The Glory of a True Church

“The purpose, function, discipline, and problems of the local church have not changed since Benjamin Keach wrote this excellent work in the late 17th century. That is why I love this book so much and think it is a very valuable resource for Christians today. Keach believed that the church is beautiful, and that church membership should be taken seriously. I agree! My prayer is that all true Christians will come to see the glory of a true church.”

– Dr. Jeffrey D. Johnson

“This treatise is the faithful work of a pastor who understood the supreme importance of reforming the life of the church God gave him, according to the Scriptures, to its last consequences. However, this is not simply a treatise containing a list of things a church must do, but a biblical and practical statement of what a church must be from a New Covenant perspective. In fact, this is the distinctive feature of Baptist ecclesiology, unlike even the Congregationalists.

The church is not an institution composed of believers and unbelievers who are members of the same family (the paedobaptist view), or a multitude of listeners following leaders, who are in reality the church, but a community of believers who recognize each other as believers and agree to live together, giving themselves to God and to each other, upon whom rests the authority to receive and expel other members, as well as to choose their officers. For this reason, discipline and order are of vital importance in the life of the church.”

– Excerpt taken from the introductory words for the Judicious and Impartial Reader.