Influence,Position, Truth, Separation: pragmatism is the compromise

"That argument I have heard hundreds of times when people have been urged to come out of false positions and do the right. But what have you and I to do with maintaining our influence and position at the expense of truth? It is never right to do a little wrong to obtain the greatest possible good . . . You duty is to do the right; consequences are with God."
~C.H.S., 1868, Sermon at Metropolitan Tabernacle.

"One thing is clear to us, we cannot be expected to meet in any union which comprehends those whose teachings on fundamental points is exactly the reverse of that which we hold dear. Cost what it may to separate ourselves from those who separate themselves from the truth of God is not alone our liberty but our duty."

~C.H.S.,The Sword and the Trowel

Truth Is An Entire Corpus or Unit

Teach all biblical doctrine, for all Truth is one unit, one body of Truth:

Mat 28:19  "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20  teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Mat 22:40  "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

Jas 2:9  But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10  For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. 

Act 3:21  whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.
Act 3:22  "Moses said, 'THE LORD GOD SHALL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED in everything He says to you. 
Act 3:23  'And it shall be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.'

Act 5:19  But an angel of the Lord during the night opened the gates of the prison, and taking them out he said,
Act 5:20  "Go your way, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life." 

Act 20:20  how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house,
Act 20:21  solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Act 20:27  "For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.

Tit 1:9  holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.

2Ti 3:16  All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17  that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 

1Ti 4:13  Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.

1Ti 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Jud 1:3  Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

Contending For The Faith Should Trump Conventionally Acceptable Tones

I never get tired of saying this....in matters of contending for the faith and the right division which the Word of God brings: when the conventionally acceptable tone of what is said, is revered over the truth content of what is actually said, it is an ignoble response to blunt the sharp edge of the reproving and rebuking truth by sentimentally appealing to an unbiblical view of Christian charity. Meekness and fear and respect and gentleness in giving a reasoned defense for the hope which the corpus of God's self-disclosing word produces in the soil of the heart that receives His good seed, is not a compromising humanistic friendliness with any person who propagates doctrine which is fundamentally inimical to the doctrine of God and the doctrine of Christ. 

Contending for the faith is an act of mercy, and granted, the truth must be spoken in love, but love does not equivocate in declaring God's word. Love rejoices in the truth, NOT in error. Contending for the faith is not a cavalier attitude of thirsting after contention or controversy, but rather it is active (not passive) obedience to Christ to faithfully take an unyielding stand in His grace for the clarity and purity and integrity of the faithful word as the Lord gave it to us. 

And this must begin with the Spirit's indispensable aid in building our faith in sound biblical discernment.

~Chris Okogwu

May I add that sometimes the truth must be said with full bluntess and sternness, depending on the one whom we are speaking to or about. I see that Jesus approached the Samaritan woman at the well totally different than his approach to the Pharisees and Sadducees. Same with Paul--he approached Lydia and the women at the riverside, differently than the false apostles (like in 2Corinthians). So it should be with us. Humility is before God, not hesitance before man. And our battle should come from loving God and His Word above all things, and then out of love for the souls of men. I hope that makes sense.

American Christian.....

     
     (photo source)

If you don't bother reading the Bible every day....

If you don't go to Scripture first to know what God says on any given issue of life....

If you run to the world's philosophies first.....

If Scripture is your "ultimate" authority but not your first and only authority....

Then please don't fake astonishment or sadness when you hear that 80 Christians were shot dead in N. Korea for owning a Bible.

You don't even read it. You wouldn't die for it.

But you sure argue against it when it demands you stop sinning, repent of your sin, and tells you are totally depraved with nothing good in you and that your only hope is in the biblical risen Jesus Christ.

You argue against it when it says that women are not to be in leadership over men, demands you are to separate yourself from false teachers and call them out, that you are to reject all the world's philosophies like evolution and psychology.

That which you claim sadness over (slaughter of Christians for owning a Bible) doesn't jive with your own rebellion against those very Scriptures.

You have already declared war on the Word and all who are loyal to it and its Author alone.

You might as well shoot those same Christians for the same reason. In fact, you do when you insult them and persecute them for holding Scripture above all things in the most highly exalted place (Ps. 138:2).

Belief Isn't Enough

"It is a great mistake to fancy that to endorse sound doctrine is the same thing as possessing saving faith, for while saving faith accepts the truth of God, it mainly concerns itself with the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and its essence lies in reliance upon Jesus himself. I am not saved because I believe the Scriptures, or because I believe the doctrines of grace, but I am saved if I believe Christ; or, in other words, trust in him. Jesus is my creed."

~ Charles H. Spurgeon

 This is exactly how false teachers secretly sneak in among us or rise from within the leadership. They do not start off teaching heresy or else they'd be recognized immediately and be kicked out, unable to do their filthy deeds of darkness. No, they agree with sound doctrine, parrot it, teach it, for a time in order to get a grip inside the door. Then they commence their spiritual jihad.

Mimics Aren't The Real Thing

Just because a teacher mimics truth doesn't mean he or she is of the truth. Many can pretend for a while---sneaking in as they "agree" with sound doctrine. But eventually God will reveal them. He must.

Consorting With the Enemy

To have fellowship with men who deny the truth is to deny the truth by implying that the truth does not matter. 

~MLJ