614 JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. members of the christian church, which receives none but upon profession of true faith in Christ, and sincere repentance ; none but those who profess to be members of the invisible church, and, in a judgment of charity, are to be so esteemed For persons 9f scandalous or immoral characters, or who walked disorderly, their fellow-members were warned not to keep them company; nor to eat with them ; 1 Cor. v. 11. The church are required to withdraw from them, and they were to be cast out Of the church; 2 Thess. iii. 6. Purge out the old leaven, saith the apostle, that is, put awayfrom among yourselves that wicked per- son, who was amongst them, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened, that is, without the leaven of malice or wicked- ness; 1 Cor. v. 7, 8, 13. And therefore the apostle writing to the Philippians, charitably supposes them all to be in a state of grace ; chapter i. 6. " Being confident of this very thing, that he who bath begun a good work in you, will perform or fulfil it unto the day of Jesus Christ, even as it is meet for me to think this of you all," that is, to think you all, in general, real saints, in a judgment of charity, and without unreasonable sus- picions of the credibility of your profession, or the sincerity of your hearts. It is granted indeed, there might be, here and there, single persons in primitive christian churches, whose ap- parent sinful lives deserved to have them cast out; such were among the Thessalonians, and Philippians too : And, concern. ing such as these, the apostle, here and there, gives dirctions to withdraw from them, and to cast them out of the church, which was to be done by proper degrees. But this does not hinder the bulk or body of the churchfrom being still esteemed, and called saints, and holy brethren. Objection I. But was it not a sufficient qualification to be- come a member of a christian church, if a person professed the name of Christ in general, viz. that he would be of that sect or party in religion, without making what you call a credible pro- fession, that is, without having such a serious spirit, and a life of piety and virtue, as might give any just reason to conclude that person was a member of the invisible church. Answer. This 'I have spoken of, in another place, about christian com- munion, and therefore I shall only speak very briefly here, and say, that John the baptist gave an early hint, that an entrance into the gospel church was not to stand upon the same terms, as that of the Jewish : They were to bringforthfruits meet for re- pentance, as well as profess it : for the axe is laid to the root of the tree; Mat. iii. 7-10. And those will be cut off from their visible standing in the church who bear not goodfruit. So Acts xix. 18. "Those that believed, came and confessed, and chewed their deeds." Besides, it may be justly granted, that the mere present
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=