How are ministers to be ordained in Christ's church? |
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Many of our
evangelical friends maintain that choosing and ordination
are the same thing. They believe that the word
"ordain" used in scripture simply means
"appoint" and nothing more. So in John 15:16,
when Jesus said, "I have chosen you and ordained
you," what He supposedly meant was that He had chosen
His disciples and appointed His disciples. However, when Jesus referred to choosing and ordaining, He used the word "and" as if these were two separate functions. If one strictly limits the word "ordain" to mean "appoint," the above words of Christ appear redundant. Why would He say "I have chosen you and appointed you"? There are obviously cases in scripture where ordain means appoint, but in this passage it doesn't make sense. The word "ordain" can also refer to "conferring ministerial authority." Thus, Jesus was actually saying, "I have chosen you and conferred ministerial authority upon you." How was this done? There was no eyewitness description detailing how Jesus conferred authority, but there are scriptural references that illustrate a New Testament tradition of laying on hands to confer ministerial authority:
Much more could be said about this subject, but we would like for you to remember that laying on hands to confer ministerial authority did not end at the cross. It is still the pattern that we should follow today. That is why the epistle to Timothy commands us to exercise caution in ordaining men to ministry:
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