For the professing Church the day of theological controversy has passed. Ecumenism is now the word on every tongue. Church leaders appear to have become convinced that the stifling confusion in the Church can be overcome only by all of us getting together, minimizing our differences, and emphasizing those doctrines on which we all agree. As a result, some of the most important doctrines of Scripture are neither denied nor affirmed; they are ignored. But little matter, for the objective now is not to be true to the written Word of God but to see to it that the Church is “strong” and commands the world’s respect.

Ecumenism, sad to say, has made significant inroads among evangelical believers too. All too seldom do men of God stand up to defend by the Scriptures the truths they believe and proclaim. The theological debate has given place to dialogue, in which two individuals or groups sit down together to discuss their differences and see if there is not some basis for agreement. This appears generous and objective, but too often convictions are compromised and the truth watered down by such undertakings, with the result that the Spirit’s power is sacrificed for numerical strength. No man of God can speak in the power of the Spirit when he places anything before the Word and Will of God. Nor can the Church ever be truly united and strong unless she puts God’s Word and Will first and takes her place in the world as Christ’s ambassador on alien territory (See II Cor. 5:20).

But what do the Scriptures say about this new “open-mindedness,” this new “let’s all get together” trend?

OUR LORD’S WARNING

During our Lord’s earthly ministry He warned His disciples: “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matt. 16:6).

The disciples did not immediately grasp the significance of the Lord’s warning. Realizing that they had forgotten to take bread with them, they supposed that He referred to the leaven which their bakers used and concluded that the Pharisees and Sadducees were evidently out to poison their food!

To correct this mistake our Lord had but to remind them how, with but a few loaves, He had fed five thousand people at one time and four thousand at another. They themselves had taken up baskets full of the fragments on both occasions. Surely, then, He could supply them with food!

“Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees (Ver. 12).

Someone was out to poison them—spiritually! It is doubtful that the Pharisees and Sadducees meant to propagate poisonous doctrines, but in their pride and hypocrisy they were the ready tools of Satan. It was because of the destructive qualities of these doctrines that our Lord had used the term “leaven” to describe them. Where false doctrine is concerned, it takes but a little to do a great deal of harm. Referring to this very thing Paul warned the Galatians that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (Gal. 5:9).

What was so dangerous about the teachings of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? In general it was that the Pharisees added to the written Word (Matt. 23) and the Sadducees took from it (Acts 23:8). Both were dangerous, and our Lord warned His disciples to BEWARE of both. We do well to take this lesson to heart, for the Pharisees and Sadducees are with us still—those who add to the Word of God and those who take from it.

THE DOCTRINE OF THE PHARISEES

“The doctrine of the Pharisees” has held a prominent place in the Church throughout its history. The Reformation did not put an end to it by any means, for still today vast numbers of religious people subscribe to it.

The leaders of Christendom have added all sorts of rituals, restrictions, and requirements to God’s revealed program for His Church in this dispensation of Grace, and multitudes of sincere believers follow like sheep, instead of searching the Scriptures daily to see whether these things really do belong to His program for our day.

Look at the members of Christ’s Body. Many have placed themselves under the Law, while others are trying to recover the miraculous signs of Pentecost, or are striving to carry out a “great commission” that is not theirs. They observe holy days, baptism, footwashing, and all sorts of other forms and ceremonies which are contrary to God’s program for this dispensation, as revealed in the epistles of Paul. As a result the Church is a Babel of confusion and Satan is well satisfied.

How perverse is the heart of man! God reveals the Substance and lo, His people go back to the shadows! He demonstrates the all-sufficiency of Christ’s redemptive work and behold, His people continue to observe the rites that pointed to it. Indeed, they add ceremonies which He never commanded at all! In grace God postpones the judgment and the earthly reign of Christ, to offer grace and reconciliation to His enemies and lo, His servants do not even understand and go about vainly trying to “establish His kingdom.”

They do not deny that we are commissioned to proclaim God’s offer of grace and reconciliation, but they add another commission and so confuse the God-given message. They do not deny the all-sufficiency of Christ’s finished work, but they add unscriptural and undispensational teachings and forms and ceremonies, and so confuse and adulterate God’s clear message of grace.

This is “the doctrine of the Pharisees” and it is dangerous.

