Departure From The Faith - Conclusion

by T.M. Hyland, Birkenhead | Category: Departure From The Faith | Dec 1972

In the concluding article in this series we shall review briefly the ground covered and summarize some of the lessons to be learned from our studies.

The course of history, as it relates to the Christian Faith, has followed the pattern predicted by our Lord and His apostles. They indicated that conflict and struggle against error would continue until our Lord's second advent. The world in general would remain hostile to God and to His Christ. While there is abundant prophetic witness to the coming of the glorious kingdom of Messiah, this will not be established on this earth until the Son of Man comes in power at the end of the age (Matt. 25:31-34). It has been a commonly held idea that 'Christianity' would gradually leaven human society until the whole world becomes Christian. This was a popular theory at the beginning of this century but we do not hear so much of it these days; two world wars and their aftermath have shattered that notion. The theory has no basis in Holy Scripture.

Although the Christian Faith can never come to terms with the world, 'Church' history gives an account of efforts which have been made to combine them. This fatal error has brought deplorable reproach to the name of Christ. Quite early in the sub-apostolic age the idea was conceived that the world could be 'Christianized' by an alliance of 'Church' and State. This became a dominating policy of 'Church' leaders from the fourth century onwards. The consequences were appalling. The crimes committed by the so-called Christian Church during the Dark and Middle Ages soil the page of history and give occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. All this can be traced back to early departure from the teaching of our Lord and His apostles. The lesson stands out clear. Yet there are those today, claiming to be Christian apologists, who are dominated by the same erroneous idea. The use of political power for spiritual ends stands condemned at the bar of Scripture and history.

The sixteenth century Reformers did a great work in reaffirming the authority of Holy Scripture and restating the fundamentals of the gospel. But, in the main, they did not shake themselves free from the idea of the State 'Church'. Many of them used the sword and depended on the civil power to enforce their will. They "accepted the sword of the State as the proper means of converting or punishing those who dissented from the ecclesiastical authority" (Broadbent). In his early reforming zeal Martin Luther saw the New Testament pattern of church constitution but later abandoned it for political reasons. With superb courage he had brought to light the great truth of justification by faith but he failed to put into practice what he knew was the scriptural order of gathering for God's people - assemblies of persons he described as "true, pious, holy children of God". In 1526 he wrote: "I cannot order and establish such an assembly, for I have not yet the right people for it. If, however, it should come about that I must do it, and am driven to it, I will willingly do my part". Sad indeed that he not only failed to follow the light he had received but opposed any attempt on the part of others to do so. With what result? "Instead of continuing in the way of the Word, Luther then built up a church, in which some abuses were reformed, but which in many respects was a reproduction of the old system. Multitudes who looked to him for guidance accepted that form in which he moulded the Lutheran Church; many seeing that he did not continue in the way of return to the Scriptures which they had hoped for, remained where they were in the Roman Catholic Church" (Broadbent). It is argued by some students of the Reformer's life that he never gave up hope of a later realization of the Biblical church ideal. Nevertheless once the decision to join hands with the State was taken it could never be reversed.

Zwingli and Calvin both followed the same path as Luther and founded State Churches. The civil power was used to enforce their ecclesiastical decrees and was ruthless in doing so. The history of the Reformers in this area of their work is sad reading. "Every link of the Church with the world power, and its surrender to the rule of the State... have been accompanied by the most burdensome consequences, and have prepared the way for a sham and worldly Christianity over which all with believing hearts full of grief shake the head" (Warns). That the Reformers who strove to establish the authority of Holy Scripture should depart so flagrantly from the scriptural pattern of church constitution and order is one of the paradoxes of history.

What is the relevance of all this for today? We cull the following from Needed Truth, vol.74, 1967, p.166: "We owe a great debt, under God, to the Reformers.... It is not unfair criticism of these worthies to point out their failure to recover the New Testament pattern of church constitution. Indeed, most of them were working inside apostate systems and their objective was to reform rather than to rebuild. To bring a clean thing out of an unclean thing was an impossible task, and the futility of the attempt was exposed in the centuries which followed. In our own times the strength of the ecumenical movement proves the unsoundness of the argument that Christendom can be reformed from within.... It was left to other men, in quieter times, and away from the main stream of the major denominations, to recover from the New Testament the pattern of church constitution which the Reformers had disregarded. The work of these men, though less spectacular than that of the Reformation, was none the less a recovery of divine truth of inestimable worth".

