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 The
following statement appears in the creed book of a popular
denomination. Read it carefully. "'The Holy Scriptures
contain all things necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is
not read therein nor may be proved thereby, is not to be
required of any man that it should be believed as an article of
faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation."
Similar statements can be found in nearly all denominational
creed books, one would be hard put to better express the
all-sufficiency of the Scriptures, except it be in quoting such
passages as 2 Pet. 1:3 or 2 Tim. 3: 16, 17. Even the men who
write the creed books say that the Bible is all we need. They
acknowledge it to be the only standard of faith and practice in
religion. They say that no man should be required to believe or
practice anything other than what can be read in the Scriptures.
Not only do the creed books say it, practically every member
of every leading denomination professes to believe it! And,
what may sound even more surprising to some is that most
denominationalists believe themselves to be following the
Scriptures. Those who may doubt such a statement need only to
ask them.
Why
then, one may well wonder, the great difference between
denominational profession and practice? What they profess
certainly cannot be faulted. In fact, it is my judgment that the
above-quoted statement of confidence in Scripture, if truly
believed and applied, would go a long way toward promoting
unity and eliminating the divisions of denominationalism. Why
then the disparity between what is said and what is actually
done? For one thing, many simply
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do not know what the Bible
teaches. It is much easier to assume practices
to be right than to prove them so, as per 1 Thss. 5:21.
Ignorance of right begets ignorance of wrong. The man who does
not know what "the Holy Scriptures contain" on the
subject of baptism is not likely to know that infant baptism is
wrong. It cannot be "read therein or proved thereby",
but what is that to one who makes no effort to either read or
prove? We mean no disrespect to its members when we say that
DENOMINATIONALISM HAS NO GREATER ENEMY THAN THE SCRIPTURES. It
is good to affirm our confidence in the Bible but it is better
to know, believe and abide in its precepts.
No
man ever became a member of any religious denomination by
following New Testament teaching. When men will reject all that
cannot be "read therein and proved thereby", they will
reject denominationalism itself. If not, then they will reject
the teaching of the Bible, even if unwittingly. What many have
not realized is that denominationalism does not offer optional
ways of being right, but of being wrong! It is not a question of
whether men are pleased with such religion. Many are. BUT IS GOD
PLEASED? Again, assumption is easy. But there is only one way
that any man can KNOW what pleases God and that is in
following to the best of one's ability His will, the Bible.
Abiding in THAT doctrine produces fellowship with Heaven as
nothing else can. Failure to abide therein forfeits all (2 Jn.
9). We SAY it is sufficient — but merely saying so is not.
Dan
S. Shipley
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