Gospel Centrism's Corruption of Separation Corrupts Unity
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| Unmasking Corruption |
The Bible doctrine
of separation is born out of the doctrine of sanctification. Both separation and sanctification are
intricately connected to the priesthood of all believers. The central emphasis of the both the
doctrines of separation and sanctification is purity before God. This
emphasis on this purity throughout Scripture is upon two priorities:
1. Purity from worldliness
2. Purity from false doctrine
In the Old
Testament, the word sanctify is
translated from the Hebrew word qadash (kaw-dash”). The
meaning is to morally purify
something or someone in order to hallow
the thing or person before God. In the
New Testament, the word sanctify is
translated from the Greek word hagiazo (hag-ee-ad'-zo). It too means to morally purify or to make
holy before the eyes of God. In the
Old Testament, sanctification was essential before anyone could serve God or
approach His presence. In the New
Testament and within the context of the priesthood of all believers,
sanctification is essential to fellowship with God and His blessings upon any
aspect of the believer’s ministry.
Separation from worldliness and false doctrines are essential to this
practicum. Therefore, the
doctrine of separation and purity in sanctification is established upon three pillars:
1. Right doctrine (orthodoxy)
2. Right practice (orthopraxy – how right doctrine fleshes itself out)
3. Right attitudes, emotions, and motivations (orthopathy)
These three pillars for biblical
sanctification are critical in that they define the “truth” of which the Church
is the “pillar and ground” (I Timothy 3:15).
The intent of these three pillars for the purity of truth is to
establish the foundations for a pure (sanctified) local church. These three pillars for the purity of truth
are critical in that they establish the parameters for “fellowship” with
God.
These three pillars for
the purity of truth are being attacked today by a movement known as Gospel Centrism. Those promoting Gospel Centrism promote varying degrees of theological
reductionism. They seek to reduce the
parameters of biblical separation regarding doctrinal purity to merely Gospel
purity. Their emphasis is upon unity
within the ambiguity of a very broad definition of Christianity and the Church. This reductionism is certainly a serious
deviation from what the Bible teaches regarding practical sanctification and
separation regarding false doctrines.
The two priorities
for personal and local church purity, along with practical sanctification, are
found in Christ’s high priestly prayer of John chapter seventeen. Clearly the emphasis of Christ, as detailed
in John 17:11 is that believers might enjoy and be blessed in their unity with
the Godhead through practical sanctification and separation from false doctrine
and worldliness.
“11 And now I
am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy
Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that
they may be one, as we are. 12 While I was with them in
the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and
none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be
fulfilled. 13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in
the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I
have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not
of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I pray not that thou
shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from
the evil. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the
world. 17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18
As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the
world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also
might be sanctified through the truth” (John 17:11-19).
Jesus is speaking to the Father on
behalf of all Church Age believers, represented in His Apostles, in this
text. He speaks as the believers’
Shepherd and High Priest. He does so in
that all Church Age believers are both His sheep
and are His believer-priests. Every believer-priest
is under His direct authority and guardianship.
In John 17:12, Jesus declares that He kept His Apostles “in thy name.” Therefore, Jesus not only prayed for unity
among believers, Jesus’ shepherding ministry of discipleship worked to keep His followers in that
unity. Jesus’ work went far beyond the
good news of redemption. Jesus’
shepherding ministry of discipleship worked
to keep His followers in that unity through multiple levels of doctrinal
truths. This ministry of discipleship in
keeping believers in unity with the Godhead then defines the under-shepherd’s ministry.
The
Name of God embodies all the revelation about God in the books of the
Bible. Therefore, keeping the Apostles in the Name of God involved shepherding them
in living according to the doctrines (“truth”) of the inspired Words of God. It was through this work of Christ that His
Apostles were kept in practical sanctification before God. This was essential if they were ever going to
be used of God after the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus
Christ. Without this ongoing work of
practical sanctification through separation from worldliness and protection
from doctrinal corruption, the Church would die because she would be separated
from the Vine (John 15:1-17).
Obviously, biblical separation exists on a twofold
plane. If the believer fails to separate
himself from worldliness and doctrinal corruption, God will separate Himself
from the believer in the sense of fellowship and empowering for ministry. This is why Gospel Centrism’s corruption of the doctrine of separation is so
dangerous.
This
intercessory prayer of Jesus was not limited to the Apostles. Jesus’ intent in this prayer continues down
through the centuries of the Church Age to all future believer-priests. Jesus wanted all believers to be blessed and
empowered by unity with the Godhead. The
Bible has a number of words used to describe this unity with the Godhead – abide, fellowship, unity of the
Spirit, and filled with the Spirit. In John 15:1-8, Christ repeatedly uses the
word “abide” to describe this unity with the Godhead. In John 15:2-3, Jesus describes the Father’s
purging of the branches by comparing the Father’s future ministry to His own ministry
with His disciples - “Now ye are
clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” Clearly the emphasis of the statement is upon
maintaining doctrinal purity. Therefore,
purging involves maintaining doctrinal purity which also defines separation
from worldliness. This is clear from His
statements in John 17:20-23.
