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Originally Posted by JohnOwen007  Dear AV, for the record I actually am a fan of weekly communion. However, I'm not sure that you can use Acts 20:7 to prove that believers are bound to weekly communion. What do I mean?
[1] Just because we find believers doing something (in Acts 20:7) it does not mean that we are bound to do the same thing. The descriptive is not necessarily the prescriptive. Paul also shaved his head in Acts ... |
I agree...
That is why we need more then just the example of NT believers. We need to ask "why" did they break bread weekly.
imo, the answer to that is "the heavenly pattern of worship". The NT church did not "envent" partaking of the sacrifice and fellowship meal. That was given by God from heaven. The pattern throughout scripture is consistent. Worship involves a peace meal, partaking in the sacrificial meal.
Whenever we worship then, we must follow the SAME pattern. That is the real RPW, following the pattern that God gave from heaven. If we fail to follow that pattern, have we failed to worship God according to the RPW?
Again...we don't do it because NT believers did it...rather they did it because it was given to them to do, and us too.
eg. It is like household baptism.
The Apostles did not invent household baptism. We do not baptize households just because believers in the book of Acts did. Rather, they were following the commandment of God, they were following the pattern that was given from heaven when God commanded the covenant sign be given to Abram and his whole household. The apostles were simply following that same tradition given from heaven to Abram.
We don't do what the apostles did just because they did it...or like John said "Paul shaved his head"...should we follow that example as well?