92 CHURCHES, Relations between, S.A. Paine The visible, local organic church is composed of men and women coming together in covenant to keep house for God upon the doctrine of unconditional election, limited predestination, special atonement, and the final resurrection of the just and unjust; in other words, to make it plain, those who hold to the doctrine of salvation by grace.
Each of these bodies are little republics, having the Bible as their man of counsel, and are independent in government from all outside jurisdiction. The seven churches of Asia were seven separate, distinct, independent churches, accountable only to Christ for their conduct. We do not find one word recorded by John for one church to decide the affairs of any of the other churches; but the admonition was from God to the churches, to each church. See Hassell’s History, also the book of Revelations.
Churches of the second century were democratic in their government; they were Baptist churches, because composed of baptized believers, and because each church was independent of other churches in government.—Hassell, page 374.
During the first three centuries, Christian congregations all over the East continued separate, independent bodies, unsupported by governments and consequently without any secular power over each other.— Hassell, page 379.
In A.D. 315, the church was known as Donatists, having one by the name of Donatus as their leader. These people have
the following statement: These churches were independent of each other in government.—Hassell, page 390.
Menno Simons was a great leader of the Baptists in the 14th century. This man taught his churches that churches were independent of each other in church government, and united only by a bond of love.—Hassell, page 505.
In the year 1620, at Plymouth, Massachusetts, the Pilgrim brethren advocated the self government of each local church.—Hassell, page 518.
Each gospel church is a separate, independent republic, having Christ as its only head and lawgiver, and not subject in ecclesiastical matters to any outside jurisdiction. Such, according to the ablest scholars and historians, was not only every apostolic church in the first century, but also of the second century.—Hassell, page 292.
It cannot be repeated too often that each gospel church is, according to Christ and the apostles, the highest ecclesiastical authority on earth.—Hassell, page 293.
A visible church in Scripture is always a local body, and every local church acting by majority of its members, is invested by Christ with the exclusive and final power of receiving, disciplining, excluding and restoring its members, electing officers, and transacting all other necessary business.— Hassell, page 291.
The New Testament contains not a single example or intimation of the subordination of a church to any ecclesiastical authority outside of itself, whether popes,
bishops, synods, presbyteries, general associations, councils, or conventions.— Hassell, page 293.
I could now follow up with quotations from such writers as Jones, Armitage, Orchard, Benedict, the Trial of Mt. Carmel Church, then such men as Gregg Thompson, J.R. Daily, S.F. Cayce, A.V. Adkins, J.G. Webb. J.W. Herriage, Dr. J.A. Paine, C.H. Cayce; then later, other men such as W.H. Richards, S.N. Redford, S.L. Rives, E.P. McNeill, and many others who stood firm for the above quotations in the defense of church rights and independence.
The little church in Dallas is constituted upon the above facts, and we feel we have the backing of the great majority of Baptists over the United States. This little church holds to four things, and will not be moved from them: 1. Salvation by grace; 2. Baptism by immersion; 3. Communion of like faith; 4. Church independence.
We have church fellowship for all who hold to our acknowledged articles of faith, and we reserve the right to make any rule we as a church deem good for ourselves, and we grant every church the like privilege.
We do not have bars of fellowship to place against any church that does not meet our approval on some of the following things.Time of meeting or length of your meetings —let it be once a day or once a year; the kind of song book you use—let it be your choice; if you want the Lloyd book that is your business, and not ours; if you do not care for a song book, that is your business; support of the ministry—you may pay your preacher or you may not, that is your business; and you may pay him in the way you wish; you may take collections or leave them alone, or in the way you desire; you may have associations or not; your members may carry insurance or they may not, that is for you to work out, and not for us to decide for you; you may demand your members to wash feet, or you may not—that is for you to decide; then, if you have a divorce case, that is for you to solve to the satisfaction of your own church; then, comes the matter of secret orders, and surely this is a matter for each church to solve—you are the only ones to solve it. When a church passes on the qualifications of a person, as to whether he is worthy for membership, that act is final, and no church or churches, according to the witnesses I have given, have any right to call her in question and declare against her. Yours in love. (S.A. Paine, Messenger of Peace June, 1941)