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Enjoy... But remember
"Don't give in to winning the argument
and losing one of your eternal crowns..."
God bless you...
Enjoy... But remember
"Don't give in to winning the argument
and losing one of your eternal crowns..."
God bless you...
Ah! You are wrong again! 
The clergy/laity distinction: a help or a hindrance to the body of Christ? (RTC)
The bible did show some how............. (Emmanuel)
Prooftexts not enough (RTC)
Binding and Loosing
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Dear RTC, That authority is exercised in binding and loosing which were technical terms for the pronouncement of rabbis on what was and was not permitted (to bind was to forbid, to loose to permit). This verse (Matthew 16:19) therefore probably refers primarily to a legislative authority in the church.3 This legislative authority, given to Simon and the other apostles, was important because Jesus taught that His church was to have the final authority in the life of the believer: “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector” (Matt. 18:15-17, emphasis added). Likewise, Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them . . . ” So far, then, we’ve seen that the church Jesus founded was more than just an invisible communion of believers who were free to organize themselves however they saw fit. Christ gave His church a visible, authoritative hierarchy. It was a kingdom, not a democracy, and it was ruled by the apostles (and chief among them, Simon Peter) who were given the authority to make binding rules. We’ve also seen that believers were to submit their disputes to the judgment of the church, and to “listen to the church,” or else be regarded as pagans and tax collectors Emmanuel |
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