BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

DR JOHNSON C. PHILIP/DR SANEESH CHERIAN 1

 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

Brethren Distinctives
The Brethren
What Is So Unique About Them!

Dr. Johnson C. Philip

Dr. Saneesh Cherian

Copyright 2011, 2022 Creative Commons

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 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

Brethren Distinctives

Brethren Assemblies are a unique

Christian group, and both insiders as
well as outsiders to this group should
know why it is so. While the church has
seen many reformations, the refor-
mation brought in by the Brethren is
unusual and has left an impact upon all
church groups.

The Brethren are relatively a small con-

servative and Bible-believing Christian
group that has left a remarkable impact
upon Bible exposition and Christian
practices worldwide. Most church his-
torians are of the opinion that the influ-
ence of this group is unproportionately
high when compared to the small num-
ber of churches that the Brethren have
worldwide.
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The story begins with Emperor Constan-

tine who in the fourth century helped to
push the Christian church into total
doctrinal darkness. The rise of the Ro-
man Catholic church, the suppression
of all the core biblical truths, and bibli-
cal illiteracy continued till the time of
Martin Luther. Possessing and reading
the Bible was forbidden for Christians
till that time. Bible and biblical truths
were kept completely away from Chris-
tians.

Biblical truth became public once again

with the Protestant Reformation. How-
ever, since Luther, Calvin and many
other Reformers were former Roman
Catholics, they continued to follow
many erroneous doctrines and practic-
es. Reformation started with Luther, but
it did not reach a mature level of Biblical
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understanding at his times or till a few

centuries after. Another Reformation
was needed and that came with the ar-
rival of the Brethren Movement.

The Brethren movement with its origin

in the 1800s went one step beyond
Reformation. This movement went back
to the Bible to reclaim the full biblical
truth. It embraced right Biblical doc-
trines, right Biblical emphasis, and
right Biblical practices. It also rejected
widespread errors in the church. There
were a number of Reformation before
the Brethren, but most of them were
partial. Some emphasized the right doc-
trine, but embraced pagan practices.
Others emphasized biblical practices,
but soon fell into error because they did
not give emphasis to the Bible, the
source of truth.

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A combination of right doctrines, em-

phasis, practice, and rejection took for
the first time when the Brethren Move-
ment arose, and that is why the Breth-
ren Movement is unique in Church His-
tory. We therefore look at this unique-
ness or Brethren Distinctives under the
following headings

 Biblical In Doctrine
 Right In Emphasis
 Right In Practice
 Biblical In Rejection

The Right Doctrinal Stand

The pioneers of the Brethren movement

realized that unless a structure is built
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on the right foundation, it would col-

lapse. While it is possible to build some-
thing that outwardly looks beautiful and
attractive even if it does not have a
strong foundation, outward show is not
the purpose of spiritual reformation.
The purpose is to build up a healthy
and vibrant community of God's people,
who grow and multiply standing upon
the strong and sure foundation.

Thus right from the beginning the pio-

neers of this movement emphasized the
need for a right understanding of the
Scripture. They made Bible-exposition
an essential part of church meetings,
and devoted considerable time to study
and teaching of the Scriptures. What is
more, they kept reminding believers that
like the Bereans (Acts 17:11) everyone
needs to read the Bible and examine
everything in its light. Examine all
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things and hold fast to that which is

good (I Thessalonians 5:21) became
their slogan.

As a result, weekly and even daily Bible

studies became widespread in the
Brethren Movement. While many
churches gathered people for daily pro-
grams, they did so for rituals -- and that
also, for man-made rituals that only en-
slave people. However, the Brethren
gathered people for studying the Scrip-
ture, the divine communication for
mankind. Thus their understanding of
the Scripture reached a high level and
even young people became good at
preaching and teaching. This has bene-
fited not only the Brethren, but also all
other Protestant church groups because
whenever people try to spread deviant
teachings, the Brethren are always at
the forefront of opposing it. Since the
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Scriptures are taught to them right from

their childhood, they are usually better
equipped to spot error, identify the bib-
lical problems, and oppose it. In this
way the Brethren have played a sub-
stantial role in keeping the Protestant
Christianity active, alive, and opposed to
error.

The movement stands upon four key

and cardinal doctrines which are not al-
lowed to be compromised or diluted in
any way.

