Theological term
Associationalism
5 sermons · All terms
2LCF Chapter 27 - Of the Communion of the Saints
Chapter 27 of the 1689 London Baptist Confession teaches that the communion of the saints is grounded in the believer's union with Jesus Christ as mediator — a union that is real and transforming but does not divinize the believer or diminish Christ. From that foundation flow concrete obligations: corporate worship, mutual edification, relief of temporal need, and the exercise of gifts and graces for one another's good. Private property is affirmed against any communistic reading of Acts 2 and 4, and the discussion concludes with pastoral cautions against both antinomian indifference and Pharisaic legalism in measuring one another's communion.
2LCF Chapter 26 - Of the Church
Chapter 26 of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith ('Of the Church') teaches that Christ alone is the supreme and sovereign head of the church, from whom all authority for church governance flows. This session surveys five historical and contemporary models of church polity — Erastianism, Episcopalianism, Presbyterianism, Denominationalism, and Congregationalism/Independency — evaluating each against Scripture and the confession. The particular Baptist position is identified as plural elder-led associational congregationalism: each congregation of baptized believers governed by a plurality of elders under Christ alone, walking in voluntary associational communion with other churches for mutual edification, counsel, and support.
2LCF Chapter 26 - Of the Church
What is the church, who belongs to it, and how is it governed? Working through 2LCF Chapter 26, this session surveys the doctrine of the church from its universal and invisible reality in Christ to its visible, local expression — arguing that the church is constituted exclusively of regenerate believers, is headed solely by the Lord Jesus Christ, and is rightly governed by elders and deacons within an independently organized yet associationally connected congregation. The session highlights the sharp departure from the Westminster Confession's inclusion of covenant children in the visible church, grounding the Baptist position in a proper doctrine of covenant theology, baptism, and regenerate church membership.
2LCF Chapter 26 - Of the Church, Part 2
The nature, governance, and life of the local church are expounded through 2LCF Chapter 26, paragraphs 5–15, a section that goes beyond the Westminster Confession of Faith and draws largely from the Congregationalist Savoy Declaration. The eleven paragraphs treat the Trinitarian foundation of the church, the regenerate membership required for entrance, congregational church polity, the two permanent offices of elder and deacon, the financial responsibility of churches toward their pastors, and the associational communion of independent churches. Christians are called to join themselves to particular churches, submit to both the privileges and discipline of those churches, and rest patiently in Christ's providential governance when offenses arise within the assembly.
2LCF Chapter 26 - Of the Church, Part 13
The conduct required of an offended church member, and the proper interpretation of Matthew 7:1–6 in relation to church discipline, stand at the center of this study of 2LCF 26.13. The confession forbids the offended party from absenting themselves from worship or disturbing church order while awaiting the church's further proceeding, and calls them instead to wait upon Christ. Matthew 7:1–6 is not a blanket prohibition against all judgment but a condemnation of the censorious, nitpicking, fault-finding spirit that disregards the law of God and one's own sin. The sermon closes with the exhortation to remove the plank of self-righteous censoriousness before seeking to help a brother with his speck.