From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase Scripture and the Church God Deals in Remnants: Addition By Subtraction By Dr. Paul M. Elliott Part seven of a series. Read part six. Expel someone from the church, so that he might be saved? Bar a sinner from the assembly, so that the assembly might become stronger spiritually? Postmodern church-growth gurus and their disciples react in horror to such thoughts. But this is the pattern we often find in Scripture. Success By God's Standard Let us briefly review what we have learned thus far in this series. We have seen that the Bible is, without doubt, a record of God's dealings with remnants that have been faithful to Him by His grace. Both the Biblical record and subsequent church history tell us that truth is never the majority opinion, even within the visible church. The way of truth is an exclusive, not inclusive, position. We have also seen that the visible church has been a minority group in most of world history, as it is today even in so-called Christian America. But God's true remnant - the invisible Church of Jesus Christ through time - has been, and remains, a minority even within that minority. This has been true even in the times when the remnant has experienced its most phenomenal numerical growth. We have also seen that God does mighty works through prepared remnants - those who are of one accord in the truth, who seek and rely upon God's might and power because they understand they have none of their own. As God said to Joshua before the people of Israel entered the land of promise, as long as this people meditates on My Word, and is careful to do all that is written in it, "then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8). 1
A Mindset Counter to the World's This picture of "success" runs counter to the thinking of the world, and of much of the visible church. It certainly flies in the face of 21st -century church growth theories. And as we search the Scriptures, we discover perhaps the most counter-intuitive element of all: God often adds to the spiritual strength of His remnant by subtracting from it numerically. Expel someone from the church, so that he might be saved? Bar a sinner from the assembly, so that the assembly might be holy? Deliver a sinning believer over to Satan, so that he might learn not to sin? Subtract from the visible body numerically, so that it might become stronger spiritually? Postmodern church-growth gurus and their disciples react in horror to such thoughts. But this is the pattern we often find in Scripture. Vivid Examples of Addition By Subtraction We see it most vividly in cases such as the sins of the sons of Aaron in Leviticus chapter ten, Achan in Joshua chapter seven, and Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter five. Each of these cases involved the immediate death of those who had jeopardized the spiritual life of the remnant through their sin, as an extraordinary demonstration of God's hot displeasure. In each case, God's remnant emerged stronger and more committed to the way of truth. We also see this principle of addition by subtraction after God took Israel into captivity because of the people's centuries-long spiritual adultery. Church history tells us that it was descendants of these people who later troubled t he early churches in Colosse, Galatia and elsewhere by trying to contaminate true faith in Christ with Jewish legalism. But as we read in Ezra and Nehemiah, after seventy years of captivity in Babylon, God brought back not the entire nation of idolaters, but a small remnant of the Jewish exiles, to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, re-erect the temple, and re-establish the true worship of Jehovah. This faithful remnant generation faced seemingly insurmountable 2
odds, but God gave them success. Instructed in His Word and convicted of sin, this generation made some of the most difficult decisions imaginable in order to be true to their God (see Ezra chapters 8-10). Corinth: A Remnant That Began Well We find a later example of addition by subtraction in the churc h at Corinth. This case did not involve death, or a great physical project. But it is especially instructive given the moral state of the visible church - and even some of God's true remnant - in our time. In the book of Acts chapter 18, we read that Paul himself had planted the church at Corinth. He spent eighteen months with them. And during that time, he instructed and established them in the Word. The Corinthian church had gotten off to a good start. But not long after Paul left Corinth, other things began to supplant the authority of the Bible in the church. The Corinthian church quickly got into the most serious trouble imaginable. The church at Corinth two thousand years ago was in many ways like the church in much of the post modern world. Every nationality was represented among the people who lived and worked in Corinth. Every language was spoken in Corinth. Every culture was represented. You could find every kind of religion in Corinth. You could find every kind of philosophy in Corinth. And, you c ould find every kind of immorality in Corinth. And the church at Corinth, the church that had started out so well, made a terrible mistake with terrible consequences. The church at Corinth became disconnected from the Word of God. It became uncertain of what it believed. It lost the will and the power to confront evil with the truth. The church embraced elements of the worldly philosophies that abounded in Corinth at that time, and mingled them with Christianity. The results were terrible. Soon there was open immorality among the membership, and the church did not see this as a 3
particular problem. People did not take their marriage vows seriously. People were living in relationships that God's Word condemns. The church also brought worldly practices into its worship, and with those worldly practices came confusion and disorder. People partook of the Lord's Supper in a pagan manner. The church took a pridefully wrong approach to the matter of spiritual gifts. There was preacher worship, factionalism, internal strife, and materialism. The Corinthian church actually forgot the content of the Gospel message, and had to learn it all over again. Sadly, it sounds like many nominally Evangelical churches today. The Root of Every Downgrade All of these problems resulted from one thing - neglect of the study and preaching of the Scriptures. The words that Paul said to the church at Corinth could well be said to the evangelical church today: But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted-you may well put up with it! (2 Corinthians 11:3-4) That is exactly what the church did. They mingled man's error with God's truth. Neglect of the Word of God created a spiritual vacuum, and the influences of the unbelieving world rushed in to fill that vacuum. The Only Cure So what did Paul do? He did the only thing that can be done, the one thing that must be done: He pointed them back to Scripture. And one by one, the Apostle Paul dealt with their problems, from Scripture. Paul employed the fourfold use of Scripture that we find in 2 Timothy 3:16. He called them back to sound doctrine. He reproved them from the Word of God. He corrected 4
them. He instructed them, and pleaded with them and encouraged them to follow the righteous path once again. Near the end of his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul summed up his message by saying this in chapter 14 and verse 20: "Do not be children in understanding...but in understanding be mature." Preventing declension in the church, or recovering from it once it happens, requires spiritual maturity within the remnant. A Sin So Heinous Even the Pagans Didn't Name It In his first letter to the Corinthian church, Paul expressed his greatest horror over one particular sin - a sin so heinous that it was "not even so much as named" among the unbelieving pagans with whom they lived. What was that sin? How were they to deal with it, and why? When they did deal with it, what was the result? This is an example that is especially relevant for the church in our time, and we shall examine it in more detail in the final installment of this series. The basis for Paul's approach in dealing with this sin among them - and every other problem in the Corinthian church - is summed up in 1 Corinthians 3:18-19 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. Next - God Deals In Remnants: 'Deliver Such a One to Satan' sac0086 Copyright 1998-2012 TeachingtheWord Ministries www.teachingtheword.org All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced in its entirety only, for non-commercial purposes, provided that this copyright notice is included. We also suggest that you include a direct hyperlink to this article for the convenience of your readers. 5