The Cost of Compromise
Jeffrey D. Johnson is the teaching pastor of Grace Bible Church and president of Grace Bible Theological Seminary in Conway, Arkansas, where he resides with his wife, Letha, and their four children. He is the author of several books, including The Pursuit of Glory and The Absurdity of Unbelief.
The Church: The Pillar and Ground of Truth is a brief but powerful book that offers 11 chapters summarizing eras in Church history to illustrate the role of the Church in safeguarding the truth, and the consequences of forsaking truth. Read the preface to this work below.
The Church: The Pillar and Ground of Truth is now available for purchase on our website:
As goes the church, so goes the gospel. Because the church is the pillar and ground of truth, the principal responsibility and mission of the church is to unashamedly proclaim, rigorously defend, and wholeheartedly obey the truth of God’s Word. The church is founded on the truth, built up by the truth, and exists to broadcast and follow the truth. Without the truth there is no church, and without the church there is no stewardship of the truth. If there is one place on earth where the truth of God’s Word is to be found, it’s the church.
Consequently, the Devil hates the church because the Devil hates the truth. Because the Devil hates Christ, he hates the followers of Christ. And the Devil knows that the best way of attacking the truth of God’s Word and the gospel of Jesus Christ is by attacking the church. The truth is invincible, but the church is vulnerable. Thus, if the Devil can distract the church from its mission (preaching the truth), and if he can undermine the foundation of the church (the Word of God), then he knows that he can stop the dissimulation of the truth.
As we shall see in this book, as we observe the development of the doctrine of the church, Satan sought to undermine the gospel—justification by faith alone—by undermining the foundation and purpose of the church. The foundation of the church (which is sola Scriptura) was attacked first. If the Devil can’t get the church to outright reject the Bible, he will attempt to get the church to add to the Bible. And this is what happened with the slow devolvement of the Catholic Church. In that, the shift away from God’s Word did not begin with the denial of the inerrancy and authority of the Word of God, but with the denial of the sufficiency of the Word of God.
The foundation of the church, which establishes the parameters of the beliefs and practices of the church, was extended beyond the written Word of God to include apostolic tradition. And apostolic tradition was extended in time to include church tradition and ex cathedra utterances from the pope. And church tradition undermined the very foundation that Christ and his Apostles laid for the church—the written Word of God.
And, we shall see, once the Catholic Church had relocated itself on a new foundation—a foundation other than the faith which was once and for all delivered to the saints, then the Catholic Church ceased to be a true church for it ceased to stand upon, believe, and proclaim the true gospel.
For this reason, the Reformers did not start a new church, they simply called the church back to building on the foundation laid by Christ and His Apostles (Eph. 2:20). Yet, even after the Reformation, the Devil did not cease to attack the truth by attacking the church. Men like Charles Spurgeon were forced to defend not just the inspiration and authority of Scripture but also the sufficiency of Scripture. If the church loses its foundation, it will not only lose its purpose, it will lose its essential identity. Once a church is no longer built on the truth—God’s Word alone—the church is no longer a church at all.
The Devil is still attacking the gospel by attacking the foundation of the church. It is now our generation that is called to defend the integrity and nature of the church by defending the foundation of the church. The pressure from the culture is to add the wisdom of this world to the Word of God. And if the church adds to God’s Word, it has already compromised its foundation.
And such compromise tends to only lead to greater compromise. Once the church is looking to something other than the written Word of God as its authority, it is not long before the church is questioning the perspicuity (i.e., clarity) of Scripture. Once the clarity of Scripture is in question, then the church is tempted to interpret the Scriptures through the lens of the culture and whatever social trend that happens to be politically correct at the moment. And once the church goes down this road, the church loses its foundation.
Because a subtle crack in a foundation can lead to the demise of the whole infrastructure, every Christian, every minster, and every local church must be on guard against anything that threatens the doctrine of sola Scriptura. Because the church is the pillar and ground of truth, the truth is vital for the existence, nature, and purpose of the church. For the sake of Christ and His church, may we, therefore, be found faithful in our commitment to the inspiration, authority, sufficiency, and perspicuity of Scripture.