Every obligation a man has grows out of a relationship.

Adam – humanitarian

• God: I Corinthians 15:45-49

• Man

  • Train children à schools

  • Good citizen à civil government (Romans 13:3-4)

  • Compassionate à Benevolent society

  • No authority for:

    • Worship society

    • Missionary society

    • Edifying society

Christ – spiritual

• God: Galatians 3:26-27

• Man

  • Worship God

  • Edify the saved

  • Save the lost

  • Benevolence for needy saints (I Corinthians 16:1-2; etc.)

  • Discipline unruly/disorderly

  • All these are achieved with the local church. God provided the structure in which we are to do all these things.

  • No authority for:

    • Worship society

    • Edifying society

    • Missionary society

    • Benevolent society

    • Disciplinary society

Colossians 1:9-12

Colossians 1:9

• Paul believed in prayer and in prayer for specific people in specific places.

• “filled with the knowledge of His will”

  • Too many times there is a famine of knowledge of God’s will in the church.

  • Hosea 4:6 – Lack of knowledge will cause us to perish!

• Knowledge of the Bible means nothing without the wisdom to apply it.

Colossians 1:10

• We must walk worthy of God. We can walk worthy of God.

• Titus 2:11-14

• Proverbs 12:26

• A walk worthy of God is a better walk.

• Titus 3:5

• Christians are better than other people because they are obeying God. If we weren’t why would we try to teach others to be Christians?

• “bearing fruit in every good work”

  • Ephesians 2:10

Colossians 1:11 – “strengthened with all power according to His glorious might”

• Romans 1:16

Colossians 1:12 – “giving thanks to the Father”

• Too many are not thankful for the blessings we enjoy as Christians.

• Too many times we think we are limited by what we can’t do as Christians, but that is judging by the wrong standard.

• I John 1:7

Colossians 1:13 – What a translation this is!

Ephesians 2:8-9

Naaman – II Kings 5:9-14

Greek baptizo – dip, immerse

Many baptized in Acts: Acts 8:12, 38; 16:15, 33, and more!

Scriptures relating to baptism:

• Mark 16:16

• Acts 2:38 – Some argue that “for forgiveness of sins” means “because of the forgiveness of your sins” but this does not match the Greek meaning of the phrase. Compare Matthew 26:28.

• Acts 22:16 – Paul definitely believed in Jesus at this point, but he still needed forgiveness of his sins via baptism.

• Romans 6:3-4

  • Jesus (physical) – death, burial, resurrection

  • Me (spiritual) – dead to sin, buried in baptism, newness of life

• I Corinthians 12:13

• Galatians 3:27

• I Peter 3:21

Outward sign of an inward grace?

• This phrase is not in the Bible. Is the concept? No!

• Baptism is the moment when God washes away one’s sins with the power of Jesus’ blood!

  • Sense of urgency:

    • Acts 2

    • Acts 8 – Ethiopian eunuch

    • Saul

    • Philippian jailer

  • Rejoiced after baptism

    • Philippian jailer

    • Ethiopian

If baptism is required for salvation, what more would God have to say to communicate that?

Acts 19:1-5 – One may still need to be baptized into Christ if a previous baptism was a different kind of baptism.

Introduction

• The word autonomy is not in the New Testament.

• Is this concept in the Bible?

Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 5 – Jesus has all authority and the church is subject to Him. Specifically, all members are subject to Christ, therefore all local churches are also subject to Christ. The church cannot be autonomous as relates to Christ.

The Herald of Truth was a work by multiple churches with a single church’s elders overseeing. This violated local church autonomy.

I Peter 5:1-3

One church is not to oversee any function of another local church. Each local church is to be self-governing.

Autonomy is lost when multiple churches send money to another church to do a work.

Philippians 4:15-16 – Money was sent directly to the preacher (Paul, in this case).

I Corinthians 16:1-4

I Corinthians 4:4-5

Acts 14:23