We live in a day in which' the ceedings by his authority.

" (JlUIles
concept and practice of Godly rule Bannerman, The Church of Christ,
is despised and ridiculed. Whether pg. 194ff)
it is the state, school, business, The ruling elder. is Christ's di-
church or family, a radical spirit of vinely appointed office for the gov-
democracy has so pervaded our ernance of his church. According
thinkiD.g that noinsti/:Ution has been to the Westminster "Form of Pres-
left untouched. Sadly, the church byterial Church-Government," the
has been all too' receptive to the office of ruling elder (church gov-
democratization of the body of eruor) is an ordinary office, as op-
Christ. This has led many reformed posed to extraordinary (apostles
churches to compromise or circum- and prophets), " ... which Christ
vent altogether God ordained rule hath appointed for the edification of
within the church. As a result, the his church, and the perfecting of .
door has beim left open for numer- th . ts " R 7 7 8 d I
e sam .. , . omans : - an
by sincere love and concern for
th.e brethren. (Acts 2:44-45)
The extent to which these marks
are present in a church is the ex-
tent to which a church is pure.
Obviously no church is as pure as
it can be. For this reason, the rul-
ing elder, as Christ's delegated ruler,
has his work CuI out for him. With
these marks in mind, the remainder
of this article will address some of
the ways in which the ruling elder
can, by God's grace, impact for
good the purity of Christ's local
church.
A. Adherence to
Apostolic Doctrine
ous errors to infiltrate and spoil the Cor. 12:28 clearly speak of those
purity of the church. Much of the who rule and govern within the
blame for this c'ondition can be body of Christ. We see in other
placed on the failure of ruling . For a church to possess
elders. to faithfully carry out r-...;.--..... - - - ~ ~ - __ - - this mark, her leaders must
their office. The purpose Of The Importance of the Ruling unashamedly embrace the
thj.s article is to examine the Elder in the RPCUS whole counsel of God. ' Any
import;mce Of !he ruIiDg elder I LeriAuton ' I compromise on the part Of her
to the purity and peace of rulers necessarily creates a
Christ's 'cIiurch. gap in the leadership that has
The Biblical Basis for .
Ruling. Elders
Before examining the link be-
tween ruling elders . and the purity
of the chllrch it is necessary to un-
derstand the origins of the office
itself. As the builder (Mat: 16: 18)
and divine head of the church (Col.
1:18), Christ possesses all power
and authority over the church. Be-
ing a perfect prophet and priest,
Christ supplies to his church all she
needs to fulfill her divine purposes.
As our'greatApostle, Teacher,Pas-
tor, Minister, Bishop, and Only law-
giver, Christ has been pleased to
appoint officers in his' church (Bph.
4:11-l6} for her good and"as a
means for accomplishing. her mis-
sion. "The church, as a SOCiety,
owes its Origin to Christ: it derives
from Him its government and of-
fice bearers; it receives from him
its laws and constitution; it draws
from him its spiritUal influence and
grace; It accepts at his hand its or-
dinances and institutions; it acts in
his ,:,ame, and is guided in its pro-
passages the importance of elders
in leading new churches (Acts
14:23), promoting and maintaining
sound doctrine (Titus 1 :9), overSee-
ing the flock (I Peter 5:2), and r ~
tecting Goo's people (Acts 20:28-
31), and ruling (I Tim 5:17).
The Importance of Ruling
Elders in Maintaining the ,
Pur.ity and Peace of the Church
. A proper understanding of the
role of the ruling elders in maintain-
ing and promoting the purity of the
church must begin with a right Uil-
derstanding of the marks of a true
church. The marks of a true church
include:
a. adherence to apostolic
doctrine (Acts 2:4142)
b. true administration of the
sacrlUIlents (Acts 2:4142)
c. proper exercise of church
discipline (1 Cor. 5: 1-7)
d. faithful procllUIlation of the
whole counsel of God (Acts 8:4)
e. Christian fellowship marked
22. THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon June/July, 1999
the potential for spoiling the purity
and disrupting the peace of tbe
church. It may not manifest itself
until many years down the road, but
it will eventually show itself and
oftentimes with deVastating results.
For this reason, the ruling elder's
ministry . to the. flock milS!' be
marked by hUp1ble and faitb1i!1 sulJ..
mission to the word of God . . All
goals, objectives, plans, methods,
and teclmiques that he sets 011t to
implement and achieve as a ruler in
God's house I!lust be weighed care-
fully and critically against God's
word. In other words, just because
it works in the world of business
does not automatically mean it .is ap-
propriate and good for the church.
