94 CHURCH ORDER: How does a church in disorder set itself right, C. H. Cayce Since there have been some moves for settlement of troubles existing between some of the different factions among the Primitive Baptists, and efforts being made to get them together, we have seen some suggestions and questions raised concerning some points of order. So far as we know just now every point called in question is discussed and brought out in a little pamphlet called “Church Order.”
But we desire to quote here some of the contents of that work. Quoting from pages 16 and 17 we give this language:
The following questions were submitted to us, and we present our answers with the questions:
Should churches receive expelled members from other Primitive Baptist Churches without official investigation and labor? No.
What constitutes official investigation and labor? Investigation and labor by authority of the church, and not an association.
If a church receives and endorses an excluded person from an orderly church, what attitude does it place the church in that receives the excluded person? In gross disorder unless the act is speedily rectified; and if said church or churches persist in such a course they should be officially labored with and withdrawn from. Such disorder cannot be endorsed by orderly Baptists. Should we receive and baptize members from a sister church, though the church has error in it, until official labor and a withdrawal of fellowship from the erring church? No.
We quote the following from page 18:
Churches, as churches, may err, be inconsistent and get into gross disorder, and, as churches, they may repent and turn away from such disorder. To illustrate: The Corinthian Church became involved in gross disorder concerning the communion, or Lord’s supper, were guilty of gross immorality by sustaining and fellowshipping fornication among them; were divided among themselves; had heresies among them, for some denied the resurrection; some held to the idea of ministerial regeneration; going to law one with another, and tolerating and following, to some extent, false apostles and ministers of Satan. (see 1 Cor. 5:1-5; 6:1-11; 11:20-27; 2 Cor. 11:13-16) Yet Paul recognized them as churches of Jesus Christ, and labored with them as such; and the very fact that he told them what to do shows, or proves, that he understood and taught that a church in disorder can do orderly things, or acts; and also carries with it the doctrine, or fact, that the wrong acts of churches do not make void their right acts.
On page 19 may be found the following:
Now, according to this new teaching and logic, which seems to have come newly up in this section of country, those Israelites away back there in those distressing, troublous times should have put away, not only those strange wives and children, but should also have put away all children that were born to any and all Jews or Israelites during the time or prevalence of the disorder that prevailed among them; because of the fact that they were all identified together and were all contaminated with the leaven of disobedience and disorder. But such was not required by the law of the Lord; neither does the law of the Lord require that the illegal acts of churches shall make void their right, or legal, acts.
On pages 22 and 23 may be found an article copied from the Gospel Messenger for January, 1890, written by Elder J. R. Respess, who was then the editor of the Messenger. Concerning Elder Respess the committee said on page 22 that “he was considered one of the meekest, wisest and purest and ablest ministers Georgia ever had.” Elder Respess said:
If the church sins she should not visit her own sins upon the heads of the innocent members baptized by her authority, because that would be a violation of the law of God as laid down in xxiv. 16 of Deuteronomy, wherein, ”that the fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children for the fathers, but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” If a church sins, to be purged of it, she must confess it with penitence, not by force, ask forgiveness and do it no more, and that is the end of the gospel law. As said before, such things as she can, righteously, she should and will undo, and she will know by the spirit what they are, and there will be peace. We think the church erred in expelling those members baptized by her authority and re-baptizing them. They were as lawfully baptized the first time as they were the second time. If the church authorized an improper person to do it, that was her sin, and could not attaint the innocent members baptized by her authorized agent.
From page 24 we quote the following from the pen of Elder Respess again, in the Gospel Messenger for June, 1891:
If we recognize a body as a church at all, even if its disorder is as gross as the disorders of the seven churches of Asia— and their disorder was very great— if it is a church it can repent as a church, and if it can repent as a church, it can do any other church act. The seven churches were admonished to repent, which shows that the Spirit recognized them as churches. If, then, a church repents as a church, we may receive them as a church cleansed of their sins. But they are required to repent only of their sins; they are not required to repent of their right acts, their baptisms, communions, preaching and charities. The church at Corinth was disorderly as holding a member who had his own father’s wife, and she was required to repent of it, and she did and withdrew from him; but she was not required to repent for her baptisms— to undo them and do them over. If a church is not a church, she can neither repent as a church, nor do any other church act; but if she is a church, her right acts as a church are valid and not to be repented of.
The Superior Court may make a wrong decision, but its wrong decision does not invalidate its right decisions, because it holds commission to act from the supreme law of the state, and that law sustains its right decisions and reverses its wrong ones. So it is with the church of Christ as holding authority to act in the name of the Lord; its wrong acts are set aside by the Lord, who, at the same time, sustains its right ones.
On pages 28 and 29 is a letter written by Elder T. S. Dalton under date of August 4, 1913. Elder Dalton at that time lived at McLean, Va. He once lived in Texas. He now lives in Baltimore, Md. He said:
* * * If we were to go back to the apostolic days and undertake to straighten all the crooks and mistakes the church has made, we would have more than a lifetime job. Even the seven churches of Asia made their mistakes, and God commanded them to “hold fast and repent.’‘ The church at Corinth got wrong and out of line, but they did not reorganize them, but accepted them when they repented, or turned from their errors. The church at Galatia imbibed the wrong doctrine, but they were not un-churched for it; but they repented, or turned from their errors. * * * My brother, we have too many Baptist regulators among us who think they know it all; and many of them (I fear) know nothing as they ought to know it. May God pity our people in their scattered and torn up condition, and humble us all under a feeling sense of His great love, and our nothingness, and bring us to each other’s feet and keep us in the way everlasting. And may He ever pity those who are continually striving to keep up a row among us. I am old now, and desire so much to see our people united in the bonds of love and union before I go hence.
Much more could be quoted along this same line from this pamphlet, but this is sufficient to show very clearly, we think, what that committee, as well as other brethren, thought concerning the very question which has been raised by some brethren in regard to the baptisms which have been administered since the troubles began among the brethren. Dear Brother Dalton said he was old when he wrote that letter in 1913— eleven years last August— and so much desired to see our people united in the bonds of love and union before he goes hence. Dear brethren, how much do you suppose it would rejoice the heart of that old servant now in his old age if he could hear the glad news that our dear people in Texas and other places were once more all united? Remembering that this dear brother labored much among our people years ago in Texas, Tennessee and other sections of this country, we know he would rejoice to hear that peace has been restored and that our dear brethren had come together, forgiving all wrongs, and are once more united in love and fellowship.
We were present several years ago at the meeting of the one hundredth anniversary of the White Water Association in Indiana. That association had been divided for a number of years, and for years two associations had been held in the same territory, each claiming to be the White Water Association. The session we speak of that we attended, on the one hundredth anniversary, the two bodies came together and met again as one association— the first time for years. If any of them were ever required to baptize again all who had been received and baptized during the time they were separated we never heard of it.
Some might say that upon this principle we could accept the Missionaries the same way. Not so, for they have lost the marks of church identity. They have departed from Baptist principles in doctrine and practice. There are very few things, if any, which the world has but what they have. They have lost all marks of identity of the true church. They are not a church, and therefore do not have the ordinances. They are not real Baptist Churches; they only claim the name.
May the good Lord pity us in our distressed condition and enable us all to confess our wrongs to each other, and to be a united band in His service, is our humble prayer. The Primitive Baptist, February 15, 1925