What is the sole rule of government and discipline in the Church of God (COG)?

• A. The Constitution
• B. The Holy Bible
• C. The Old Testament
• D. New Testament

Answer: (D)

The guiding standard for how the church is governed and how discipline is exercised is found in the New Testament. It records Jesus’ authority and the apostles’ instructions for church order—who leads (elders and deacons), how leaders are appointed, how worship is to be done, and how discipline within the church is to be handled. Those apostolic practices became the model for how churches are to organize themselves and address sin or conflict, making the New Testament the source of the church’s governmental and disciplinary norms in this tradition.

The Old Testament, while sacred, belongs to Israel under the Mosaic covenant and does not establish the normative governance for the church in the gospel age. A church constitution is a human document that helps run the organization, but it does not supersede the divine standard laid out in Scripture. The Bible as a whole contains both testaments, but the specific rules for church government and discipline are found in the New Testament.