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The
matter of fellowship is a very important one for all
Bible-believing Christians. There are kinds of
fellowship that call forth the condemnation of the Lord
(James 4:4; Judg. 2:2, 3). Therefore, in all our
fellowship we must be careful to safeguard our
fellowship with Christ. The enjoyment of that fellowship
is clearly tied by the Word of God to separation from
spiritual wickedness and error (II Cor. 6:17-18).
NEED
FOR SEPARATION
For years it was the practice of evangelical Christians
to remain in denominations that were mostly
nonevangelical, even liberal or Anglo-Catholic.
They gave expression to their evangelicalism mostly
through interdenominational societies and movements.
They felt they could distance themselves from the
rationalism or Romanism prevalent in their denominations
without actually separating from them. With the
formation of the World Council of Churches, it became
very much more difficult for Christians to justify this
position, because by virtue of their membership in the
major denominations they were part of the movement to
create a one-world church under the leadership of the
pope. The World Council of Churches, with no little help
from Dr. Billy Graham, soon involved Evangelicals in its
operation, with a consequent compromise of the faith
they professed to uphold. Modern evangelicals in the
ecumenical movement sound more and more like liberals,
often questioning or denying parts of Scripture history
and doctrine and involving themselves in the effort to
produce union with Rome.
Thus ecumenism is a major reason for separation. It is
not the only reason. Whether or not a church is in the
World (or National) Council of Churches, if it denies
the fundamentals of the faith, it should not be kept in
the fellowship of God's people.
THE DUTY OF SEPARATION
"Can two walk together, except they be
agreed?" (Amos 3:3). We are instructed to
"have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of
darkness, but rather reprove them" (Eph. 5:11). To
a Christian, Liberalism, Modernism, Romanism, and World
Council of Churches ecumenism are undoubtedly
"works of darkness." The duty of separation is
plain. Paul teaches this duty again in II Corinthians
6:14-18. John speaks of it in II John 10-11.
CHRIST THE FOCUS OF SEPARATION
Separation is no mere negative reaction. It is
thoroughly positive, because it is basically separation
unto Christ. "Let us go forth therefore unto him
without the camp, bearing his reproach" (Heb.
13:13). Fellowship in any organization that denies
Christ, repudiates His Word, or departs from His
finished work of atonement and the gospel of
justification through faith without works is a
fellowship that leads away from Christ. Our fellowship
with Him demands our separation from apostasy and
fundamental error.
SEPARATION, NOT ISOLATION
Our separation should not blind us to the duty of
Christians to express their love one for another and
their spiritual unity in Christ. The Free Presbyterian
Church therefore seeks to stand with faithful men and
churches around the world, even when they do not endorse
all our positions on matters that, though important to
us, are not fundamental to the gospel. Whitefield was a
Calvinist, Wesley an Arminian. Yet Whitefield strove
hard to ensure that they stood firmly together in the
work of the gospel. Spurgeon endorsed and promoted
Moody, much to the chagrin of some who thought that
Moody, a confessed Calvinist, was not Calvinistic
enough. We seek to express the fundamental oneness of
God's people in any way we can without compromising the
fundamentals of the faith. We are Biblical separatists,
not isolationists.
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