RESTORATION PRINCIPLES - THEIR BIBLICAL BASIS (1)
RESTORATION PRINCIPLES - THEIR BIBLICAL BASIS (1)
by Yeow Chin Kiong
There is a saying in the Malay language, “Kalau sesat di hujung jalan, balik ke pangkal jalan.” It means when you lose your way, go back to where you started from (and retrace your journey to pinpoint where you went wrong). Over the centuries after the Cross that claimed the physical life of Jesus and His resurrection from the dead, the chief scandal of Christianity is that of division and dispute among Bible-believers.
The sad spread of denominations of those who claim to be His disciples is certainly contrary to Jesus’ desire “… that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in me, and I in You: that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.”(John 17:21). The rise of denominations,- with differing names, beliefs and practices,- and their increase in numbers is contrary to God’s commands for all believers in Christ to be of “one mind” (Romans 12:16; 15:5-6; 1 Corinthians 1:10; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Philippians 2:2; 3:16; 4:2).
With the existence of denominations as a present reality in the “supermarket of faiths,” the answer most definitely is NOT “reformation,” which is defined as alteration or change but in no particular direction. The reforming of a denomination might result in the setting-up of ANOTHER denomination with different beliefs and practices from that which preceded it! In fact, reforming existing “church groups” by breaking away to form other groups is precisely how denominations proliferate.
If we are persuaded that the Bible is God’s authoritative word, with our salvation itself depending upon our obedience to its doctrines or teachings (2 Timothy 3:15-17; Romans 6:17-18), we would necessarily believe and practise only what the Bible.- searched and its contents properly handled (Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 2:15),- tells us to. The accretion of erroneous teaching gathered over the years need to be set aside completely and the original and authentic faith or collection of Bible teachings RESTORED.
There is a body of doctrines “… once for all delivered to the saints …” as important as matters related to “… our common salvation…” (Jude 3). After all, Jesus has ALL authority in heaven and on earth today and He must be heard and obeyed (Matthew 28:18-20; 17:5; Hebrews 2:1-2). Grace and truth came through Jesus (John 1:17) who promised His apostles to guide them to “all truth” (John 14:26; 16:13). It was the Divine will that God’s grace be accompanied with an unchanging body of teaching or doctrine to be transmitted across the generations unaltered and unadulterated (2 Timothy 2:1-2). If this body of doctrine had undergone change in its transmission over the years, there is a need to RESTORE the original content of doctrine and preserve that original content once restored.
Once restored, we are not to go beyond the written word (1 Corinthians 4:6-7). As an essential check on the purity and unity of our faith,- which is the doctrinal truth in love (Ephesians 4:14-15),- we are not to have company with those of our brotherhood who do not obey the Divinely-inspired word, so that they may be ashamed, being thus admonished as a brother and not as an enemy (2 Thessalonians 3:13-15; Romans 16:17-19; 1 Timothy 6:3-5).
We shall see in the next segment that the work of restoring the truth of God’s revelation has precedents or examples in the Bible.