A
FRAGMENT UPON THE DOWN-GRADE CONTROVERSY.
BY this
time many of our readers will be weary of the Down-Grade controversy:
they cannot be one-tenth so much tired of it, or tried by it, as
we are. When the first article appeared, a friend wrote to warn
us that he who touched this theme would gain no honor thereby, but
would bring a host of enemies around him. We believed his prophecy,
and with this as part of the reckoning we went on, for a solemn
sense of duty impelled us. The result is not other than we looked
for: the treatment our protest has received is neither better nor
worse than we expected: possibly we have personally received more
respect than we reckoned on.
Hitherto
(and this matter is now merely in its beginning), the chief answer
has come from the public teachers, and as far as their public answer
is concerned, it amounts, at its best interpretation, to the admission
that there may be a little amiss, but not enough to speak about.
They are sorry that a few brethren go rather too far, but they are
dear brethren still. Many good men lament the fact that liberty
is, in certain instances, degenerating into license, but they solace
themselves with the belief that on the whole it is a sign of health
and vigor: the bough is so fruitful that it runs over the wall.
At any rate, denominational peace must be kept up, and there must
be no discordant charge of defection to break the chorus of mutual
congratulation.
The intense
desire for union has its commendable side, and we are far from undervaluing
it. Precious also is the protest for liberty, which certain valorous
souls have lifted up. We rejoice that our brethren will not submit
their consciences to any man; but the mercy is that we do not know
of any man who desires that they should. Specially is the object
of their brave opposition as free from a desire to rule over them
as from the wish to be ruled by them. It is a pity that such loyalty
to liberty could not be associated with an equally warm expression
of resolve to be loyal to Christ and his gospel. It would be a grievous
fault if the sons of the Puritans did not maintain the freedom of
their consciences; but it will be no less a crime if they withdraw
those consciences from under the yoke of Christ.
To pursue
union at the expense of truth is treason to the Lord Jesus. If we
are prepared to enter into solemn league and covenant for the defense
of the crown-rights of King Jesus, we cannot give up the crown-jewels
of his gospel for the sake of a larger charity. He is our Master
and Lord, and we will keep his words: to tamper with his doctrine
would be to be traitors to himself. Yet, almost unconsciously, good
men and true may drift into compromises which they would not at
first propose, but which they seem forced to justify. Yielding to
be the creatures of circumstances, they allow another to gird them,
and lead them whither they would not; and when they wake up, and
find themselves in an undesirable condition, they have not always
the resolution to break away from it. Especially in the company
of their equally-erring brethren, they are not inclined to consider
their ways, and are not anxious to have them remarked upon; and,
therefore, in this brief paper we venture to make an earnest appeal
from brethren assembled, to brethren at home in their studies quietly
turning over the matter.
As much
as possible we beg them to forget the obnoxious reprover, and to
look the state of affairs carefully in the face, and see if it strikes
them as it does us. We will put it plainly, not to provoke, but
to be understood. As a matter of fact, believers in Christ’s
atonement are now in declared religions union with those who make
light of it; believers in Holy Scripture are in confederacy with
those who deny plenary inspiration; those who hold evangelical doctrine
are in open alliance with those who call the fall a fable, who deny
the personality of the Holy Ghost, who call justification by faith
immoral, and hold that there is another probation after death, and
a future restitution for the lost. Yes, we have before us the wretched
spectacle of professedly orthodox Christians publicly avowing their
union with those who deny the faith, and scarcely concealing their
contempt for those who cannot be guilty of such gross disloyalty
to Christ. To be very plain, we are unable to call these things
Christian Unions, they begin to look like Confederacies in Evil.
Before the face of God we fear that they wear no other aspect. To
our inmost heart, this is a sad truth from which we cannot break
away.
It is
lawful to unite with all sorts of men for good and benevolent and
necessary purposes, even as at a fire, Pagan and Papist and Protestant
may each one hand on the buckets and in a sinking ship, heathen
and Christian alike are bound to take turns at the pumps. For useful,
philanthropical, and political purposes, united action is allowable
among men of the most diverse views in religion. But the case before
us is that of a distinctly religious communion, a professed fellowship
in Christ. Is this to be made so wide that those who contradict
each other on vital points may yet pretend to be at one?
