KEY PRINCIPLES FROM THIS MESSAGE:
We are called/commanded to BE a community of brothers/sisters/mothers/fathers in the faith. And like ANY command, this requires OBEDIENCE.
Our first reaction to challenging teaching or correction shouldn’t be defensiveness, but rather openness. This takes humility, as that is the essence of obedience.
The Truth hurts sometimes, especially when there’s an unavoidable action that we must take when convicted by it.
There are two big biblical benefits of obedience: protection and rewards/blessings.
It’s not a question of whether or not “commitment, responsibility, and accountability” exists IN our local assembly (that could easily exist without YOU being a part of it) – it’s whether or not YOU are rightly motivated towards the local assembly.
Church families need to have grit, integrity, and truth to guide them!
Commitment to the local church means that, as a member, you are committing to God’s will for your church. Of principle value to this commitment is your obedience in the church (e.g., to the Word and to God’s delegated authority).
Commitment, in God’s eyes, is very simple. It LITERALLY means to commit (with the sister connotation of SUBMIT in the local assembly).