Three Levels of Authority For the Activities of a Church

1. Divine Commandments
   EXAMPLES: Faith, repentance, baptism, love, sanctification, Lord’s supper, prayer, giving, witness, biblical instruction of believers.

AUTHORITY: They are required (Matt. 28:18-20). They cannot be prohibited.

2. Apostolic Practices (not commanded)
   EXAMPLES: To travel by foot or by boat; to speak in foreign tongues; to baptize immediately; to share all goods in common; etc.

AUTHORITY: They are not to be required. They are not to be prohibited. (Only Christ has the authority to order what we must or must not do in His churches.)

3. Human Traditions
   EXAMPLES: Sunday School; choir; pulpits; seminary; public invitations to “go forward”; “preaching points”; candles; catechism for baptismal candidates; formal ordination; wearing a tie in the pulpit; not wearing a tie in the pulpit; etc.

AUTHORITY: They are not to be required (Matt 15:1-9). They may be prohibited if they impede obedience; their only God-given authority is the voluntary agreement of a certain congregation to do something (Matt. 18:18-20). One congregation should not press its tradition on another.