2 Corinthians 9:13-14 Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection to the gospel of Christ… The apostle expresses his thought in military language. He speaks of the confession of Christ which the Corinthian Christians had made as a surrender, in which they grounded the arms of their opposition and enlisted under His banner. He speaks of their subjection as a subordination to military authority. This is Paul's idea of Church membership. I. THE GOSPEL IS A GREAT BODY OF TRUTH RECEIVED FROM HEAVEN BY IMMEDIATE REVELATION, AND FOR THIS REASON OF A HIGHER ORDER AND MORE BINDING AUTHORITY THAN ANY TRUTH WHICH COMES TO US IN A NATURAL WAY. To this system of revealed truth we are to subject our understandings. We are to receive it as the Word of God. II. THE GOSPEL IS THE REVELATION OF A METHOD OF SALVATION — A NEW METHOD, one of which man never could have conceived — an exclusive method, so that a man must discard all others if he accepts this. Church membership implies, in this second sense, subjection of the heart to the method of redemption revealed in the gospel — the renunciation of all self-righteousness. III. THE GOSPEL PRESCRIBES A RULE OF PRACTICAL LIVING. So, then, he is to subject his life to the guidance and control of the Holy Spirit. IV. THE GOSPEL IS GOD'S GREAT AGENCY FOR THE REGENERATION, THE PURIFICATION, THE ENLIGHTENMENT OF THE WORLD. Church membership involves the subjection of one's resources to the service of Christ. A man's time, his influence, his money, all are to be laid upon the altar to be used as the Lord has need. This is the kind of Church membership we need to-day. (T. D. Witherspoon, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men; |
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