JUST WHO OR WHAT IS AN ‘ANTI’?
We are in a war against liberalism. Liberalism has launched its forces against the truth of God’s word and against the blood-bought church of our Lord. No true Christian can afford to be neutral or silent when such a war is raging.
Liberalism is the effort to cast off the obligations God has placed on us. It looks at the law of Christ and declares it is not a law, just a love-letter. Rom. 8:2; For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. It looks at the demand that sinners be baptized for the remission of sins and questions whether they really have to be baptized, and whether or not they really have to be baptized for the purpose of having their sins forgiven Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.. Liberalism allows people to remarry who have no such right from God (Matt. 19:9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.
Liberalism allows practices in worship — instrumental music, hand-clapping, special singing groups, drama presentations, etc. — none of which are authorized by God (Col. 3:16-17 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
These are serious matters, and the war is taking its toll in lost souls. But in the midst of such a war, we need to remember there are other ways to depart from God’s law than just through liberalism. God has given a pattern Rom. 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
II Tim. 1:13,14 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 14 That good thing which was committed unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
That pattern (and all patterns) includes things we must do, things we must not do, and options.
“Liberalism” is the effort to take the “binding” things of the pattern and “unbind” them — to take the things we must or must not do and put them into the category of options.
Anti-ism, on the other hand, is the effort to bind things God has not bound, to take the options in God’s pattern (which is the New Testament) and put them into the category of obligation. Liberalism seeks to loose the law God has bound. Anti-ism seeks to make laws that God has not bound. As one preacher used to say — if you drive off the bridge or back off the bridge, you’re still off the bridge.
Why is it called “anti-ism?” Because it is against — it is against the freedom God has allowed. And make no mistake about it — anti-ism is just as sinful as liberalism.
BIBLICAL EXAMPLES
II Peter 2 deals with false teachers who were largely given to liberalism. One phrase in verse 19 and 20 is descriptive of liberalism, While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
This is the hallmark of liberalism, to give liberty where God has given obligation.
In I Timothy 4, Paul deals with false teachers. In verse 3 he mentions two specific false doctrines that represent a departure from the faith: 1) forbidding to marry, and 2) commanding to abstain from meats. Marriage (so long as one is free to marry) and the eating of meats are options (I Cor. 7:2; Rom. 14). To forbid these things is to be “anti” or against the things God has allowed. In I Timothy 4:1, Paul says these attempts to make laws God has not made are “doctrines of devils.”
In Matthew 15, Jesus deals with people who were both liberal and anti. The scribes and Pharisees wanted to condemn the disciples for not washing their hands before they ate. This was not a law of God, it was a law of men. Men had no right to make such laws and Jesus condemns them for teaching the commandments of men 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. But he also condemns them for making the commandment of God of no effect (v.6). Their sin in this matter was in disregarding or unloosing the law God had bound on them. They were obligated by God’s law to honor (take care of) their father and mother. They found what they thought was a loophole, and so freed themselves from the obligation God had put them under. Liberalism and anti-ism both come from a lack of respect for God’s pattern and from a misunderstanding of the pattern concept. So, they are not mutually exclusive. One can be both liberal and anti at the same time.
EXAMPLES OF ANTI-ISM
In the last several decades, the church has been plagued, sometimes more severely than others, by those who want to bind things God has not bound. Following is a partial list of some things some brethren are “against” because they try to turn options into obligations:
1. Anti Bible classes — This teaching declares that dividing into classes divides the assembly and is not authorized by God’s word. This is heresy — setting up a law that small groups of Christians cannot come together and study the Bible (Bible study). Paul taught both publicly and from house to house (Acts 20:20). We learn by example that brethren in the first century met together on the first day of the week to worship (Acts 20:7; I Cor. 14) and from that example we learn we must assemble together for worship also. However, in addition to worshiping together, it is also appropriate that we study the Bible in smaller groups (cf. II Tim. 2:15). Who would declare that it is sinful for brethren to study the Bible together?
2. Anti women teachers — This doctrine says that women cannot teach children or other women. For the answer to this false doctrine see Titus 2:3-5 3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
3. Anti multiple cups in the Lord’s Supper — This teaching demands that only one cup be used in partaking of the Lord’s Supper. (Interestingly enough, my father attended a congregation where they opposed multiple cups, but they actually had two cups, one for each side of the aisle.) This heresy places emphasis on the word “cup” (singular) and fails to recognize that it is actually the contents of the cup that is being referred to. Paul quotes Jesus as saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood (I Cor. 11:25 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. — an obvious reference to the contents rather than the cup. In the next verse, Paul refers to drinking the cup. This is a physical impossibility unless he is referring to the contents of the cup.
