WHY I AM NOT A CAMPBELLITE by Peter S. Ruckman   A Church Built on a Lie You can tell a great deal about any man's church or religion by observing his "starting point." If the foundation is false, the structure will be false; if the foundation is weak (Matt. 7:26), the structure will collapse under stress. No one has to have an IQ of 90 to see these absolute truths. Where you begin usually determines where you end, un­less you get "off the beaten path" (for good or for worse) by taking some detours and sideroads. Sometimes, down the line, the detour saves you ­the New Birth, for example- at other times, it has­tens your damnation. Momentum usually keeps you going downhill in the same direction till you wind up in Hell. All any sinner has to do is "neglect so great salvation" (Heb. 2:3), and his natural birth (see Eph. 2:1-3) will end at his natural destina­tion: HELL. All any sinner has to do to get to the Lake of Fire is just keep living: that will do the job. Death is sure, judgment is sure (Heb. 9:27); just neglect salvation (Heb. 2:3), and you will end according to your start (Eph. 2:1-3). If along the way you experience the New Birth (John 3:3), you get a new start; subsequently, you wind up in a different place (Rom. 8:29). When you discover that a man's entire religious structure is built on Acts 2:38 or Ephesians 1:5 or Matthew 16:18 or Matthew 24:13 or James 2:24 or the Sermon on the Mount or 1 John 4:4 or 1 John 4:8, you know he is going to wind up with a spiritual disaster. He is off to a "false start." In track events and swimming meets he is called "back to his points." Religiously speaking, he has erected a church (or a "life style" or a philosophy) on a foundation of cigar smoke. It is like building a church building on a foundation of asbestos or acoustical blocks, with a plate glass under girding. He would be a lousy carpenter (see 1 Cor. 3: 10). Jackleg carpenters like that all think because the building is one structure (2 Tim. 3: 16) that they can begin by using any part of it for a foundation. I believe every word of Scripture found in the Holy Bible. I believe that every verse in James, Obadiah, Jonah, Philemon, and Leviticus is just as much "the words of God" as John, Romans, Gala­tians, Ephesians, and 1 Thessalonians. The Scriptures I listed above (Eph. 1:5; Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:38; etc.) are just as true and just as infallible as John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8; Ro­mans 8:28; 1 John 5:13; or Philippians 4:13,19. I also believe that in our church building the "dry wall," faucets, drains, light sockets, kick boards, trim, doors, hinges, rafters, beams, joists, and linoleum tile are all part of ONE building and essential to it (Luke 4:4). But I am not as big a fool as a Campbellite or Charismatic (or a Calvinist or Catholic) to think that you can lay down sheet rock for a foundation, make doors out of cut glass, use copper tubing for studs and beams, and substitute acoustical tile for rugs. For example: Acts 2:38 took place before God revealed the "gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24) to Paul (Gal. 1:4-12). There are no Chris­tians present in Acts 2:38: it is a Jewish feast, and every convert there was a Jew or a Jewish proselyte. Not one Apostle present in Acts chapter 2 was ever baptized according to Acts 2:38, and none of the converts in Acts 2:38 spoke with tongues before or after they got baptized (Acts 2:41). No one was praying at Pentecost (Acts 2: 1-4), only twelve of them talked in tongues (Acts 1 :26), and the tongues were not the "initial evidence" of ANYTHING. The "initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Ghost" was "a sound ... as of a rush­ing mighty wind" (Acts 2:2). Now, isn't that some kind of a bedrock foundation to build a church or a religious "faith" on? Man, what a disaster (Matt. 7:27)! What loony from Loony Tunes would park on Acts 2:38 as a foun­dation for anything? Porky Pig? Daffy Duck? Road Runner? Speedy Gonzalez? Bugs Bunny? No, but I'll tell you who would: the Campbellites (who call themselves "The Church of Christ"). They would, and so would a Charismatic (see Why I Am Not a Charismatic, 1997). For example: Take Matthew 16:18. Every man addressed is an Old Testament, Sabbath-observing, pork-abstaining, temple-worshipping, bearded JEW (Gal. 2:14). Peter is from Israel (Galilee), physically and religiously. In Matthew chapter 16, Jesus Christ has not yet died for anyone. In Mat­thew chapter 16, "the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24) has been revealed to no one, includ­ing Peter (Gal. 1-2). The "church" mentioned (Matt. 16: 18) is either trying to get into Hell by crashing its gates or is trapped in Hell and trying to break out. * read more about this by purchasing this book *
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