Learn,
by the example of the unhappy worldwide spread of the Keswick theology, the unmistakable
fact that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (1 Corinthians 5:6;
Galatians 5:9). Keswick theology has
profoundly influenced world-wide Christendom and corrupted the doctrine of
sanctification confessed by countless churches of Christ, because of a failure
to mark, reprove, and separate from unrepentant advocates of Keswick errors. Whether deliberately or in ignorance,
Barabas’s sugar-coating of the deadly poison propagated by the wolves that
originated the Keswick theology is inexcusable.
Do not follow his example.
Carelessness by God’s pastors in protecting their flocks, and preachers’
unthinking appropriation and propagation of unbiblical ideas wrapped in the
tinsel of high-sounding testimonies, have contributed tremendously to the
spread of Keswick. Many sincere preachers have unknowingly adopted, are
proclaiming, and are imparting Keswick ideas to the next generation of church
leaders, because such ideas were passed on to them by their ministerial
forefathers. Now is the time to end this
cycle of ignorance and error. Exercise
great discernment as you hear the preaching of others. It is proper to exercise Biblical judgment
when you hear the Word brought forth (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:29). Furthermore, if Biblical passages on
separation would be violated by attendance at a meeting, fellowship with some
person, or in any other way whatsoever, follow Scripture and remain
separate. It does not matter if the
speakers you will not hear are dynamic.
It does not matter if it appears (in the short term, which is all that finite
men can effectively gage) that great results arise from their work. The unscriptural work of Mr. and Mrs. Smith
seemed to have glorious results in the short term; but in the long term the
doctrine of sanctification in countless churches has been corrupted, hindering
the holiness of vast numbers of God’s people.
Furthermore, entirely new heresies have arisen in Christendom, in large
part because of the Smith family’s continuationism. Ecumenicalism—and all other disobedience to
Scripture—is never the right course, and never, in truth and in the long term,
the most effective or even pragmatically the best course. However, the world, the flesh, and the devil
can make tremendous harm seem beneficial by pointing to the short-term benefits
and pleasures of sin. Oh man of God,
have you failed to protect the people over whom the Holy Ghost has made you an
overseer from unscriptural Higher Life theology, either by its promotion, its
toleration, or by communion with its unrepentant propagators? Today is the day to repent and to determine,
by God’s grace, that you will no longer dishonor your Lord by such
carelessness, but will allow only the uncorrupted truth on sanctification to be
taught to the flock of God.
by the example of the unhappy worldwide spread of the Keswick theology, the unmistakable
fact that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (1 Corinthians 5:6;
Galatians 5:9). Keswick theology has
profoundly influenced world-wide Christendom and corrupted the doctrine of
sanctification confessed by countless churches of Christ, because of a failure
to mark, reprove, and separate from unrepentant advocates of Keswick errors. Whether deliberately or in ignorance,
Barabas’s sugar-coating of the deadly poison propagated by the wolves that
originated the Keswick theology is inexcusable.
Do not follow his example.
Carelessness by God’s pastors in protecting their flocks, and preachers’
unthinking appropriation and propagation of unbiblical ideas wrapped in the
tinsel of high-sounding testimonies, have contributed tremendously to the
spread of Keswick. Many sincere preachers have unknowingly adopted, are
proclaiming, and are imparting Keswick ideas to the next generation of church
leaders, because such ideas were passed on to them by their ministerial
forefathers. Now is the time to end this
cycle of ignorance and error. Exercise
great discernment as you hear the preaching of others. It is proper to exercise Biblical judgment
when you hear the Word brought forth (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:29). Furthermore, if Biblical passages on
separation would be violated by attendance at a meeting, fellowship with some
person, or in any other way whatsoever, follow Scripture and remain
separate. It does not matter if the
speakers you will not hear are dynamic.
It does not matter if it appears (in the short term, which is all that finite
men can effectively gage) that great results arise from their work. The unscriptural work of Mr. and Mrs. Smith
seemed to have glorious results in the short term; but in the long term the
doctrine of sanctification in countless churches has been corrupted, hindering
the holiness of vast numbers of God’s people.