4. Anti located preachers — This teaching says it is a sin for a preacher to work with a congregation that has elders or to work with a congregation for an extended period of time. The obvious error of this is seen in Acts 20 when Paul declared to the Ephesian elders (v.17) that he had taught them publicly and from house to house (v.20), and that he had worked with them for three years.
5. Anti Bible colleges — This heresy teaches it is solely the work of the church to teach the truth (the scriptures) and that Bible colleges try to take over this work. Of course, Paul taught in a school in Ephesus for two years (Acts 19:9-10 9 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. 10 And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
If Paul taught in a school, it surely would have been proper for him to have a school and teach in his own school. And, why would it have been improper for him to invite some other faithful brethren to teach in his school also? However, while it is scriptural for a school to exist, there are at least two other concerns that need to be addressed. The first is whether or not church funds should be used to support a ‘Christian’ college. To say that a Christian college is scriptural in its existence is not to say that it is scriptural to support that work from the Lord’s treasury. A hot dog stand is scriptural in its existence, but it should not be supported by church funds. A place for young people to receive an education from Christian teachers in a Christian environment is a good concept. But it is no part of the work and mission of the church to give people a liberal arts education. Training preachers is the work of the church, but the liberal arts education of our children is not. The second issue of concern about Christian colleges is that in recent years, Christian colleges and universities have led many into the error of liberalism. They have been and continue to be the source of so much digression and apostasy today. This reminds us that the church can not and must not count on any secular institution to do its job. Such schools are the work of the home, not the church. We should not blindly follow any man or school. The Lord’s church is not dependent upon the schools. We must remember that the Lord died for the church, not the schools! They could all close their doors and the church of our Lord would still be the beautiful bride of Christ. The church certainly is sufficient to do the work God designed it to do.
6. Anti Cooperation — This doctrine teaches that a church cannot take money from its treasury and assist another congregation in doing the Lord’s work. Taken to its logical conclusion, this doctrine asserts that one congregation could not use the baptistery of another congregation because it was paid for out of the church treasury. Furthermore, one church could not give another church song books or even Bibles! We find congregations cooperated with each other in the New Testament (Rom. 15:26). Paul (by inspiration) wrote to the church in Corinth (as he taught other churches) and instructed Christians to give a weekly contribution into a treasury (I Cor. 16:1-2). A good portion of this money (if not all of it) was taken to the elders of the church in Jerusalem for distribution (Acts 11:30; see also II Cor. 9:12-13). Furthermore, when Paul left Philippi, he traveled to Athens and then to Corinth (Acts 16-18). He later wrote the Philippians that no other church had supported him (communicated — giving and receiving) except the congregation in Philippi (Phil. 4:15). However, he wrote to the Corinthians that while he was with them, he robbed other churches (plural) in taking wages from them, but not from Corinth (II Cor. 11:8). If no one but Philippi communicated with him in giving and receiving, but he was getting wages from other churches, Philippi must have been receiving contributions from other congregations and forwarding them to Paul. This is a clear example of church cooperation.
7. Anti children’s homes. The argument is made that the responsibility to care for orphans (James 1:27 27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.) is the individual responsibility of each Christian, and therefore the church cannot be charged with such care. This is clearly wrong, for the same verse enjoins taking care of widows, and the church can be charged for widows (if they are widows indeed — I Tim. 5:9-16). If the church can be charged for the care of widows, then it can be charged for the care of needy children. There are too many different flavors and brands of this anti doctrine to explain or reply to them all here.
8. Anti aid to non-Christians. This doctrine says that the contributions made in the New Testament were for the saints (Christians) only. They conclude from this that it is wrong to take money from the church treasury to help those who are not Christians. But, Galatians 6:10 says, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” They argue that Galatians 6:10 commands individuals, not churches, to help all men, and that the contribution is for the saints. This too can easily be proven false. For one, the instructions given in Galatians was for the “churches of Galatia” (Gal. 1:2). And, two, the contribution commanded in I Corinthians 16:1-2 was used for Christians and non-Christians. Paul says in II Corinthians 9:12 that the contributions had supplied the want of the saints and in verse 13 refers to the distribution unto them (saints), and unto all men (non-saints).
CONCLUSION
There is a pattern for us as Christians (II Tim. 1:13 13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 14 That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. We do not want to throw off that pattern in any way. When we examine something, we must be careful not to take away freedom that God has extended, and we must be careful not to preach or practice freedom in that which God has bound or not extended.
Are anti brethren part of our brotherhood? Some groups still seem to consider themselves so, while others seem to consider themselves a separate brotherhood. One thing is clear, if they are binding where God has not bound, they are false teachers, and if rebuke and admonitions are given and rejected, God’s faithful people will take note of them and avoid them (Rom. 16:17-18 17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. 18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.