To the Reader,

In the light of God’s grace, whereby believers have been justified by faith in Christ, denominations are seen as works of law and a contradiction of the gospel. Please be assured that the potential for disruption and unrest from the things being proposed here is recognized and appreciated. However, it is surely in accordance with God’s will that those things which are contrary to the gospel should be addressed and resolved in a way that glorifies Him.

Letter to the Galatian Church

“We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be!”                                                   Galatians 2:15-17 (NASB)

*Please note that ‘works of the law’ is literally ‘works of law’ in the original. The absence of the article before the word ‘law’ implies that a principle is also in view.

We have two guiding principles for the church which come from an incident in Antioch recorded for us in Galatians 2. At Antioch the apostle Peter left the fellowship of the Gentile converts to go and eat with the Jewish believers who had arrived from Jerusalem. The apostle Paul saw the danger and publicly rebuked Peter for his behavior as not being in line with the truth of the gospel. The guiding principles are that our fellowship is based on the gospel alone and that works of law cause division in the church. These divisions need to be corrected because they are not in line with the truth of the gospel. Works of law cause division, unrest, violence and sometimes bloodshed, as in the first reformation, because they are based on what we do to justify ourselves.  The answer to this is for our fellowship to be based on the gospel alone.

The Danger of ‘Works of Law’

Works of law are those things that we do, or identify with, or promote in order to justify ourselves. The incident which occurred at Antioch in Galatians Ch2, where the apostle Peter left the fellowship of the Gentile converts, can be taken as an example and real-life illustration of what can happen when one or some of us, even an apostle, try to justify ourselves by works of law … it causes division in the church. The apostle Paul called it hypocrisy. The gospel provides us with a perfect righteousness before God because it is Christ’s righteousness. We don’t have to justify ourselves by anything we do … it is all of grace.

 Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words says the following on P314 under the section on the word ‘Law’ …. “in regard to the statement in Gal 2:16, that “a man is not justified by the works of the Law,” the absence of the article before nomos indicates the assertion of a principle, ‘by obedience to law,’ but evidently the Mosaic law is in view. Here the Apostle is maintaining that submission to circumcision entails the obligation to do the whole Law. Circumcision belongs to the ceremonial part of the Law, but, while the Mosaic Law is actually divisible into the ceremonial and the moral, no such distinction is made or even assumed in Scripture. The statement maintains the freedom from the law of Moses in its totality as a means of justification.”

The real danger of works of law is not just that they divide the church but they provide a way for people to justify themselves and in so doing nullify God’s grace in Christ. In other words, we can recognize when people are seeking justification in works of law because it causes division in the church.  We see this principle in the incident at Antioch (Gal 2:12) and we see it today in denominational works of law. Denominations make the faithful shepherding of the flock of God very difficult if not impossible. We must be diligent in safeguarding the gospel message as the apostle Paul says:

“I do not make void the grace of God, for if righteousness [be] through law — then Christ died in vain.”                    Galatians 2:21 (Youngs Literal Translation)

Abraham’s faith

It is important to understand the relevance of Abraham’s faith (see Galatians Ch3) for the reformation of the church today. It turns the focus back on what has been accomplished for us through the death and resurrection of Christ and away from all other affiliations.  Jesus said that Abraham saw His day and rejoiced.

“What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”      Romans 4:1-3 (NASB)

Everything Abraham had by way of salvation was in and through Christ. This was magnified by the fact that the law had not been given until Moses, and, even then, it was never meant to be justifying.

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”                                                          Romans 5:8 (NASB)

As one of our ministers said in a sermon ‘the gospel is Jesus died for our sins, period’. There is much wisdom in such a succinct presentation of the gospel. Yes, we need to consider the implications of Jesus’ resurrection as well and, at the same time, make sure that we are not putting any stumbling blocks in the way of people coming to Christ for salvation.

Especially, we need to remember that adding things to the gospel nullifies God’s grace because justification then becomes about what we do and not solely what has been done for us at the cross. The most common of these stumbling blocks is the subtle requirement to identify with theological systems in addition to the gospel such as Puritan teaching and various membership affiliations. Such identifications are a contradiction of the gospel.

Denominations are works of law

“What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness that is by faith; but Israel pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. Just as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”                                                                    Romans 9:30-33 (NASB)

Works of law cause division. The answer to this is fellowship based on the gospel alone. Denominations are a sign that the church has moved away from the gospel.A sign of gospel recovery is the removal of denominations.

A unified gospel understanding

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written: “But the righteous one will live by faith.”                                      Romans 1:16-17 (NASB)

The passage above shows that in the gospel (good news) the righteousness by which we are saved is not our own, but God’s. This righteousness is received by faith alone and therefore it is not by our own works.

Gospel fellowship Vs works of law

Progress in understanding the gospel will be reflected in the extent of our rejection of works of law. Notice here that we are not rejecting the law or laws in and of themselves, the rejection is in relation to ‘works of law’, being justified by them instead of being justified by faith in Christ alone. When we rely on works of law to justify us it causes division in the church.

“You foolish Galatians who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you; did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?”                                                                                 Galatians 3:1-2 (NASB)

It is hoped that attention will be drawn to the danger posed by the fragmented witness of the church, both to unbelievers and believers. The two principles which have been presented identify the problem and point to the solution. Denominations are an obvious example of works of law. They are a contradiction of the gospel and a stumbling block to those outside the church. Their removal is a matter of ‘willingness to confront’ and we need to support one another, particularly our ministers, in this, by way of encouragement and understanding.

The Nicene Creed puts it well with the following words which are also the conclusion of this document … “We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church” … Amen.