Month: April 2023

            In my 20 years as pastor of Berean, I have always heavily emphasized the doctrine of the church. I have convictions which I believe are biblically based and essential to the general welfare and survivability of these blessed bodies of Christ that are known as local churches. While correct ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) is critical to the proper functioning of the church, there is also need for churches to be faithful to all the doctrines taught in God’s word.

            The preservation of the church is majorly dependent on consistent teaching of all biblical doctrines and the proper interpretation of them. I not only emphasize ecclesiology but hopefully I am faithful to a well-rounded doctrinal ministry. We want to focus on everything the Bible teaches from cover to cover. Unfortunately, doctrine has fallen out of favor. Fewer and fewer preachers neither understand nor teach the doctrines of the faith which leaves the people in ignorance of scripture. Instead, preachers have become life coaches focusing on self-improvement. Most often, they do not look to the Bible for their source material but rely on the philosophies of secular reasoning.

            An example is the power of positive thinking and the plentiful books on self-encouragement and self-esteem. The best-selling Christian books focus on these themes while never approaching biblical understanding of the underlying condition that causes lack of confidence. Neither do they emphasize the proper solution which is Christ living in us by faith. We must have Christ to kill the root which is the depravity of our hearts. While self-esteem preachers claim that you are smart and good and have within you the power to be everything you want to be, the Bible and Jesus Christ categorically deny this. Fundamentally, we are unworthy sinners and can do nothing to help ourselves unless God should speak to our hearts through His word. This message does not travel well in the glitz, glamour, and giddiness of the well-coifed smiling charlatans.

            These preachers abandoned the word which is the only hope for true positivity. If we learn our condition through the truth of the word, we cannot find anything to be positive about until the same word reaches and changes the heart. Anything else is a meaningless placebo which we think helps but lets the disease run rampantly unchecked until it destroys the unsuspecting soul.

            The scriptures continually encourage us to pay attention to doctrine. Paul told Titus to hold on to the truth so that he could instruct others in sound doctrine. Titus labored on the island of Crete whose population was characterized by their own philosophers as persistent liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons. I suspect before Titus this is as close as they ever got to the truth. Titus needed a good foundation in strong doctrine to refute opposition to the gospel. These types are usually easily identified because they have crazy unorthodox teachings, and their lifestyles obviously betrays them…or it would seem. Joseph Smith gained quite a following despite this, did he not?

            The most dangerous to the church are preachers who twist orthodox doctrines to make their interpretations appear sound and reasonable. I have often referred to the havoc wreaked upon Baptist churches during the Second Great Awakening by Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell. These men were the seeds of the Churches of Christ, the Disciples of Christ, and the Christian Church. While orthodox on the mode of baptism, their doctrine of baptismal regeneration and claims to have restored the New Testament church along with it, resonated with many Baptist congregations and split them. As Paul said in Acts 20, some would arise and infiltrate the church, drawing away disciples after them.

            This is a clear and present danger for churches that abandon the teaching of sound doctrine. Doctrine preserves the church which is the pillar and ground of the truth. When the church is lost, truth has no one to uphold it and teach it to others. The church soon dies like the human body that is never nourished but feeds on poison.

            The Berean Baptist Church will continue to teach sound doctrine systematically to keep our feet firmly planted. We will not be tossed by every wind of false doctrine. Stay with us as we pursue every truth the scriptures teach.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

            One of the most important and impactful books I have read in the past twenty years is John MacArthur’s The Gospel According to Jesus Christ. I highly recommend this book to all Christians, especially those who may be struggling with their faith and identifying whether they are true believers in Christ. What is true faith and what is the evidence of being born-again? This book centers on the Lordship controversy. Must one believe in Jesus as both Lord and Saviour?

            To most of you who have been taught in this church, this question seems foolish to ask. However, this is an extremely sensitive issue among many fundamental Baptists. In their pursuit of high-pressure evangelism and seeking professions, they separate the Lordship of Christ from the belief in Jesus as Saviour. They believe, at least initially, we must not preach Jesus to lost sinners as anything more than Saviour. It is not necessary to have evidence of a changed life as Christ will save them as they are, and they may or may not “make Jesus the Lord of their lives.” To ask more, is to preach a works salvation.

            We believe, as MacArthur does, that the Lordship of Christ is not optional. It does not come after profession of faith but is an integral part of saving faith. There is no salvation without it. True salvation is always evidenced by a changed life. This is rejected by these fundamental Baptists because they cannot so easily count a person as a believer and thus it dampens their soul winning numbers. After their salvation, the confessor should “make Jesus the Lord of their lives,” which is a phrase nowhere found in scripture. This phrase is so often used that hardly anyone questions it. Dr. Voddie Bauchman commented, “I didn’t make Jesus my Lord. If you make Him your Lord that means you’re Lord because you told your Lord what to do. You acknowledge Lordship. You don’t bequeath Lordship.”

