Dear Brother John,
Thank you for your response. I too am 110% opposed to 'open communion',
have never practiced it, nor ever plan to. The question in my mind is the
question of closed vs. close. On one hand I hold very tightly to
congregational accountability and discipline which leans me towards
'closed'. On the other hand, I know 100's of baptized, saved, & full
of the Spirit Christians who are living disciplined lives that visit us
on occasion wherever we are. I would feel somewhat like a Diotrophes by
excluding these, my brethren, simply because their 'letter' (whatever,
scripturally, that might be) is at another congregation. Just my thoughts
on the matter, I wish to do what would honor Christ above all.
Thanks again & God bless.
Chris Redmon
At 04:24 PM 1/8/2003 -0500, you wrote:
Dear
Brother Chris,
In a message dated 1/8/2003 2:19:38 PM Eastern Standard Time,
l24@ornl.gov writes:
If you can, please give me your
views on closed communion as it might relate to the spirit of Diotrophes,
as he refused to receive the saints. Could there be a parallel of 'high
mindedness' that evolves in closed communion belief? I, in most part,
believe as you do concerning this, but I will admit there continue to be
nagging questions about it that bother me.
I am totally opposed to the spirit of Diotrophes and strongly in favor of
the practice of warm Christian hospitality. At the same time, I
believe in restricted communion and oppose the practice of open
communion. Is there a contradiction between these two
positions?
I do not think Diotrophes' problems with egotism and inhospitality toward
the apostles had anything to do with the Lord's Supper, but his problems
related to other practical matters, such as his unwillingness to
acknowledge apostolic authority and his determination to be the final
authority himself. It is not an act of inhospitality to turn away
unimmersed disciples from the Lord's Table, because the Lord has shown us
in His word that only immersed disciples are invited to partake of the
elements. The proper order of conversion first, baptism second,
then the Lord's Supper is taught in Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 2:41-42,
and it does not appear that unimmersed disciples ever partook of the
Lord's Supper during the New Testament era. In fact, there were no
unimmersed disciples. Further restrictions are imposed upon the
Lord's Supper in Paul's writings, which indicate that even immersed
professing disciples who are living in sin are not proper participants in
the Lord's Supper, and this
When I embraced the practice of restricted communion many years ago, I
did feel at first that I was being too narrow and unloving toward
unimmersed disciples of Christ, but I came to see that we cannot be more
loving than the parameters of Scripture allow us to be. In other
words, love demands that we obey the teachings of God's word as our top
priority; otherwise, we put the second great commandment ahead of the
first great commandment, or our fellow man ahead of God.
Restricted communion does not have to be practiced with an ugly,
self-righteous, holier-than-thou spirit, but it can be practiced in a
very humble manner. When I first learned by experience as a boy
that the Roman Catholic Church practices restricted communion, it did not
cause me to disrespect this institution for this reason, but it gave me
the impression that the RCC had a high standard in and strong conviction
about this matter. I knew that I could participate in their
communion without any problem simply by becoming a member of their
organization.
I suppose it all comes down to one question that has to be resolved in
each of our hearts; namely, does the Bible itself teach restricted
communion or unrestricted communion? I am convinced it teaches the
former, though it would be much easier to practice open communion.
It would also be much easier to preach Arminian doctrine and follow other
forms of liberalism.
You might want to re-examine all of the strengths and weaknesses of
restricted communion and unrestricted communion, then go with what fits
best with the preponderance of Scripture.
Your friend in Christ,
John Kohler
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The HISTORIC BAPTIST SYMPOSIUM is a ministry of Morris Fork Baptist Church, Route 1 Box 117, Meadow Bridge, WV 25976.
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