"The government exercised by men
must always be conducted in ac"
cordance with the institution and
will of Christ It is a complete tniv-
esty of all order and authority in the
church of Christ for the govern-
mental affairs of the church to be
arranged and conducted without
constant reference to that revela-
tion in which alone does Christ
make known to us his will for the
regulation of that which stands in
no less intimate relation to him than
his body, his church, the church for
which he gave himself, that he
might present it as the church glo-
rious, holy and without blemish."
(John Murray, Collected Writings ,
vol. 2, page 340).
In addition to ensuring that his
own walk and governing is consis-
tent with apostolic doctrine, the
ruling elder must zealously guard
the truth by ensuring that only
sound doctrine is taught (2 John
(0). Here are just a few ways in
which the ruling elder can ensure
soundness of doctrine within the
body Of Christ:
l. carefully screen and
examine all teachers before
allowing tIlem to teach in the
church;
2. require that all official church
sponsored activities (evangelistic
outreach, neighborhood bible stud-
ies, retreats, etc.) are doctrinally
sound in their content, techniques
and goals;
3. review and approve all
music before introducing into
worShip or other church activi-
ties;
4. lovingly confront, rebuke
and correct anotIler brother when
he has strayed doctrinally;
5. keep current on parachurch
movements for the purpose of
discerning their tIrrea! to the
flock;
6. maintain constant awareness
of theological errors tIiatmay sneak
into the church like wolves in
sbeep's clothing for the purpose of
refuting and warning the flock;
7. active involvement in the
lives of congregation members so
that doctrinal errors may be identi-
fied and correcte!l early.
B. True Administration of
the Sacraments
The sacraments are vital means
of grace to God's people, and it is
therefore incumbent upon the elders
to ensure that they are faiilifully
administered. This involves more
than just the act itself, as inlportant
as tIlat may be. In the case of bap-
ti sm, the elder must be cognizant
of tIlOse under his care to make sure
tile infauts in tIlOse families are bap-
tized. This also involves pre-bap-
tismal counseling with the parents.
In tbe case of adult baptisms, coun-
seling of that person is required to
ensure he clearly understands the
significance of the sacrament. It
has been the practice within the
RPCUS for the ruling elder to di-
rectIy participate in tile sacrament
of baptism by standing with the
person being baptized as the sacra-
ment is administered by the teach-
ing elder. Because biblical baptism
involves nothing less than admis-
sion to the visible church (I Cor.
12:13), this necessarily constitutes
an act of governance on the part of
the elders.
The role of the ruling elder in
the Lord's Supper is also crucial for
the purity of tile church. This sac-
rament also involves an act of bib-
lical government in three respects:
(1) tbe initial admission to the
Lord's Supper must be strictly con-
trolled by the ruling elders to en-
sure that no one paflakes in an un-
worthy manner (I Cor. 11 :27). In
order for the ruling elder to effec-
tively "fence" the table, he must
know those who are under his care.
This requires tbe ruling elder to be
involved in the lives of the mem-
bers and their children. One of the
most vital duties of tile ruling elder
is the examination of baptized
young people and adults for the
purpose of becoming communing
members of tbe body of Christ.
Careful observance of tbe
communicant's behavior along with
a testing of tIleir knowledge of the
faith and particularly the meaning
and significance of the Lord's Sup-
per are necessary in order to make
the right judgment. (2) In disci-
plinary cases, it may come to the
point til at an offending brother may
need to be barred from the Lord's
Supper uritil such tinle he exhibits
tile fruits of repel}tance. (3) An-
otIler way in which the ruling elder
governs through tile administration
of the Lord's Supper is in his in-
struction and reminding tbose in his
care to make full use of this means
of grace in Uleir lives. This may
come in tIle context of counseling
or in tIle various teaching opportu-
nities that may present themselves.
C. Biblical Church Discipline
Another very inlportant duty of
the ruling elder is to adjudicate cases
of church diSCipline. The Lord has
provided clear instructions on how
to preserve the purity, order and
peace of the church in his word.
As part of his duty to oversee the
flock, the ruling elder must, when
biblically warranted, take active
steps to address anything or any-
one tIlat threatens the purity, peace
and order of tIle church. This is
an act of governance involving tlJe
use of the keys of the kingdom.
This is not a license to lord it over
the flock (I Peter 5:3) but, when
biblically applied, is geared to (I)
. reclaim an offending brother, (2)
deter others from similar sins, (3)
purge out elements that might in-
fect the whole body, (4) vindicate
Christ's honor, and (5) prevent
God's wrath from falling upon the
church for allowing his covenant
and its sacramental seals tei be pro-
faned by obstinate offenders (WCF
30:4).
D. The Faithful Proclamation
of the Gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ
Although tile preaching of God's
word is primarily the responsibility
of the teaching elder, the ruling el-
der has a number of responsibili-
June/July, 1999 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - 23
ties to ensure the whole counsel of
God is proclaimed faithfully.
