Pure Truth (Pt.1)

A stream originates in the high mountains and the water is pure and clean. You can drink it right from the stream. As the stream flows downhill, it goes past farms where fertilizer leaks into the water. Further down hill, some motor oil gets dumped in and as the water keeps flowing down hill more pollutants are added in. By the time we get to the stream, far from its beginning, the water that was once so pure and clean is so polluted that we cannot or would not drink from it.

This same concept has found its way into religion. In the first century, the church was pure and the gospel was true. There was only one church and from town to town, each group believed the same thing and worshipped the same way. People were saved the same way. Congregations were organized the same way. No one had to ask, “What church do you go to?” They all belonged to the same one. The gospel contained everything needed to be pleasing to God. It was pure and refreshing.

But as the centuries rolled on, the pure New Testament became corrupted as people added to or took away things that scripture plainly taught. One by one the teachings of plain truth fell to the pollutants of man. Today religious people no longer worship the same, get saved the same, and they have different organizational structures. People have to ask what church a person goes to because there are so many denominations in existence now. The Biblical stream became polluted down through the years and is nothing like what it was in the beginning when it was pure. Religion has become confusing, misleading, and uninviting.

Is God pleased with the state of the religious world today? Certainly not! But is God surprised with all the division found in Christianity? NO!

In fact, the pure New Testament predicts that corruption would come. “Of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:30.) Paul tells Timothy that “in the latter times some will depart from the faith” (1Timothy 4:1-4) and again, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but according to their own desire, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers” (2 Timothy 4:3.) “Of your own selves,” “some will depart,” and “they will not endure sound doctrine” all show the problem to be with man and not the pure truth. In fact, this time of religious corruption is referred to as a time of “rebellion” or “falling away” (2 Thessalonians 2:3.) Religion today claims to serve and worship God while in fact it is in rebellion against God because the pure truth (“sound doctrine”, “the faith”, etc) are corrupted by the very ones who should know better. Religious division today is evidence of a failure to follow the pure truth of the Bible. It is not a matter of folks going to heaven by different roads. If a person wants to drive south, he does not get on a road going north. He has to get on the right road to go the direction he wants. No, God is not surprised and He isn’t happy either.

The church at Corinth was acting like modern religion – splitting and dividing over people. Paul told them to “speak the same thing, let there be no division among you.” Read the story in 1 Corinthians 1:10-13. Division, then as now, is serious and should not be named among God’s people. We should “strive to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3) and the text goes on to point out about the ONE –body, Spirit, Hope, Lord, Faith, Baptism, and God the Father (Eph. 4:4-6.) Over and over we are told to be united and one but we have failed the Lord in this as is evidenced by our division.

Many will be surprised to learn that Jesus prayed, the very night He was betrayed, for His followers to be united. Notice John 17:11, “…keep them through Your name those whom you have given Me, that they may be one as We are.” This verse is about the immediate disciples of Jesus, known as the 12 apostles. Jesus wanted them to be one and they were. Did Peter preach that salvation was by “faith only?” Did Andrew say folks should pray a “sinner’s prayer?” Perhaps John preached about baptism while James said just stay at home and do nothing and Phillip said salvation was by “grace alone.” Get the picture? The disciples of the Lord went out preaching a unified message of faith in Jesus Christ, repentance from past sins, and baptism for the remission of sins. Read Acts 2 if you doubt it. But that’s not all. (Article Concludes Next Week)