Author: Bauder, Kevin
Genre:
Tags:
Series:
Rick Shrader‘s Review:
This is a second book by Kevin Bauder and Central Seminary in a new series titled, “Christian Crossroads.” This is a series produced by the faculty of the seminary of which Bauder is Research Professor of Systematic Theology. In my 50+ years of ministry, I’m sure I have read dozens upon dozens of books on biblical separation. As a Fundamentalist myself, I have also witnessed an unfortunate variety of interpretations on this subject. I think Kevin Bauder (and Central Seminary) has given the local churches one of the best explanations and direction that I have read so far.
Bauder is a critical thinker, so the reader must be willing to follow him from chapter to chapter as he develops his thesis. And then, at least in my case, the reader probably has to review what he has read to make sure he is getting the point. So here is my take. The gospel is the most important subject for all human beings. The lost are lost without it, and the believer stakes his whole eternal existence on it. The gospel (as especially defined in 1 Cor. 15:1-3) is the historical fact that Jesus actually died and was buried. But more than that, He died “for our sins.” He also rose actually (bodily) from the grave with victory over sin. Without these facts there is no object of faith and no hope of eternal life. A human being must acknowledge that Jesus died for his sin and that he must repent of that sin and exchange his (deserved) sin for the (undeserved) righteousness of Christ. This is the great exhange (2 Cor. 5:21). Only this ethical decision can be called salvation.
Yet in addition, the gospel contains both theological truths that must be accepted, acknowledged, or at least not denied (the deity and humanity of Christ, the substitutionary atonement offered, the infallible Word of God that brings the information, and many more). The gospel also must be explained and presented in the context of these truths or is it not biblical faith (it is not mere emotion, nor social relief, nor personally advantageous). Christian fellowship or separation (two sides to the same coin) begins at this point. We have a minimal fellowship with anyone who is a brother or sister in Christ (one who has truly accepted the gospel) at least to love and wish the best for them. There is no “Christian fellowship” with a non-Christian. You may have human things in common with him (maybe he is your neighbor), but you have no spiritual commonality. Anyone who denies the gospel and its essential doctrines, or teaches about the gospel in a non-biblical way, is not a Christian. Therefore a Christian has no fellowship with Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, or even Roman Catholics, on any spiritual level. The point so far is that a believer has no fellowship with a non-believer and therefore is separated from him when it comes to spiritual things.
Much of the point of the book is what follows at this point. It is obvious that a believer is separated from non-believers. However, there are those believers who disagree. They would continue to have fellowship on a spiritual level with those who are not true believers. Bauder borrows a term from J. Gresham Machen who called these kind of believers “indifferentists.” Bauder writes, “An indifferentist is a Christian who affirms the gospel, but who denies that the doctrines of the gospel must constitute an unbreachable boundary for Christian faith and fellowship. Though indifferentists believe the gospel, they extend Christian recognition and cooperation to professing Christians who deny it” (p. 43). It should be noted at this point that Bauder makes the distinction between those who flatly deny the Christian faith (atheists or agnostics), and those who claim to be Christian but are not (apostates). 2 John 10 explicitly commands believers not to “bid them God speed” (chairein, greet him, acknowledge him) because then you have become a co-owner of his error in denying the gospel. Bauder’s examples of evangelicals who did this very thing are Princeton Seminary in the 1920s with whom Machen had to disagree, Billy Graham in the 1950s who had unbelievers on his platform who led in prayer, and Fuller Theological Seminary, specifically E.J. Carnell, who refused to separate from those who denied essential Christian doctrines (pp. 122-123).
One of Kevin Bauder’s purposes for writing this book is to define “secondary separation.” What do we do with indifferentists? Do we fellowship with (or separate from) those who are aiding and abetting those who deny the gospel? The “secondary” part of separation applies in these cases where one is not merely separating from those who deny the gospel, but also from those who are acknowledging, or helping, those who deny the gospel. In this light Bauder writes, “Secondary separation is not about separation. It is about the gospel. It is about insisting that the gospel is paramount within Christian teaching, that the doctrines of the gospel are absolutely indispensable, and that the essential doctrines of the gospel mark out the boundary of Christian faith and fellowship. A difference over the importance of the gospel is a very significant doctrinal difference. So-called ‘secondary separation’ is exactly about this difference” (p. 43). In his chapter, “Fundamentalism and Secondary Separation,” Bauder gives a series of eleven theses that logically unfolds why this secondary way of separation must happen (pp. 83-94). These primarily speak of various limitations that the New Testament places upon believers’ fellowship with those who either deny the Christian faith or aid those fellowship and promote those who deny the Christian faith (Gal. 1:6-9; 2 John 10; 2 Pet. 2:3; Jude 3-19).
This review is long enough. However, I will end it by quoting Bauder in his conclusion to the eleven theses mentioned above. “So how should we respond to indifferentists? On the one hand, we recognize that they believe the gospel and are brothers and sisters in Christ, which means that we must love them and act toward them as fellow Saints. On the other hand, we remember that they have willingly taken a share in advancing some false gospel, which ought to scandalize us. Our disagreement with them is related to the importance of the gospel, and that is no incidental matter. If some errors require open censure rather than polite disagreement, this is probably one of them. At minimum, the indifferentist embrace of gospel deniers displays a shocking lack of biblical and spiritual insight. So serious is this deficiency that we could not possibly point to an indifferentist as a discerning Christian leader. The error is serious enough to affect virtually every level of public Christian cooperation. While we may be able to fellowship personally with such individuals, we cannot participate in their public ministries” (p. 93).
The remainer of the book is largely given to recognizing various levels of fellowship/separation that take place in the life of a believer, in the local church, and in Christianity at large.