1. He must ensure that the pul-
pit is supplied with a faithful
preacher who will unashamedly
proclaim the whole counsel of God
2. Under extraordinary
circums.tances, a ruling elder may
need to fill the pulpit when
vacant.
3. .. As the members of the
Church Session, ... , are the Pastor's
counselor's and colleagues, ... ; so
it is their official duty to encour-
age, sustain and defend him, in the
faithful discharge of his duty."
(Samuel Miller, The Ruling Elder,
Chapter IX).
4. He must pray for the preach-
ing of God's word that it might go
forth with power to accomplish its
purposes.
5. He must ensure that the
teaching elder is not encumbered
with matters that are distracting to
proper and necessary sermon
preparation.
6. He must extend the preach-
ing of God's word by making use
of the teaching elder's sermons to
further instruct, encourage, and ad-
monish God's people as'providen-
tiallyenabled.
7. "It is not only their privilege,
but their duty, to admonish him
(teaching elder), tenderly and reo.
spectfully, in private; and, if nec-
essary, from time to time; and, if
. the admonition be without effect,
and they think the edification of the
church adinits aM demands a pub-
lic remedy, they (Jught to represent
the case to the Presbytery, ... , and'
request a redress of the grievance."
(Samuel Miller, The Rulihg Elder,
Chapter IX).
E. Christian Fellowship
Much of what passes for Chris-
tian fellowship today is nothing
more than "sanctified" entertain-
ment. True Christian fellowship
cannot be measured by the amount
of money budgeted for the sports
. program. "True fellowship with
one another presupposes fellowship
with God" (Jerry Bridges, The Cri-
sis of Caring, page 80). If we have
fellowship with Christ we must and
will have fellowship with his body
the church. This fellowship is not
an end unto itself. 1.1. Packer
stated it best, "Fellowship with
God; then, is the source from which
fellowship among Christians
springs; and fel10wship with God
i.s the end to which ChJistianJel-
lowship is a means (God's Words,
page 200). With this in mind, we
can better understand and appreci-
ate the need for ruling elders to ex-
hibit true Christian fellowship and
to lead by example. There are many
ways in which a ruling elqer may
nurture and foster ChriSUljIl fellow-
ship within the body . .
I. He should practice and
encourage hospitality among the
members (I Peter 4:9).
2. He should institute and
support mid-week prayer services
(Eph. 6:18):
3. He must not make Iighi of
the opportunities to fe1l 6wship with
the brethren and take an active part
in those occasions (Mal. 3:16).
4. He must utilize times of fel-
lowship (e.g: monthly home shep-
. herd groups, caravan to a Christian
conference, father-son camp-outs)
to minister to the saints under a
calmer and more relaxed setting
~ H e b 10:24-25).
5 . . He must make himself
approachable by actively seeking
out others for times of fellowship.
6. He should discern the gifts
of members and promote greater
participation in the life of the churCh
by encouraging them to use their
gifts in service to the body.
7. He must pray earnestly and
regularly for true Christian fellow-
ship to be a reality in the church.
24 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - June/July, 1999
Conclusion
. As we have seen froni this short
survey, the degree of purity and
'peace a church can expect to see is
in large measure determined by ibe
faithfulness of her ruling eI<lers.
John Owen certainly apprehended
the importance of . the ruling elder
when he wrote,
"It is evident thatneither the
purity nor the order, nor the
beauty or glory of the Churches
of Christ, nor the representation
of his own majesty and authority
in the government of !bem, can
long be preserved without a
multiplication of elders in them,
according to the proportion of
their respective members, for
their rule and guidance. Andfor
want hereof have Churches Of
old, and of late, either degener-
,ated into anarchy and confusion,
to rule them at their pleasure,
which proved the bane and poison
of all the primitive Churches; and
they will and must do so in !be. '
neglect of this order for the
future." (lohn Owen, Tr:ue
Nature of the G.ospel Church;
p.178)
The above observatious only be-
gin to scratCh the surface of all the
duties and responsibilities that are
placed on the ruling elder. For that
reason, we should regularly pray
for our elders that the Lord would
sustain and strengthen them so that
the bride of Christ might be adorned
with beauty and radiant light. The
RPCUS believes thatthe future of
the Church of 1 esus Chris f is di-
recdy related to the faithfuiness
with which ruling eiders carry Qut
their Christ-appointed office. It is
our prayer that the Lord will raise
up a generation of committed, God-
fearing ruling elders who will zeal-
ously watch over his Church and
labor to see her doctrinally pure,
well discipli,ned, and useful in the
kingdom of Jesus Christ. .