or "Why Qodesh is Necessary - the Details"
The worldly influences of every age are the single biggest threat to the truth of God. In the beginning the existence and laws of God were not doubted; and those who disobeyed did so out of the desire to go their own way. They did not want to be bound by laws that limited their self-expression and their influence over others for advantage. Over the intervening generations God was forgotten and was replaced by idol worship, which allowed mankind to invent new religions and permit previously unlawful practices by making their own laws, enabling them to follow their desires. With the passing millennia it’s no wonder that God and his laws have been forgotten, or twisted almost beyond recognition as to be no different to idol worship.
The influences of the modern world are no different, except for the speed with which new ideas spread around the world with the recent technological innovations and rise in use of the now ever-present influences of social media. It's the rapidity and unaccountability of users of these new forms of communication that is allowing "influencers" of all types to spread misinformation which allows the minority to influence the majority, increasing immorality, reducing the respect for all types of authority, even to altering voters perceptions of governments in order to affect the outcome of elections.
These influences have not left the Christadelphian brotherhood unaffected. False doctrine has always been present, just as the apostles warned, but now is far more open and widespread within the ecclesias. Those "called out ones" are now leaning towards the teachings of the so-called Christian churches, to the extent that some now call themselves "churches".
Because of the ever-present influence of the world and the apostasy upon the ecclesia it has always been necessary to exhort and warn one another of the need to maintain a clear and precise understanding and adherence to the principles of truth and fellowship as expressed in the Bible. Such warnings are prevalent in the writings of the apostles showing that right from the early days of the establishment of the first century ecclesia the external influences were already having an affect on belief and, consequently, also on practice. The writings of the apostles “as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” therefore provide a rich resource to counter these influences.
The Old Testament also has many valuable observations to contribute to the requirements and conditions of fellowship, the majority of which are indicated in the Law of Moses and were intended as visual lessons for the children of Israel. The objective of the Law was to teach the people about their Messiah, "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ" (Galatians 3:24) and this required holiness and the need for separation from anything that would defile the ecclesia. The law of leprosy, concluding in Leviticus 14 had the effect of reducing the spread of the infection but its main purpose is given in the last verses of the chapter "This is the law for all manner of plague of leprosy, and scall, And for the leprosy of a garment, and of a house, And for a rising, and for a scab, and for a bright spot: To teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean: this is the law of leprosy". Israel were taught that defilement of any sort needs to be removed in order that they may become more like their God, "sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy" (Lev. 11:44). We too, today, as brethen in Christ must also be holy according to the God-given principles of both the Old and New Testament scriptures (Leviticus 20:7Leviticus 20:7 7 ¶Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God., 1 Peter 1:15-161 Peter 1:15-16 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.), and our ecclesias and fellowship undefiled "For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness" (1 Thessalonians 4:7). If this was the case then there would be no need of separate fellowships, which are necessary when false doctrine is not dealt with and those wishing to adhere to the Truth must withdraw themselves.
The Lord Jesus Christ himself provides us with an excellent example of dealing with fellowship. In John's gospel record we read that many disciples couldn't accept what Christ was teaching "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life...Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?" (John 6:66-67). What did Jesus do when these disciples of his "walked no more with him"? Did he go after them saying "this is a difficult saying and if you can't accept it now, come and follow me and in time you will understand"? Absolutely not! He asked the twelve "Will ye also go away?" There was no compromise; it was a case of believe or leave. And that is how we must accept the teaching of Christ and the scriptures, that we and those we fellowship must accept the entirety of God's word, without any watering down. Peter's response to the question Jesus posed reveals the truth "Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God" (vv 68 and 69, my emphasis).
It is only through a belief and obedience to God’s laws that we have any hope of being granted eternal life at the return of Christ. If we allow defilement to impose itself within the ecclesia and do nothing about it we run the risk of rejection; if we hold to all scriptural doctrines except that of contact with defilement then we ourselves will equally be defiled. If the ecclesia is defiled and efforts to remove the defilement fail then the only recourse is to separate ourselves from any contact with defilement. We are not to judge one another, that is not our prerogative, all judgement has been given unto the Son of God; there are two things we have to judge, are we walking faithfully accordiing to scripture and, secondly if there is error in the ecclesia and it's tolerated how we should respond. ...this is what we are trying to do with Qodesh.By remaining in the ecclesia and the same fellowship then we have accepted and are fellowshipping the error even if we don't believe it ourselves. If we believe and obey the truth but fellowship those with error then are we not deceiving ourselves and putting our eternal welfare at risk? What should be done is to address the error in a loving manner in order to return those holding it back to the truth. "He which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death" (James 5:19-20James 5:19-2019 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. and 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15)2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 14 And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.; this is what we are trying to do with Qodesh.
Qodesh has been designed to provide a focus for the dissemination of scriptural views regarding the importance of fellowship to Christadelphians worldwide. When we speak of scriptural views it is understood that the ideas expressed are based upon Yahweh’s Word and as such do not constitute anything new, but are supported throughout the content of this site by scriptural quotations to demonstrate the truth of this statement. The views expressed are also supported by statements and quotations from the pioneer brethren.