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Having shown that our
conservative, traditional churches are not guilty of legalism, it is also
necessary to show that our familiar form of local church polity is still closer
to the New Testament pattern. Paul’s letter to the church at Galatia was
written mostly to combat (true) legalism, but it was also written to expose the
antinomian license that can occur when believers fail to appreciate just how
Christ has made them free from sin.
Paul told the Galatians
that there is an “offense of the cross” that must not cease (5:11). The
Judaizing legalists would not be offended if Paul would also preach circumcision
as necessary for salvation. Paul couldn’t do that and so his gospel of
salvation without the works of the law remained an offense to them. However,
the Galatian libertines would not be offended if Paul would quit preaching on
the sins of the flesh. But Paul said, “They that are Christ’s have crucified
the flesh with the affections and lusts” (5:24). To the Roman and Colossian
believers, he called this “mortifying” the flesh (Rom. 8:13; Col. 3:5).
Therefore, the doctrine of sanctification remained a stumblingblock to the
libertines. Paul would end his great epistle by saying, “But God forbid that I
should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is
crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (6:14).
Peter’s great error in
Antioch had been that he was afraid of the Pharisees, withdrew from the other
believers and sided with these Judaizers. This caused some others, including
Barnabas, to “dissemble” with him. The word dissemble means “to be a hypocrite
with” (sunhupokrinomai). Now if Peter can be a hypocrite by joining the
Judaizers, he could also be a hypocrite by joining the libertines as Demas once
did. One error is as serious as the other. Either one is to cease from the
offense of the cross rather than to crucify the flesh and its desires. As Paul
wrote, “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if
I pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10).
The Evangelical movement
of the twentieth century sought to please men more than Christ and withdrew from
their more conservative, fundamentalist brethren toward the world in hopes of
winning the world. Though the experiment failed in comparison to the
conservative movement,1 many conservative churches are now
“dissembling” with them, leaving their conservative roots to join a movement
that is libertine in its local church philosophy. The offense of the cross has
become weary to them and they seem glad to be in the good graces of the world.
They asked the world what it wanted the church to be and then changed to that
end. Of course, they have tried desperately to argue that this was good change,
but the praise of the world hardly qualifies as a proper evaluation of the
church.
The conservative church
must remain what it is convicted it should be. Not only do we have Scripture on
our side but we have the history of the church and evangelism also. No one is
saying that this is an easy day to be conservative and traditional. Our young
people have little stomach for it and it brings little recognition or success.
But these things cannot be gauged by such standards, not even by the number of
converts or the size of our churches! Our success can only be determined by our
allegiance to the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Somewhere
God’s people have to turn from the broader way and seek those things which are
strait even if it seems costly.
The Problem of the Law
Antinomian license, like
true legalism, has misused the law of God. A legalist is working to earn God’s
grace because he has not let the law of God thoroughly condemn him in the
flesh. He is still relying on his own ability to gain favor with God. But the
antinomian has misused the law of God also. He feels no conviction for his sin,
his conscience only excusing but not accusing his sin.
The problem of
antinomian license is a far greater problem in the churches today than
legalism. The sins of the flesh can keep a lost person from coming to Christ,
since he cannot come without repentance, but these sins can also draw away
believers into an ungodly and backslidden life. This person has experienced the
law’s conviction at salvation but has later stopped applying the Word of God to
his Christian walk thinking that Christ’s further commands have nothing to say
to him at all. This state of carnality is a plague to the church.
The Blessing of Holiness
A church will be
conservative if it is holy. What is holiness if it is not being as God is?
Jesus Christ “loved righteousness and hated iniquity” (Heb. 1:9). Holy living
is the proper outcome of the gospel. Throughout the epistles we have these
statements, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in
him” (Col. 2:6). Though there are three aspects to sanctification (past,
present, future), the great majority of its application is to the present
Christian walk.
When a sinner is under
the condemnation of the law of God but is still yoked to the bondage of his
fleshly nature, he is not living in liberty. Neither is a Christian exercising
true liberty who allows his old nature to control him through the flesh. From
the moment of salvation, old things ought to begin changing and new things ought
to appear. I have written often that it is the older generation who understood
this and practiced it when they first came to Christ. They went through this
proper Christian transformation and have never gone back. The antinomians today
accuse the older saints of not changing but the fact is they have! Now they are
waiting for the younger generation to take the same step and venture out into
the true liberty in Christ, the liberty that frees one from the old nature.