Furthermore, entirely new heresies have arisen in Christendom, in large
part because of the Smith family’s continuationism. Ecumenicalism—and all other disobedience to
Scripture—is never the right course, and never, in truth and in the long term,
the most effective or even pragmatically the best course. However, the world, the flesh, and the devil
can make tremendous harm seem beneficial by pointing to the short-term benefits
and pleasures of sin. Oh man of God,
have you failed to protect the people over whom the Holy Ghost has made you an
overseer from unscriptural Higher Life theology, either by its promotion, its
toleration, or by communion with its unrepentant propagators? Today is the day to repent and to determine,
by God’s grace, that you will no longer dishonor your Lord by such
carelessness, but will allow only the uncorrupted truth on sanctification to be
taught to the flock of God.
Recognize
that the simple fact that someone is non-Keswick in his theology of
sanctification does not mean that his teaching is automatically reliable. In addition to the errors on sanctification
of non-Keswick perfectionisms, whether Roman Catholic, Quaker, Wesleyan, or
Pentecostal, be on guard against the errors of Reformed, non-Baptist theology
propagated by Puritanism. Do not move
from accepting everything that Hannah Whitall Smith believed to accepting
everything that John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, B. B. Warfield, or J. I. Packer
believed, simply because their writings obliterate the errors of Keswick. Follow Scripture alone, and find refuge in
the protection offered by the pastors and teachers of the sound, separated,
historic Baptist church of which you are—or ought to be—a member. The church is the place of the corporate
manifestation on earth of the wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:10). How important it is to carefully exegete
Scripture in the context of a true church, where the special presence and
blessing of the Lord and the protection of church leadership is found!
that the simple fact that someone is non-Keswick in his theology of
sanctification does not mean that his teaching is automatically reliable. In addition to the errors on sanctification
of non-Keswick perfectionisms, whether Roman Catholic, Quaker, Wesleyan, or
Pentecostal, be on guard against the errors of Reformed, non-Baptist theology
propagated by Puritanism. Do not move
from accepting everything that Hannah Whitall Smith believed to accepting
everything that John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, B. B. Warfield, or J. I. Packer
believed, simply because their writings obliterate the errors of Keswick. Follow Scripture alone, and find refuge in
the protection offered by the pastors and teachers of the sound, separated,
historic Baptist church of which you are—or ought to be—a member. The church is the place of the corporate
manifestation on earth of the wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:10). How important it is to carefully exegete
Scripture in the context of a true church, where the special presence and
blessing of the Lord and the protection of church leadership is found!
Rather
than hoping that you will come to a point where you will be satisfied with your
spiritual progress, recognize that the more Christ-like the Spirit makes you,
the more dissatisfied with your indwelling sin and your remaining unlikeness to
God you will become, and the more you will be dissatisfied with your spiritual
progress. Satisfaction with your
spiritual state is not a sign of superior holiness or of the entrance into a
Higher Life but of severe spiritual myopia.
God punishes those that are at ease and settled on their lees (Jeremiah
48:11; Zephaniah 1:12). Do not seek for
satisfaction in your spiritual attainments but for speedier progress in
mortification and vivification, while finding sweet consolation and refreshment
in communion with Jesus Christ. Very
frequently people turn to Keswick theology—and other errors and false
teachings—because they have not themselves truly tasted and seen the goodness
of the Lord in their Christian experience.
He who genuinely walks with God will see the shallow and trite writings
of a Hannah Whitall Smith for what they truly are. Do not look within for happiness through
ease and quietistic rest, but look to Jesus for blessedness and true joy and
run the quicker and with the greater endurance the race that it set before
you. Reject the Keswick siren song and
false promise of perfect, undisturbed, perpetual, and carefree happiness, peace,
and rest before heaven. Yes, God calls
you to “rejoice evermore” (1 Thessalonians 5:16) and wishes you to pray and
cast your burdens on Him instead of being full of care, so that you can
experientially know “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding”
(Philippians 4:7; cf. Isaiah 26:3-4).
Nonetheless, indwelling sin will always be lusting against the Spirit as
long as you are in this body of death.
