Every person who truly loves the Father will want to know all that the Father has said. While it is true that one who commits himself to Christ obligates himself by that very act to familiarize himself with all that God has taught, he will not do so out of a sense of obligation but as a joyful privilege. It is one thing to study to be a shrewd lawyer, and a wholly different thing to study to be a loving and affectionate son. Such a son will be as tolerant of others in their deficiencies as the Father is of his weaknesses. He will not set up a standard for others which God has not set up for all. This warrants the following observations.
1. The word of God has a meaning and the doctrine of God can be understood. Such understanding can only result from diligent investigation by earnest students who examine the text of the revelation and apply to their research those rules of logical interpretation which govern such matters. When proper examination has been made, free from preconceived bias, the result must be conceded to be the doctrine of Christ as given through the holy envoys, the apostles.
2. In view of the fact that such conclusions must depend in part, or in whole, upon the deductions made from the sacred scriptures, and thus represent the sacred oracles as filtered through human rational processes, the conclusions cannot be constituted conditions of union or communion, or tests of one's relationship to the Father. They must not be regarded as the basis for life but of growth, and that rate differs with each individual who is in Christ.
3. The deductions from the sacred revelation as made by one individual, or a group of individuals conducting research in concert, are not formally binding upon any other individual, unless commended unto such individual by his own investigation, perception and conscience. They can be shared with others but not saddled upon them, for they can be binding only to the degree and in the measure that they are personally grasped and comprehended. If this be not true the following evils will result.
a. Individual responsibility will be destroyed and men will be subjected to creedal tests and criteria arbitrarily imposed.
b. Those who concur with such imposition upon themselves will repose their faith in the wisdom of men rather than in the wisdom of God.
c. The supreme court of appeal will be "the infallible interpretation" of each party, a thought as reprehensible as "an infallible interpreter," or pope.
4. No opinion, honestly held by a child of God can be made a basis of fellowship or a test of it. Such an opinion must never be bound upon others as a creed, nor must others threaten excommunication of one who holds such opinion if he does not relinquish it. The sword of the Spirit must never be used to kill or destroy those who are indwelt of the Spirit. Separation upon the basis of opinion must never be condoned. The called out ones are never called out from among the called out.
All of God's children are my beloved brethren. I have no brothers who are not beloved. I have no half-brothers, step-brothers, or brothers-in-law in Christ Jesus. Many of my brothers disagree with me about some things, and some of my brothers disagree with me about many things. On every controversial issue which has disturbed our tranquility some of my brothers take one position, while some take another.
They are all my brothers, not because of any of their views but in spite of all of them. I shall recognize them as brothers publicly and privately. I will call upon them to pray and participate in my meetings. I will love them and cherish them. I will maintain my personal convictions about all of our troublesome problems, but I will not allow these to negate or deny the sublimity of our relationship.
We are members of the same body. We are branches of the same Vine. We are sheep of the same flock. We are children of the same Father. No one will ever herd me into a corral where I must set at nought or boorishly treat some of my brothers to be recognized and used by a group of others. I value the Lord and His love too highly. The price one pays for factionalism is too great. The Christ whom I serve is not a party chieftain but Lord of the whole church. He is not the president of a faction but the head of the whole body--every member of it!
I have no perfect brothers. They are all brothers in error. All of them are as weak and fallible, as helpless and remiss, as myself. Some are in error on some things, some on other things, but none of them know all there is to know, and none are free from error. No, not one! It is foolish and arrogant for brothers in error to label others as "brothers in error" as if those who slapped on the label were free from error. Such men, knowing their own failures and shortcomings should bow in abject humility before the Father of all and entreat for His forgiveness.
If I am in the fellowship with any brothers at all they are brothers in error. This does not bother me because it is this kind of persons to whom grace is extended. Those who are as perfect as God will not need the blessings of grace. I do not love error. I deplore it. I simply love my brothers and I do not intend to deny brotherhood on the basis of imbecility, lack of understanding or mistaken views. If life in Christ consisted of being right about everything and every point of doctrine, I would have to confess I have never lived, and the "I" of today would have to sever all relationship with the "Me" of yesterday.
I do not plead that my brethren accept anything which cuts across personal conscience or is contrary to conviction. I simply plead that they quit playing God and accept all of God's children as their brothers. God does not tell us how to treat the lengthy catalogue of disturbing items. He does tell us how to treat our brothers. I might be right about all of these things and go to hell because I did not show love for my brothers, or, I might be mistaken about a lot of things and go to heaven because I love my Father and all of His children.
We live in Christ through the faith, the one faith, the faith once for all delivered. That faith is created by the cross. It is not a faith based upon being in the right position about everything, but upon being in the right Person. I shall elevate nothing higher than the cross. I will allow nothing to overshadow it. I will permit the blood of the cross to blot from my life those things which hinder, but I will permit none of those to blot out the blood of the cross. The life is in the blood. I will use the cross to batter down walls between brethren but I will not use it to batter down brethren.
It is the cross which made me free to love and to serve. It is the cross which made it possible for me to accept all others as God accepted me, not because I was worthy, but in spite of my unworthiness. I will cling to the cross and through it I will cling to every other person who does the same. The greatest unifying instrument in this fragmented world is the cross of Jesus. With it we can stop the silly division and the inane fighting which has made us to appear ridiculous in the eyes of the pagan world. One in Christ! One at the cross! This is what the faith once delivered is all about!
