Is One As Good As Another?
If you are calling a doctor, is one as good as the other? If you are seeking a wife, is one as good as the other? If you are buying a prescription, is one as good as the other? If you are buying a house, if one as good as the other? If you are needing a mechanic, is one as good as the other? Then, kind reader, why be so particular in material things and so careless and "broadminded" in matters pertaining to your eternal destiny? How often do we hear, "One faith, way, worship, religion, baptism, church, name or doctrine is as good as another?"
FAITH - Is one faith as good as another faith? If so, then why did the apostles teach, "One Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Eph. 4:5)? Also, a dead faith would be as good as an active one. The Bible speaks of both kinds (James 2:26).
WAY - Is one way as good as another way? If so, why did Jesus say, "I am the way..." (John 14:6). Furthermore, Proverbs 14:12 says, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Is this way as good as the strait and narrow way that leadeth to life everlasting (Matthew 7:13, 14)?
WORSHIP - Is one worship as good as another worship? If so, then why did God reject Cain's worship and accept Abel's (Genesis 4)? Again, why did he kill Nadab and Abihu in the act of worshipping, if one worship is as good as another (Leviticus 10)? And if one worship is as good as another one, then an ignorant worship (Acts 17:23), a vain worship (Matthew 15:9) and a will worship (Colossians 2:23), would be as good as true worship (John 4:24).
RELIGION - Is one religion as good as another? If so, why does the book of Acts record thousands of cases of conversion from one religion to another? In fact, almost every conversion in the Book is a conversion of a religious individual! Why make the change if one religion is as good as another? The Bible discusses pure religion, the only kind to have, in James 1:27.
BAPTISM - If one baptism is as good as another, then why were those who had been baptized with John's baptism re-baptized in Acts 19? For our baptism to be valid it must be based on a genuine faith (Mark 16:16), preceded by repentance from sin (Acts 2:38), and administered upon a proper confession (Acts 8:36, 38).
CHURCH - Is one church as good as another? If so, then those built and established by man (Matthew 15:13; Psalm 127:1) would be as good as the one established by the Lord (Matthew 16:18). Yet, Matthew 15:13 tells us that every plant the Father hath not planted shall be rooted up!
NAME - Is one name as good as another? If so, why did the Lord change some names, as in the case of Abram, to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel, etc.? Also, why did the Lord teach in Acts 4:12 that there was salvation in no other name than in Jesus' name?
DOCTRINE - If one doctrine is as good as another, why did John have written, "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God." (2 John 9)?
From Our Archives, 1989
By: Windell Winkler