Increasingly, or so it seems, one hears a comment something like “I am only a Christadelphian because they are the closest to what I believe is the Truth If another group were to come along that was closer to the Truth, I would affiliate with that group”
Personally, such thinking grates on our sense of the spirit of scripture It implies there can be a community which is acceptable, yet we should leave it for a better one if the better one could to be found.
Either righteous or wicked
A recent reading of II Corinthians 6 crystallized our objections to such an idea.
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and! will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (II Cor 6 14-18).
Note the repeated emphasis! God views mankind in two classes those in the light and those in darkness This is it, two classes, and they are sharply different Those m the light are the children of God who stand m hope of eternal life m the age to come Those m darkness will live their lives and if they never learn the Truth will die and cease to exist.
God’s view is not man’s view
It is no accident that this way of thinking – black and white, right and wrong, good and bad – does not accord with human thinking Throughout the scriptures, we see a pattern from God comes good, from man comes bad One of the most poignant passages about the flawed behavior of man is Romans 3 9-12.
“What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; as iris written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one ” (Paul is quoting from Psalms 14 & 53).
The humanist thought system holds sway today, which says that from man comes good Humanism replaces God with man m every aspect Man is the problem solver, the source of reason and logic and the vehicle for positive change.
Two distinct groups from beginning
The idea that man is m two distinct groups can be traced back to the beginning of history The separation started as soon as people began to multiply on the earth
“And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, [said she], hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.” (Or, as the margin says, “to call themselves by the name of the Lord”) (Gen 4 25-26)
Genesis 5 and 6 record a quick and familiar progression that lead to the flood Initially the children of God and children of men go their different ways As the children of men grow in power and wealth, the separation evaporates and the world finds itself m darkness.
“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh. yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants [of evil] in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6 1-5).
Seed of serpent vs. seed of woman
The two distinct groups are even seen m the curse m Eden
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
Here are two enemies which can never be reconciled because their motivations for existence are diametrically opposed One will be driven to please self, the other will be driven to please others, specifically the Creator
The separation must be maintained
The fact of two distinct groups – the people of God and the people of wickedness – leads to an exhortation that is woven throughout scripture When those of God seek fellowship with the seed of the serpent, the results are always disastrous for the children of God.
Balak, the king of Moab, summoned Balaam to curse the Israelites, but through God’s intervention the curse was turned to a blessing Unfortunately, Balaam wouldn’t be dissuaded from his mission to curse Israel and he told Balak another way to bring down Israel by simply allowing his people to mingle with the Jews That would do more damage than any curse.
“Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor” (Num 25 1-5).
As Israel was about to enter the land of promise, Moses gave the people a stem commission from God “When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee.., thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them: neither shalt thou make marriages with them, thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly” (Deut 7 1-4).
At the end of his life, Joshua, after having done so much to purge the land, warns of the ramifications of not continuing the process.
“Take good heed therefore unto your selves, that ye love the Lord your God. Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you” (Josh 23 11-13).
Of course the people did not heed these words and the subsequent period of the Judges contains one disaster after another.
Light vs. darkness in the N.T.
The theme is woven throughout the New Testament as well We have already noted II Corinthians 6 Here is a sample of other references.
“Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness” (I Thess 5 5).
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy” (I Peter 2 9-12).
“In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother” (I John 3 10).
All God’s children in one body
In this review of scripture, there is no such thing as barely righteous, righteous or very righteous or barely light, light, outstandingly light There are only two divisions – light and darkness, righteous and wicked, children of God and children of sin.
Paul tells us that the light is found in Christ, the body of believers Those in the light are fused together into one entity separate from the world.
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. ..And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2 4-6).
This fact is the reason why Paul makes his earnest appeal late in the epistle that all believers should be, “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Eph 4 3-6)
Which group are we in?
We have two groups to choose from which group are we in? Which group are we in as Christadelphians? Simply put, we have the Truth or we don’t, we are in Christ or we are not, we are a believer or an infidel.
If we are in the light, if the Christadelphians are in the light, then we are a part of that one body of Christ and have no need to be looking for something better If we have the Truth, and I, for one, firmly believe we do, then let us hold on to it, try with all our effort to live it and let it shine as a beacon in the midst of the darkness of this present world.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One