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Jerald Finney
Copyright © February 9, 2018
The church proceeded under the New Covenant, whereas the Jewish theocracy operated under the Mosaic covenant. Isaac Backus, in pointing out that Jesus did away with the Old Testament Covenant of Law, wrote:
- “When our Savior came, he fulfilled the law, both moral and ceremonial, and abolished those hereditary distinctions among mankind. But in the centuries following, deceitful philosophy took away the name which God has given to that covenant, (Acts vii.8) [the covenant of circumcision] and added the name Grace to it; from whence came the doctrine, that dominion is founded in grace. And although this latter name has been exploded by many, yet the root of it has been tenaciously held fast and taught in all colleges and superior places of learning, as far as Christianity has extended, until the present time; whereby natural affection, education, temporal interest and self-righteousness, the strongest prejudices in the world, have all conspired to bind people in that way, and to bar their minds against equal liberty and believer’s baptism.”[i]
The New Covenant established a spiritual kingdom, not an earthly kingdom. New Testament Church principles make clear that the church, made up of local independent assemblies, are to remain separate from the world and that union with the world combines the holy with the unholy. Satan is the god of this world and controls the world system. Combining church and state combines God’s set apart assemblies with the world system. Corruption is inevitable when church and state are intermixed.
As history shows, the official corrupted “churches” were vile to the core. For over a thousand years, the Catholic Church (starting in the early fourth century) was the only established church. The reformers became especially aware of the corruption within the Roman “church.” However, after successfully breaking the Catholic monopoly, they brought with them many of the heresies of their harlot mother. When established themselves, they, for example, continued the vicious persecution of “heretics.”
To quote a great Bible teacher: “The church that sets out to spiritualize the world will soon find that the world will secularize the church. When wheat and tares compromise, it is the wheat that suffers. Light and darkness, right and wrong, good and evil, truth and error are incompatibles, and when they compromise it is the light, the right, the good, and the truth that are damaged”[ii]
Separation is a Biblical principle that runs throughout scripture. Holy means set apart for God. You cannot bring that which is holy and unholy together without making the holy things unholy. Holy things combined with unholy things do not make the unholy holy. It always makes the holy unholy. Being around someone who is sick may make a well person sick. Being around a well person won’t make a sick person well. If you are grounded and touch the ground and a power line at the same time, you are cooked. If you try to touch God and touch the world, you will be corrupted.
The Holy Bible, the basic source for all truth, proclaims: “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 I 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.”[iii]
Just as the union of church and state corrupted the Roman “church” and society, it also corrupted the established Protestant churches and the nations which had established Protestant churches.
Endnotes
[i] Isaac Backus, An Abridgement to the Church History of New England (Boston: Harvard University, 1804; reprinted. 1935), p. 136. cited in Beller, America in Crimson Red…, p. 446.
[ii] W. Graham Scroggie, born 1877, twelve times the Bible teacher at the famous Keswick, England conference, They Knew Their God, Vol. 5, 194 cited in The Berean Call, February 2006, p. 5, available at www.thebereancall.org.
[iii] 2 Co. 6.14-18. The doctrine of separation is taught extensively in the Word of God.
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