“20 Neither pray I for
these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee,
that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou
hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given
them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them,
and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world
may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me”
(John 17:20-23).
Christ’s
prayer in John 17:22 is remarkable in its scope –“that they may be one, even as we are one.” What is the depth of the unity between the
Father and the Son? Since Jesus is the
incarnate Word of God (John 1:1 and 14), the Father and Son enjoy perfect unity
in doctrine. Jesus is God incarnate the
Father and Son share in all the attributes of God – mercy, grace, love, wrath,
righteous, etc. Since the Son of God and
the Father are eternal in existence, they share the same kind of
existence. Therefore, in the tri-unity
of the Godhead (Father, Son, and Spirit), they enjoy a perfect unity in the three pillars of unity – orthodoxy,
orthopraxy, and orthopathy. When Jesus
prayed to the Father for all Christians to have this unity, He was praying for
these three pillars of unity. Therefore, if Christians are going to use the
word unity, they need to use it in
the way Jesus used it in John chapter seventeen. Although the believer will never share the
unity in essence that the Godhead enjoys, all others aspect of unity are
available to all believers. This unity
is defined by the Bible’s teaching on practical sanctification (holiness and
spiritual growth), separation from false doctrine, and separation from
worldliness.
Perhaps the greatest error of Gospel Centrism is the failure to see that separation is intended
to keep local churches pure from false doctrine and worldliness. Instead, Gospel
Centrists believe that separation is intended to keep the Gospel pure from
adulterations. Although the Gospel
should be kept pure from adulterations, this is not the ONLY purpose of
separation. In fact the front line
defense in the purity of any local church is the careful examination of
baptismal candidates in their understanding of the Gospel and a biblical
response to the Gospel. The first line
of defense for purity of any local church is to carefully insure that all
members are “born again” of the Spirit of God and committed to “walk in newness
of life” (Romans 6:4). Anyone failing in
a careful examination of their understanding of the Gospel should never be
admitted to membership in a local church in the first place.
Granted, the first level of Ecclesiastical separation
(refusing to partner in ministry with another local church) should be the same
careful examination of their understanding of the Gospel and what defines a
biblical response to the Gospel in order to be “born again.” A proper understanding of a biblical response
to the Gospel is really the critical dividing line here. Calvinism’s corruption of the doctrine of
election and their heresy of Irresistible
Grace (Monergism) are radical departures from the teaching of the Word of
God and are therefore a corruption of what defines a biblical response to the
Gospel. Yet, almost all those promoting Gospel Centrism are Calvinists.
Are there other corruptions of doctrines (false teachings)
that the Word of God requires local churches to keep from influencing “born
again” believers? Of course there are! The vast majority of the teachings of the
epistles are to extricate false doctrine from the local churches to which the
epistles are addressed. It is
foolishness to think that such instruction was not intent upon separating those
teaching false doctrines from influencing local church memberships. When those teaching false doctrine were
separated from local churches, they simply took their corrupted converts with
them and formed new corrupted local churches.
This defines heresy (divisions
caused by false doctrine). Are we to
conclude then that the local church that separated these heretics from them should
continue to fellowship with the corrupted local church formed by the
heretics? What foolish nonsense! Gospel
Centrism is itself a false doctrine and those purporting it are
heretics.
Gospel Centrism promotes theological
ambiguity at the expense of the abdication of theological dogmatism in order to
promote a pseudo-unity based upon
marginalizing doctrine in varying positions of moral relativism and ethical subjectivism.
Unity (?) is the objective of Gospel Centrism regardless of doctrinal
agreement. Therefore, Gospel Centrism is merely a new name for
Consequentialism (the consequences of
one’s conduct, i.e. unity, are the
ultimate basis for any judgment about the rightness of that conduct). Gospel
Centrism equals philosophical drivel!
In I Samuel
4:19-21, we are given the historical account of the death of Eli and his two
sons, Hophni and Phineas. Eli has
allowed his two sons to continue as priest while integrating the licentious
practices of paganism with in worship of Jehovah at Shiloh. God could not allow such practices to
continue. After Eli’s death, Eli’s
daughter-in-law, Phinehas’
wife, names her newly born son Ichabod. She
then makes this remarkable statement – “The glory is departed from Israel:
because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her
husband.” Make sure your name never
follows this kind of “because.” Ichabod is a good name for Gospel Centrism.
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Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist.
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.
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