Greater fellowship with the Triune God in Christ, greater degrees of His
grace, greater experience of His transforming power, and deeper eyeing of His
beauty and glory, are intimately conjoined with greater self-abhorrence and
deeper repentance over sins of commission, omission, and of the pervasive
corruption engendered by the sin of your nature itself. Embrace and seek for, rather than rejecting,
the “negative” side of Christian spirituality, for it is the necessary adjunct
of the positive side. The lower down you
fall in humility before the Lord, the higher He will lift you up—and the higher
He lifts you up, the more dissatisfied you will be with what you yet lack, and
the deeper down you will abase yourself in shame.
than hoping that you will come to a point where you will be satisfied with your
spiritual progress, recognize that the more Christ-like the Spirit makes you,
the more dissatisfied with your indwelling sin and your remaining unlikeness to
God you will become, and the more you will be dissatisfied with your spiritual
progress. Satisfaction with your
spiritual state is not a sign of superior holiness or of the entrance into a
Higher Life but of severe spiritual myopia.
God punishes those that are at ease and settled on their lees (Jeremiah
48:11; Zephaniah 1:12). Do not seek for
satisfaction in your spiritual attainments but for speedier progress in
mortification and vivification, while finding sweet consolation and refreshment
in communion with Jesus Christ. Very
frequently people turn to Keswick theology—and other errors and false
teachings—because they have not themselves truly tasted and seen the goodness
of the Lord in their Christian experience.
He who genuinely walks with God will see the shallow and trite writings
of a Hannah Whitall Smith for what they truly are. Do not look within for happiness through
ease and quietistic rest, but look to Jesus for blessedness and true joy and
run the quicker and with the greater endurance the race that it set before
you. Reject the Keswick siren song and
false promise of perfect, undisturbed, perpetual, and carefree happiness, peace,
and rest before heaven. Yes, God calls
you to “rejoice evermore” (1 Thessalonians 5:16) and wishes you to pray and
cast your burdens on Him instead of being full of care, so that you can
experientially know “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding”
(Philippians 4:7; cf. Isaiah 26:3-4).
Nonetheless, indwelling sin will always be lusting against the Spirit as
long as you are in this body of death.
Greater fellowship with the Triune God in Christ, greater degrees of His
grace, greater experience of His transforming power, and deeper eyeing of His
beauty and glory, are intimately conjoined with greater self-abhorrence and
deeper repentance over sins of commission, omission, and of the pervasive
corruption engendered by the sin of your nature itself. Embrace and seek for, rather than rejecting,
the “negative” side of Christian spirituality, for it is the necessary adjunct
of the positive side. The lower down you
fall in humility before the Lord, the higher He will lift you up—and the higher
He lifts you up, the more dissatisfied you will be with what you yet lack, and
the deeper down you will abase yourself in shame.
Finally,
recognize that, while the battle will be prolonged, as a child of the living
God, you are on the winning side.
Glorious growth in Christ-likeness is possible for you now, and perfect
conformity to your Lord’s perfect standard is your coming and certain
blessedness. Enabled by the Spirit’s
grace, and trusting in Christ alone, strive mightily against and mortify your
indwelling sin and all its manifestations.
Diligently use the means God has appointed for your growth in
grace. Read, study, meditate on, talk
of, hear the exposition of, and practice the Word. Remember and hate the remaining coldness of
your heart. Be watchful, pray, and humbly
eye Christ in faith and love, relying on His Spirit to transform you. Rejoice that your loving Father has decreed
that your progressive sanctification, while not automatic, is certain; and
fight the harder, recognizing that you are indeed judicially dead to sin, and
that He who works in you both to will and do of His good pleasure will continue
His good work in you until the day of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!
recognize that, while the battle will be prolonged, as a child of the living
God, you are on the winning side.
Glorious growth in Christ-likeness is possible for you now, and perfect
conformity to your Lord’s perfect standard is your coming and certain
blessedness. Enabled by the Spirit’s
grace, and trusting in Christ alone, strive mightily against and mortify your
indwelling sin and all its manifestations.
Diligently use the means God has appointed for your growth in
grace. Read, study, meditate on, talk
of, hear the exposition of, and practice the Word. Remember and hate the remaining coldness of
your heart. Be watchful, pray, and humbly
eye Christ in faith and love, relying on His Spirit to transform you. Rejoice that your loving Father has decreed
that your progressive sanctification, while not automatic, is certain; and
fight the harder, recognizing that you are indeed judicially dead to sin, and
that He who works in you both to will and do of His good pleasure will continue
His good work in you until the day of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!
See here for this entire study.
Dear TDR,
If your a father or grandfather this is great knowledge and teaching to pass down to next generation. You have augured well for persevering in the faith. The say a lazy man is behind Gods back. Thank you. Craig
Dear Craig,
Thanks.