Continuing on in my examination of the articles at Pulpit Magazine, here's a quote from Part 1 of their series, from the section on the early church as an example:
In the early church, coming to Christ was coming to the church. The idea of experiencing salvation without belonging to a local church is foreign to the New Testament. When individuals repented and believed in Christ, they were baptized and added to the church (Acts 2:41, 47; 5:14; 16:5). More than simply living out a private commitment to Christ, this meant joining together formally with other believers in a local assembly and devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer (Acts 2:42).
If coming to Christ meant coming to the church - and I have no problem with this - and joining with other believers in assembly, devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer, why would anybody today who was already doing these things be considered a non-member of that assembly? Only in adding requirements not found in the bible could such an idea be possible.
Part 10 . . . . . . . . Part 12
This is a great ref to the practice of the early church. It reminds me of Saint Augustine saying, "We are convinced that a man loves God only insofar as he loves the Church."
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