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“They Went Out From Us”
“THEY WENT OUT FROM US”
Marvin L. Weir
It is imperative to know where you are and whether or not you should be there. Christians are to be followers of Christ. Brethren today who have drifted so very far from the truth did not follow Christ to get there. The question of Amos is as revealing today as it was when originally asked: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed” (Amos 3:3)? The obvious answer is a resounding “NO!” Israel chose to turn her back on Jehovah, forsaking Him for other “gods.” Did Israel agree with God? Were they walking with God? Absolutely not! Adam Clarke comments as follows: “While ye loved and served me, I dwelt in you and walked among you. Now ye are become alienated from me, your nature and mine are totally opposite. I am holy, ye are unholy. We are no longer agreed, and can no longer walk together. I can no longer hold communion with you. I must cast you out.” (Adam Clarke’s Commentary, Electronic Database, Biblesoft, Inc.).
This Bible principle is as true today as it was during the days of Amos. Peter admonishes those to whom he writes: “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps” (1 Peter 2:21). Christ always did the will of His Father (John 4:34; 5:19). The “steps of the Father” and the “steps of Christ” do not travel in opposite directions. John writes to the elect lady and her children, whom he loves in the truth, saying, “Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds” (2 John 8-11).
When will a brother or sister lose the things they have wrought for the cause of Christ? Answer: when they go onward and abide not in the teaching (doctrine) of Christ! We are now living (and have been for many years) in a time when so many members of the Lord’s church are “jumping traces” and refusing to follow the lead of Christ. Many brethren now take great pride in adamantly refusing to submit to the authority of Christ. Denominational gimmicks and the innovations of those consumed with secular education now replace, in many congregations, the simplicity and wisdom of the Word of God.
Before we comment on what John instructs the faithful to do, let us note some instructions John DOES NOT give.
- Show support for false teaching and tolerate error.
- Encourage brethren who persist in error.
- Aid and assist brethren who steadfastly refuse to abide in the teaching of Christ.
- Fellowship those who have not God.
- Accept the false teacher’s word that he is not a false teacher in spite of his false teaching.
- Employ “situation ethics” and cry that in certain situations the church must abandon authorized Scripture and implement man-made plans.
- Give brethren 30 years with full fellowship to see if they will come to their senses and repent.
Now, let us observe what John instructs faithful brethren to do when individuals and congregations depart from the faith and refuse to repent. Christians who depart from the truth, take pride in so doing and refuse to repent, qualify as “antichrists” and should not be fellowshipped (1 John 2:18-19). What must faithful brethren do?
- Understand that one who refuses to abide in God’s Word does not have fellowship with God.
- Be willing to stand in the truth even if they must give up friends so that they can have fellowship with the Father and Son.
- One who is a false teacher must not be received in the same manner as a teacher of truth.
- One who is a false teacher must not be greeted as if he is a sound teacher.
- When one, in any way, aids, encourages (to sit at his feet and listen encourages him), assists, or promotes a false teacher, he is guilty of partaking “in his evil works.”
Brethren, it is not the fault of the faithful that erring members of the body choose to go “out from us.” In so doing, however, these erring brethren prove they are not “...of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us” (1 John 2:19).
Again we ask, “Shall two walk together, except they be agreed” (Amos 3:3)? Let us steadfastly refuse to walk hand in hand with error!
