I'm reading a book entitled "The Coming Revolution" by Dr. Richard Lee and I wanted to share something which greatly impacted American Christianity and continues to impact our churches today. Early in America's history, church membership and the sacraments of baptism and holy communion were limited to those who could give evidence of a salvation experience, as the Bible clearly teaches.
Around 1662, many Congregationalist churches in New England adopted the Halfway Covenant, which allowed the children of church members to receive baptism without making a profession of faith in Christ. Fifty years later the covenant was being applied to those wishing to join the church, whether or not they were confessing believers.
This is the kind of liberalized policies which have slowly eroded the church from the inside out. One reason this happened was that many public offices at the time required evidence of church membership, and this brought people into the churches purely for expedience, not because they were seeking God or a relationship with His Son Jesus Christ.
As you can guess, this increased church attendance, but it water down theology and liberalized the church. They slowly began teaching salvation by works and morality.
Thus thousands of people filtered through churches never understanding the doctrine of salvation.
Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone and this is not from ourselves, it is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-10)
Around 1662, many Congregationalist churches in New England adopted the Halfway Covenant, which allowed the children of church members to receive baptism without making a profession of faith in Christ. Fifty years later the covenant was being applied to those wishing to join the church, whether or not they were confessing believers.
This is the kind of liberalized policies which have slowly eroded the church from the inside out. One reason this happened was that many public offices at the time required evidence of church membership, and this brought people into the churches purely for expedience, not because they were seeking God or a relationship with His Son Jesus Christ.
As you can guess, this increased church attendance, but it water down theology and liberalized the church. They slowly began teaching salvation by works and morality.
Thus thousands of people filtered through churches never understanding the doctrine of salvation.
Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone and this is not from ourselves, it is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-10)
No comments:
Post a Comment