These doctrines are:

 Sola Scriptural (Bible Alone)

 Sola Fide (Faith Alone)
 Sola Gratia (Grace Alone)
 Solus Christus (Christ Alone)

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We have given the concise form of the

cardinal doctrines above first in Latin
and then in English. The Latin form was
common during the Reformation and we
keep repeating the Latin phrases as a
reminder to the history of Reformation.
While many churches proclaimed one or
more of the above doctrines, they did
compromise with some of them. For ex-
ample, some churches that emphasized
Christ alone negated Grace Alone by
adding works to salvation. The Brethren
are one of the few who stood steadfast
without compromising on all the four
cardinal doctrines above. We will thus
look briefly at the four cardinal doc-
trines here.

1. Sola Scriptura (Bible Alone): Numer-

ous churches, denominations, and false
cults would like to add their pet doc-
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trines and practices to Christian truth

and practice. For this they take help
from man-made sources such as
church-tradition, the teaching of a
prominent leader of the church, or the
books written by the founder of the de-
nomination or the cult. Thus for them
Christian truth is to be derived from the
Bible PLUS other sources, and this is
how they turn into denominations,
movements, or cults that are unbliblical.

The Brethren Movement recognizes that

once anything is placed alongside the
Bible as an equal or reliable source of
doctrinal authority or divine truth, it is
divine truth that gets diluted. Human
philosophies, aspirations, and even per-
version becomes prominent. A good ex-
ample is the Roman Catholic Church
that uses tradition to impose celibacy
upon people who serve the church. This
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is a totally anti-biblical idea that has

become the source of all kinds of moral
corruption in the last 1500 years. Bible
plus anything (as a source of authority
in church or in doctrinal matters) will
always result in the obscuring of divine
truth.

The first people who left denominational

churches in England or in India to form
New Testament Pattern Churches had
1800 years of Church History to glean
from. Looking at it, they realized that
unless the new movement gave the
Scripture the unique position it deserves
in the church, the new movement
would eventually fail. Thus right from
the beginning these New Testament
Pattern reformers emphasized the doc-
trine of Sola Scriptura (Bible Alone),
and the Brethren worldwide therefore
came to be known as "People of the
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Book".

They based this stand upon numerous

statements in the Bible, including the
following verses:

He sheweth his word unto Jacob,

his statutes and his judgments un-
to Israel. He hath not dealt so with
any nation: and as for his judg-
ments, they have not known them.
Praise ye the LORD. (Psalms
147:19, 20)

All scripture is given by inspiration

of God, and is profitable for doc-
trine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness.
2Timoty 3:16

They also based this stand upon the

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observation that both Lord Jesus Christ

as well as the apostles always relied up-
on the Scripture, not upon human opin-
ion. "It is written" was a common
phrase used by Jesus and the apostles.
The believers at Berea were commended
by God (Acts 17:1-, 11) as being more
noble because they decided the veracity
of messages they heard by searching for
those things in the Scriptures.

The also emphasized that any compro-

mise on "Revelation in Bible Alone" will
open up a floodgate of errors, and time
has proved them right. Thus people who
are faithful to the New Testament model
strongly refuse to compromise on this
doctrine.

2. Sola Fide (Faith Alone): The whole

world is reeling under the guilt of sin. It

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craves for forgiveness. Many of them go

one step further and crave to attain not
only forgiveness, but also a state where
they are pronounced righteous. Every-
one knows that a person who has paid
the penalty for a trespass is a 'former'
offender. Similarly, even if a sinner is
forgiven, they know that it makes them
only a 'former' sinner. They do not au-
tomatically become innocent or right-
eous.
Very few people love the 'former' sinner
tag and would love to be declared totally
righteous. They work hard for such a
transformation. This desire to be de-
clared 'totally innocent' and 'righteous'
is so deep-rooted in human hearts that
all religions exploit this human craving.
They tell people to give alms, do pen-
ance, and be subject to the whims and
fancies of an elite class of priests to for-
give their sins, or to procure such for-
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giveness. This is why people of all reli-

gion slave themselves to the priestly
class. The Christian church is no excep-
tion.

From the time paganism entered the

Church at the time of Constantine, ma-
jority of Christian denominations have
been demanding alms, penances, and
slavish subjection to priests if people
wish to be justified, if they wish to be
declared innocent and righteous. How-
ever, this is totally contrary to what the
Bible teaches.

