Leeman: "...Christ still calls Christians to submit..."

"Does our call to submission prevent us from ever disagreeing with our leaders? If it’s permissible to disagree, when and how should we?

The first thing to keep in mind is that no earthly church is perfect, just like no government is perfect. Despite that, Christ still calls Christians to submit to their churches and citizens to their governments (Rom. 13:1). It seems that God has his purposes in calling humans to submit to other imperfect humans.

Primarily, of course, a Christian should submit to the local church because of his ultimate submission to the Scriptures. Neither the church nor any of its representatives has ultimate authority; Christ and his Word alone do. Just as Peter and John told the Jewish authorities that they must listen to God rather than men (Acts 4:19), so a Christian’s conscience is ultimately bound to God and no other with regard to life in the church. “True elders,” says Alexander Strauch, 'do not command the consciences of their brethren, but appeal to their brethren to faithfully follow God’s Word.' "

Jonathan Leeman, The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love: Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline, 9Marks (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 350–351.

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John Stott on the "old man" and the "body ruled by sin" in Rom 6 v 6

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Boice: “... the federal way of dealing with us was actually the fairest and kindest of all the ways God could have operated. ”

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Repackaging the gospel? It's more like obscuring the gospel!

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