[The following material is from O Timothy magazine, Volume 12, Issue 11, 1995. David W. Cloud, Editor. These articles cannot be stored on BBS or Internet sites without permission from the author. Any articles which are redistributed by e-mail or print must be left intact and nothing must be removed or changed, including these informational headers. All rights are reserved. O Timothy is a monthly magazine. Annual subscription is US$20 FOR THE UNITED STATES. Send to Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org. FOR CANADA the subscription is $20 Canadian. Send to Bethel Baptist Church, P.O. Box 9075, London, Ontario N6E 1V0. The Way of Life Literature web site is located at http://www.wayoflife.org/]

PROMISE KEEPERS SAYS ROOM FOR MANY OPINIONS IN GOD'S KINGDOM

By David W. Cloud

The December 1995 issue of Promise Keepers' magazine, New Man, contains an article "What's the Big Deal about Unity?" The thrust of the article is that unity among all types of Christians is crucial to please God.

"Just as a ship has many cabins [rooms], so God's kingdom has room for many opinions. ... I have brothers and sisters with whom I do not agree on the role of women, the meaning of baptism, the place of millennialism. ... If we can agree upon the majestic uniqueness of Christ, don't we share enough to accept one another?"

I want to answer this. First, nowhere does the Bible say that we are to accept others merely on the basis of one or two doctrines. To the contrary, The Apostle Paul instructed Timothy, "... that thou mightest charge some that they teach NO OTHER DOCTRINE" (1 Timothy 1:3). There is no ecumenism here. Everything Timothy had been taught was to be defended. Every doctrine must be defined carefully and biblically, and when that is done, a division is created among professing Christians. Doctrine divides, and God intends that this be so. The divisions created by doctrinal differences erect walls to protect God's people from error (Romans 16:17-18).

Second, terms or doctrines today are meaningless unless they are clearly and biblically defined. The Scriptures warn that as this age progresses evil men would "WAX WORSE AND WORSE, deceiving, and being deceived" (2 Tim. 3:13). Jesus warned that "MANY false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive MANY" (Matt. 24:11). Paul prophesied that the time will come when "they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they HEAP TO THEMSELVES TEACHERS, having itching ears" (2 Tim. 4:3). We live at the end of the age. There are multitudes of false prophets and deceivers, heaps of ear-tickling teachers. We live in an hour of unparalleled apostasy and doctrinal confusion. The Pope would claim to believe in the "majestic uniqueness of Christ." The Modernist would claim to believe in the "majestic uniqueness of Christ." To claim that unity is a necessity among "all who love Jesus" might sound nice, but it ignores reality. What Jesus? The Catholic wafer Jesus? The Mormon Jesus? The Modernist Jesus? The ecumenical Jesus? The self-esteem Jesus? The laughing Jesus? The slaying Jesus? What Jesus?

In God's kingdom there is room for only ONE doctrine--HIS doctrine, sound Bible doctrine.

[From "Digging in the Walls," O Timothy magazine, Volume 12, Issue 11, 1995. Editor, David W. Cloud. O Timothy is a monthly magazine which is available by subscription from Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org. Subscription price is $20.]