According to the Scripture God grants

justification to man as an outright gift.
There is nothing that man can contrib-
ute to obtain this justification. All what
he can do is to believe and obtain justi-
fication as a gift. Belief is a totally non

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meritorious activity, this is called Jus-

tification by Faith. We read:

Therefore by the deeds of the law

there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight: for by the law is the
knowledge of sin. Romans 3:20

Therefore being justified by faith,

we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans
5:1

The Brethren assemblies emphasized

this doctrine right from the beginning.
They clearly taught that no work was
needed, or accepted, for a person to be
justified. Justification was offered by
God as a gift. The moment a person be-
lieved in Christ, he was declared as in-
nocent and a saint. While other evangel-
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ical churches corrupted this doctrine by

adding man-made conditions such as a
second experience, a deeper life, sinless
life, spiritual ecstasy, or other post-
salvation conditions for being justified,
the Brethren movement stood strong on
the Biblical foundation that justification
is by faith and by faith alone. Others
confuse the doctrine, the Brethren do
not.
3. Sola Gratia (Grace Alone): Just as
people want to be declared innocent eve-
ryone everywhere also have a craving for
obtaining 'salvation'. Deep in their hart
people know that they need salvation
and security in their after-life, and
therefore they are willing to do anything
to obtain it.

In the numerous holy places of India we

can witness people who are going
around totally naked even in chilling
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cold seasons, people lying on bed of

nails or on sharp pieces of glass, thorns,
etc. and people who always remain
standing and who never sit down, peo-
ple who raise one hand and who never
move it so that it becomes like a piece of
wood, and people who hang their tongue
out never to pull it back. We also see
others who always lie only one one side,
doing everything that way, people who
roll thousands of kilometers on road
and mud to reach holy places. This in a
shocking manner shows how far people
are willing to give away comforts and
torture themselves to obtain salvation.

All religions use this desire of mankind

to exploit them with man-made ways of
salvation. People are asked to bring
alms, undergo penance, and silently
obey all the unfair and exploitative de-
mands of the priestly class. The majority
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of Christian denominations are also

guilty of doing the same thing. Just be-
fore the Protestant Reformation came,
the priests were even selling certificates
to assure people a place in heaven. All
this is totally contrary to the Bible, but
even today a good number of churches
perpetuate the same error so as to be
able to exploit people.

The Bible makes it clear that man can-

not earn salvation through any merito-
rious activity. Salvation is something so
precious that the penance done by the
millions upon millions of people from
the start of the human race does not
move us an inch closer to it. Rather, it is
such a costly thing that God Himself
had to pay the cost. What is more, once
He paid the cost through the incarna-
tion and sacrificial death of Christ, God
now offers it freely to whomsoever is
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willing to accept this gift. Thus salvation

comes through 'Divine Grace' and not
through human merit. This is the doc-
trine of Sola Gratia or Grace Alone.

We read:

For by grace are ye saved through

faith; and that not of yourselves: it
is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8

Who hath saved us, and called us

with an holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his
own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began. 2Timothy 1:9

Brethren assemblies uncompromisingly

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hold on to this truth, and all attempts to

add human merits to grace is always
opposed. Many churches claim that a
second-blessing, speaking in tongues,
baptism, or other religious rites are
needed to make one's salvation com-
plete. This way they add human merits
to divine grace. We oppose all such hu-
man additions and modifications to the
doctrine of salvation because all such
additions nullifies the doctrine of grace.

4. Solus Christus (Christ Alone): Almost

everyone aspires to be saved. They wish
to be assured about the safety of their
next life. However, they very quickly re-
alize that this is a task beyond human
capacity and that they will surely need
help from someone (a Saviour or a me-
diator) other than themselves.

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Unfortunately, mankind prefers to sub-

stitute their own saviors or Saviour fig-
ures instead of searching for what God
says about the true divine Saviour. As a
result, numerous people exploit the gul-
lible people, promising them what only
God can provide. Even Christian sects
have fallen into this trap and they offer
help from dead people, saints (prestig-
ious dead people), and even Mary. Mak-
ing people to look to these human sav-
iors helps these nominal churches to
exploit people, their money, and their
fears.

