IF IT'S NOT CONSISTENT, IT'S NOT THE TRUTH (Part Three)

Whoever is reading this I might assume believes in one God in tune with Deuteronomy 6:4: "The LORD our God is one LORD." We don't worship two gods, but One. Consistent with the unity of the Godhead is the unity of the teachings of Scripture. God doesn't contradict Himself; neither does His Word. Among all the tenets of the Bible, the doctrine of separation will not contradict the doctrine of unity. If it does, then we know that an interpretation of one or both of those doctrines cannot be correct.

The Correct Teaching on Separation and Unity: It Will Not Contradict Itself

The key to a consistent belief and practice of separation and unity is ecclesiology. The Scriptural, exegetical, grammatical-historical view of the church is necessary for a correct and consistent position on separation and unity. Someone who believes the true church and the body of Christ is all believers must allow for no division with any believer--1 Corinthians 12:25: "There should be no schism in the body." And yet we have those passages on separation that instruct us to separate from other believers (2 Thess. 3:6-15; Rom. 16:17; 1 Cor. 5:9-11). You cannot practice Scriptural unity and separation if you believe that the church is all saints.

The Crux of Consistency

Something must be wrong. What is it? The church or the body of Christ isn't all believers. The church is an assembly or congregation as is the body of Christ. We find the term ekklesia ("church") 117 times in the New Testament. In over 110 of those usages we have a particular congregation in view. Sometimes we know it is an individual congregation.

Acts 8:1, "And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles."

Acts 11:26, "And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch."

1 Corinthians 1:2, "Unto the church of God which is at Corinth. . . ."

Thirty-seven times ekklesia ("church") is used in the plural ("churches") to refer to several assemblies or congregations.

Acts 16:5, "And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily."

1 Corinthians 7:17, "But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches."

A singular noun, according to the rule of grammar, is either particular or generic. In a very few usages in the New Testament, ekklesia is used as a generic. A generic, representative of a particular noun, always assumes the particular. When ekklesia is used generically, it still represents a particular church in reality. We see this usage in Ephesians 5:23-25:

23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Since ekklesia means "assembly," the Ephesians would have thought of their assembly. They certainly would not have contemplated some sort of unassembled, universal, invisible entity. A universal church is a contradiction in terms. The Ephesian church would have thought of the church in the same sense they would have thought of "the husband" and "the wife" in v. 23. They wouldn't have thought that "the husband" or "the wife" was a universal, invisible husband or wife. That understanding would defy Greek grammar. Instead, those Ephesians would have understood ekklesia like people in that day would have understood it and like the other 110+ times it is used and like the 23 times that Jesus uses it in the New Testament (read Rev. 2 & 3).

Instead of interpreting "church" according to grammar and usage, most fundamentalists and evangelicals read a "universal church" into the text. Here is how their typical doctrinal statement reads for "church":

We believe that the true Church is composed of all such persons, who through saving faith in Jesus Christ, have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are united together in the body of Christ of which He is the Head.

The doctrinal statement of the Central Baptist Theological Seminary says:

We believe that the Church, the Body of Christ, is composed of all true believers who are placed into that Body by the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit.

This view of the church, not taught in Scripture (without reading into it), makes impossible a New Testament practice of separation and unity. They're view of the church can't be true. Scripture cannot contradict itself. Their view requires contradictions.

Consistent Practice of Unity

On the other hand, how does the correct position on the church, the exegetical one, result in a consistent practice? First, a church (the only one, the local one) can practice Scriptural unity. God has given His assembly the ability to maintain no schism in the body. How? A church should and can have one doctrine ("one faith," Eph. 4:5) and practice church discipline based upon that. A church member may think differently than the rest of the church, but he cannot cause division ("heresy," Titus 3:10, 11) based upon differences. The church is the "pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Tim. 3:15), so the church agrees on its doctrine. Each member unifies with that church by means of the ordinances of baptism (1 Cor. 12:13) and the Lord's Table (1 Corinthians 10:16, 17) and the office of the Pastor (1, 2 Timothy, & Titus). A member who will not fit into the church thinks more highly of himself than he ought to think (Rom. 12:3).

