My sincere hope and prayer is that God will use the following to stir up our hearts, provoke meaningful thought, cause self-examination, and most importantly, to promote love, unity, and peace among the brethren.

 

 

 

The Church Needs to Be United Against the Enemy

(Encouraging Love, Unity, and Peace)

 

We live in a day and age when all around us we can see signs of our once beautiful nation, founded on godly principles, quickly eroding and falling apart. The further we migrate away from God, the further we depart from logic and reason, the more our consciences are seared, and the more we embrace sin in all of its destructiveness. Our culture is literally infatuated with evil. This is evidenced by the shocking and unashamed debauchery of Hollywood and our entertainment industry, our escalating crime rates, the prevalence of injustice in our court systems, the ruthless and dishonest practices of our corporate world, the irrational and suicidal policies promoted by our federal government, our educational system that indoctrinates rather than teaches, and our liberally biased media that thrives on deception and censorship. Add to that the growing insanity and chaos dominating our culture and corruption pervading almost every sector of our society, and just one word can describe the current state of our nation – DARKNESS!

 

And while all this is going on, what is the Church doing in response to all this evil? Are we laboring together to promulgate the gospel, to defend truth and justice, to shine as lights in the darkness by modeling godly behavior, and to do our utmost to stamp out evil?  Sadly, on the whole, the answer is “No.” First, far from opposing sin and evil, the majority of professing believers have joined the world in adopting its godless philosophies and practices. They are essentially no different than unbelievers, characterized by moral and spiritual compromise, and yielding to the worldly mindset of our age. Second, of the few remaining churches that have not capitulated, they are struggling to barely keep their heads above water, because the devil is striving hard to weaken and destroy them through one of the oldest and most common enemy tactics known - promoting DIVISION. The Church’s main mission is to glorify and enjoy God by being conformed to the image of His Son so that it may serve God in fulfilling the Great Commission and be the means by which God receives honor and blesses His people. To accomplish this, the members of the Church must act as one body under Christ, working together by His power to carry out His will. Of course, to effectively achieve this goal requires unity. And Satan, our arch enemy who would like nothing more than to devour the Church, is quite aware of this. Thus, he works very hard to divide God’s people through whatever method he can, because he knows that a divided Church is an ineffective Church. Knowing his strategy, what can we do to combat this threat and overcome his evil plan, by God’s grace?  In other words, how can we prevent the enemy from dividing the Church so that we may have a strong and united front in fighting this spiritual battle?

 

One way to counter the enemy is to stop dividing and separating over non-essential matters. For example, some denominations label other denominations "legalistic" or “liberal” simply because they hold different views on issues not related to salvation or “essential” doctrines. In saying this, I am not at all implying that doctrines and practices other than these are not important. In fact, I have some strong convictions in some of these “secondary” areas. However, I am not willing to divide or separate over these matters. I love my brothers and sisters too much, and I want to see them united, which is especially critical in the times we are living (i.e., a degenerate age).

 

So, how can we avoid unnecessary division? After much prayer and discussion, I think it would be helpful to first prioritize things by agreeing on what doctrines and/or practices are essential and non-negotiable, based on God’s Word. This is one reason I think it is critical to adopt detailed (not broad or vaguely defined) doctrinal statements of faith or confessions, despite the fact that some call these “legalistic.” Let me say emphatically, “They are not legalistic.” I think it is very important to clearly and specifically identify what a church believes to avoid heresy and false teaching. Continuing, this would require defining what the “primary” issues or fundamental truths are which should never be compromised, such as the “Five Solas,” Christ’s deity, incarnation, virgin birth, and sinlessness; the gospel, including the fall, man’s sin nature, the temporal and eternal consequences of sin, Christ’s sacrificial atonement on the cross for our sins, regeneration, justification by grace (not works) through faith in Christ alone, repentance, Christ’s resurrection, and the second coming; God’s divine attributes; the Trinity; the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture; the need for sanctification (spiritual growth) and spiritual fruit in believers, etc. Personally, I think these are “hills to die on.”

 

Additionally, I think it would promote unity (i.e., not ecumenical unity which compromises the truth) and peace among (true) brethren if we could try to avoid judging one another regarding “secondary” issues (i.e., things not related to salvation, etc.). Personally, I think it is quite unbecoming, unloving, and inappropriate for believers (especially, leaders) to mock or deride other believers who do not share the same convictions in non-essential matters and call them legalistic, liberal, heretical, ignorant, spiritually immature, or some other derogatory term. Examples include differences relating to the Lord’s Supper (e.g., closed or not closed, frequency, etc.); baptism (credo or paedo); ecclesiology (Presbyterian, Congregational, Baptist, etc.); eschatology (pre-, post-, or a- millennial; pre-, mid-, or post- trib, etc.); liturgy ((psalms, hymns, and/or praise songs (based on solid doctrine); using confessions or not)); preferred Bible versions (not referring to heretical ones); views regarding the Sabbath, images of Jesus, etc.