Added error blinds men’s minds to the truth. Those who add the so-called “Great Commission” to God’s program for this dispensation cannot fully appreciate the glory of our Lord’s “great commission” to Paul and to us (II Cor. 5:14-21; Eph. 3:8,9; et al). Those who go back under the Law of Moses or even back to Pentecost cannot fully appreciate the glory of our Lord’s finished work or “the exceeding riches of His grace.” Those who observe footwashing, water baptism, or holy days cannot fully understand the mystery of God’s purpose and grace. These added things hang as a veil before their eyes and blind them to the glories of their position in the heavenlies in Christ as members of His Body.

Our Lord charged the Pharisees with “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” and with “making the Word of God of none effect through your [their] tradition” (Mark 7:7,13). This is being done on every hand today as religious leaders add to God’s glorious “grace” program ceremonies and observances which belonged to former dispensations, or which He never commanded at all. This is dangerous to our spiritual welfare and we should “beware” of it.

THE DOCTRINE OF THE SADDUCEES

But if Satan cannot deceive us with “the doctrine of the Pharisees” he will seek to accomplish his purpose through “the doctrine of the Sadducees.”

In comparison with the bigoted Pharisees, the Sadducees were the “advanced thinkers” of their day. Not that they did not also substitute human tradition for the Word of God, but they made more of the human intellect and refused to believe certain truths which were supernatural in character. The Sadducees have a host of followers in our day with its emphasis on the intellectual.

But our Lord warned His disciples against the Sadducees too. He said “Take heed….Beware” and described their doctrine as leaven because a little of it can spread so fast.

This warning is sorely needed today since some sincere Christians, wishing to be intellectual and open-minded, place themselves in positions of great spiritual danger.

On the premise that they are mature and are seeking for the truth, such people often spend their time examining all the different viewpoints they can find and so make shipwreck of the faith. We should be careful about assuming that we are mature either intellectually or spiritually. To the puffed-up Corinthian believers Paul wrote:

“Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become [take the position of] a fool, that he may be wise” (I Cor. 3:18).

“And if a man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know” (I Cor. 8:2).

The fact is that we cannot trust our intellects. Surely the sharp disagreements among the world’s greatest intellects should teach us this. These disagreements exist because, as the Bible teaches, the human mind, like the human heart, has become depraved by sin.

THE THESSALONIANS, THE BEREANS, AND THE ATHENIANS

But were not the Bereans commended for listening with open minds to teachings which they had never heard before? Yes, when they were confronted with them. It was the Athenians, not the Bereans, who made it their policy to consider as many viewpoints as possible on every subject (Acts 17:18-21).

The strength of the Bereans was that they kept close to the Scriptures. When confronted with some new doctrine, they did indeed give it an interested hearing, but then “searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). Had they found anything in Paul’s message which contradicted the Scriptures they would immediately have rejected it. And for this God calls them “noble.” They were the truly great, the spiritual aristocracy of their day.

Too many believers today aspire to be like the Athenians rather than the Bereans. They say they wish to have open minds, and this is good if it is remembered that an open mind is like an open mouth; not everything should be put into it.

The Athenians went to the other extreme from the Thessalonians, who would not even consider a new doctrine when confronted with it—would not even consider it in the light of the Scriptures.

The Bereans were the wisest of the three. They kept close to that blessed Book, and, when confronted with unfamiliar teachings, immediately subjected them to the test of Scripture.

This is the wisest course even if only because we are all limited in time and strength. Obviously we cannot spend a great deal of time looking into the conflicting teachings of men without sacrificing a great deal of much-needed time for Bible study, and in the measure that we do this we are bound to grow spiritually weaker.

THE QUESTION OF EXPOSURE

There are those who argue that believers cannot be strengthened against error without being exposed to it. Our Lord knew better. He did not invite the Pharisees and the Sadducees to address His audiences. Rather He warned His audiences against the “leaven” of the Pharisees and the Sadducees and kept teaching His hearers the truth.

The depravity of the human heart and mind is such that the believer is not strengthened against error by constant exposure to it; he is strengthened against error by feeding consistently upon the Word of God. Exposure to error strengthens the believer only as it drives him to the Word of God. Show me a Christian who is always “considering all sides” and I will show you one who will fail dismally to give the Scriptural answer to false teaching—if indeed he is not taken in by false teaching himself. But show me a Christian who spends his time with that blessed Book and I will show you one who, strong in the faith, can easily answer his adversaries by the Scriptures. Paul wrote to young Pastor Timothy:

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ…. Preach the Word….For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears” (II Tim. 4:1-3).