Furthermore,
we should greatly object to the shifting about for heresy which
some speak of; but in this case the heresy is avowed, and is thrust
forward in no diffident style. No words could be more explicit had
they been selected as a challenge. We have not to deal with those
tares which were like the wheat, but with thorns and thistles which
declare themselves openly. Whether the Down-Grade evil has operated
on few or many is a question which may be waived: it has operated
manifestly enough upon some, and they glory in it. Yet professedly
sound believers are in full accord with these outspokenly heterodox
men, and are linked with them in set and formal union. Is this according
to the mind of the God of truth? The largest charity towards those
who are loyal to the Lord Jesus, and yet do not see with us on secondary
matters, is the duty of all true Christians. But how are we to act
towards those who deny his vicarious sacrifice, and ridicule the
great truth of justification by his righteousness? These are not
mistaken friends, but enemies of the cross of Christ. There is no
use in employing circumlocutions and polite terms of expression:—where
Christ is not received as to the cleansing power of his blood and
the justifying merit of his righteousness, he is not received at
all.
It used
to be generally accepted in the Christian Church that the line of
Christian communion was drawn hard and fast, at the Deity of our
Lord; but even this would appear to be altered now. In various ways
the chasm has been bridged, and during the past few years several
ministers have crossed into Unitarianism, and have declared that
they perceived little or no difference in the two sides of the gulf.
In all probability there was no difference to perceive in the regions
where they abode. It is our solemn conviction that where there can
be no real spiritual communion there should be no pretense of fellowship.
Fellowship with known and vital error is participation in sin.
Those who know and love the truth of God cannot have fellowship
with that which is diametrically opposed thereto, and there can
be no reason why they should pretend that they have such fellowship.
We cheerfully
admit that among men who possess the divine life, and a consequent
discernment of truth, there will be differences of attainment and
perception; and that these differences are no barriers to love and
union. But it is another matter when we come to receiving or rejecting
the vicarious sacrifice and the justifying righteousness of our
Lord. We who believe Holy Scripture to be the inspired truth of
God cannot have fellowship with those who deny the authority from
which we derive all our teaching. We go to our pulpits to save a
fallen race, and believe that they must be saved in this life, or
perish for ever: how can we profess brotherhood with those who deny
the fall of man, and hold out to him the hope of another probation
after death? They have all the liberty in the world, and we would
be the last to abridge it; but that liberty cannot demand our co-operation.
If these men believe such things, let them teach them, and
construct churches, unions, and brotherhoods for themselves! Why
must they come among us? When they enter among us at unawares, and
are resolved to stay, what can we do? The question is not soon answered;
but, surely, in no case will we give them fellowship, or profess
to do so.
During
the past month many have put to us the anxious question, “What
shall we do?” To these we have had no answer to give except
that each one must act for himself after seeking direction of the
Lord. In our own case we intimated our course of action in last
month’s paper. We retire at once and distinctly from the Baptist
Union. The Baptist Churches are each one of them self-contained
and independent. The Baptist Union is only a voluntary association
of such churches, and it is a simple matter for a church or an individual
to withdraw from it. The Union, as at present constituted, has no
disciplinary power, for it has no doctrinal basis whatever, and
we see no reason why every form of belief and misbelief should not
be comprehended in it so long as immersion only is acknowledged
as baptism. There is no use in blaming the Union for harboring errors
of the extremest kind, for, so far as we can see, it is powerless
to help itself, if it even wished to do so. Those who originally
founded it made it “without form and void,” and so it
must remain. At least, we do not see any likelihood of a change.
A large number have this state of things in admiration, and will
go on with it; we have no such admiration, and therefore have ceased
from it. But we want outsiders to know that we are in nowise altered
in our faith, or in our denominational position. As a baptized believer,
our place is where it has ever been.
Why
not start a new Denomination? This is not a question for which
we have any liking. There are denominations enough. If there were
a new denomination formed the thieves and robbers who have entered
other “gardens walled round” would climb into this
also, and so nothing would be gained. Besides, the expedient is
not needed among churches which are each one self-governing and
self-determining: such churches can find their own affinities without
difficulty, and can keep their own coasts clear of invaders. Since
each vessel is seaworthy in herself, let the hampering ropes be
cut clean away, and no more lines of communication be thrown out
until we know that we are alongside a friend who sails under the
same glorious flag. In the isolation of independency, tempered by
the love of the Spirit which binds us to all the faithful in Christ
Jesus, we think the lovers of the gospel will for the present find
their immediate safety. Oh, that the day would come when, in a larger
communion than any sect can offer, all those who are one in Christ
may be able to blend in manifest unity! This can only come by the
way of growing spiritual life, clearer light upon the one eternal
truth, and a closer cleaving in all things to him who is the Head,
even Christ Jesus.