The Scripture is very clear that salvation

comes only and only through Christ.
Only Lord Jesus is the mediator be-
tween God and man. There is no other
mediator, and there is none other than
Christ who is qualified to be such a me-
diator. The Scripture says:
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And they said, Believe on the Lord

Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved, and thy house. Acts 16:31

Neither is there salvation in any

other: for there is none other name
under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved. Acts
4:12

For there is one God, and one me-

diator between God and men, the
man Christ Jesus. 1Tim 2:5

The Brethren stand strong on these af-

firmations of the Bible, and do not ac-
cept any addition. There is no mediator
whether it be Mary, saints, dead people,
pastors, priests, or the Pope. Jesus
Christ is the only Saviour and the only
mediator between man and God.
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The Right Emphasis

With Protestant Reformation, an in-

creasing number of churches realize
that their doctrine needs to be right.
Many of them have produced state-
ments of doctrine that are highly bibli-
cal. However, for such a doctrinal stand
to become effective, the right kind of
emphasis is needed. Just as prescrip-
tion of medicine should be followed by
regular consumption of medicine, right
doctrine becomes practical only when
there is right emphasis in the church.
However, today the Protestant Christen-
dom has become so corrupt that they
have added man-made sets of stipula-
tions along with right doctrines. This in
effect has totally destroyed the unique
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character of the New Testament church

and has made these churches resemble
the Roman Catholicism out of which we
came out.

The Brethren have given emphasis to

the essentials right from the beginning,
and some of these include:

 Separation
 Priesthood Of All Believers
 Autonomy Of The Local Church
 Necessity Of Evangelism
 Necessity Of Church Planting

We need to discuss each one in detail

1. Separation: It becomes clear even to

a casual observer of the Scripture that
God wants His children to be in the
world, but be separated from the world

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in certain things. In other words, we are

people with dual citizenships and there-
fore we need to be careful in what we do
and in what we avoid. This is based
upon the principle, " If ye were of the
world, the world would love his own: but
because ye are not of the world, but I
have chosen you out of the world, there-
fore the world hateth you." (John 15:19).
"I have given them thy word; and the
world hath hated them, because they
are not of the world, even as I am not of
the world." (John 17:14).

God's children continue to live in this

world after their salvation. During this
time they enjoy dual citizenship, of the
earth and of the heaven, with totally
conflicting demands. Thus there is a
constant battle within the Christian life
(and within the Christian society) to ar-
rive at a compromise between the de-
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mands of the old and new citizenships

of the Christian – a compromise be-
tween Christian theology and earthly
outlook. This kind of a compromise re-
duces the conflict, and is a great gain
for the world, but is a great loss for the
church. Such a compromising believer
is never able to attain the sanctification,
maturity, and spiritual effectiveness for
which he/she has been called by Christ.
The Scripture warns against compro-
mise, against mingling with error, and
against certain types of fellowships. We
read in the Scripture:

I pray not that thou shouldest take

them out of the world, but that
thou shouldest keep them from the
evil. They are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world.
(John 17:15,16)

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I wrote unto you in an epistle not to

company with fornicators: Yet not
altogether with the fornicators of
this world, or with the covetous, or
extortioners, or with idolaters; for
then must ye needs go out of the
world. But now I have written unto
you not to keep company, if any
man that is called a brother be a
fornicator, or covetous, or an idola-
ter, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an
extortioner; with such an one no
not to eat. For what have I to do to
judge them also that are without?
do not ye judge them that are with-
in? But them that are without God
judgeth. Therefore put away from
among yourselves that wicked per-
son. (I Corinthians 5:9-13)

If there come any unto you, and

bring not this doctrine, receive him
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not into your house, neither bid

him God speed: For he that biddeth
him God speed is partaker of his
evil deeds. (2 John 10,11)

Beware lest any man spoil you

through philosophy and vain deceit,
after the tradition of men, after the
rudiments of the world, and not af-
ter Christ. Let no man therefore
judge you in meat, or in drink, or in
respect of an holiday, or of the new
moon, or of the sabbath days:
Which are a shadow of things to
come; but the body is of Christ. Let
no man beguile you of your reward
in a voluntary humility and wor-
shiping of angels, intruding into
those things which he hath not
seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly
mind, And not holding the Head,
from which all the body by joints
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and bands having nourishment

ministered, and knit together, in-
creaseth with the increase of God.
Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ
from the rudiments of the world,
why, as though living in the world,
are ye subject to ordinances,
(Touch not; taste not; handle not;
22 Which all are to perish with the
using;) after the commandments
and doctrines of men? Which
things have indeed a shew of wis-
dom in will worship, and humility,
and neglecting of the body; not in
any honour to the satisfying of the
flesh. (Colossians 2:8, 16-23)

