In my previous blog post I dealt with the application of the regulative principle to the government of the church. Here we take up a second important application.
II. For the Tasks of the Church
I remind you again that fundamental to the regulative principle of the church was its peculiar identity as the house or temple of God. The church is subject to the special regulation of the Word of God precisely because of its unique identity in human society. Neither the family, nor even the state is subject to anything akin to the regulative principle. The unique identity of the church directly leads us to the unique identity of its functions or tasks in the world.
Now it is not my purpose to expound in detail here the subject of the tasks of the church. Neither is it my purpose to deal in any kind of thorough way with the sphere sovereignty of the church, the family, and the state as the three major institutions which by divine ordination compose and regulate human society. I do think it is obvious to anyone with an appreciation of the development of the doctrine of sphere sovereignty in the Reformed tradition that God has given distinct tasks to the family, the state, and the church. This is both the general teaching of the Bible and the plain implication of the regulative principle itself. This suggests to me three plain and closely related duties of the church.
First, it requires that the church carefully fulfill its distinct tasks. The church must clearly define and understand the peculiar functions God has given it. The church must put forth its resources and strength in the completion of those tasks. I understand those tasks to the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the maintenance of the public worship of God in its worship. Related to this are benevolent responsibilities especially to God’s people.
Second, the church must carefully avoid usurping or having thrust upon it functions that are properly those of the state or the family. The danger is precisely the same as that pointed out in one of the arguments for the regulative principle. The introduction of extra-biblical practices into worship inevitably tends to nullify and undermine God’s appointed worship. In the same way the introduction of extra-biblical functions into the church inevitably tends to nullify and undermine God’s appointed tasks. If the temple of God feels a need to function as a political party or as a general educational institution, there will be an inevitable tendency to forget its unique and exalted identity as the temple of God.
Third, the church must carefully refrain from abdicating its own peculiar tasks and permitting other spheres of society to fulfill its own unique functions. This is the great reason that para-church organizations are proliferating. But no other institution can fulfill and certainly can fulfill so well the tasks of the church as the church itself. We are told constantly today that the church cannot do the things that God has ordained that it should do. I do not believe it. In fact, I believe that only the church can adequately perform its divinely ordained tasks. Only the church can maintain the public worship of God. Only the church can fulfill the Great Commission. Only the church can disciple, baptize, and teach the disciples to observe all Christ’s commandments. Only the church can properly train its own leadership. What kind of sense does it make to allow universities or colleges not under the oversight of local church to train the future leadership of the church? Clearly, if anything falls within the sphere of the church it is the training of its own future preachers and teachers.
My brethren, it is crucial that you appreciate the implications of the regulative principle for the tasks of the church. It is only when you begin to appreciate it that, I am convinced, you will begin have a vision for what the church of Christ should be. It is only then that you will begin to grasp practically why Paul said, “To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:21).
Dr. Sam Waldron is the Academic Dean of CBTS and professor of Systematic Theology. He is also one of the pastors of Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Owensboro, KY. Dr. Waldron received a B.A. from Cornerstone University, an M.Div. from Trinity Ministerial Academy, a Th.M. from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. From 1977 to 2001 he was a pastor of the Reformed Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, MI. Dr. Waldron is the author of numerous books including A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, The End Times Made Simple, Baptist Roots in America, To Be Continued?, and MacArthur’s Millennial Manifesto: A Friendly Response.