Sadly, the younger generation does not change but continues to languish in the
weakness and unprofitability of the flesh. This is not Christian freedom but
bondage.
The Church as the Church
The local church is
God’s house made up of God’s people. The church is not the world and though
worldlings may visit with us they cannot be part of the church, the body of
Christ. It is futile to try to make the lost world understand this. If they
really did, they would immediately repent and believe the gospel. The purity of
the church is vital to its relationship to Christ. He is the Head of the body,
the Shepherd of the sheep, the Foundation of the house, the High Priest of the
nation, the True Vine over the branches, and the Faithful Husband waiting at the
altar for the virgin bride to be presented to Him without spot or wrinkle.
Within this wonderful
group of God’s saints, meeting in such privileged positions, is the command of
the Head to be separate from the world. We don’t need to be reminded that this
separation is not monasticism nor cultic compounds but we do need to be reminded
that we must “come out” from among the things of this world (2 Cor. 6:17-18).
In the space of one chapter Paul told young Timothy to “shun,” “depart,”
“purge,” “flee,” “avoid,” and “turn away” (2 Tim. 2) from the world.
The purity of the church
is so vital to its stewardship that it must purge the old leaven from among its
midst (1 Cor. 5:7) lest the sin spread throughout the whole body. If the sin so
spreads that it cannot be purged, the believer must separate. Paul removed the
believers from those places where they could not remain pure (Acts 18:7; 19:9).
This is not a defeatist or “holy huddle” attitude (if you think so, I feel sorry
for what you have missed), but rather an inner zeal for the Lord’s house and a
desire to enjoy freedom and fellowship with the brethren; to let His house be a
house of prayer not a den of thieves. It is not that we don’t want lost people
to attend our churches, on the contrary, it is necessary for their eternal souls
that they experience our culture not that we mimic theirs.
The Church Must be Effective
The great debate of the
last century or more has been over what makes the church most effective for the
gospel’s sake. Fundamentalists have insisted that a compromising church cannot
be as effective for God as an obedient church. Even when the so-called
standards of success (usually nickels and noses) are applied by observers, the
church abides by the standard of the Word of God alone. True work of God is
not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of God (Zech. 4:6). The world’s
preferences are not the church’s mandates.
This has been the
principle and understanding of dissenters throughout the church age. Even
persecution is better than compromise because the power of God can still rest
upon a church that is obedient and holy. “If ye be reproached for the name of
Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on
their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified” (1 Pet.
4:14). “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength
is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my
infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9).
The contemporary church
is not more powerful because it has larger crowds. It is only large and flabby
if it has compromised God’s commands for holiness in His house. Paul’s gospel
was “in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance” (2 Thes. 1:5).
The Love of the Brethren
The love of the brethren
is greater than the love of the world. Though there is a love for any believer
simply because he/she is a kin to Christ, there is a vast and comprehensive love
for what the brethren should be and, if you will, the ideal brother. This is a
love for all that Christ asks us to be or become; for His commandments are not
grievous but are as easy as His burden is light. Sin and immaturity are
challenges to be overcome, not glorified and exalted in the church. Immaturity,
laying hands too quickly on novices, hinders the love of the brethren.
If this be true, there
is no greater joy than to be around those saints who have grown into maturity
with Christ; those fathers (and mothers) who have known Christ from the
beginning. Even the struggle of their older years (which is met with gracious
acceptance, courage, and even humor), becomes the greatest example of all as
their conversation is more and more in heaven where they look for their Savior
and the changing of the corruptible into incorruption (of whom the world is not
worthy!). We ought to feel sorry for the churches which have turned such saints
out into the streets. Imagine young men telling the fathers they can get in or
get out but they can’t exercise their influence! Shame on us for such thinking.
And So . . . .
I wonder if we are just
afraid we will lose something here on earth. Will we lose our church buildings
if we do not grow? Will we lose our schools if this generation doesn’t choose
our campus? Will we lose our support base for missionaries if our giving
doesn’t remain high? Will our children not like us and not walk in our same
path? Will we (perhaps most feared of all) lose our popularity and platforms
and applause, the ability to measure ourselves by ourselves and compare
ourselves among ourselves? Then, brethren, we have our reward!
If we have but two or
three gathered in His name who are seeking favor only with the Lord Jesus
Christ, then we should be happy in church, in witness, and in fellowship. It
just may be, if that is indeed what we desire, that the Lord again may give us
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, not as our motive for
service, but as a result of His blessing. Then we could truly say, “Unto him
be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.
Amen” (Eph. 3:21).
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