And what was to be the result of this “itching ears” condition, this passion to hear teachers of all schools of thought expound their various doctrines? Hear the divine prediction:

“And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (Ver. 4).

What thoughtful student of the Word will deny that we have reached this point in the history of the professing Church, that the day of “itching ears” is upon us?

The desire to “give everyone a hearing,” as it were, may seem superficially to indicate spiritual greatness, but actually it is of the flesh and is based upon the exalted presumption that it is safe for me to trust my intellect, even though the greatest intellects have disagreed over the most vital subjects. Where our intellects are concerned we are wiser to heed the Spirit-inspired exhortation of one truly great intellect, the Apostle Paul:

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (II Cor. 10:5).

The Apostle Paul did not assume that his followers were mature enough to consider all religious viewpoints. He delivered his God-given message and warned his hearers and readers against false teachings.

To the Corinthians he wrote:

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (II Cor. 11:3).

Reminding the Colossians of his labor and strife and toil and conflict to establish them in the faith, he warns:

“Beware lest any man spoil [rob] you….Let no man beguile you…” (Col. 2:8,18).

He did not suggest to the Ephesian elders that it might be big of them occasionally to invite the legalists or the gnostics or some other heterodox teachers in to address their audiences. He rather impressed upon them their responsibility to protect their congregations from false teaching. Read carefully and prayerfully his very words, as found in Acts 20:28-31:

“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which he hath purchased with His own blood.

“For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

“Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

“Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.”

Even those two outstanding pastors, Timothy and Titus, were warned against the “leaven” of false teaching. The apostle exhorts Timothy:

“Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee” (I Tim. 4:16).

This passage explains why some pastors have been unable to save their hearers from error and spiritual shipwreck. Certainly it teaches the danger of false doctrine to both pastor and people.

Throughout his two epistles to Timothy the apostle warns his son in the faith against those who “teach otherwise” and exhorts him to “fight the good fight of the faith.” How earnestly he beseeches young Timothy to stay close to the Word of God and especially to the Word of God committed to him for this present dispensation:

“O Timothy, keep [guard] that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding… oppositions of science falsely so called” (I Tim. 6:20).

“Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

“That good thing which was committed unto thee keep [guard] by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us” (II Tim. 1:13,14).

In his letter to Titus the apostle declares that a bishop must be “blameless as the steward of God” (Titus 1:7).

“Holding fast the faithful Word… that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convince the gainsayers” (Ver. 9).

Never does Paul advise even the strongest, most mature man of God to seek out the doctrines of those who “teach otherwise” so that they may know how to deal with them. He rather exhorts them to keep strong in the truth, ever ready to meet false doctrine with the Word of God.

When you are confronted with the familiar sign, “BEWARE OF THE DOG,” be wise and keep out of the way. If you ignore the warning and have to flee torn and bruised, that is your fault. Nor can you expect God to protect you from spiritual harm and loss if you ignore His admonition to beware of false doctrine.

Do not presume: “I am mature. I will never be confused or overthrown by error.” BEWARE! This is the course of obedience. This is the course of wisdom. This is the course of humility.

Every believer should remember that “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God…because they are spiritually discerned” (I Cor. 2:14). It was by the Spirit that our eyes were opened to the most vital truths which confront mankind. Therefore it behooves us to protect ourselves from error and spiritual harm by consistent, prayerful, believing study of that blessed Book of which the Spirit is the Author.

Should members of the Body of Christ in this dispensation of Grace experience fear? Does not perfect love cast out fear?

First, let it be noted that it was John, the apostle of the circumcision, and not Paul, who said, “Perfect love casteth out fear” (I John 4:18). This passage, therefore, affords little support for the argument that believers in this dispensation of Grace should know nothing of fear. But, furthermore, it was not even the fear of God that John had in mind when he wrote this passage. It was fear of persecution and suffering.

In the will of God the circumcision epistles were written especially for believers of a future day; those who will live in the time of judgment which will follow this period of grace, when the vials of God’s wrath will be poured out upon this Christ-rejecting world. Hence these epistles contain the information they do about the Antichrist, the tribulation, the “sin unto death,” etc.