And I heard another voice from

heaven, saying, Come out of her,
my people, that ye be not partakers
of her sins, and that ye receive not
of her plagues. (Revelation 18:4)
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From these it is obvious that God wants

his children not to be part of those
forms of Christianity which are contrary
to the Scripture. God also wants His
children to be away from evil and sin.
What is more, He wants His children not
to have fellowship with heretics who are
within the family of God, if the heretics
do not give heed to doctrinal correction
and if they continue to perpetuate their
teaching in the family.

As a result though the Brethren are

courteous and friendly to all, they refuse
to be part of any endeavor that encour-
ages sin, compromise, error, or heresy.
They do not endorse ecumenism, and do
not participate in activities that are
aimed to promote ecumenism. They are
also the first to spot error within the as-
semblies and outside and they are the
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first to expose such error. The ultimate

aim of all this is to show the world that
God's children do not endorse sin, com-
promise, and heresy. There are very few
churches that are as strong in these
matters as the Brethren Assemblies are.

2. Priesthood Of All Believers: A special

Priesthood to manage religious affairs is
known in all religions, including the
Jewish faith. It is God Himself who ap-
pointed the Old Testament priesthood,
its protocols, and its standard operating
procedure. However, by the time of Eli
the Jewish priesthood was used by
many in priestly families for unlawful
gains and improper favours. By the time
of Nehemiah things degenerated to such
a level that Jewish priesthood joined
hands with abominable people to work
against God's people and divine stat-
utes.
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God had different plans for the New Tes-

tament era. He brought forth this plan
first by destroying the separation be-
tween holy and the most holy place in
the Jewish temple. Second, place he
promoted ALL his people to priesthood
so that in the New Testament there is no
longer a special priestly class of people.
With that God abolished the special
priestly class, priestly families, priestly
protocols, standard operating proce-
dures, the altar, sacrifices, incense, and
the special vestments worn by priests.
We read in the Scripture:

Ye also, as lively stones, are built

up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices, acceptable to God by Je-
sus Christ. 1Peter 2:5

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But ye are a chosen generation, a

royal priesthood, an holy nation, a
peculiar people; that ye should
shew forth the praises of him who
hath called you out of darkness in-
to his marvelous light. 1Peter 2:9

And hath made us kings and

priests unto God and his Father; to
him be glory and dominion for ever
and ever. Amen. Revelation 1:6

And hast made us unto our God

kings and priests: and we shall
reign on the earth. Revelation 5:10

Thus God has brought in a radically

new system in the New Testament where
every believer, man or woman, is a
priest. He/she no longer needs the min-
istry of a priestly class of special people.
On the contrary, each believer-priest in
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the New Testament is expected by God

to function faithfully in the priestly du-
ties given to that person.

While many Protestant churches pay lip

service to this New Testament principle,
they effectively nullify this principle by
"granting" titles like Pastor, Center Pas-
tor, Reverend, Most Reverend, Right
Reverend, Archbishop, etc. The Brethren
are the only group that emphasizes this
New Testament principle with all their
heart and all their might. This is the
reason why we do not see a special class
of priesthood in the Brethren assem-
blies. There is no special vestment, no
hierarchy of priests and bishops. No
special priestly class is needed in the
Brethren Assemblies to conduct mar-
riages, funerals, dedicatory prayers,
baptisms, or the Lord's Supper. No for-
mal license is needed to preach or
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teach, and every person gifted in teach-

ing is encouraged to teach, while even
those without the gift of teaching are
encouraged to share their insights from
the Scriptures. This is something
unique to the assemblies, and it is im-
possible to find a church which gives
such an emphasis to this most im-
portant New Testament principle.

3. Autonomy Of The Local Church:

Church is a totally new system institut-
ed by God. It is completely different from
anything that one sees in the Old Tes-
tament and it was a mystery before the
day of Pentecost. Starting from that day,
God revealed numerous things about
the Church and Church Age. This in-
formation is spread from the book of
Acts to the book of Revelation in the
Scripture. When all this information is
collected and arranged, it becomes clear
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 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

that the Church of Christ is not to be

organized like a human organization.

