Newman said:
If that is the case, how do we make sense of Matthew 18:17? If you and I have a dispute (about salvation, for instance) but belong to different denominations, to what authoritative church do we go to settle our differences?
Newman,
Welcome to the Board. I'm pleased you have joined us. May you enjoy the fellowship and challenges (sometimes) of being here.
Matt 18:17 (ESV) is in the context of Matt 18:16 (ESV) that refers to brothers and sisters who 'sin against you'. Therefore, if a sin is not dealt with, it is to be taken to the local church (Matt 18:17 ESV), not to some denominational leadership.
If two Christians have a dispute or difference about salvation and they attend different denominations, there is no authoritative church to settle the matter but an authoritative Bible in which to seek the answer. We learn this from passages such as:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17 NIV).
It is Scripture that is the God-breathed (or inspired) authority for 'teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness'. That authority is not in the Baptist, Methodist, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Pentecostal, etc denominations, but in Scripture. See:
Is there no ‘Scripture alone’ in early church fathers?
Romans 15:4 (NIV) instructs us, 'For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope'. So it is what is 'taught in the Scriptures' that is our authority.
It is in the Scriptures that we have teaching and correction about godly behaviour and doctrinal issues. Of course, they need to be interpreted but we don't depend on a denomination to do that.
If there are disputes about salvation they may never be resolved as is evident in the Augustinian-Calvinistic vs Arminian debates that have been going on since the early church, but especially promoted by Augustine of Hippo and those who challenged him. This includes the one who was declared a heretic, Pelagius.
Are you coming from a denomination that promotes the position of the Church (denomination) being the authority in a dispute over, say, salvation? i.e.
sola ecclesia.
Oz