            This is the correct biblical interpretation of this subject. In Peter’s sermon on Pentecost, he preached, “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36). Romans 10:9 says, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” There should be no argument that salvation in Christ can be separated from the Lordship of Christ. This is the Bible’s teaching and the centuries old Baptist confession. Our statement of faith reads in Article VIII: “We believe that Repentance and Faith are sacred duties, and also inseparable graces, wrought in our souls by the regenerating Spirit of God; whereby being deeply convinced of our guilt, danger, and helplessness, and of the way of salvation by Christ we turn to God with unfeigned contrition, confession, and supplication for mercy; at the same time heartily receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our Prophet, Priest, and King, and relying on him alone as the only and all-sufficient Saviour.” Notice that we confess our guilt and the way of salvation by Christ; we turn to God with genuine contrition: AT THE SAME TIME heartily receiving THE LORD JESUS CHRIST as Prophet, Priest and King…” This identifies salvation as belief in the Saviour and acknowledging Him as Lord. There is no separation of these. The Confession also says in Article VII that the evidence of salvation is newness of life. Again, who can dispute this with any biblical text?

            The importance of MacArthur’s book is the warning against claims of salvation when no evidence exists. We commonly hear of people who are backslidden, have fallen out of church, and have no desire to serve the Lord or have any sense of His Lordship over their lives. While we do not disagree with the prospect of a backslidden state, we do not believe a true Christian lives in this state for extended periods of time. The problem is not backsliding—the problem is salvation. In Article 17 of the 1689 London Confession of Faith, the confession addresses the perseverance of the saints. Section 3 speaks of backsliding and grievous sins committed at times by believers. Yet it ends with, “they shall renew their repentance and be preserved through faith in Christ to the end.” Baptists did not entertain the possibility of not surrendering to the Lordship of Christ and existing simultaneously in a state of salvation.

            This topic is extremely important to our churches today. Paul wrote we must examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. What is the purpose of this statement if evidence of Lordship makes no difference? Our conclusion is that many fundamental Baptists are fundamentally wrong on the doctrine of salvation. This is a most dangerous position. We must not be guilty of giving passes to the spiritually unfit. The eternal soul is at stake.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

            The Old Testament is a book of covenantal laws that God established with the nation of Israel. Because of the law, many believe the Bible presents two methods of salvation depending upon the time the person lived. They assert that the Old Covenant required strict obedience to commandments and through these people could be saved. The impossibility of this is apparent because the human heart cannot produce any work that satisfies God or justifies him in God’s courtroom. Perfection cannot be born out of imperfection, and this is what God requires.

            In Old Testament worship, there is a forward-looking representation of the way that God would give perfection to a people that was perpetually breaking His laws. These were the laws of sacrifice that were emblematic of the payment to justice that God Himself would make. It would come through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God. He would earn righteousness by His perfect life and the merits of this perfection would be accounted to us through faith in this eternal sacrifice. For those marking doctrine in these statements, this is known as the imputation of Christ righteousness by faith.

            Since the sacrifices of the Old Covenant are forward-looking, they were never intended as a means of salvation. If I might put it this way, they were a placeholder of belief and forgiveness until the perfect sacrifice would come. The prophet Jeremiah declared the word of the Lord stating that Israel had repeatedly broken the covenant the Lord made with them. They were hopeless to be saved by obedience to laws because the human heart is incapable of keeping them. Though God was displeased and angry at their often forays into sin, still in His love and mercy, Jeremiah assured them God planned something better. A new covenant would come in which God would write His laws in their heart—not on tablets of stone—and He would be their God in the perfection of His holiness. God would forgive their wickedness and no longer remember their sins. This establishes that that Old Covenant believers were saved by grace just as we are today.

            It is important to understand that Jesus entering the world as a little baby is not a nice fairy tale story to recite to our children. The necessity of the birth of Christ was forged in the bloodiness of Old Testament sacrifices and in consequence of the blackness of human depravity. Thousands upon thousands of animals were killed as a temporary placeholder for forgiveness of sins. Christ must needs come to offer a better sacrifice, a once for all sacrifice that would satisfy the Father and end animal sacrifices forever.

            The book of Hebrews is the Bible’s definitive explanation of the need for the New Covenant. It says the Old Covenant sacrifices could never permanently take away sins and this is the reason for their constant repetition. A marvelous scripture in Hebrews speaks of the Old Testament tabernacle. It says Christ did not go into an earthy tabernacle made with hands to present His blood for atonement. Instead, He went into the presence of God into a far more exceptional sanctuary which is heaven itself. There He offered His blood and obtained eternal redemption for all who believe. Thus, never again does anyone need to offer an animal sacrifice. Today, our sacrifices are spiritual, and they magnify the eternal gift that God made of His Son.

            Is there law in the New Covenant? Most certainly. It is the law fulfilled by Christ. It is the perfection of the law in Him that saves us. We must lay down all efforts of our own or we diminish and profane the sacrifice of Christ. This is not the Old Covenant vs the New Covenant as if one was bad and the other good. No, the Old Covenant recognized the necessity of the incarnation as much as the New. The blessing for us today is that we have both the Old and New Testaments (covenants) to tell us marvelous truths about Jesus Christ.

Pastor V. Mark Smith