Morecraft begins a seven part series on

of Biblical Church Government,

aU :of. which will be presented in this issue.
Part .I begins with the question
. ' . I.;
Why Overly Concerned About.
W
hy a special.
of out magazme on church
. . . government, when there
. are so many . other critical issues before
us.? Many people yawn when they hear
the subject of church government So,
why a on it? .
Kevin Reed answers: "The chmth is
not a mere social club. The church is
kingdom established by Clnist and sub-
ject to his rule. In die Bible, he has giv-
en an ecclesiastical government by
which his people are to be ruled. Just as
Christ has instituted civil govem:tllent
to ensure civil order, so he has estab-
lished church to preset'Ve or-
der in the A man is nOt free to
dispense With the govemment
anymore than he is at liJ:)erty to dis-
regard the ciVil (Biblical
Church Government; . 1983, Kevin
Reed. pg._ 3.) .
Over 150 years ago Presbyterian
preacher and scholar, Samuel Miller;
wrote:
". . . . it is plain, from the word of .
God, as well as from uniform experi-
ence; that the govern:rnent of the church
is. a matter of great importance; that the
FORM as well as the ADMINISTRA-
TION of that govenuilent is more vital-
ly connected with the peace, purity and
edification of the church, than many
Christians appear to believe; and, of
consequence, that it is no small part of
fidelity to our Master in heaven to 'hold
fast' the forin . of ECCLESIASTICAL
ORDER, as well as the 'form of sound
words' which he .has delivered .to the
(Samuel Miller, T_lu! RUling
pg. 20, as q\ioted by in
Biblical. Church Goverhment, 5.} .
Th' Counsel of Chalcedon Jan.Feb., 1990 page 2
Samuel Miller continues in his
book. Presbyterianism: The Truly
Primitive . and. Apostolical Constitution
of the Church of Christ, (1835):
.
. ".The church, being a social body,
called out of the world, and constituted
by .the authority of Jesus Christ, indis-
pensably needs a form of government
No society can exist in purity and peace
without order. And no order can be
maintained without authority, laws, and
a set of officers to apply the laws, and
administer the form of order which may
have been adopted. Our Master in hea-
ven has commanded 'his body, the
church,' to preserve within her borders
purity of doctrine and holiness of con-
versation (behavior); and for this pur-
pose to 'warn the unruly;' to admonish
the careless; reclaim the wandering; and
to cut off those who are obstinately cor-
rupt, either in faith or practice .. All this
she was commanded to do, and actu(llly
did peifo!m, all the civil govem-
ments of the world were leagued against
her, and the fires of martyrdom were kin-
dled on every side. ---
"Now; it is obviously impossible for
the church to fulfill these obligations,
without such an ecclesiastical constitu-
tion, such a system of laws, and such a
body of officers, as will enable her to
apply to her members that authority
which her Master has vested in her, 'for
edification and not for destruction.'
Hence, the necessity of organizing' the
church under some distinct and definite
It is not asserted, 'or believed by
us, that any one form of government is
essential to the existence of the church;
but, simply, that if purity and peace be
maintaine<(, must be some form .
adopted; and that that form which is de-
\
I
I
I
I
i

?roper Church Government?
by Joe Morecraft, ill
rived from the word of God is, undoubt-
edly, the best, and binding on all.
"The Presbyterian Church claims to
derive her form of government from the
Holy Scriptures. She is persuaded that
the New Testament most distinctly pre-
sents, as existing in the Apostolic
Church, all the three features which
constitute the peculiarities of her ecclesi-
astical polity, viz. the parity of her min-
isters; the government of the church by
ruling elders; and the attainment of the
unity and cooperation by courts of re-
view and control. She aims to avoid the
unauthorized pretensions of Prelacy on
the one hand, and the lax, inadequate
scheme of Independency on the other;
and to adopt that system of ministerial
equality, and efficient representation in
the government of the church, which at
once guards, as far as possible, against
the encroachments of clerical ambition;
secures the rights of the people, and pro-
vides for the exercise of pure and whole-
some discipline in the most edifying
manner." (pg. 44-45)
One last illustration of the impor-
tance of biblical church government- A
friend of mine is being used of God in a
nation enslaved under a Marxist, totali-
tarian government to plant the ftrst Pres-
byterian church in that nation's history.
This church, once a Methodist church,
explained why it became a Presbyterian
church in a letter to my presbytery, ap-
plying for membership. The pastor
wrote that he and his congregation not
only believe the Westminster Standards
to contain the system of doctrine taught
in the Bible, they also wanted to be a
model for freedom and order to their
Marxist overlords and to the people of
their nation. They believed they could
do that best by re-organtzmg into a
church governed by elders, who repre-
sent the church constitution (the Bible),
and who are freely elected by the people
to do so. Praise God for their insight
and courage. May God richly bless their
efforts and witness, as he protects them
from those who would do them harm.
When the Constitutional Convention
met in Philadelphia in the late 1780's
to hammer out a new constitution, the
model the delegates used to create our re-
public, (i.e., a nation governed by law,
not by the majority as in a democracy),
was the republican-representative gov-
ernment of the Presbyterian Church. In
this age of Marxism, socialism, t o t l i ~
tarianism, big governments, monstrous
federal and state bureaucracies and wel-
fare states, which absorb out wealth,
perpetuate poverty, destroy morale and
integrity, retard productivity, diminish
liberty and pervert justice, the model of
Presbyterianism with its representative
government is needed more than ever.
Civil governments with centralized pow-
er have failed, along with their episco-
pal ecclesiastical counterparts. Democra-
cies, ruled by the whims of the mobs
manipulated by media and elitists, have
failed, along with their congregational
ecclesiastical cou'llterparts. Political and
ecclesiastical representative govern-
ments based on the word of God are the
only social institutions, along with the
family, which can guarantee "liberty
and justice for all." n
The Counsel of Chalcedon Jan.-Feb., 1990 page 3