It is during this time of upheaval and judgment, when Antichrist holds sway, when the worship of God and His Christ will be made so difficult, that perfect love will give boldness and cast out fear. Let us, in our minds, put ourselves in the places of these persecuted saints of the coming tribulation and see how beautifully this passage will fit their case:

“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world.

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (I John 4:16-18).

The lesson here is also applicable to us, for in the measure that we dwell in love the fear of present trials and of coming judgment will be cast out.

But surely this passage does not teach that love will cast out all sense of fearing God, or of standing in awe of Him.

Indeed, Peter, another apostle of the circumcision, writing under the Spirit’s guidance for the same period of time, teaches a lesson which we also do well to learn. He says:

“And if ye call on the Father [Lit. “call on Him as Father”], who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

“But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (I Pet. 1:17-19).

It is indeed a stupendous thought that a holy God who, offended by sin, will judge without respect of persons, pouring out His wrath and casting into hell, has saved me—paying for my sins with the blood of His Son! To think what I have escaped, and how! To think that I may address the One who will judge sinners in His wrath, as Father! What emotions this should awaken in my heart! Mingled emotions of love and joy and gratitude on the one hand, and of fear and trembling on the other, as one who has been delivered from fearful destruction by God Himself at infinite cost.

Believers whose fear of God goes no deeper than an honorable respect have little conception of the infinite love that moved Him to save them. They understand little of the Cross. They know little of His grace.

Such might well be asked:

“Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
O, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”

The fear to which the Scriptures exhort us, then, is not the fear of an ill-treated slave or of a guilty criminal. It is not fear of persecution or suffering or even of punishment for sin. It is exactly what the term “fear of God” implies. It is the result of a deep appreciation of our own nothingness and of the infinite greatness and majesty of God. It stands opposed to pride and self-confidence. With it goes a natural fear to disobey or displease Him. This fear is not incompatible with grace.

We dare say that if the President of the United States should graciously invite one of our readers to dine with him at the White House, that reader would prepare for the visit with fear and trembling. And this is a democracy! Our reader’s fear would not spring from any concern over what the President might do to him. It would spring rather from an appropriate realization of the importance of the presidency, if not of the President himself. Nor would it be at all becoming if the reader, thus invited, were to become too familiar with the President and treat him as a “pal.” The fact that the President had invited the reader to dinner would be no excuse for his forgetting the dignity of the President’s position.

Is it strange then that we should be so often reminded in Scripture that the fear of God should characterize our attitude and behavior? True, our Lord deigned to call His disciples “my friends,” but this does not make it proper for us to speak of Him as “Friend Jesus.” We also read in Hebrews 2:11 that “He is not ashamed to call them brethren,” but this does not make it proper for us to speak of Him as “Brother Jesus” as some have done. In this dispensation of His grace, indeed He has given us a position at His own right hand as full grown sons, blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. But this does not mean that we should forget or ignore our own unworthiness, or who it is that has bestowed these undeserved blessings upon us. Our relationship to God will prove all the more sacred when these facts are borne in mind, but once let us forget them and we will have nothing more than a theological dogma left, with all the sacredness and blessedness gone. Forget them and grace itself will have lost its meaning.

Missing the true, wonderful meaning of grace, many in our day have become intimate with God in the sense that they seem to feel they are His equals. They use His name and His Word in a frivolous manner; there is little reverence or humility in their study of the Scripture or in their prayer life. Little wonder they live the lives they do. There is no sacredness in such intimacy with God, nor is it the kind of intimacy He invites us to, nor is it even the kind of intimacy that will bring true joy and blessing to our lives.

The fear of God has always been coupled with true devotion and consecration to His Holy name. It has always tended toward godly living.

When Ananias and Sapphira would have broken down the divine order for their day they were stricken dead and “great fear came upon all the church” (Acts 5:11). The result was that “believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women” (Acts 5:14).

In Acts 9:31 we read that the churches of Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, “walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.”

In Acts 10:2 we read that Cornelius was “a devout man” and “one that feared God with all his house.”

Many such passages could also be cited from Paul’s epistles, but we leave these for the remainder of our article.

PAUL AND THE FEAR OF GOD

Some who are lacking in this godly fear will argue that we have no right to draw these conclusions from passages in the gospels, the Acts and the circumcision epistles. We reply that this great lesson has been equally important in all dispensations. In all dispensations has it been fitting for finite men to stand in awe before an infinite God. In no dispensation has any other attitude been proper.

