Consulting The Brothers Series

Disagreements over worship style, while entertaining, are not worthy of prolonged discussion. Questions of polity, while important to our identity as Baptists, should not be central to our faith as Christians. However, should a church promote unethical behaviour, or should a church even tolerate unethical behaviour, without deliberating, sister churches must call that church to account. If the congregation refuses to act with integrity, churches that would honour Christ must recognise the breach in fellowship caused by the actions of that congregation. The step of disfellowshipping the errant congregation must always be taken with the hope that the wickedness will cease.

Should a sister congregation tolerate immorality among its members and that toleration of immorality becomes known, affiliated churches are bound by love for the Saviour to rebuke that sister congregation and to cease all ecclesiastical interaction with the aberrant congregation until the error is corrected. In a like manner, when a church promotes immoral behaviour and refuses to cease promoting such wickedness, we are obligated by our love for the Risen Son of God to cease all association with the errant congregation in hope that they will become ashamed of their actions and correct the sin.

Similarly, when a church embraces and/or promotes errant doctrine, especially doctrine that distorts soteriological truth (the doctrine of salvation), distorts theology proper (the doctrine of God), or that distorts Christology (the doctrine of Christ), it is incumbent upon sister congregations to call that church to account. Again, if a congregation persists in doctrinal error, it will be necessary for the honour of the Lord Christ to refuse to fellowship with that church until the error is renounced.

However, the message today does not so much seek to be a manual for dealing with error as it is a message challenging us how to respond to doctrinal questions that may arise. The study focuses on the response of churches to questions that disturb the peace of a congregation, and for which clarity is sought. If we will fully understand the issue, it will be helpful to consider the setting of the conflict.

The New Beginnings Baptist Church of Jerusalem was a Jewish congregation; the New Beginnings Baptist Church of Antioch was a Gentile church. These churches shared the Faith; but they represented separate cultures. Nevertheless, the Antioch church respected the Jerusalem church. All the Apostles held membership in the Jerusalem congregation, and many of the elders of that congregation had personally heard the Master as He taught. The Faith of Christ the Lord is rooted—firmly rooted—in the Old Testament. The Gentile congregation looked to the Jewish congregation somewhat as the “older brother” in the Faith. There was respect because of their precedence in the Faith.

The Gentile congregation had consistently taught the message they had received from the first scattered members of the Jerusalem Church [ACTS 11:19-26]. Paul, a teacher in Antioch, had received his message from the Master Himself. His message declared that salvation—the forgiveness of sin, life in the beloved Son, acceptance by the Father—was all of grace. The Christians of Antioch had believed and taught that Jesus died because of our sin, that He was raised from the dead for our justification, and that when we submit to Him—the Risen Lord of Life—as Master of our life that we are saved.