Ordinances Christian Churches Commonly Observe
Galatians 4:2 ESV “Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.” "If, as the false teachers in Galatia claimed, circumcision as a thing essential to salvation, as indispensable to justification and acceptance with God, then the matter assumed a different aspect; and then it became in fact a renouncing of Christ as himself sufficient to save us. So with anything else. Rites and ceremonies in religion may be in themselves well enough, if they are held to be matters not essential ; but the moment they are regarded as vital and essential, that moment they begin to infringe on the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and that moment they are to be rejected; and it is because of the danger that this will be the case, that they are to be used sparingly in the Christian church." Barnes Notes Barnes’ quote is making a theological distinction , not rejecting all church practices. He’s warning that rites and ceremonies become da...