But as a matter of fact Paul, the great apostle of grace, has more to say about the fear of God than any other New Testament writer.

We remind our readers that it is he who says of the wicked: “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom. 3:18). Can it be then that he would at the same time teach believers that they need have no fear of God before their eyes? True, he exhorts us to love and adore God for His grace, to trust Him and come with confidence into His presence, to accept and occupy our position in Christ and to walk as sons of God. But it does not follow that this exalted position gives us reason to walk in pride and self-confidence, for this position is not ours by inherent right or personal merit, but by grace. Hence the apostle exhorts us to,

“Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

“With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love” (Eph. 4:1,2).

True, Paul, by the Spirit, explains that we should not have the fear of a slave or the fear that after all our sins might yet be held against us, but it is a great blunder to ignore what he does say about the place of fear in the Christian life or to suppose that in this dispensation of Grace there is no place at all for fear among believers.

It is Paul who, in Romans 11:20, exhorts us, “BE NOT HIGH-MINDED, BUT FEAR.” It is Paul who, in Philippians 2:12, bids us, “Work out your own salvation with FEAR AND TREMBLING.” (Note, he does not say “work for” but “work out your own salvation.”) It is Paul who, in Ephesians 5:21, beseeches us, “Submit yourselves one to another in the FEAR OF GOD.” It is he who, in Colossians 3:22, exhorts servants to serve their masters “in singleness of heart, FEARING GOD.”

The sad lack of discipline in the Church today is often defended on the ground that this is the dispensation of Grace and we must deal graciously with each other. Thus men of God frequently evade their plain responsibility and invite confusion and disorder in their midst. Yet it is Paul, the apostle of grace, who writes to Pastor Timothy:

“Them that [practice] sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear” (I Tim. 5:20).

To the Corinthians, whom Paul himself had had to rebuke for their laxity, the apostle writes,

“Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (II Cor. 7:1).

And commending them for the spirit in which they had taken his rebuke, he says,

“…what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter” (II Cor. 7:11).

It is concerning our appearance before “the judgment seat of Christ,” that the apostle again uses this word phobos. This time it is translated terror.

“Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (II Cor. 5:11).

The “judgment seat of Christ,” of course, is not to be confused with the Great White Throne where the lost will be judged for their sins. Our sins have already been judged at Calvary and we are assured that “There is therefore now no condemnation [judgment] to them that are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).

But entirely apart from salvation there will come a time when believers will be rewarded for service accomplished. This will take place at the “bema” or judgment seat of Christ. This “bema” was taken from the competitive games at which the judges decided to whom the prizes should go, and is not necessarily associated with legal justice. This is clear from I Corinthians 3:12-15 where, bidding us to take care how we build upon the foundation he has laid, the apostle says,

“Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

“Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

“If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

“If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”

Thus we have the promise that even the most unfaithful saint will still be saved, for salvation is wholly by the grace of God. But it will be a shameful and bitter experience for any child of God in that day to have to suffer loss while others gain rewards; to see his works go up in flames, as it were, while he himself is saved only as by fire; to have to stand disgraced and empty-handed before the One who gave His life’s blood to save him; to be told that he has done no real service to his fellowmen.

And mark well, this particular passage does not deal with those who do not work at all for God, but with those whose work cannot be approved, who do not build aright upon the foundation laid by Paul.

If this were taken to heart by men of God today they would not so soon sell the truth for a pulpit or human applause or freedom from a bit of persecution. If this were taken to heart they would have one great passion: to know the truth and to make it known faithfully.

In the light of the passage above, how important it is that we obey the injunction:

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Tim. 2:15).

This is why the apostle, by inspiration, warns,

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

“Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…” (II Cor. 5:10,11).

May God awaken us to the reality of these things! May we see the danger of indulging in the pleasures of the world and of the flesh, of living for self, of neglecting the things of God. May many, even among our readers, reconsecrate themselves to the service of Christ in view of the day when we shall stand before Him to give an account.

The fear of God is not incompatible with grace. How can it be when Paul, the apostle of grace, has so much to say about it? A deeper appreciation of His grace, a deeper gratitude and joy, a more sacred love and adoration are the fruits of this godly fear.