- II John 1:9
- I Corinthians 14:23
- Because we don’t have Bible authority for it.
- II John 1:9 – We don’t want to go outside the teaching of Christ.
- Galatians 1:8; Colossians 3:17
- What local churches did in the New Testament
- Churches provided for the teaching and preaching of the gospel.
- Churches provided for worship and spiritual edification.
- Churches provided for needy Christians.
- Acts 4:32-35; 6:1-4
- See a pattern? Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35; 6:1-3; 11:27-30; Romans 15:25-26; I Corinthians 16:1-3; II Corinthians 8, 9; I Timothy 5:16, 5
- Were there no other needy people in Jerusalem – just Christians? There were, but that was outside the scope of the work of the church.
- Because we have something better to offer!
- Philippians 1:27 – This is what a church should be doing!
- I Thessalonians 1:8
- I Timothy 5:3-5, 16 – Churches are not to be distracted with lesser works. Families are obligated to help their own first.
- Acts 6:2, 4
- Individual Christians can and should be engaged in all kinds of good deeds! Luke 10:33-37; James 1:27
- Jesus Himself helped so many people in both physical and spiritual ways, so why didn’t He authorize churches to help the world in physical ways? John 6:10-14, 24-35, 48-51. Jesus came to serve a greater purpose than feeding people.
DW
November 22, 2015
For further study, see also:
Questions or comments? Join our Discord server for further study.