Originally Posted by Pilgrim
Here is where we have a serious disagreement. I do believe that the "outward symbols" are no less inspired than the principles they express. There is a good reason why the Holy Spirit inspired the holy men of God to write what they did and that every jot and tittle is God's truth. To so easily dismiss the "symbols" as being insignificant is a dangerous thing to do. It opens wide the door to all manner of errors which churches and denominations have fallen into and eventually fallen away from the faith once delivered unto the saints. Culture cannot and must not determine how the Church practices its worship of God; only God can and has revealed how He is to be worshiped in spirit and truth. The world has no truth to be found in it for it is under the power of the evil one. The Church consists of those who have been "called apart" from the world. Unfortunately today, the churches' modus operandi is to 'assimilate' the world in order to 'attract' the world into its assemblies so that those who come will 'feel at home'.

What I am wanting to have you see is that this idea of bifurcating the symbol from the principle with the use of a "Cultural Boundness" type hermeneutic can have disastrous effects. wow1

In His grace,

Quote
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. - Ephesians 1:4

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. - Ephesians 5:3

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. - Ephesians 5:25-27

I understand the calling for Christs' Church to be holy. I understand and am convicted by the Word of God that the people of God should take their sanctification seriously. I agree with all of that and I understand the significance and meaning behind head coverings and I agree that there should be an order of authority. But....

Quote
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. - Romans 7:14-25

Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." - Luke 5:29-31

Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. - 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

I attend a church where most of it's congregational members are ignorant of the Word of God. Where it's pastors and leaders are focused on human traditions rather then God's Word. In the PCUSA things are looking pretty bad and I know that the denomination as a whole is pretty lost.

But I've also attended a PCA church where sanctification was taken more seriously and I've also been to a very reformed or a very strict reform church from time to time in the area where I live.

Here is my point....

The PCUSA church is much larger then the two PCA churches I just mentioned. Of the two PCA churches the "strict reformed PCA church" is by far the smallest, it has under 100 people in attendance during it's Sunday worship.

But most of the men their wear suits and have "buzz cuts." All the women wear head coverings. They only sing psalms and only employ the use of a single piano. The sermons are from a true Scottish preacher and are very expository.

I'm serious about this and not making this up. We actually do have these different styles of Presbyterian churches all within 20 minutes of my house.

What I've learned is this.....

We are all sinners.

The good reformed and conservative Christians at the Reformed PCA church are just as sinful as the people at the very liberal and Biblically ignorant PCUSA church. Yes they are taking their sanctification more seriously. Yes they are focused on the Word of God and trying to conform closer into the likeness of Jesus Christ more and more as a whole congregation.

But there is just one problem. They are a very small church who tend to be so serious on their approach to holiness that they are not very open to unrepentant sinners. Unrepentant sinners do not feel comfortable at all in attending worship in that church. They come in during one worship and they might force themselves to stay during that worship or they might just leave before they even hear the Word of God being preached, but if they do stay, they certainly don't come back ever again, because it's too convicting and to "set apart."

That is my concern between "outward righteousness." and inward convictions.

I personally would love to attend that Reformed PCA church. Truly I would. I love good reformed Scottish preaching. I love the fact that the congregational members are taking God's Word and their approach to holiness seriously. But I also understand that if I'm going to preach the gospel to sinners then I have to be a little bit like them on the outside. I have to be sure to "keep the door open" so to speak for the tax collectors... or the drug addicts, the prostitute, the bum, the alcoholic, the abusive husband, the struggling married couple, the ex-Roman Catholic... etc...

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. - Galatians 2:16