If you could change the coC...

[Grace]

I love this discussion of Grace. It is not my name but the username I chose because of my spiritual journey. The CoC does not really believe in Grace. If You visit other churches, you realize the emphasis they and God put on grace and love. The CoC does really only believe in works. It's such a change in mindset for us, to believe that God loves us and his Grace will cover sins.

[musicman]

I love this discussion of Grace. It is not my name but the username I chose because of my spiritual journey. The CoC does not really believe in Grace. If You visit other churches, you realize the emphasis they and God put on grace and love. The CoC does really only believe in works. It's such a change in mindset for us, to believe that God loves us and his Grace will cover sins.

Very true, Grace. All its claims to the contrary, C o C does teach salvation by works. One must be dunked in the C o C pool, but that's only the beginning. Afterwards he/she must "live a Christian life" or "remain faithful until death" in order to earn a "reward in Heaven."

Eternal life, according to C o C, is not the gift of God, but a reward which must be earned.

[musicman]

The one thing I would want to change is the notion that worship consists only of the "5 Acts of Worship."

These "5 Acts" is a manmade list. C o C selected verses which it thinks prove its teachings, then used them as "proof texts" for the "5 Acts of Worship."

Nothing else matters. If all of the "5 Acts" aren't performed, worship is in vain or invalid.

I read an article on some hard line C o C site condemning those who sang during the Lord's Supper. This article said there was no authority for performing 2 of the "5 Acts" at the same time! How legalistic and narrow minded can some people be?

Insistence on performing all the "5 Acts" is what makes C o C worship so dull and lifeless.

[bnot]

I read an article on some hard line C o C site condemning those who sang during the Lord's Supper. This article said there was no authority for performing 2 of the "5 Acts" at the same time! How legalistic and narrow minded can some people be?

Lol!!! ridiculous! Narrow minded is an understatement with the CoC

[lvmaus]

... I read an article on some hard line C o C site condemning those who sang during the Lord's Supper. This article said there was no authority for performing 2 of the "5 Acts" at the same time! How legalistic and narrow minded can some people be?

Not only do these CoC tribes insist on these "5 acts" as being absolutely essential for an acceptable worship, they can't even agree among themselves on how to implement them; one tribe uses individual cups for the communion while another group condemns everyone using more than one cup.

[AtPeace]

I like the word "grace" but in general I don't like to hear it in a religious setting. To me, it pre-supposes a NEED for grace, meaning I'm a wicked horrible person in and of myself, just because I exist.

I prefer to think God reaches for me because God strains to be a part of me, and I strain to be a part of God.

[Porcupine]

The cofC can't change...

[ena]

The CoC does really only believe in works. It's such a change in mindset for us, to believe that God loves us and his Grace will cover sins.

Yes, it does. The CoC is unfortunately promoting that sin can cost you salvation. Perhaps so but no one can say at what point. For this reason you are left in doubt. It leaves you better off to down in the baptistry.

What I really wanted to talk about is works. When I left the CoC I heard from other Pastors, "The CoC is works oriented." I heard that many times but could not see how. The problem is that until you understand grace you cannot easily see the works. It is very much point of view or framework.

[musicman]

The CoC does really only believe in works. It's such a change in mindset for us, to believe that God loves us and his Grace will cover sins.

Yes, it does. The CoC is unfortunately promoting that sin can cost you salvation. Perhaps so but no one can say at what point. For this reason you are left in doubt. It leaves you better off to down in the baptistry.

What I really wanted to talk about is works. When I left the CoC I heard from other Pastors, "The CoC is works oriented." I heard that many times but could not see how. The problem is that until you understand grace you cannot easily see the works. It is very much point of view or framework.

The C o C is very much "works oriented." It may claim otherwise, but that claim is totally false. One must earn a "home in Heaven" by his/her own good works. We were taught that God knows EVERY "thought, word, and deed"...and records the bad along with the good.

[Phil]

The CoC does really only believe in works. It's such a change in mindset for us, to believe that God loves us and his Grace will cover sins.

Yes, it does. The CoC is unfortunately promoting that sin can cost you salvation. Perhaps so but no one can say at what point. For this reason you are left in doubt. It leaves you better off to down in the baptistry.

What I really wanted to talk about is works. When I left the CoC I heard from other Pastors, "The CoC is works oriented." I heard that many times but could not see how. The problem is that until you understand grace you cannot easily see the works. It is very much point of view or framework.

The C o C is very much "works oriented." It may claim otherwise, but that claim is totally false. One must earn a "home in Heaven" by his/her own good works. We were taught that God knows EVERY "thought, word, and deed"...and records the bad along with the good.

There are two methods in which works can be performed. One is by using personal effort (the flesh) to perform good works as instructed by the commands in the Bible. Although virtuous, this method assumes that God is pleased with something the flesh can perform. Yet this "flesh" that performs obedience is the same flesh that sins. So in this scenario the flesh is divided between good and bad and tries to overcome it's badness through good works.

However, we are given insight into the nature of the Spirit that lives in every believer. When living in the Spirit it is impossible to sin because the Spirit is without sin. So it's not what we choose to do, as the flesh would suggest. Instead it is where we choose to dwell, "Spirit or flesh." Romans 8 gives much info on this.

The coC does not believe that the Spirit work directly in the believer and therefore believes that the flesh can please God by it's own works. This is where they are badly misled.