The Distinctive Doctrines of the Churches of God.   By Rev. J. E. Strine     Sermon delivered at General Eldership, June 20, 1956 in First Church of God, Decatur, Illinois   Printed for distribution to the churches by action of the General Eldership

      Many years ago it was my privilege to attend the York County, Pennsylvania Teachers Institute, and to listen to an address on the subject, "The Citizen Tri-Square," delivered by Dr. Pattengill. In his address he made this significant statement: To be a fully rounded out citizen, one must "know the past, live in the present, and be ready for the next step." I am quite sure you will recognize the sound logic in this statement.

      Can we apply the principle contained in this statement to our lives as they relate themselves to the church? Can we be fully rounded out believers in Christ, and influential members of the church, without a comprehensive knowledge of the past, as that past relates to the church? If you and I know the past, and especially as it relates to our own denomination, we shall be in a position to live our lives more effectively in the present, and a life that is well lived in the present is always ready to take that next step, the step that leads into the future.

      You and I need to know something of the history--the beginnings of the Churches of God, and for this reason we shall take a reverent mental journey into the past.

      The "Churches of God" as a religious organization, differs somewhat from other religious bodies not only in the acceptance and teaching of certain Scriptural doctrines and ordinances but also in their fundamental conception of the church. The term "church" when found in the New Testament is used in two senses, namely, in a local, and also in a general sense. When used in a general sense it includes all Christians, and is frequently called the "Church Universal," which signifies that it contains and embraces all Christians of whatever race, color, nationality or condition, and none but Christians. When used in a local sense the word "church" indicates the local organization, such as the Church of God at Corinth, the Church of God at Ephesus, and the Church of God in other cities and communities. In the same manner we speak of a local Church of God in a particular city or community today. On the basis of the Scriptural picture of the church, we use only the term "Churches of God in North America."

      I would like to add, that the name "Church of God" is a more significant and comprehensive term to designate this divine institution than any other that could be selected, for the reason it is the only church name found in the Scriptures. Certainly, we do not use the name because we claim any superiority of excellence and spiritual attainments; but solely on the ground that it is the name which God gave His Church.

      We shall now proceed to discuss in brief the distinctive doctrines of the Churches of God, and to do this, we shall lean quite heavily on the writings of the late Dr. C. H. Forney, former Editor, The Church Advocate.

      Many of the doctrines taught by the Church of God are similar to those taught by other religious bodies and are designated as fundamental doctrines of the New Testament. Some are different, and these are known as "The Distinctive Doctrines of the Churches of God."

      What is our Credal Belief, after all? [2]

      "We believe that the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God; that the inspiration of its writers enabled them to record truth without error; and that it is our only and all-sufficient rule of faith and practice.

      "We believe in the Trinity of the Godhead--the Father, Son and Holy Ghost--and that they are co-equal and co-eternal.

      "We believe in the miraculous virgin birth, the vicarious sacrifice, the bodily resurrection, the triumphant ascension and the second coming of Jesus Christ. We believe in His Deity--that He was, and is, God the Son as well as the Son of God.

      "We believe that God made man by an original specific act of creation according to the record in Genesis; and that through disobedience he fell from the grace of God, and that his only possible redemption is through the Atonement of Christ.

      "We believe in the free moral agency of man, as opposed to his unconditional election or reprobation, i. e., that a man must accept Jesus as his Saviour, and of his own free will continue in the goodness of God to be numbered with the true children of God.

      "We believe that only those who have been born again by the Word and Spirit, and who continue to manifest repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, and to live virtuous and obedient lives will be saved.

      "We believe that the sanctification of the person (personality) is instantaneous and simultaneous with regeneration; that the sanctification of the nature is a gradual growth in grace and truth.

      "We believe in Baptism, Feet-washing and the Lord's Supper, as church ordinances.

      "We believe in the immortality of the soul (that when the believer departs from the body he is consciously present with the Lord).

      "We believe in the resurrection of the dead, in a judgment following the resurrection, and in everlasting rewards and punishments."

      At this point, let me state that "an ordinance is an outward act of an inward grace performed in obedience to the command of Christ."

      Please remember that an ordinance must be--

      "1. By Divine authority, or command of Christ.

      "2. It must have in it the element for formal observance.

      "3. It must be characterized by its sensual element.

