Speaking Where The Bible Speaks
The man who is guilty of creating or maintaining "divisions" in the sight of God is walking after the flesh; he is in the same category before God as a drunkard or a fornicator or an idolater. God condemns all such, and declares that they who practice such things "shall not inherit the kingdom of God." When Paul wrote to the Corinthians he charged them with being carnal; the basis of his charge was that there were "divisions" among them.
There are many who have not knowingly and willingly had part in creating divisions, who are nevertheless guilty of it in being accessory to it. If I am an accessory, either before or after the fact, If I encourage others in the sin, I am equally guilty with them; I stand condemned before God because I am carnal and not spiritual. No doubt there are many fine people in various denominational churches who would be shocked to know that God classifies them in the same group with drunkards and idolators. They have not consciously and knowingly rejected God; yet in the very fact of their being party to divisions, they stand under God's anathema.
One of the most persistent claims of Catholicism (so recently given wide publicity through advertisements paid for by the Knights of Columbus) is that the Bible itself is the cause of the divisions that exist among non-Catholics. Rather, they say that the efforts of non-Catholics to interpret and apply the Bible is productive of the divisions. It is their contention that only the Catholic clergy has the power to understand what the will of the Lord is; and that for anyone else to try to apply Bible teaching is to invite disaster. The Bible becomes a revelation from God only when it is interpreted by a priest. And Catholicism points knowingly to the multitude of parties, sects, and divisions among non-Catholics as proof of her claim that the Bible brings confusion and chaos.
But this is a false and vicious blasphemy against the Bible. God's word is no more responsible for the divisions among Protestants than it is for the existence of Catholicism. Both of them are results of a departure from the Word, rather than a following of it. The cardinal doctrine of the religious world, both Catholic and Protestant, found their origin, their beginning, outside the Bible, and usually hundreds of years after the Bible had been completed.
I think I can illustrate that by an appeal to the doctrine of justification by faith only. Concerning the doctrine of justification by faith there can be no doubt; on this we can have unity among all, Catholics, Protestants, and those who follow God and are neither Catholic nor Protestant. And why can we have unity on this doctrine? Because of the simple fact that the Bible speaks clearly, positively, and unmistakably on the subject. When all speak as the Bible speaks there is complete unity. When a man comes along preaching the Bible doctrine of justification by faith, he will be readily accepted by all — Catholic, Protestant, and the simple Christian.
But suppose that man is not satisfied to preach only what the Bible says, but wants to add to it that "man is justified by faith only." Now he has added a word that the Bible does not use; he has injected another idea, an idea of his own. And division is certain to result. As long as he stays with exactly what the Bible teaches, all of us can go to our Bibles and read it, following him word by word, line by line, and verse by verse. But when he gets outside that realm, and begins to teach something else, something which the word of God does not teach, he will create division. Division comes from his human teaching, not from the Bible. The doctrine of "justification by faith only" is mentioned only one time in all the Bible. James declared "Ye see how then a man is not justified by faith only, but by works also." (Jas. 2:24) So long as men preach that we are NOT justified by faith only, there is unity. They are speaking where the Bible speaks. When they go beyond what is written, and teach that we ARE justified by faith only, division results. In spite of the fact that God declares his doctrine of "justification by faith only" is not so, men still preach, and their creeds still set forth the idea that man is justified by faith only. They teach that it is a "most wholesome doctrine, and full of comfort."
This is only one example of what causes division. The list could be multiplied almost endlessly. Whether it is baptism, the one church, the music by which we praise God, the eternal salvation of the believer, or whatever may be suggested, when men "speak where the Bible speaks" there is unity. When they go beyond that which is written, division is inevitable. It seems that some day the world ought to learn this! May God help every one of us to follow God's word, and abide by its holy teachings.