A Publication of the
"Heralding the Good News of Jesus Christ"
REFORMED HERALD
January 1992
Reformed Church
in the United States
Editor's Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev. Peter Grossmann
I think you ought to go to a genuinely
Bible-teaching conservative Reformed or Presbyterian church. If you are going to be a Christian, you have
to be biblical. Reformed theology is the most consistently biblical. That is not to say that I think only
Reformed people will be in heaven. However, there is real danger to your eternal soul if you depart from
biblical teaching. Sadly, many churches mix man's ideas with the Bible and end up with something other
than real Christianity. They lead people away from Christ.
Not all churches with the name "Reformed" or
"Presbyterian" are worthy of your support. Some have denied consistently biblical reformed teaching.
You must learn to be very discriminating about where you worship. It is not enough that a church is made
up of "nice people." A lot of "nice people" go to hell. The content of faith is important.
You must also understand that even if the local
preacher sounds good, a church may belong to a denomination that has departed from Scripture. Your
attenance there, and your support of that church actually promote a non-biblical religion. Be careful about
that!
Here are a few simple rules to consider in
looking for a church to attend (the list is not exhaustive).
1. An entertaining, fun worship service is not a good standard for
choosing a church. You should enjoy worship; but it is serious stuff, done to God's glory, not for fun.
2. Attend a church several times in order to really evaluate it fairly.
Once isn't enough! Get to know the people.
3. Does the denomination really believe the Bible is the
infallible, inerrant Word of God? Ask the minister.
4. Does the church really believe Jesus was born of a virgin,
that He is the Second Person of the Trinity, that His death on the cross is our only way to eternal life, that
He really rose from the dead and is coming again as Judge from heaven, that heaven and hell are real,
that man by nature is totally depraved, that salvation is by grace alone?
5. Do they believe that there are some things God does not know, that
He is not sovereign, or that man's actions can cause God to change His plans? If so, keep looking.
6. Do they teach that the "natural man" from Adam has the ability to
choose and "receive" Christ by his own "free will" and that when he has done this, then God will
give him new birth and faith? That's not biblical.
7. What is their view of the Sacraments? If Baptism is not for infants, or
the Lord's Supper only a "memorial" meal, keep looking.
8. Are the elders interested enough in the lives of their members to
help them try to live obediently through loving discipline when necessary?
9. Does the church take a solid biblical stand against abortion,
homosexuality, premarital sex?
10. Is God's law understood to be our guide to thankfulness to Him?
11. Is the church "independent," not part of a denomination? Keep looking.
12. Do they understand what a "creed" is and why one is necessary? Do
you?
Choosing a church should involve more thought
than choosing a new car. You have to know what Christianity is, and what you really believe. Dust off
your Bible and Catechism and find out. You can't go on "feelings," you must know the truth. Ask questions.
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Which Church Should I Attend?
* Since this question appears in our bulletin, the answer we should like you to give is plain enough. We want you to attend our church, of course. But besides extending our warmest invitation, perhaps this leaflet may prove of help to your in answering this most important question.
* Christianity makes church attendance and membership a serious matter. In our free country the church has come to be taken as a matter of course. Every normal community, we feel, should have such essentials as a drug store, a filling station and a church. Civic-minded individuals will ofen sponsor the originzation of a community church--after the fashion of a stiff shirt-front--to make the community respectable. Today we are being assured on all sides that the church must have its place in our way of life: never, it seems, did the church have more friends. Yet in the truesst sense, never, perhaps, did the church have more enemies. For whoever makes the Christian church or the Christian religion a mere means to an end has destroyed the message of Christianity.
* Christ made that perfectly clear when He said: "If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother...he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26) Whatever else that astounding statement means, it certainly means that the relationship to Christ stands before all other relationships, even the holiest, like those between husband and wife, parent and child. Other relationships, exist for the sake of Christianity and not Christianity for the sake of them. Anyone who adopts Christianity just to round ou his personality, or supports the church for the good of the neighborhood, denis Christ -- whose every disciple must worship Him alone.
* Since church membership is such a serious affair in the eyes of God, we cannot afford to attend a church because it happens to be the nearest, or to have the most beautiful building, the best organ, or even the most fluent preacher. True, denominational differences do not have th importance they once did; but sadly, this is not because the churches have drawn closer to the truth, and therfore to each other. Rather it is because the large denominations have become increasingly indiffernt to the Christian gospel. It is the fashion to belittle church creeds in which the saving truths of God's Word are summarized. Of course, the Episcopalian who smiles at his creed and the Presbyterian who "reinterprets" his have nothing to divde them save a few incidentals of custom.
* But there does remain a vast division among the churches which profess Christ's name. It is the differnce between those churches which acknowledge the absolute authority of God's Word, the Bible, and which therefore take their creeds very seriously, proclaiming the supernatural Christ of the New Testament in all His Divine glory and power; and those churches which substitute human advice for God's authority, and while claiming to follow Christ, deny Him.