By Russell F. Metcalfe, Jr. - Pastor, Atwater, Ohio
August 15, 1962
EASY SOLUTION! Quick cure! Shortcut to success! All these phrases and many others like them are applied in almost every situation imaginable by the unscrupulous who feed upon that quirk of human nature which always looks for the easy way out.
The shallow tide of popular acclaim often makes a hero out of the nearest banner-waver, the loudest voice, the most grandiose manner, or the most preposterous claim-just so long as there are promised certain and easy cures, money, success, solutions.
Almost without exception, any loud voice making fantastic, giveaway claims is to be ignored, whether it happens to be advertising automobiles, peddling real estate, or "curing" disease.
But when it comes to the realm of religion, the quacks are not merely disgusting and immoral, but they become tools of Satan in working in diametric opposition to the cause of Jesus Christ and true holiness. Good words are exploited until they lose much of their meaning. Secondary truths are used to displace basic and vital doctrines. Lies are dressed in scripture, and as such become the most dangerous kind of lies. Jesus Christ is commercialized, and the more rugged aspects of the gospel are completely set aside. God is made to appear solely as the servant of man.
All of man's basic problems have to do with sin. Any teaching, no matter how well-sprinkled with quotations from scripture, that does not scripturally teach the seriousness of sin and the depths of wickedness in the human heart, by implication minimizes the atoning work of Jesus Christ.
Sin must be seen as the offspring of pride and unbelief, culminating in rebellion and disobedience and rejection of God's rightful claims. And when sin is seen as exceeding sinful, then the sinner trembles at the eternal punishment which his sins justly merit.
Intelligent people who would not dream of taking a suspected malignancy to a quack doctor, or of investing the savings of a lifetime into a get rich-quick scheme of doubtful security, are often the very people who trust their eternal destiny to the false doctrines of sin-minimizing, half-truth religions.
God is love - God is also wrath, Heaven is real - so is hell. Any doctrine that does not preach God's hatred for sin as well as His love for mankind, any doctrine that does not teach the necessity for and provision made for a complete break with all sin in this life, is to be shunned like the deadly poison it is.
There can be no genuine forgiveness without godly sorrow for sin and confession from the heart. There can be no joy and rejoicing in the Lord without first facing up to past sins. There can be no guidance by the Holy Spirit while the heart is not willing to be wholly submissive to His will. To accept any less than the whole round of truth is to play the fool in matters of eternity.
The doctrines of scriptural holiness are scripturally sound. Holiness doctrine has not been devised by man to please man. It is straight from the shoulder and rugged, cutting no corners. It is not, as some wrongly judge, a combination of faith and works. But while it rightly teaches that we are saved by faith and faith alone, it also rightly insists that if such a faith be genuine it will be more than a shallow mental assent that does not reach into every corner and area of the Christian's life. Holiness does not accept a mere lip service on man's part as compatible with the awful price that Jesus paid on Calvary to solve the problem of sin.
We do not accept the doctrines of holiness with our eyes closed. No one forces us to see the truth that is revealed to us through an open Bible and an open heart, under the ministry of the Holy Spirit. But when we are convinced of the truth of holiness, we then have no business dabbling with other doctrines, or supporting them in any way.
Hundreds of radio evangelists and itinerant gospel peddlers are appealing daily for a listening audience and for money support. Some may be sincere, but a great many are simply preaching a sensational doctrine entirely from motives of self-gain. Any person who advertises such causes, or contributes money, should stop and consider that not only is God’s cause being robbed of rightful support, but usually the cause of evil and damnation is being advanced, no matter how sincere the giver.
The safe way is the rugged way. There is safety in facing up to the diagnosis of sin as deadly in all its forms. There is safety in the reality of holiness. There are safety and joy and satisfaction in putting all energy and loyalty into a church in which one can believe and trust- and there is danger in the devious. Beware of quacks!