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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 7, NUMBER 13, APRIL 1, 2007 AN ANSWER TO A FALSE TEACHER Over the years I have come across and received different tracts and articles written by various individuals that claim to present questions that no “church of Christ preacher” can answer. Recently Rhonda Vorhees gave me another of these kinds of articles. This one is loose on the Internet. Perhaps you have encountered it or something like it. I intend to answer this article over the next several weeks in The Northern Kentucky Searcher. Since I am going to be quoting all of what this individual had to say, be aware that there will be a great deal of false teaching that will appear on these pages. Hopefully and prayerfully, the scriptural answers to the false teaching will also appear.
The author of the piece is David Martin, from the Solid Rock Baptist
Church, Barlett, Tn. I called this
individual and left a message. To
this point in time, I have not heard back from him. “COMMON SENSE QUESTIONS A ‘CHURCH OF CHRIST’ PREACHER CANNOT CLEARLY ANSWER” “The religious sect known as the “Church of Christ” has many peculiar and aberrant doctrines that are contrary to the word of God. It is a most deceptive and dangerous cult. Their teaching of baptismal regeneration is an age-old heresy that has damned millions to hell, and is still doing so today. The idea that they are the one, true and restored church of Jesus Christ puts them in the same league with the Mormon and Roman Catholic churches. If you are a member of this “church” or have been influenced by its teachings, we challenge you to ask your preacher the questions that follow, then get your King James Bible out, open it up, and ask the Holy Spirit to show you the TRUTH (John 16:13). If you have never been saved in the Bible sense, for heaven’s sake, do not mistake being “washed in the baptistery of the church” for being washed in the blood of Christ. If you ask one of these “preachers” any of the questions in this tract, you won’t get a straight answer due to their ‘screwball’ theology. You’ll have them in ‘hot water,’ ‘swimming in circles,’ trying to explain their heretical positions. They’ll be ‘hopping all over the pond’ because they can’t stay too long in one spot without sinking in the mire of their false doctrines. Don’t YOU wind up being baptized in the ‘Lake of Fire’ by accepting a ‘waterworks’ based plan of salvation and rejecting salvation by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ (Matt. 3:11; Rev. 20:15; Eph. 2:8,9; Rom. 5:9; Rom. 11:6).” Answer: There is so much that I need to comment upon simply from Mr. Martin’s introduction. Allow me to say first of all, it has been my experience over the years that someone who actually possesses the truth does not feel compelled to attack in such an unkind, disrespectful way. I don’t mind that he spoke against the Lord’s church as a “most deceptive and dangerous cult.” The fact that the church would be spoken against is nothing new. We need only to turn to the book of Acts 28:22 to see that those who refused to adhere to the popular religious views of their time would be spoken of in a most derogatory manner. Upon Paul’s arrival as a prisoner in Rome, he summoned the Jewish leaders in the city to explain his situation. They stated in verse 22, “But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere.” Labeling something with a term that has negative connotations does not necessarily make it so. It is apparent that Mr. Martin uses the word “cult” as it is defined in the sixth definition given in Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary. It is defined as “a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.” Since most of the Protestant religious groups of today, including practically all Baptist churches, accept a theology based upon portions of John Calvin’s teachings, we would be considered “unorthodox” in many ways by them. I accept the theology of no man, but cling to the simple teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why I can read a passage like Mark 16:16, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” and not feel that I must change its clear meaning. Mr. Martin must either deny that Mark 16:16 should be in the Bible or change it’s meaning to “He who believes is saved and should be baptized; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” Since Mr. Martin used the word “cult” in reference to the Lord’s church, let’s see if the church of Christ of which we are members possesses the 8 generally recognized characteristics of a cult today. 1. Highly admired human leaders. No, this does not describe the Lord’s church. We have but one head, and that is the Lord, Jesus Christ. In Eph. 1:22-23, we find, “And he put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” 2. Unquestioned obedience of members to leaders. No, this does not describe us. The only “unquestioned obedience” that is called for is obedience to the Lord’s commands. In Hebrews 5:8-9, we read, “Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And have been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” It is interesting that because of his “theology” Mr. Martin has to deny the necessity of obedience on the part of man. As a matter of fact, later in his tract, Mr. Martin will say that no human effort is involved at all in salvation. Additionally, since Mr. Martin tells us to take out our KING JAMES Bibles, I wonder what he would say that Peter meant in Acts 2:40, when he said, “Save yourselves from this untoward generation.” According to Mr. Martin’s tract, any human effort negates salvation by grace. There is nothing man can, or must, DO. (do be continued….)
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