Quote:
Originally Posted by tbpew
A God-supplied gift.
A blessing to edify the Body in matters that are shared by all.
The common space, when we assembly together, must have a system of order. I am so thankful for the counsels concerning this that Paul witnessed from God and breathed-out or penned in a letter.
Did Paul have the ability to take away the liberty of an individual member of the Body of Christ? Could he put them in prison or bonds within the tabernacle of God? Of course not, because he had no authority over any Saint. No saint had to obey him or else suffer punitive actions given to him in his office, because he is not the authority over them in Christ. He was not their master or their RULER.
Hey, if you have two way traffic you needs lines and folks to enforce the lines and administer the punitive measures for non-compliance.
So now lets extend that to the church of the living God. For the shared experience to be conducted in an order fashion, there will always be overseers and servants, but what authority over the individual do they have that has been given to them by God?
If they have authority over the individual, what is their ability to put the rebelious in bonds?
If you mark those that cause division among you and instruct other people to not eat dinner with them, your authority is in some administration of a shared environment, a group thingy. So, I am agreeing that if some guy wants to set a time when an invitation to assemble is made available, great. Its a shared experience and needs a decision-maker within the mix to facilitate.
The same operation of authority of any person who establishes a meeting time has no proper extension in application concerning whether or not I attend or do not attend.
Authority has roles and realms in which in operates. When those roles and realms are exceeded, the game gets messed up, discord is sown and peace is forfeitted.
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I guess I'm not understanding how Paul had the authority to admonish those churches in regard to wrongdoing but also not have the power to remove those who wished to be rebellious and not take his admonitions.
I guess I just see things differently. I am a parent, but my kids have other 'rulers' in their lives also who have the authority to make decisions that affect their lives even without my input nor choice in the matter.
If Paul didn't have authority over those churches, I'm not clear on how he could make commands of them nor admonish them in any way. Help me out here.
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