Is
there a place for Law, properly understood, in the Christian life? Indeed there
is. Christ came to fulfil the Law of God. He reveals to us the Royal Law (James
2.8), as we are called to live by the Law of the Spirit of God (Romans
8.1).
In seeking
to interpret and administer God’s laws, the reading and understanding of the Holy
Scriptures is paramount. A rule of ‘non-contradiction’ is good to follow. In the
first place, given that the Holy Scriptures are a gift for our upbuilding and
equipping given to us by God, it should follow that any interpretation or
explanation of any part of the Bible, applied to our lives, should neither
contravene nor contradict a proper understanding of any other part of the Bible.
Neither is it for the expositor to try and explain that the text does not
really mean what it says! Explanation of a text, set within a narrative that
recognises the variety of cultures and contexts which the books of the Bible address,
should explore how any given text be related to our lives. Regard should be had
to distinctions between what is prescribed for Israel and what is expected of
those who follow Christ, who has fulfilled for us the requirements of the Law
given to Israel. Likewise, there needs to be a recognition of the distinction
between what we yet are, as both saints and sinners, and what we are to become,
when fully sanctified and transformed into the likeness of Christ.
The
Declaration of Principle invites us to hold together, as church, two other conversation
partners, as we seek to interpret and administer God’s Laws as revealed in the
Holy Scriptures. The first is that of Jesus Christ’s personal authority: the
primacy of the pattern of His life, lived out in our humanity. We, as His
disciples, are to seek to walk in the discipline which He followed, in
obedience to Father and in compassion towards mankind. The second is to be found
in the deliberations of church today, as each congregation of Christians seek
to work out what it means to live in the liberty that Jesus Christ has called
us into. Local churches can both learn from and inspire one another. In all of
this, there is the need for a conscious dependency upon the persuasive presence
of the Holy Spirit, as His guidance and direction is looked to and regarded by
the church together.
The
local church carries a responsibility in seeking to hear and recognise God’s
commands; but it does not stand alone. Our Union of churches is constituted on
the basis of interdependence, not of independence. Local churches, in seeking
to discern and apply God’s Laws, will look for common cause among others
sharing a commitment to the convictions and practices laid out in our Declaration
of Principle. The Declaration does not suppose that the local church acts in
isolation. Rather, the intent is that the local church be supported, in their
commitment to adequately and properly interpreting Christ’s laws, by other
ministries and congregations throughout our Union.
This
intent is expressed in the way that the first of the three parts of our
Declaration of Principle prepares the way for those convictions, regarding the
interpretation and administration of Christ’s Law, that are laid out in the second
and third parts. These are matters of common interpretation that all member
churches share and are committed to pursuing. In like manner, there will be
other aspects of interpretation of God’s laws that the churches of our Union
will want to visit, rehearse and reflect upon, so that we can aid and assist
one another in better pursuing Christ’s mission and ministry.
The focus
of our Union remains, however, the delivery and administration of mission and
ministry through each local church. The apparatus of our Union, together with
the administration of those resources that we share and pool together, operates
with this in mind. Our interdependence
always leads us to seek to discern what God is doing in and through the local
church. We look to see effective convictions and good practice expressed and
worked out in the local setting, seeking to commend and make these known throughout
our Union as a whole. We do not look to formulate strategies and policies
abstracted from the local church. Rather, we look to assist and encourage
awareness of the good things that God is doing in and through His people, that churches
throughout our Union, sharing in a variegated yet common culture, find example and
encouragement from initiatives in mission and ministry that are taking place
among us.
Questions
for reflection:
·
What convictions and practices that Jesus
pursued most impress you?
·
What practices are most important for you,
as rules to follow in your own life?
·
What
practices, seen in other churches holding to the same principles, have inspired
you?
