by both private and public invitations, and otherwise. We must not exaggerate or be in any extreme but rather be balanced.

Let's just make sure that everything is done in purity, integrity, and true faith (Rom 14:23). We must certainly not neglect the power of prayers in all ministries.

God is absolutely sovereign. He is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. Who dare to restrict Him in His move? We need to recognize also that we are nothing and can do nothing without Him (John 15:4-5). No evangelism or invitation must be done in the flesh. We are to do it only when led by the Holy Spirit, not otherwise. This is why it is essential that we abide in Christ continually so that we become discerning too (John 15:1-9).

The Lord's Supper

 The Lord Jesus declared in I Cor 11:24-26 (NASB)

²⁴ and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁵ In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

The Lord's Supper is a commemorative ordinance to be observed by the Scriptural Church in memory of the Savior whose body was broken and whose blood was shed on our behalf (1 Cor 11:24).

Only baptized believers have a right to partake of the Lord's Supper. The Great Commission of Our Lord in Matthew 28:18-20 commands that the new disciples be baptized and then be taught to observe all things that Christ has commanded His disciples. And one important thing the Lord had commanded was the partaking of His Memorial Supper. To partake of the Lord's Supper before baptism is to disobey this God-given order. And if we encourage anyone to violate the Lord's instruction on this matter we shall be partakers of their sin. It is a sin to invite unbaptized people to partake of the Lord's Supper.

In Acts 2:41-42 (NKJV), please note the order:

1. gladly received His Word -Disciples
2. were baptized - Baptized disciples
3. that day... were added to them- Church members
4. continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine - Sound in faith
5. and fellowship - United in love and faith
6. breaking of bread, and in prayers - Partaking of the the Lord's Supper

This is the divine order: Close Communion.

By close, I mean participants must be those who have experienced the believers' baptism. And the invitation is made by the celebrant specifying this condition for participation + self-examination (1 Cor 11:27-34). 

Everything must be done with a pure heart in solemn remembrance of the precious Lord Jesus Christ. It is most important that the partakers of the Holy Communion be regenerated Christians (I Cor 10:14-21; 11:23-26) and who are walking truly in love of God and one another as the Lord commanded during His Last Supper (John 13:34-35). They must not be in disunity (I Cor 11:18-22; John 17:20-23) and guilty of sin as they run the terrible risk of being judged by the Almighty God (I Cor 11:27-34). This could be fatal. Thus, it is so important to self-examine oneself carefully before partaking of the Holy Communion with other believers.

We are to teach the truth of the Word of God, to admonish, to exhort, to warn one another-all in love, but it is Our Sovereign Holy God who is the final Righteous Judge of a person's real inner heart and spiritual condition though.

Dealing with false teaching in local churches

False teaching is dangerous and can lead people astray if not checked. 

For example, 1 John was addressed to the believers (1 John 2:12-14, 19; 3:1; 5:13) of the churches of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Some years earlier, in A.D 85, John had written his Gospel to show that Jesus was the Christ (John 20:31). Meanwhile, the heresy of Gnosticism which denies the Incarnation and the Atonement has infiltrated the churches. The deceived followers had left the church causing a schism and crisis (1 John 2:19). Consequently, John wrote his epistle to expose and combat the heretics (1 John 2:26), and to give assurance of salvation to the believers (1 John 5:13).

Right in the very beginning of his message (1 John 1:1-4), Apostle John testifies courageously of the Incarnation. He proclaims that the Word of Life, who was at the very beginning of time (John 1:1), has been revealed in human flesh. The invisible God has manifested Himself in visible human flesh through the Incarnation of His Son Jesus Christ. 

We need to follow Apostle John's example of combating courageously any false teaching that can deceive the children of God. We must not be afraid to always speak up and stand up for the holy truth of Our Most Holy God everywhere and especially in our local churches.

 Apostle John was the apostle of love. He was the disciple whom Jesus loved (John 13:23; 21;20). He was Jesus' closest disciple. In his epistle 1 John, he spoke and instructed his recipients on loving one another a lot ( 1 John 3:14,16-17; 4:7, 11-12, 17-18, 21; 5:1). He, the apostle who centers on love, also stood firmly upon the truth and combated false teachings most courageously. Love does not condone lies and falsehood but rather rejoices in the truth (1 Cor 13:6). By the way, John was a very elderly man when the issue arose. Even so, he stood up to the challenge and defended the Truth bravely. What an inspiring example to us! And what an infinite blessing is the First epistle of John down through all the centuries to this day! 

I see in Apostle John (and Apostle Paul, and above all the Lord Jesus Christ Himself) as perfect examples of living out and practicing BOTH Love/Unity AND Truth. They did not practice one neglecting the other. They did not emphasize Truth alone forsaking Love/Unity. They did not emphasize Love/Unity alone forsaking the Truth. So, should we! Love/Unity walk hand in hand with Truth. Love does not delight in evil (lies, falsehood...) but rejoices in the truth (1 Cor 13:6).

Missions and Evangelism by the local church

Missions and evangelism is very important in the local church because God has commanded it (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8). No one can be saved without receiving the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Savior (John 3:16). 

God declares through Apostle Paul in Romans 10: 13, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Then, the Apostle continues in verse 14 and 15: " How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Saved members in local churches must be so filled with thanksgiving and gratitude to their Savior that they are determined to consecrate the rest of their lives to love and serve God and others. God wants no one to perish but everyone to come to repentance and faith in Him (2 Peter 3:9). So, all regenerated local churches must actively do missions and evangelism until Jesus Christ returns. 