The pattern of church constitution and order laid down by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ has divine authority none other. Christendom discarded it; nevertheless it remains a vital and indispensable part of the Faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

Not only has there been grave departure from the Faith in church constitution, government and order. We have observed in former articles in this series that in the early centuries A.D. the Christian ordinances of baptism and the breaking of the bread were corrupted by pagan influences in the professing Church. They became 'sacraments' with mystical efficacy; the means by which divine favour was imparted. And because the 'Church' claimed the sole right to administer them no one outside its pale could be saved. This theory, powerfully advocated by Augustine and others, has permeated Christendom right down to the present day.

In the teaching of our Lord and His apostles baptism and the breaking of the bread are not the means of salvation. They are the responses of the believer to the commands of his Lord. Salvation is by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8). No 'Church' has the authority or the means to impart it. Each person who accepts Christ as Saviour becomes a child of God (John 1:12) by being "begotten again ... through the word of God" (1 Pet. 1:23). Salvation through the 'sacraments' is an illusion and great is the guilt of those who foster it.

We shall not review in detail the various doctrinal heresies which challenged the Christian Faith in the sub-apostolic age. We have considered some of them - Judaism, Gnosticism, Arianism, Nestorianism and Pelagianism. There were many others. We have attempted to show that these heresies, far from being defunct, remain a serious menace to the pure gospel of Christ.

The main lesson to be learned from our study of 'Church' history and the various heresies propagated by false teachers is that when Scripture ceases to be the sole authority for Christian faith and practice the door is opened for all kinds of error. We have observed that although the drift from Scripture authority in the early centuries was gradual it was no less subversive - one false step leading to another. Departure was in two directions: to ritualism on the one hand and to rationalism on the other. Both are formidable enemies of the gospel. But in spite of the imposing front they present both are human expedients pandering to human pride and devoid of divine authority. In His infinite wisdom God has given to mankind a written revelation. Fallen man is in the dark without this infallible guide. God "so loved us as to give us so pure a record of His will - God-given in all its parts, even though cast in the forms of human speech - infallible in all its statements - divine even to its smallest particle.... Look at those who have lost the knowledge of this infallible guide: see them evincing man's most pressing need by inventing for themselves an infallible church, or even an infallible Pope.... The heathen in their blindness are our witnesses of what becomes of an unrecorded revelation. Let us bless God then, for His inspired word I And may He grant that we may always cherish, love, and venerate it, and conform all our life and thinking to it! So may we find safety for our feet, and peaceful security for our souls" (B. B. Warfield).

Some readers will have found these articles heavy reading; others may have doubted whether it is worth while to rake over ancient ecclesiastical controversies. We submit that these matters are of momentous importance because error which infiltrated Christian thinking in past centuries is misleading millions of our fellow-men in this generation. Vast powerful organizations in Christendom, and numerous cults and 'isms', are assiduously disseminating distortions of the Christian Faith. If this be fact, and who among our readers will dispute it, are we not culpable if we keep silent? Error does not cease to be error because it is widely held; and error mixed with truth is error in its most deadly form. Controversy for controversy's sake is a barren exercise. The servant of Christ is no wrangler, but it is his duty and privilege to guard his spiritual heritage to "fight the good fight of the Faith" (1 Tim. 6:12).

Another important factor must be taken into account. The movement towards ecumenism, with its sacrifice of Scripture authority in the cause of 'unity', gathers strength. Many of our fellow-members of the Body of Christ, within the denominations, are deeply concerned about this but unable to arrest it. And the fundamental doctrine of the infallibility of Scripture has fewer and fewer exponents in the religious press. At such a time as this there is an urgent need, not only to hold the Faith, but also to reaffirm and restate it in unambiguous terms. We must do this with confidence, yet "with meekness and fear" (1 Pet. 3:15), undeterred by the reproaches we shall incur.

"0 let me still

Write Thee great God, and me a child:

Let me be soft and supple to Thy will,

Small to myself, to others mild,

Yet hating ill."

The above lines appeared in an introductory article in the first issue of this magazine (1888). They may well serve as a guide to the spirit in which we shall continue the work begun by our forefathers - the dissemination of "needed truth".

T.M. Hyland, Birkenhead | Dec 1972
Departure From The Faith