      "4. It must be based upon and represent some great fundamental fact in the redemptive work and mission of Christ.

      "5. It must express or be symbolical of some great fundamental fact in the spiritual experience of the believer, vital in the process of his or her individual salvation." [3]

      The Churches of God believe and teach that there are three monumental, symbolical and ceremonial observances called ordinances, which have for the justification of their existence and practice, the inspired Holy Scriptures. What are the three great atoning facts in the mission and saving work of Christ which demand monumental ordinances in order to memorialize them and give them added efficacy? They are as follows:

      "(1) His great and inconceivable humiliation; (2) His Passion, or, Suffering and Death upon the Cross; (3) His Burial and glorious Resurrection."

      This beautiful trinity of church ordinances has a striking parallel in nature, in the Divine Trinity, and in the historical development of the Hebrew nation. Many examples abound in the realm of nature as to the significance of this Triune fact.

      We have this three-in-one principle in the God-head: The Father--Being, Essence, Origin; in the Son, the possibility of God becoming human; in the Holy Spirit, communion and fellowship between God and man.

      There are also three great principles illustrated by this Trinity of Ordinances as they relate to the Christian experience: (1) Life comes through death; (2) Our pilgrimage journey and contact with the world; (3) Nourishment by feeding on the Bread of Heaven. All three of these are necessary to the growth and development of the Christian.

      In the mission and work of Christ we have three very vital facts: Humiliation, Passion, Burial and Resurrection. And for these vital facts, we have three ordinances, namely: (1) The Washing of the Saints' Feet; (2) The Communion; (3) Baptism.

      With most religious bodies, the Churches of God are in accord to the effect that Baptism was ordained of God, that it is a Christian obligation, and that the Scriptural administration of same is given to the accredited minister of the Gospel. I think that we all agree, that the believer, and the believer only, is a fit subject for baptism, and as for the mode of baptism, it can mean but one thing; and that is, to plunge the entire body of the subject into the water. John, the Baptist baptized his converts in the river Jordan. Others were baptized in Aenon, near to Salem "because there was much water there." Jesus, Himself, was baptized in the Jordan. So, by His own example He has shown how this duty should be performed.

      This ordinance is so generally observed by practically all Protestant organizations, that it is not necessary to explain or defend its Scriptural validity. We do want to remember that it commemorates the great and important fact of Christ's crucifixion--His cruel suffering and His ignominious death on the cross of Calvary, whereby He made a perfect atonement for the sins of humanity and effected a reconciliation between an offended God and the offending and rebellious sinner. "For Christ also hath once suffered for our sins, the just for the unjust that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit." "Who [4] his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness." In the observance of this ordinance we testify to the fact of our daily need of nourishment from heaven. If a man partake of this bread he shall never hunger, but shall live forever.

      And now, what do we find on record in the Gospels with reference to what Jesus did and what He said on the subject of the washing of the saints' feet? No mention is made of anything pertaining to this subject in the Gospels by Matthew, Mark, or Luke. But in John 13:1-17 we have a much fuller account of the washing of the disciples' feet, of what Jesus did and what He said with reference thereto, than we have in the other Gospels concerning the bread and the wine. I would like to have you note the details of the record. What an impressiveness of rhetoric in the plain simplicity and strength of our English language. "Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

      "And supper being ended (that is, the preparation of the supper was finished), the Devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him; Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God, he riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments, and took a towel and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash his disciple's feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter, and Peter saith unto him, Lord, cost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith unto him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet but is clean every whit. And ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore he said, Ye are not all clean. So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again."

      This is what Jesus did as to the washing of the disciples' feet. Contrast this with what He did in baptism; with the brevity, the directness, and the simplicity of the story as it is found in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Contrast it with the record of the breaking of the bread and the cup of wine, which is the Communion of the body and blood of Jesus, and you will find that the greater prominence is given to the act of feet-washing. All the circumstances combine in favor of this third narrative.

      Now having done this act of washing His disciples' feet, what did Jesus say? "So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord; and ye say well, for so I am. If I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The [5] servant is not greater than his Lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If you know these things, happy are ye if ye do them."