Loving and obeying God through biblical ecclesiological practice

We will be blessed by God if we do all we can to practise the right biblical doctrines and ecclesiology faithfully:-

-Lordship of Jesus Christ
-Authority of the inspired and inerrant Holy Scriptures
-Regenerate church membership
-Believers' baptism
-Church discipline
-Pure Holy Communion
-Congregationalist Polity
-Text-driven expository preaching
-Execution of the Great Commission
-Liberty of conscience
-Separation of Church and State

Obedience to God and His Holy Word is an evidence and manifestation of loving God (Matt 22:36-40). And we thank God and celebrate with all churches who do practice biblically sound doctrines and ecclesiology. Concerning those who do not know these truths, we pray for them and trust God that they will be enlightened in due time. This would be a way of loving our neighbor as God requires of us.

May God's Love always prevail!

Baptists seem to have got the right biblical doctrines about:

-Regenerate church membership
-Believers' Baptism by immersion
-Theo-democracy/Congregationalism
-Church Discipline
-The Lord's Supper symbolizing the body and blood of Christ

If a church is indeed practising all the right doctrines, the brethren must make sure that they are doing so in godly love, because there is the danger of practicing all the biblical doctrines in a legalistic fashion without the Holy Spirit anointing and Christ's servant attitude. Our Lord's New Commandment of loving one another sacrificially unto death (John 13:34-35; I John 3:16-18) should always be prevailing in all our ecclesiological practice.

May all our choices and decisions we make concerning Membership, Baptism, Confession, Holy communion, etc..., be motivated by and done in obedience to God's Greatest Commandment of Love upon which Our Lord said, depend all the law and the Prophets (Matt 22:37-40)!

Doctrinal Confessions

The aim of confessions are twofold: to those outside, they explain, defend, and clarify the Baptist Faith. To those within the Baptist fold, the confessions educate, unify, and confirm the faithful.
Most of the confessions are timely, in the sense that they addressed issues of intense concern at that time, but which may be of less interest today (e.g hymn singing, laying of hands on new converts). By the same token, many issues of urgent concern to Baptists today were not included in the early confessions, probably not even thought of by early Baptists. (Ref. Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage pp 68-69)

 
At all levels of ministry: local church, associations, national, and international organizations, we must always uphold the Holy Scriptures! It must be absolutely clear to everyone that Confessions are man-made in contrast to the Holy Bible which is God's Divine Word (II Timothy 3:16). It is inerrant and infallible from Genesis to Revelation.

We do value Doctrinal Confessions as long as they do not contradict God's Word. They must always be tested with the Holy Bible as the Absolute Reference and Standard. Confessions should always be subjected to change if proven unbiblical, but not the Bible (Revelation 22:18-19). The Bible is divinely inspired through the Holy Spirit and is complete! Amen.

Biblical Baptism

Baptism signifies forgiveness of sins, inner transformation of mind and heart, and a pledge of a life of obedient discipleship. By receiving baptism, the believer declares publicly that one has submitted oneself to one's brothers and sisters, that is the church. If one transgresses, they have the power to admonish, punish, exclude, and restore (Matthew 18:15-17). 

So, believers' baptism should be reserved for committed disciples only. It has no meaning where faith in Christ is absent. Baptism by water should never be administered without prior profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Baptism in water is not what cleanses the soul, but the 'yes' of a good conscience toward God, given inwardly by faith. Baptism for the believer symbolizes his newness of life and his determination to follow Christ even unto death.

It was to the Church that the Great Commission was given. Only the Church has authority to baptize. All baptisms administered without the scriptural church authority are null and void. 

Scriptural baptism is the water immersion of a saved person by the authority of a scriptural church. And water baptism by immersion is a beautiful symbol of our identification with Our Lord's death, burial, and resurrection.

The value of a regenerate church membership

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is the absolute Head of His Church taught in John 3:3,7 that we must be born again to see the kingdom of God. He also taught that we can do nothing without Him (John 15:5). So, rebirth or regeneration is the very beginning or starting point for a christian life. The true church is made up of such born-again or regenerated believers, not unregenerate ones!

The value of regenerate church membership in the local church is enormous. Through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit received through rebirth/regeneration, the church can experience:

-True love and unity
-True discernment and wisdom
-Patience, Gentleness, Kindness, Humility, Self-Control, Meekness...

In other words, the manifestation of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is facilitated (Galatians 5:22-23). On the other hand, an unregenerate "church" would manifest the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21).

Furthermore, Baptism, being a public declaration of Christian Faith and a solemn pledge of obedient discipleship (Matthew 28:18-20), and the Lord's Supper, being a true expression of agape love (John 13: 1-17; 31-35) would find their rightful meaning, significance, and expression in a regenerate church membership.

A regenerate church membership would be more obedient to the Lord's New Commandment of Love agape (John 13:34-35) and be more united in Christ (John 17:21-23). Such a body of believers would be more effective in executing the Great Commission of Our Lord (Matthew 28:18-20).

A regenerate church membership is most significant in value. It is a church composed of born-again believers who got the Holy Spirit in them. Without the Holy Spirit one cannot really live out the New Commandment of Christ (John 13:35). How can unregenerate sinners love one another as Christ has loved His disciples sacrificially unto death on the Cross? This kind of agape love does require a divine enabling power, the Holy Spirit, to manifest Himself. Thus, it is vital that the Body of Christ, the Church, is a regenerate one. Otherwise, it is a mixture of spiritually dead members mingled among the saved ones. Would this not be an unnecessary tough handicap for Church Ministry and Mission (Matthew 28:18-20)?