In yesterday's article, I talked about some of the differences between biblical Christianity and what I call "modern Christianity." Although the average religious person never stops to think about the aforementioned distinction, Christendom today is the result of 1,800 years of apostasy; we see in recent history the gradual transformation of the church from what God created it to be to what MEN have turned it into.
When we read the New Testament, we don't read of Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, Lutherans or any of the other modern-day denominations for that matter. We simply read about churches that were all the same because they adhered to the same standard: the word of God. Indeed, the word of God (i.e. the New Testament) is the means of unity; it's when men leave the common standard that division occurs. GOD DEMANDS UNITY OF HIS PEOPLE (Jn. 17:20-21).
The question today is: how is unity achieved? And what do we do about all of the doctrinal differences that exist today? Yes, the Bible ought to be our common standard, and yes, in theory it ought to produce sameness, but isn't that easier said than done? Should we therefore abandon all hope of New Testament Christianity, or is there something that can be done?
In the system of biblical Christianity, there is no central headquarters that governs all the local churches, issuing forth doctrine and law. In the New Testament, churches were self-governing. We see this fact in places like Acts 20:28 and 1 Peter 5:2 where the elders were simply told to shepherd their own particular flock. So I cannot tell you what to believe neither can my church (or any church for that matter) tell your church what to believe, how to worship, what to do, etc. So unity is not forced, it is not imposed, it is not delegated by a group of men somewhere.
In the New Testament, various local churches are identical to one another because they are following the same rulebook. At the same time, it is inferred that we must all examine the word of God for ourselves to determine what it means. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "If anyone things himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord" (1 Cor. 14:37). We are all creatures of free-will. We must read and examine the Bible for ourselves. But Paul infers here that spiritually-minded people WILL obey the inspired scriptures and thus be unified. Ephesians 3:1-4 says, "For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles--if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already), by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ." Later, in Ephesians 5:17, Paul writes, "Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is."
You see, we do not need a church headquarters or a creed-book to bind us together. All we need is the Bible. The Bible is not some overly-complicated divine discertation; there is no footnote on the page before Genesis saying "for scholars' eyes only" or "only those with a seminary degree can understand this book." No, the Bible can be understood by ALL, and I would suggest to you that we can and MUST all understand it the same.
"But Casey, it's IMPOSSIBLE for all of us to understand the Bible the same!" Really? Is this not an attack on God's power? Do you really think that God gave us a book that is TOO hard to understand...nay, impossible to understand? That would be awfully unfair considering it's our standard of judgment (Jn. 12:48; 2 Jn. 9). We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and we will be judged based upon our obedience or lack thereof to THIS BOOK...and yet it's too hard to understand...really?
Sure, unity is hard, but not impossible. Understanding the Bible alike is...challenging, but it is absolutely possible. We all must have humility, and there must be in each one of us an unwavering determination and zeal to believe and do JUST what the Bible says. We must never back down from the truth. We must STRIVE to grow daily in our knowledge of God's word.
The problem is that, today, no one is willing to take a stand. Truth is relative. Believe what you want to believe, worship the way you want to worship, join the church of your choice. After all, we're all going to heaven anyways, right? With this kind of attitude, it is no wonder why denominationalism and division are tolerated. Please understand, dear reader, that in the Bible such an attitude was repulsive and in fact, condemned...
Jesus told the apostles to "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees" in Matthew 16:6. Leaven here is doctrine (vs. 12). So He was really telling them to beware of the false teachings of the Jewish leaders!
Back a chapter, in Matthew 15:8-9, Jesus made the point that the "doctrines and commandments" of men lead to vain, or unacceptable worship. Inferred in this passage is the fact that God's word promotes ONE KIND of worship; it's when we abandon this common standard that differences arise and vain worship ensues.
Acts 15:1-2 is a wonderful case-in-point: "And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, 'unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.' Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders', about this question." When the Judaizing teachers came to Antioch teaching error, what did Paul and Barnabas to? Did they just accept it? No! A different doctrine was taught...a doctrine that was not from God...and so they refused to accept it. In fact, they argued and debated with these false teachers! Such a response would be condemned by the denominational world today as "harsh" and "judgmental."
Romans 16:17 says, "Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them." When someone teaches a different doctrine, we're not to accept or condone that doctrine.
Paul writes in Galatians 1:6-9 that we're to reject any gospel that is different than the one taught in the inspired scriptures. Let's make this personal. The Calvinist says that Jesus only died for a select few while the non-Calvinist says that Jesus died for ALL! These are two completely different gospels. They cannot both be right. The one that is wrong (the Calvinist's gospel) must be rejected as FALSE.
So many other passages could be considered. Read 2 John 9 and Revelation 2 and you'll see that God expects as individuals to not only stick to the scriptures, but to reject those who abandon this common standard. When error is taught, we are to take a stand.
Unity IS possible if we lay aside all of our traditions and manmade creeds and denominational affiliations and get back to the Bible. We must resolve within ourselves to be the Christians that GOD wants us to be rather than the Christians that WE want to be; to be a part of GOD's church as HE designed it, rather than MAN's church as MAN designed it. Sure, it'll be hard. Yeah, we'll still have some differences that we'll have to work on, but if we are willing to study and follow just the New Testament, then we'll be at least moving in the right direction; we'll be well on our way to biblical Christianity.
One last thought, and I'll step down from my soap-box. We cannot accept that which is wrong. You may be thinking, "Casey, I like what you're saying; I agree that denominationalism is wrong" and then continue to participate in it. No, you can't change the world, and no, we can't topple denominationalism in one day, but we CAN change ourselves.
Are you willing?
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