The Danger of Worldly Compromise

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” — 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

B.B. Warfield (1851-1921)

Commenting on the above passage, Warfield writes,

If we will scrutinize our present passage closely we shall quickly see that the separation which the Apostle is urging here, too, is not separation from men but from evil – applying, in deed, to the Corinthians in the way of exhortation what our Lord prayed for in behalf of His followers, not that they should be taken out of the world, but that they should be kept from the evil of the world. The exhortation: ‘Come ye out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord,’ is immediately followed by the explanation, ‘And touch no unclean thing.’ And the whole exhortation closes with a poignant prayer that they may ‘cleanse themselves from every defilement.’ It is not from their fellow-men that the Apostle would have Christians hold themselves aloof; it is from the sin and shame, the evil and iniquity, which stains and soils the lives of so many of their fellow-men. This is the Apostolic variety of Puritanism.  Continue at Eric. T. Young

The F Word

I'm a fundamentalist born and bred. I grew up in independent fundamental baptist churches from the time I can remember up until I graduated from college. Then I left. My departure from Fundamentalism had a lot to do with my own study of Scripture:

• My growing belief that reformed theology was really biblical theology (you're average IFB pastor is not gonna be very reformed friendly)
• My experience that separation was not being practiced biblically (Fundamentalism has often lobbed not-so-friendly fire at other Christians).
• My disillusionment with personality driven churches, institutions, camps, and the like.
• My disdain for the underhanded tactics when soul-winning.

Now these are my experience and therefore do not mean all fundamentalist do these things. Truly, I've found some churches that don't. I gladly attend Geneva Reformed Seminary which is part of the Free Presbyterian denomination. The Free Pres are in Fundamentalism and they do a great job of avoiding a lot of the pit falls mentioned above. Initially, on my departure from the movement at large I harbored a lot of ill will towards Fundamentalism. Now not so much. I'm grateful for the family, foundation, and, yes even for Fundamentalism. All I can say is God works in mysterious ways!

One thing I appreciate about Fundamentalism is that they practice separation at all. A lot of time they are hyper-separationist but they see the command to keep the Gospel pure and they take it seriously. You'd never find someone who doesn't believe in the trinity, atonement, or the exclusivity of Jesus teaching in their church (although you might find some KVO people who aren't strong on Bibliogoly, that's entirely different subject). On the other hand, the reformed evangelicals get grace, doctrine, and the lot right but some of them don't know what do when a heretic walks in the room if he's wearing a wool jacket. We need a return to Scripture so that we faithfully defend the bride of Christ from false teachers while not shriveling the body down to haggard old man like Fundamentalism tends to do. John MacArthur's lot seem to balance the two well. He's strongly biblical, fiercely protective over the gospel, and boldly defends the body against false teachers. Now I don't agree with every thing John MacArthur says but we could do for more MacArthurs.   Keep Reading >>>

A Wall of Separation Between Church and State

Where does the phrase “a wall of separation between Church and State” come from?

The Constitution?

The Declaration of Independence?

Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptists?

The First Amendment?

The Articles of Confederation?

Did you guess correctly?

The phrase “a wall of separation between Church and State” comes from the pen of President Thomas Jefferson when he wrote to a group of Baptists in Danbury, Connecticut. They were concerned about the possible establishment of a church that they would be required to attend. 

Jefferson wrote to ensure them that their free practice of religious liberty would never be interfered with by the government, for that would go against the will of the people and the Constitution. Jefferson closed his letter by thanking them for their prayers on his behalf.  Keep Reading...

Accommodation or Separation?

While it is true that we live and minister within a cultural setting, there will inevitably be certain aspects of the culture that we cannot embrace or celebrate. We are called to be in the world, but not of the world.

Though we make every effort to present the gospel message with excellence and effectiveness to the world around us, we should be careful to do so in a way that both stays true to the biblical gospel and stays within the biblical boundaries of moral propriety. Catch-words like “relevance” and “contextualization” are not a valid justification for condoning coarse speech or morally-questionable behavior in order to identify with certain youth subcultures.

The power of the gospel is not in us, our cleverness, or our ability to camouflage with the culture. Thus, we don’t need to cuss to reach sailors, or drink to reach alcoholics; and we certainly don’t need to engage in sinful enterprises in order to reach sinners. To use fleshly methods to reach the lost is self-defeating, bringing a reproach on the pure name of the Savior we proclaim.   Keep Reading...

The Doctrine of Unity and Separation

This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. (Titus 1:5-9 ESV)

It doesn’t take very long for me to discern whether the person I am dealing with is truly God’s man or woman or is a pretender. That personal interaction is necessary for me to see the true nature and focus of the person. As we debate or discuss doctrinal or church issues or even secular issues it soon becomes very clear whether I am dealing someone who is walking according to the Lordship of Christ or is their own man or woman. Their values soon become apparent. All of us are in various stages of spiritual growth and repentance to be sure, but the mark of the washing of regeneration is there to be seen in all of God’s people that cannot be counterfeited. Of course, this is only discernable by those who are looking for it and then only through God’s testing fires. 

I think that is why those of us who truly belong to Him are so often struggling in the fires of tribulation. As I have that personal interaction with people as I shared above, I am given glimpses into their value systems and what is truly beleaguering them, et cetera. When some come to me full of retribution, meaning to shut me up or whatever, I always prayfully look at their motives. Never have I had anyone do that with the motive of bringing God glory. No, it has always been self-motivated personal glory. In light of this I pray that you will carefully read the passage from Titus I placed at the top of this post. Keep Reading>>>