Page 36 - Ecclesiology revised short_Neat

(d) There is no inner light or added revelation ever given beyond what is contained in the Bible.

(e) No authority relative to the receiving and forming of the truth has ever been committed to the
church or to men beyond that given to the New Testament writers. The inspired revelation is complete.

The Definition of Inerrancy coincides with Inspiration

Definition of Inerrancy: The original autographs that were written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
were created without any disharmony between books and the very words and even the punctuation were
penned by each author without error in thought or form. God’s thoughts were perfectly expressed in
written words.

The result of the divine-human authorship is a message without error. If God is true (Rom. 3:4) and the
Bible comes from God (2 Tim. 3:16), then the Bible must be true in all its parts. That is why the Bible is
said to be inerrant. “Inerrancy is the view that when all the facts become known, they will demonstrate
that the Bible in its original autographs and correctly interpreted is entirely true and never false in all it
affirms, whether that relates to doctrine or ethics or to the social, physical, or life sciences”. xxix

2. The church is concerned about spreading the Gospel to the lost in their vicinity and throughout
the world. The primary mission that Jesus called the church to do was to “make disciples of all
nations…” (Matthew 28:19-20). This obviously requires the church to lead people to Christ in belief
BEFORE they can disciple them. An evangelistic church is one whom the people energetically share their
faith with the lost and bring them to church to begin the process of discipleship and fellowship. An
evangelistic church will see people being baptized as a result of coming to faith in Christ. An evangelistic
church will be a sending church where members will leave to share their faith in other areas of the
world. This church will send teams of people on missions’ trips and will support mission efforts
financially.

3. The church as a clearly defined and developed discipleship program in place. This may involve
Sunday School or small group studies, where a mature spiritual leader is taking people, especially new
believers, through the process of learning the Scriptures. It may be called “Body building classes” or
“small groups” but there should be some avenue that is visible where the church is actively involved in
the teaching ministry of the Word.

4. The church avoids activities that do not enhance its mission and purpose for existence. Many
churches today have numerous “activities” which have nothing to do with any spiritual directive. Their
activities are centered around entertaining themselves (called fellowship) when little or nothing of
eternal value associated with it. A good question to ask is, “how does this activity on the calendar
enhance our directives from Christ to see His kingdom enlarged on earth?” Many times, the activities
themselves become the focus of the church and there is no real reason for their existence. For example,
years ago churches started soup kitchens for feeding the poor and less fortunate. The purpose of these
kitchens was to motivate people to come, be fed, and hear the Gospel. It was to share the love of Christ
physically and spiritually. But after years, the soup kitchen becomes nothing more than an activity
where the church feeds poor people, and the Gospel is not shared anymore. The focus becomes
humanitarian without any spiritual dimension. Such an activity wanders away from the mission of the
church. A true church focuses on activities which yield eternal rewards.

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