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No.7.
The Worthy Walk---"Practical Teaching".
pp. 231 - 237
In the course of our studies on this important subject, we have ranged over a variety of
aspects, but there still remains the difficult problem of relating the Will of God
personally. Perhaps there is no greater emphasis on "the worthy walk" than in our own
fellowship. But what is the worthy walk? What advice can be given to enable anyone
young in the faith to attain to a worthy walk? What practical teaching can be given to
this end?
At the present time there is a great demand in Christian circles to `be practical', for it
is considered that only a practical life can be one which constitute the worthy walk.
Hence there is a great demand for practical teaching, for it is argued that if the Christian
faith is anything, it must be practical. It is a demand which places in opposition
`practical' and `doctrinal' teaching. But are there two kinds of teaching, `practical' and
`doctrinal' or dogmatic? Although theological students are taught `dogmatics' & `ethics',
this is no proof that the two can be separated, and indeed such double-mindedness can
lead to serious errors and consequences.
In Roman Catholic theology such a division, arising from the assumed need for
practical guidance, has given rise to the distinction between `mortal' and `venial' sins.
We quote from an authorized Roman book of instruction:
"In the world to come mortal sin is punished with the fire of hell, so is venial sin
punished with the fire of purgatory . . . . . No number of venial sins, however great, will
of themselves destroy the grace of God in the soul, or make a mortal sin."
One kind of sin, then, will destroy `the grace of God in the soul', while another kind
of sin, no matter how often committed, nor how numerous they may be, will not of
themselves do so. Rom. 3: 23 defines sin as `coming short of the glory of God', and
indeed one of the words of sin, perhaps the most frequently used one, both in Hebrew and
Greek, signifies `to miss the mark'. "Practical teaching" concludes that we can `miss the
mark' or `fall short' in certain areas (and that time and again), without suffering eternal
consequences! It matters little whether the rope thrown to a drowning man falls short by
one inch or by one mile: the man still drowns. Sin, whether `great' or `small' (in the
eyes of man), is a very serious matter, and any distinction arising from the desire for
`practical' guidance can only belittle the seriousness of sin. The only `practical' solution
to the problem of sin is doctrinal: "The Blood of Jesus Christ (God's) Son cleanseth us
from all sin." Neither purgatorial suffering, nor the flames of the traditional `hell' can
deal with sin. Yet the desire for `practical' teaching and guidance, a desire which seeks
to avoid personal responsibility, leads only to serious doctrinal error.
In other areas `practical' teaching leads on to very serious consequences. We have
heard of a Bible Class leader who recommends that before condemning anything, we
need to have experience of it. His advice is given, it is true, in the context of films: he