The New Testament Church is a very

large family, with born again members
spread throughout the world. The New
Testament makes it clear that they are
to gather into churches, but that these
churches are not to be made into any
kind of human organization or hierar-
chy. There are a number of reasons be-
hind this new command, and one of
them is to preserve His church from
human control and manipulation. How-
ever, practically every Protestant church
in the world has organized itself into a
hierarchy and there is absolutely noth-
ing in such hierarchies that grant au-
tonomy to the local church. They have
used this hierarchical power to intro-
duce man made rituals, demands, and
theology to exploit their members. This
DR JOHNSON C. PHILIP/DR SANEESH CHERIAN 38
 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

is totally contrary to the New Testament

pattern.

The Brethren are practically the only

church in the world that literally and
strictly adheres to the principle of the
autonomy of individual churches. Each
church is autonomous, and is under no
pastor, no bishop, and under no hierar-
chy. Yet the Brethren worldwide contin-
ue to be one New Testament pattern
movement because every autonomous
church stands upon one and the same
foundation, which is the Bible and not
any man-made system.

4. Necessity Of Evangelism: Preaching

the gospel of salvation to the unregener-
ate is a constantly occurring theme in
the Bible. The history of Jonah is the
finest example of evangelism and its af-
ter effects. Lord Jesus Himself provided
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 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

a great model through His call for re-

pentance, and commissioned twelve and
then seventy to preach the gospel.

Once the Church Age came, the com-

mand to preach, teach, make disciples,
baptize etc. became stronger. Just be-
fore the Church age was about to begin,
the Lord commanded "Go ye therefore,
and teach all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19).
They were to start from the time that the
Holy Spirit came to the earth in a spe-
cial manner. Thus the command to
evangelize is to be taken seriously by
every generation, exactly the way first
the disciples and then the new Chris-
tians took this command.

Today there are very few Protestant

churches that take the command for
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 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

evangelism seriously. The man-made hi-

erarchy of these churches have invented
numerous man-made aims and goals
and all their energy is spent on these
worthless and often anti Christian man-
made goals. The Brethren, however,
have taken evangelism as a high priority
activity right from the start of this
movement. They know that Christ com-
manded His children to do so, and they
do it with full commitment and vigor.
While some churches try to bring people
to Christ by promising health, healing,
prosperity, the Brethren do not use any
of these manipulations. They preach the
gospel, convince people through the
power of God and the Scriptures, and
bring them to salvation.

5. Necessity Of Planting Churches: The

last two centuries were times of great
revival and evangelistic activity for
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 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

many. However, a good number of such

high-visibility evangelists prefer to send
people back to their own man-made,
compromising, churches after people
accept Christ. A good modern example
is the Billy Graham Evangelistic Associ-
ation which claims to have led hundreds
of thousands to the Lord. However, once
a person accepts Christ through them,
the Lutheran is sent to his Lutheran
church and the Roman Catholic back to
his Catholic church.

In other words, once people come to

Christ, there is a tendency in most
evangelistic activities to send them back
to their own man-made denominations.
This would quickly sap their new-found
joy, deprive them of their spiritual
priesthood, and would subject them to a
man-made and exploitative hierarchy.
Soon their spiritual joy would be
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 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

quenched. However, the Brethren have

always stood for nurturing new believ-
ers. For this they plant new churches
wherever there are two or three new be-
lievers are there. They do not worry
about numbers, buildings, or a special
man-made priesthood. On the contrary,
their whole attention is upon the spir-
itual growth of the new believers and
that is why church-planting is given
high priority where there are two or
three news believers. This is something
unique to the Brethren.

Biblical In Rejection

The idea of separation comes with the

stipulation that the separated ones re-
ject certain things and ideas as stipulat-
ed by God. A good example is Samson
who was separated unto God right from
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 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

the moment of his conception. Therefore

he had to observe strict separation from
Wine. He was not supposed to marry
gentile women. Priests in the Old Tes-
tament were separated people, and they
were not supposed to act like common
Jews.