      That is what Jesus said concerning what He had done, or with reference to His act of washing His disciples' feet. What Jesus did in these three instances is His example. What He said is His command. What He said and did make them ordinances, and are accepted as to baptism and the Communion, as ample justification for their observance as such; I mean, by practically all religious groups. As for us, we accept what He said and did regarding feet-washing, as ample justification for its observance.

      Several years ago, I was in conversation with a minister who was a member of another denomination, and in the course of the conversation he asked me this question: "Why don't you people abolish feet-washing, and thus place yourself in a position to enjoy a more rapid growth?" My answer to him was this: "It is probably true that a certain type of growth can be enjoy by having an utter disregard for certain portions of the Word of God, but can such disregard for truth lead to the deeper development of the spiritual life?"

      In our own denominational fellowship, the present reveals, that there are not a few who show complete disregard for certain biblical truth, especially the "Ordinance of the Washing of the Saints' feet, and included in this group, are ministers of the gospel. How can a minister in the Churches of God, be so indifferent to so important a doctrine? Did he not, at the time of his ordination, take upon himself certain vows, including the teaching and preaching of the doctrines of the church as believed and accepted by the Churches of God? This being true, how can he, with clear conscience, do otherwise?

      Our lack of growth, as I see it, is not because we continue to practice the ordinance of "feet-washing," but rather, that we no longer possess a deep and compelling conviction as it relates to doctrinal truth. We are saying by our action that the recognition of certain biblical doctrine is no longer necessary, and that we can no longer fit it into the scheme of modern church procedure.

      Listen, our slow growth as a church, is not because we still "contend for the faith," but rather, that too many of us have become "free-lancers," each one during that which seemeth right in his own eyes. As a result, you have a church here, doing one thing, and out there you have another church, doing the very opposite. What right does any church, or minister, have to flout biblically-based authority? Remember, "a house divided against itself cannot stand."

      Who is he, that has the authority to separate the ordinance of feet-washing from the Holy Communion? Do you? Do I? By no means. Yet this is what is being done in certain parts of our General Eldership. Real growth will never be experienced as long as we practice such flagrant inconsistencies. No church has ever gone forward on the basis of one here, or some there, becoming a law unto themselves.

      Take one good long look at the "Horizontal Bar of Redemption" and you have on the one end, the Humiliation of Christ; in the very center, [6] you have the Passion and death of Christ, and on the other end, you have the Resurrection of Christ. These three important things in Christ's experience, kept constantly in their proper position, give to man a redemption, embracing every phase of his life. Remove either one, and the redemptive structure will topple about you. Without Christ's humiliation, or His coming in the flesh, we could not have had the Passion of Christ, or the cross, and without the cross it would have been impossible to have had the Resurrection. And that these facts might be remembered by every Christian down through the ages, Jesus has given to us: (1) The Ordinance of Feet-Washing, symbolizing His coming into the world, or His deep humiliation; (2) He has left with us the Communion, symbolizing His Passion, and Death upon the Cross; and (3) He had left with us the Ordinance of Baptism, symbolizing His Burial, and Resurrection from the dead. These are the three fundamental facts in the Redemptive Mission and Work of Christ. Disregard either one, and you lose the meaning, and impact of Christ's redemptive plan. The one cannot be complete without the other. Fail to observe either one of the three ordinances, and you are left with a lopsided religion.

      My plea is, that we give equal emphasis to this trinity of ordinances, and thus hold before the Church and the world, a complete redemptive plan.

      The Churches of God can go forward, and will go forward, if its membership, and especially its pastors, will recognize the importance of uniformity of practice, and procedure. Without this, no church can ever be successful; therefore, we appeal to you to support, by actual observance, the fundamental, and distinctive doctrines of the church of which you are a part. This is the key that will unlock the door to wider fields of opportunity for the Churches of God. [7]

[DDCG 1-7]

      J. E. Strine's The Distinctive Doctrines of the Churches of God was first issued as a separate publication by the General Eldership of the Churches of God in 1956.

      Pagination has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. Inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and typography have been retained; however, corrections have been offered for misspellings and other accidental corruptions. Emendations are as follows:

            Printed Text [ Electronic Text
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 p. 4:      want tto remember [ want to remember
 p. 5:      And now ,what [ And now, what
            thou knoest not [ thou knowest not
 p. 6:      Saints feet [ Saints' feet
 

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 25 August 199.
Updated 13 July 2003.