Someone may ask, "What about soul liberty?" Soul liberty is not the right to cause disunity in a church. Everyone can read the Bible on his own, can understand it on his own, and is free to help the whole church come to the right position. God wants "one accord" and "one mind" (Acts 1:14; 2:46; Philip. 1:27; 2:2) for His church. Ten times the phrase "one accord" is applied to the church in the New Testament. Since the church has One Spirit, it isn't likely that you are right, but the whole church is wrong. On issues of liberty, they are exactly that, issues of liberty. A person has liberty to practice differently where the church had decided it is an issue of liberty.

Christ's assembly can and should have perfect unity. Fundamentalists and evangelicals do not have perfect unity in their body. They stay perpetually disobedient with their schisms in the body. Instead of unifying, they separate with other believers in their body.

Consistent Practice of Separation

Second, the only right doctrine of the church will result in a Scriptural practice of separation. We have already seen in the separation passages that we are to separate over any and every doctrine of Scripture. In those separation passages, where does separation occur? It occurs at the church. A church separates from those in it with a different doctrine (2 Thessalonians 3:6-15; Romans 16:17). A church follows a pattern set in Matthew 18:15-17 and Titus 3:10, 11 of warning and patience (1 Thessalonians 5:14, 15). A church allows its members to grow and change. When members fail, a church works at restoration (Galatians 6:1-3).

A church follows the same principles of separation with other churches as it does with its own members. A church separates over its agreed-upon doctrine and practice, giving other churches and their members the opportunity for change, repentance, and growth. The church itself chooses the terms of separation; however, separating over all of the doctrines of Scripture, especially since man is to live by every Word of God (Matthew 4:4).

Some might ask, "So do you separate over every single teaching of Scripture?" The way our church practices is to separate over everything that Scripture teaches, the actual doctrine and practices of Scripture. For instance, we don't separate over the interpretation of the vow of Jephthah, of the identity of the sons of God in Genesis 6, or other matters of interpretation like these. We don't separate over every aspect of the issue of divorce and remarriage. With my leadership, our church makes the decision about where we draw the line, and it is at the opposition to divorce. We expect another church to hate divorce. Regarding the Lord's Supper, we expect another church to protect the purity of the Lord's Table whether they be closed or close. We will not fellowship with a church which practices open communion. We will separate over music and dress and the doctrine of preservation. We could go through every doctrine over which we break fellowship, but our goal is to affect other professing brethren toward our faith and practice. We will only separate once we have given ample opportunity for consideration of what we believe and teach. The goal, like it is with those in the church, is restoration.

In order for fundamentalists or evangelicals, who believe universal church, to attempt to retain a sense of unity, they give up on a Scriptural practice of separation. They must go through the tortured taxonomies and ranking of doctrines in order to figure out what it is that they must separate over. They look for common ground around a certain number of doctrines and practices. What I have observed is that the chief considerations become political---the doctrines have become more politically correct than theologically. These churches often attempt to fit into a particular circle of influence, usually orbiting a Bible college or seminary. It is difficult to discern who evangelicals officially separate from. An evangelical pastor will write a book about a doctrine he thinks is being considerably abused, but then he will fellowship with those presently involved in perverting the doctrine. All of the actions mentioned in this paragraph combined make for great confusion among fundamentalists and evangelicals on separation and unity.

The pivotal doctrine for Scriptural separation and unity is ecclesiology. When someone has the wrong view of the church, he won't be able to practice separation and unity consistently. The teachings will contradict each other. I call on all fundamentalists and evangelicals to turn to the ecclesiology that results in consistency, the doctrine of the church that comes from the plain teaching of Scripture. I ask you to please stop devaluing doctrine by unscriptural unity. I beg of you to rely on the Bible alone as a basis for separation.

The Consequences of Contradicting the Doctrines of Separation and Unity

This paragraph does not officially continue this essay. Call it an aside. I am planning on finishing this with a very practical ending. I want everyone to know that I have not had more enjoyment and peace since practicing separation and unity based on an exegesis of Scripture. I'll tell you sometime about how I got started. Our church and I began a little over ten years ago.

Part four to come soon.