The great men who left nominal and

worldly churches to become the found-
ers of the Brethren movement were men
deeply committed to the Bible. Thus one
of the first thing they did after their sep-
aration was to reject a number of
things. These include:

 Vanity, Pomp And Show

 Man-made Church Hierarchy
 Salaried Priesthood
 Man-made Creeds And Customs

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 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

1. Vanity, Pomp And Show Rejected:

Human heart is totally devoted to vanity
and therefore all religions add all kinds
of vanity, pomp, and show as it grows
and becomes powerful. The 1800s were
a time like this worldwide. The industri-
alized nations were rich with factory
produces coupled with loot from their
colonies. The Colonies like India had a
substantial business class among Chris-
tians who were rich. Thus churches eve-
rywhere had access to plenty of money
but no accountability to man or God.
Pomp and show, coupled with luxuries,
was the order of day. Church buildings
were built to impress people and the lit-
urgy was meant to terrorize the common
man.

The first thing the new believers did was

to abandon all pomp, show, and vanity.
Church services were conducted in
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 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

common man's language, special priest-

ly vestments and contrived prayers read
from books were done away with. Plain
halls were used as churches, and all
ceremonies including marriage and fu-
neral were made simple. Since gold or-
naments had become a prime symbol of
vanity among Kerala Christians, these
were also abandoned. There was no
more clergy laity difference. All believer-
priests were equal in the Lord. Thus the
Christian faith of the early Brethren re-
turned to the simplicity of the New Tes-
tament era by rejecting all show of hu-
man vanity.

The situation continues to be the same

today, in spite of much compromise.
There is neither special priestly vest-
ments, nor the artificial liturgy that is
seen in nominal churches. In general
Kerala Brethren continue to keep orna-
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 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

ments of gold, silver, and precious stone

away as a part of this choice, and in this
matter they are unique among all the
assemblies everywhere in the world.

2. Man-made Church Hierarchy Reject-

ed: There is no hierarchy in the church
age. We read "There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither bond nor free,
there is neither male nor female: for ye
are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28 ).
All hierarchy has been abolished in
church. There is no special priestly
class, special no vestments, no special
liturgy. There are no church unions, no
centers, no central pastors or bishops.

However, all of this is contrary to hu-

man wisdom. If there is a special priest-
ly class, special vestment, special liturgy
which is to be administered only by the
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 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

appointed ones, then a few priests can

control vast numbers of people. The
common man can be manipulated at
will because only the priestly class has
the authority to interpret the Bible in
such a system. This is why all kinds of
bizarre hierarchical systems and stipu-
lations have come up on the Church
age. The ultimate purpose is to enslave
people, whereas Christ has liberated
people.

In keeping with the Scripture, the

Brethren strongly and totally reject all
man-made church hierarchy, church-
unions, ecumenism, and artificially con-
trived liturgy. In keeping with the New
Testament truths, the Brethren also to-
tally reject the concept of a man-made
priestly class and priestly hierarchy. In
fact they believe that this hierarchy,
through Ecumenism, will ultimately
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 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

form the One World Church, which

would become the Mystery Babylon, the
Mother of Harlots. The Brethren reject
the Mystery Babylon and also its pre-
sent manifestation in the form of man-
made church hierarchy.

3. Salaried Priesthood Is Rejected: Ac-

cording to the word, a person is to be
paid a salary when he is employed by
someone. Thus the moment people
brought in the worldly system of a spe-
cial priestly class "appointed" by the
church, they also brought in the con-
cept of paying them a salary. Thus the
priests in these churches are hirelings
of the church, not servants of Christ.

These priests and pastors are subject to

a human office, central authorities, and
are liable for transfer exactly the way it
happens in government offices. There is
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 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

also plenty of lobbying for transfer to

better (rich) churches, and those who go
against the hierarchy are sent to bad
churches as "punishment transfer".

All of the above happens when the

house of God is managed using earthly
principles. There is absolutely no com-
mand or precedent for such man-made
organization in the New Testament
church. The Brethren therefore reject
the Salaried Priesthood as a totally
man-made and carnal institution. Those
who serve as evangelists and elders in
Brethren assemblies do not serve a hu-
man hierarchy. They do so unto God,
and no salary is every given to them.
There are neither transfers to rich
churches for one's favorite people, not
punitive transfers to those who do not
conform to the hierarchy.

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 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

What is done unto the Lord is done in

faith, and it is the Lord who looks after
them, not a manipulation-prone and
sin-prone human hierarchy. The Breth-
ren are unusual in this aspect of their
church, and they take this stand so as
to conform as closely as possible to the
model provided by the Bible.

