IS THERE A PATTERN FOR THE PLAN OF SALVATION, FOR THE CHURCH, AND FOR OUR WORSHIP?
1. A pattern can be seen from God's Attitude toward His word. He says, "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God." (Deuteronomy 4:2). In Proverbs 30:6 he says "Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."Also in Revelation 22:18, 19 we are told that if any man add unto the words of this prophecy God will add unto him the plagues which are written in this book. These passages teach that God does not want us practicing something that is not authorized in His book. That is adding to His word. Neither should we fail to practice what has been authorized. If we do then he will add the plagues written in the book to us. These plagues are to be cast into hell.
2. The examples of Cain and Abel and Nadab and Abihu show that God is not pleased with any substitution. Hebrews 11:4 says that by "Faith" Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Romans 10: 17 says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Abel could not have offered by faith if God had not told him what to offer. Evidently Cain was also told because God did not accept his substitute offering and he was told that sin couched at his door. (Genesis 4:3-5). In I John 3:12 we are told that his works were evil and his brother's righteous. Second in Leviticus 10:1,2 Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire which the LORD had not commanded. Fire came out of the altar and consumed them before the LORD. In Leviticus 16:12 the fire was to be taken from the altar to offer incense to the LORD. To obtain fire from elsewhere was not authorized and God rejected it. Instead of "Strange" the New International Version renders it "unauthorized".
3. The argument for the silence of the scriptures has a valid basis. In Hebrews 1 :4,5 the argument is made by the Holy Spirit that Christ has a better name and more prominent place than the angels. Look at the reasoning - "For unto which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art my son, This day have I begotten thee?" The Spirit makes his argument on what God did not say. God never said to the angels "Thou art my son, This day have I begotten thee". Therefore they do not deserve the same status as Christ. You see, what God did not say does make a difference. The same is true of Hebrews 7:13, 14 where it says "For it is evident that our Lord hath sprung out of Judah; as to which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priests." So on earth Christ could not be a high priest. The writer makes his point by what is not said. So What is not said is important to the Lord.
4. There is a pattern in the plan of salvation. Apollos was an eloquent man, mighty in the scriptures and instructed in the way of the Lord. He taught accurately the things of Jesus knowing only the baptism of John. Priscilla and Aquila heard him and detected an error in his message so they took him aside and taught him more accurately the way of the Lord. If there was no pattern how could they have known he was wrong? This passage proves the existence of a New Testament pattern in the plan of salvation.
5. Paul taught the same things in every place. He told the Corinthians, "For this cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who shall put you in remembrance. of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every church." I Corinthians 4: 17. How is it that Paul could teach the same things in different cultures, and in the country and in the Metropolitan areas as well? He had to, because there was a pattern to follow.
6. Timothy was told "Hold the pattern of sound words which thou hast heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 1:13) (New King James Version of the Bible). The old King James version has "form" which means a sketch, a formula, sample, a pattern, a model representation. The words of the New Testament is to the church's work, worship, organization and doctrine what a set of blueprints are to a construction company contracted to build a shopping center. Paul said it is to be held on to. You can't hold to something that does not exist.
7. Unity necessitates a pattern. In John 17:20,21 Jesus prayed for the unity of all who believe on him through their word that they be one as he and the Father are one. He goes on to say that this unity needs to exist that the world may believe on Christ. It is noteworthy that the Lord prayed this in the shadow of the cross. Why? A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand Matthew 12:22-29.
8. Paul, by inspiration discussed unity with the Corinthians. In I Corinthians 1:10-13 he told them to be of the same mind and the same judgment. That unity was on the basis that Christ died for us and we are baptized in his name. In his name is by his authority. That is given in the New Testament.
9. The Lord commanded unity not union. Union is an alliance or confederation of persons, parties or political entities for mutual interest or benefit. Unity is the state of being one; singleness, being of accord or agreement. Unity is agreeing together and thinking the same way. The only way to be united is by following the pattern laid down by Christ in the New Testament.
10. There are two basic attitudes toward God's Word. One is that religiously speaking everything that is not specifically condemned in the Bible is allowed. The other is that religiously speaking only those things that are specifically authorized in the Bible are allowed. God takes the second one as His preference and so should be our preference.
11. What must we do? Logically we should strive for unity. We should do everything that is authorized by God in the New Testament and teach all men to do the same. God commanded unity and we should look in his word to see how it can be accomplished. We should constantly be asking "What is truth?" and be discussing with each other what the truth is on any given subject. We need to examine our motives and see if they are in accord with God's desire for unity.
To deny the existence of a divinely revealed New Testament pattern is to deny one of the basic propositions of the Bible. A pattern does exist and it must be followed. -C. D.