Standards of the Church

The Lord's Day:
The Bible teaches us that one in seven days is for the Lord (EXO 20:8). In the Old Testament, God's people worshiped Him on the last day of the week (the "Sabbath-day"). But in the New Testament, the Lord's Day is on the first day of the week (ACT 20:7, 1CO 16:1-2, REV 1:10).

God knew that in the busyness of the six days of labor, His people would tend to drift away from Him and forget His commandments. Therefore, He instituted the Sabbath-day to "preserve" His commandments - so that in this day of rest from the cares of the world, they would return to Him, reflect on their failures and get right with God. Therefore, God severely judged the Jews for not keeping the Sabbath.

We believe in the importance of keeping the Lord's Day as a day unto God - in worship, in private meditation, in service, in Christian fellowship, in rest from worldly chores and pleasures. Sufficient preparations must be made in the other six days of the week, in order to keep the Lord's Day. We believe that a failure to keep the Lord's Day will inevitably lead to spiritual back-sliding. Therefore, every Gospeliter is expected to be in church on Sunday and participate in its activities. Membership is automatically revoked when a member is absent for twelve consecutive Sundays without a valid reason.

Bible versions:
We believe in the plenary infallibility of the Scriptures in the original autographs (2TI 3:16). We also believe in the divine preservation of the Scriptures (PSA 12:6,7). While there are many English translations of the Scriptures, we believe that the King James Translation (also called the "King James Bible" or "KJB," and the "Authorized Version" or "AV") is the most reliable and faithful English translation of the Scriptures. We believe that every word of the Scriptures is God-inspired (MAT 4:4) and therefore reject the present-day "dynamic equivalency" method of translation, which claims to make the Scriptures more understandable and readable. All Gospeliters are required to use the KJV in public worship to prevent disorder in the church (1CO 14:40).

Music:
A Christian is a new creature with new desires and tastes (2CO 5:17). This is visibly seen in many areas of his life, should especially be so in the area of music. The phrase "new song" is found many times in the Bible (PSA 33:2, 40:1-3, 96:1, 98:1, 144:9, 149:1, ISA 42:10, REV 5:9, 14:3). The adjective "new" refers to character (not kind). This new character in music is visible to others (PSA 40:3).

The unbeliever sings for his own pleasure but the believer sings to praise God. God is musical (ZEP 3:17, ZEC 9:14, 1TH 4:16) and praise is "comely" (ie, beautiful) to God (PSA 147:1). The correlation between "singing" and "praise" is repeatedly found in the Bible (JUD 5:3, 2 SA 22:50, 2CH 20:22, 2CH 23:13, PSA 7:17, 9:11, 21:13, 27:6, 30:12, 47:6, 47:7, 57:7, 61:8, 66:2, 68:4, 75:9, 92:1, 98:4, 104:33, 108:1, 135:3, 146:2, 147:1, 149:1, JER 20:13, HEB 2:12).

One clearly recognizable form of musical self-pleasure is sensual music (which stirs up sensual desires). Most worldly music nowadays is sensual - featuring back-beat, sensual styles of singing & sensual bodily movements.

In contrast, Godly music, while helping us to sing in unison, also helps us to focus on the words of the song. We believe that "music is next to theology" and that music exerts a great influence on our emotions and attitudes. We reject the absurd present-day teaching among many Christians that "music is neutral - and so long as the words are godly, the music does not matter." We believe that the primary purpose of music is to glorify God - and in so doing, we enjoy Him. Every Gospeliter is expected to actively praise God and be part of His choir at the worship service.

Christian testimony:
We are "ambassadors for Christ" (2CO 5:20). Therefore, we have to behave accordingly. Gospeliters are must not behave in ways, or participate in activities that shame the name of God. Gospeliters who commit visible gross sins (ie, sins that offend even unbelievers) will be excommunicated from membership (1TH 5:14, 2TH 3:6,14-15).

We "say" much about our character and attitude by the way that we dress. When we come to God's house to worship Him, we should dress appropriately (respectfully, yet without showing off). Since fashions influence women more than men, and since ladies' fashions cover a wider "range," Christian ladies have to be more careful in their choice of clothing. Furthermore, as men are easily distracted visually by the opposite sex, Christian ladies must dress in modest, non-revealing clothing (1TI 2:9).

Order in the church:
Elders are servants of Christ to His church (not servants of the church). Therefore, as servants of Christ, they must rule and preach as Christ's representatives without fear or favor, yet with Christ-like compassion and love. They must rule as servants (under authority to God and His Word) by and with the consent of the church. Members are responsible to voice their opinions on church matters to the Elders but after the Elders have made a decision on that matter, members must willingly obey the decision (HEB 13:7) and keep their differing opinions to themselves.

Ministers are not men whom we pay to serve God on our behalf but men who train us to serve God, to the fullest of our abilities. True Christian ministry is not to have men to get God's work done, but to do God's work "to get men done." Ministers of the church should be fully supported by the members (1TI 5:17,18, GAL 6:6,7).
 

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