View Single Post
  #5  
Old 06-05-2009, 11:36 AM
BornAgainBibleBeliever514's Avatar
BornAgainBibleBeliever514 BornAgainBibleBeliever514 is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Montreal
Posts: 100
Default

Continued confession out of a contrite spirit is essential to having a continually closer fellowship with God.
This does NOT mean that confession, let alone continual, is in ANY way necessary for salvation.

Once I am reborn as a child of God, nothing can change that. But when I still sin against Him, it breaks, or rather strains our fellowship. Chastisement, confession, repentance and closer fellowship go hand-in hand AFTER salvation.

After the new birth, its impossible for the believer to have sin imputed unto him, but it definitely dwells in his body, and affects the relationship with God.
He will never leave me nor forsake me, but it is possible to grieve the Holy Spirit with sin.
I experience this often, and only once I confess to Him and get straight again, do I come back into His will.

As for the Lord's supper, the church I go to (IFBBB) doesn't practice it much at all. I think in the 1.5 years I've been there, they did it once.
As my parents began to attend my church, they came from one of those apostasy incorporated assemblies, and happened to be in charge of preparing the crackers, juice and trays over there. First Sunday of every month, like clockwork. When they came to my church, they felt like they were missing out since we don't have it often.
Now, in NO WAY are we hyper, denying the ordinance (not a sacrament), but rather it was explained thusly by our pastor:
Since much our congregation are converted Catholics, the pastor decided to have the Lord's supper less often in order to guard them from slipping back into religiosity and to avoid any newcomers of perceiving that this was necessary for salvation in any way.

My previous, MV church did have the communion table monthly, I did enjoy solemnly contemplating my Saviour's sacrifice, understanding full well that eating that cracker and juice didn't add to my salvation. However, when such a thing is practised regularly it does lend itself to being taken lightly by some in the assembly, and that's not healthy.

Doctrinally, I believe its for today as an ordinance, but not one that must necessarily be kept regularly in the congregation. I am still learning about it, and am interested to see what else this thread brings out.