The Time of the End: or, the World, the Visible Church, and the People of God at the Advent of the LordHoare, Edward
Religion
The Time of the End: or, the World, the Visible Church, and the People of God at the Advent of the Lord
Hoare, Edward
Bible -- Prophecies; Second Advent
{53} It is sometimes argued from these principles that believers are at
liberty to disregard ecclesiastical distinctions; and, if justification
were the only object which the Christian has in view, there might be some
foundation for the conclusion. But the justified believer is living for
a further and higher end, _viz._ a perfect conformity to the whole mind
and will of God, and this latter is the standard to which all practical
questions should be referred. In such cases the question is not “How
does it affect my justification?” but, “Is it agreeable to God’s will?
and will it promote his glory?” Thus the importance of a Scriptural
church discipline is not in the least affected by the principle that
grace may prevail without it; nor is dissent necessarily justifiable
because the dissenter may be justified. All believers are not always
right in all things. Early education, early prejudice, or the sad
defects and blemishes, which are too often seen in the human acting out
of Scriptural principles, may serve to warp both the judgment and the
will even of the child of God. Thus it is that a man may be safe in his
union with Christ, and yet wrong in his want of union with the Episcopal
church. Thus also we may regard such an one as a brother in Christ,
while we are bound to protest against what we believe unscriptural in the
system of his ministry.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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