Biblical Separation Defended - Far Eastern Bible College

the visible Church, being unable to look into the heart, so must anygroup be considered sound that has an orthodox creedal profession andteaching. Heart searching and the issue of worthiness are here excludedand only the outward manifestations are evaluated. Thus the groupswhich are to be considered as sound are the ones who profess to believein the fundamental doctrines and whose teaching maintains that thesedoctrines are true, despite the beliefs or doubts to which they maysecretly cling. The societies which are to be evaluated as heretical arethose who openly voice adherence to such doctrines as are heterodox, orwho voice their doubt of the truth of one of the fundamental doctrines ofthe faith.Since, the evaluation of who is sound and who is heretical, dependsnot on heart searching but on “listening to voices,” this process must beacknowledged as objective and attainable! Thus a group of fundamentalChristians may come together and study the teachings of a person or agroup and declare that the person or group professes to believe andteaches the fundamental tenets of the Christian religion, and is thereforeto be considered sound doctrinally. Likewise they may, after study,declare that a person or society teaches heterodox views and unbelief,and is therefore to be considered heretical doctrinally. In a large crusadethe requiring of the signing of a creedal statement affirming belief in thegreat fundamentals of the faith by churches and workers who wish toparticipate would take care of the situation.ConclusionsIt has been seen in this section that the Lord’s commandment,“Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matt. 7:1), was directed against selfrighteousunmerciful censoriousness, and that in no sense does it forbidthe forming of opinions about men and movements which is absolutelyvital in order to obey the many commands in Scripture which call uponthe believer to discriminate between good and evil and to act differentlywith respect to them. In this case, it has been observed that there is asolemn and sacred duty of judging who are false prophets and ofbewaring of them in one’s own life and of protecting God’s lambs fromthem. This has been the uniform Protestant opinion among the orthodoxcommentators from Calvin to the present.60