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(Continued from
preceding page)
 WHEN
DOES ONE BECOME A CHRISTIAN?
When
one conforms to the requirements that Christ has given (Jn.
14:21-24).
WHO
DETERMINES THIS CONFORMITY?
God
judges His servants, in keeping with declared standards (Jn.
12:47-f). Individuals answer to God (Rom. 14:21).
WHEN
MAY I RECOGNIZE ANOTHER AS A CHRISTIAN? When, by my
understanding of God’s word, I see one has done the bidding of
Christ (Matt. 7:15-23).
IS
NOT MY MOST HONEST APPRAISAL RELATED TO MY UNDERSTANDING OF
TRUTH? Certainly! Truth is not “relative.” God knows exactly
when one is His, but I “know” in keeping with my grasp of
revealed truth (Acts 18:24-26).
COULD
I BE HONESTLY MISTAKEN, MY UNDERSTANDING OF TRUTH AT FAULT? Yes!
I
do not consider my level of understanding to be equivalent to
the divine standard (2 Cor. 10:12-f).
THEN
HOW CAN I JUSTIFY BEING POSITIVE ABOUT ANYTHING? God requires
honest conviction of me. “Let every man be fully persuaded in
his own mind” (Rom. 14:5, 22-23). “As it is written, I
believed, and therefore have I spoken: we also believe, and
therefore speak” (2 Cor. 4:13). To the extent I believe God’s
word is truth (Jn. 17:17) and am honest in my study and
conclusions; exactly to that extent I must conclude that
contrary teachings are erroneous (2 Tim. 4:1-f).
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IS
NOT THIS SECTARIANISM? No, it is not! Sectarianism chooses
certain doctrines and builds a “party” with them as boundary
— refusing to consider anything else as “truth.” I refuse
to consider my level of understanding as final, contending only
that I must teach and act in keeping with an honest, objective
consideration of God’s standard in order to be true to myself
and to God. The “flip-side” of sectarianism, and equally
bad, is the irreverent and faithless conception that each man is
accountable only to himself, so that there is NO standard of
absolute truth.
*****************************
Fellowship
(sharing) as fellow-saints must be upon the above basis. We must
“stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for
the faith of the gospel.” “If there be therefore any…
fellowship of the spirit--” it must be found in this striving,
objectively, to be pleasing in God’s sight (Phil. 1:27-f). The
universal test for determining man’s spirit is, therefore, his
reaction to examination to his practice and
teaching in the light of the revelation of God’s Spirit.
(1 Jn. 4:6; where “we” and “us” are John and other
inspired witnesses — 1:1-4 — not “the party.”)
Financing,
promoting or encouraging error obviously contradicts proper
concepts of fellowship with God (2 Jn. 9—11; 2 Cor. 6:14-f).
One may say he so acts in keeping with his objective Bible study
and honest convictions. God knows the truth about that and will
judge accordingly. This does not, however, release me from my
obligations to act upon my conviction If we are both honest, we
will study together; and neither will conclude that union which
embraces error can take the place of unity in the Lord.
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