Letters    

ON COMPROMISE EVANGELISM

Dear G. A. M.                                                                                             December 4, 1986

      Our blessed Lord said, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24). If we assess a thing by its appearance, we can err; therefore, we use God's Word as our yardstick by which to measure what we are to believe, and what we are to do. The Apostle Paul tells us, "He that is spiritual judgeth all things" (I Corinthians 2:15).

      In II Corinthians 6:14, the Apostle again tells us, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" Then, in verse 15, he continues: "What concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?" Christians are here forbidden to marry unbelievers, or to go into business with them.

      When Achan salvaged goods from Jericho, even though God had forbidden the Israelites to do so, the children of Israel were defeated in battle by the men of Ai. In chapter 7, Joshua "rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads" (vs. 6). God reprimanded them for praying about the situation: "And the LORD said unto Joshua, `Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?'" (vs. 10). It is positively wrong to pray about whether we should be obedient.

     Moses was commanded by God to speak to the rock that Israel might refresh herself in the journey to the Promised Land. In anger at the grumbling of the Israelites, he hit the rock, instead of speaking to the rock. God did not allow the nation to die of thirst, but how much better it is to have God's blessing by obediently following him!

     Moses was not allowed to go into the land because of His disobedience, even though he prayed, and asked the Lord to change His mind. "And I besought the LORD at that time" (Deuteronomy 3:23). "But the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter'" (vs. 26).

      How can you propose to "receive help from unbelievers to further the work of God" seeing God forbids such endeavors? "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD" (Proverbs 15:8).

     When good king Jehoshaphat went to help wicked king Ahab go to battle against a common foe, he narrowly escaped with his life, while Ahab was killed. When he returned home, the prophet Jehu asked him, "Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD?" The prophet then declares, "Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD" (II Chronicles 19:2). What he did made God angry with him, not because he was himself an ungodly man, but because he was behaving in an ungodly manner.

     If you participated in the city-wide crusade, did you know that if I went forward, and made a decision, and stated that I came from a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall, that I would be returned to my assembly? How does it feel to "help the ungodly?"

    "God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready" (Psalm 7:11,12). "Thou hatest all workers of iniquity" (Psalm 5:5). "The wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth" (Psalm 11:5).

    The problem with the church today is that people cannot endure sound doctrine. May God cause you to be zealously affected in the path of obedience for Jesus' sake.

Dear G. A. M.                                                                                            December 16, 1986

       ...You cannot simply dismiss this issue by saying that we have different views of Scripture. One of us is right, and the other is wrong. Since, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD" (Proverbs 15:8), it is positively wrong to suggest receiving help from unbelievers to "further the work of God."

      Jesus did not come to bring peace to earth, but to bring a sword, and to set people at variance one with another (Matthew 10:34). The whole issue is a matter of obedience: do we care whether we do God's will. Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15).

ON UNSCRIPTURAL SEPARATION

Dear S. H.                                                                                                       August 28, 1991

       ...I am grieved by your unscriptural position on separation. The Bible gives two reasons for separating fellowship from believers: one is doctrinal impurity, and the other is moral impurity. Doctrinal impurity refers to cardinal doctrines, and not those over which believers may in good conscience differ. We have no right to separate fellowship from other believers apart from these reasons, and to do so constitutes sin because it reflects a divisive spirit.

     God withdraws Himself from brothers and sisters who walk disorderly in either doctrinal or moral areas. This is the reason we separate from other believers. If God has not separated fellowship from one of His people, what right do we have to separate fellowship from him? Surely we are not more spiritual than Christ. No, it is a matter of self-righteousness, and it is sin, pure and simple.

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