4. Man-made Creeds And Customs Are

Rejected: Just as people have a tenden-
cy to create a carnal hierarchy over
churches, they also have a tendency to
create creeds and customs without an
end. Eventually these creeds and cus-
toms totally overshadow biblical truth.

A good example is the holy-water used

by many nominal churches and by
many charismatic preachers. Just as
non Christians use holy water to anoint
buildings, people on death-bed and
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 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

priests (when they are consecrated),

these Christians also use this so-called
holy-water for man-made rites related to
separation, dedication, consecration,
and death-bed ministries. They call it as
"anointing". This is an absolutely pagan
concept, totally contrary to the princi-
ples of the church age.

Similarly, many churches have con-

trived creeds that are totally against the
Scripture. Some of these reject the di-
vinity of the Bible, others sanction and
justify idol-worship, and still others ele-
vate dead people (the so-called saints)
and Bishops to the level of God. Bishops
are often addressed as His Grace, His
Worship, etc. whereas these are terms
to be used only for God.

Then there is the the imposed celibacy

of priests. There is absolutely no war-
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 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

rant for this in the Scripture. There is

also no warrant for women in Christian
ministry to undergo forced celibacy.
This is totally opposed to the spirit of
creation where man has been made to
live with woman and have offspring. The
amount of moral sin that this has creat-
ed is mind-boggling. Worse, some
Protestant churches force men to aban-
don their families after they are conse-
crated as Pastors. Again this is an open
violation of the Scripture.

Carnal man loves to elevate human

things to the level of the divine. This is
totally and absolutely forbidden in the
Scriptures. In keeping with such com-
mands of the Scripture, the Brethren
rightly reject all man-made creeds and
customs.

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 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

Conclusion

From the time of Protestant Refor-

mation, many churches have tried to get
as close to the New Testament as possi-
ble. Conforming to the New Testament
pattern requires that a church should
have the right doctrine, right emphasis,
and also that it should reject all what
God rejects.

Many churches have the right doctrines,

but they do not emphasize that which is
to be given emphasis and thus the fail
in conforming to the Bible. Others have
the right emphasis, but do not teach the
whole counsel of Scripture so that peo-
ple soon drift into human do-goodism
instead of a Bible-based holy living. Still
others try to give the right direction to
the church through creeds and cus-
toms, but succeed only in taking the
DR JOHNSON C. PHILIP/DR SANEESH CHERIAN 54
 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

church closer to the carnal society.

The Brethren Movement, however, has

succeeded in emphasizing the right doc-
trine, right practices, and also in reject-
ing all man-made additions to the
church. Thus it is a unique group, as
close to the New Testament principles as
possible.

After reading this book, some of you

might want to point to the shortcomings
of the Brethren Assemblies. Please re-
member, shortcomings will always be
there in the Christian world as long as
our sin nature is with us. Thus the
main question should not be "why are
there these shortcomings in our
churches". Rather, the right question
that each one of us should as is "since I
am part of such a blessed group, what
has been my contribution so far to en-
DR JOHNSON C. PHILIP/DR SANEESH CHERIAN 55
 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

rich this group". Once our readers start

asking this question honestly to them-
selves, they will find that they are on the
path of a new transformation in their
spiritual life.

About The Authors

Dr. Saneesh Cherian has

been a life-long Bible stu-
dent. He studied from BTh
up to ThD and also earned a
PhD, all in theology. He is al-
DR JOHNSON C. PHILIP/DR SANEESH CHERIAN 56
 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

so an MA in Sociology from a perstigious

Indian University.

He has authored more than 75 books

and more than 1000 articles in three
languages. He has been working shoul-
der to shoulder with Dr. Johnson C.
Philip since 1995.

Dr. Johnson C. Philip is an

expert in Quantum Nuclear
Physics (PhD), Apologetics
and Hermenuitcs (ThD),
and Alternative Medicine
(DSc). He has studied many other sub-
jects also.

He has authored more than 10,000 arti-

cles and 150 books so far.

Both Saneesh and Johnson have been

active to teach Fundamenatl Doctrines.
DR JOHNSON C. PHILIP/DR SANEESH CHERIAN 57
 BRETHREN DISTINCTIVES

Many of their books can be downloaded

FREE from

www.OnlyFreeBooks.com

These are very easy to read on smart-

phones because of special DTP

DR JOHNSON C. PHILIP/DR SANEESH CHERIAN 58