 

I have found that many times the people who label other churches or believers legalistic or liberal for their convictions have not seriously researched these matters themselves (e.g., carefully studied Scripture and early church beliefs and practices, etc.) to verify if perhaps there might be some truth there and justification for their beliefs. (That’s one reason I decided in the past to study early church history. I wanted to know the truth and to find out how the modern church differs from the original early church. I was amazed at what I discovered! There are many things (not related to salvation), which are not taught today that were in times past. And I’m not saying everything that was practiced in the early church was correct. There was false teaching then, too, and one has to be very discerning and compare everything to Scripture. But a lot of things have been “forgotten” and “neglected” and thus, are no longer practiced – again, things relating to sanctification, not salvation. Thus, many believers (myself included before I began delving deeper into the Scriptures, theology, and church history) just make assumptions on what they were taught in their church or growing up, instead of checking it out for themselves like the Bereans did. I think if they were to really research these matters and dig deep, they might just be amazed at what they discover and change their views on certain issues. For instance, I went to one Arminian Baptist church, where they ridiculed Presbyterians and called them liberal and heretical, because they were paedobaptists and Calvinists. Not being consistent, they also called Presbyterians legalistic, because they use a liturgy with the Lord’s Prayer, confessions, Scripture readings, etc. (which I agree with and just like the ancient church did, according to church history). On the flip side, I also attended some Presbyterian churches, where Baptists were belittled and criticized as being ignorant, legalistic, and unloving because of their position on baptism, their convictions about Biblical moral standards and family values, their impassioned “fiery” preaching against sin, and their warning the lost about eternal judgment (balancing it with God’s mercy and a call to repentance), in imitation of the Puritans and preachers in the Great Awakening, John the Baptist, the apostle John, and the Lord Jesus Himself. Still, other churches (both Baptist and Presbyterian) called other churches that didn't use the KJV Bible liberal, while other churches labeled those who prefer the KJV legalistic. So sad! I guess I would be criticized by both churches, since I prefer to use several Bible versions (e.g., LXX, Syriac, NKJV, KJV, etc.), after a careful analysis of many different translations, comparing verse by verse over several years. And I’d probably also be ridiculed by the other churches, because I’m sort of a blend of both Baptist and Presbyterian – i.e., Reformed Baptist.

 

I’m very saddened when I see all this arguing and separating over these kinds of issues. I just want to plead with people saying, “Can’t we get along despite our differences in secondary matters?” We share in common what matters most – the gospel, salvation, etc. Let’s love each other instead of criticizing, maligning, and looking down on those who hold different views on non-essential issues.  Again, I'm very grieved by all the division caused by the intolerance of certain brethren toward other brethren who differ in these “secondary” areas. And sadly, those individuals often do not voice their views lovingly and humbly, but rather proudly and condescendingly. Frankly, I think the church is divided enough. I don’t want it to get worse. Now in saying this, I’m not implying that all division within the church is wrong. Quite the contrary. Some division is actually necessary (and sovereignly appointed by God), as the apostle Paul stated, in order to distinguish true from false brethren and doctrine. Other than that, though, I seriously think the enemy is trying to divide true believers, especially in these dark times, when we need each other most to fight this spiritual battle together.

 

I’ve attended and visited many different conservative churches since I was saved, and honestly, I don’t know of any two that agree on EVERYTHING – even within the same denomination or church. My personal view is that no one church or denomination has a “perfect” theology (i.e., knows all things perfectly regarding non-essential issues). Only God, who knows all things and authored the Scriptures, does. The amount of knowledge and comprehension we have of God’s Word is still so very limited and minimal – like comparing an ant hill to Mount Everest. Yes, we can and must know the essential truths and those things necessary for salvation. But I wouldn’t be surprised when we get to Heaven if we discover a lot of things we didn’t know about the Scriptures, and we’re humbled by learning that we were actually wrong in some of our views (i.e., regarding “secondary,” not “primary” issues). Interestingly, I have observed that while one church may be informed about a certain doctrine or practice, another church may have knowledge in a different area that the first church did not have, and vice versa. That is, though we may be informed about certain things, we may be ignorant in other areas, which others are knowledgeable in. Can our pride handle that – that we might not be as informed as we thought we were? More importantly, if we discover, by God’s grace, that we were wrong in some particular area, would we be willing to admit our mistake and discard the “old” view and replace it with the “new” one, which is more accurate Biblically, even if it means we may have to be embarrassed or stand alone and be in the minority? Hard decisions – but very important and critical to our spiritual growth. Growth, by the way, implies that we are not perfect in knowledge and make mistakes and that there is a process, whereby we learn new things, by God’s grace. No one knows everything perfectly except God.  Acknowledging this, I think we ought to be humble and realize that no one knows everything. In fact, the longer I’ve been a Christian, the more I realize how very little I know and how much more I need to learn. Even with all that I have learned and experienced (by God’s grace), I don’t think I’ve climbed to even the peak of an “ant hill” of Biblical knowledge compared to the vast Himalayas that still lie before me. In my Christian walk, I have had to change my position on certain “secondary” doctrines in at least a few areas as God has revealed new truths to me. I don’t think for one moment that I have learned everything I need to know – not at all. That is why I am not dogmatic on certain “secondary” issues, but rather reserve my judgment until I am better informed by thoroughly researching the matter. It’s much easier to say, “I’m not sure or I don’t know” than to insist that you’re absolutely right on some matter, only to discover later with some embarrassment that you were mistaken. I wonder sometimes if perhaps God intentionally planned it this way - that no single person or church would have a monopoly on all Biblical knowledge, in order to keep us humble.  (Just something to ponder….)  

 

In summary, let us strive, by God’s grace, to act in humility and love as we address differences regarding “secondary” or non-essential issues within the Church. Let us also pray that God will preserve us from the onslaught of the enemy so that we will not divide over these matters, but instead, be united in working together to further God’s kingdom and magnify His name. For we are one body in Christ and members of the same family, sharing the same purpose and working toward the same goals. Together, let us bear the banner of Christ and stand as a united front against the enemy. My brothers and sisters in Christ, we need each other, especially in this dark age we live in. Moreover, God encourages us to love one another, because it testifies to the world that He lives in us and that we are His children. “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).  Therefore, let us live in peace and harmony with each other and please our Lord by obeying His Word. “This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12).

 

 

With love in Christ,

 

Elizabeth