Jim Moran on The Local Church Salvation
The Bible reveals to us that Jesus Christ was, and still is, God incarnate, that He died on the cross for our sins, and that through faith and trust in Him we can receive forgiveness of our sins. We are made at peace with God and experience the peace of God in this life. We also have complete assurance of the forgiveness of all our sins and life everlasting.
Attempts have been made throughout the history of the church to add something to saving faith as a condition for one's salvation experience. If we add anything to faith we may be accused of proclaiming a false gospel and be accursed (Gal. 1:8). Through faith in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ man enters into a personal relationship with God and receives forgiveness of his sins. This should be firmly believed.
Witness Lee and the Local Church would have us believe that they too believe this! A casual reading of Local Church publications, nearly all of which are authored by Lee himself, reveals that they believe that faith in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ is absolutely necessary in order to be saved. The Local Church is also taught by Lee that the Lord Jesus Christ is both God and man, that he was born of the virgin Mary, that He died on the cross for our sins, that He bodily rose from the dead, that He will return for His people someday, and that all who believe in Him have the assurance of eternal life. The Local Church publication, The Beliefs and Practices of the Local Churches, states:
In order to be saved...we must believe...that Jesus Christ is the Son of God incarnated to be a man; that Christ died on the cross for our sins, shedding His blood for our redemption; that on the third day He was bodily raised from the dead....Eternal salvation is by grace through faith, not by our works.1
Taken from the Local Church's only official doctrinal statement, this statement would meet with our approval. However, a thorough examination of other Local Church publications reveals a lack of consensus on the matter of salvation. This suggests that the Local Church has deliberately concealed from the public the more controversial aspects of their beliefs and practices that are not clearly presented in this publication. They are, however, expressed amongst themselves. As we shall see, Lee has established a works-righteousness relationship that clearly negates biblical redemption by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
Concerning Lee's own understanding of what one must do in order to be saved, his own words will betray him. In some of his many books, Lee teaches that faith in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ saves; that water baptism and faith in the person and work of Christ saves; and that the practice of calling on the name of the Lord, with or without faith, with or without the intent of believing or having adequate knowledge of the gospel, and with or without baptism, saves.
The practice of placing one's own personal experience over doctrinal knowledge is prevalent throughout many of the Local Church's beliefs and practices. The doctrinal statement continues:
In order to be saved, one must have a living contact with Jesus Christ. Therefore, in bringing unbelievers to salvation, we emphasize prayer and calling on the name of the Lord. According to Romans 10:9 and 10, if a man is to be saved, he must believe in his heart and confess with his mouth.2
We shall see that salvation according to Lee is not primarily restricted to the forgiving of our sins and saving us from hell. Salvation according to Lee has been redefined as also imparting spiritual life to earthen vessels that are spiritually dead and empty. We have already seen that Lee teaches that Satan is mingled with man's body and soul and that the human spirit was created by God to contain Him. What takes place when someone believes, calls on the name of the Lord, or is baptized? We have already seen that Lee teaches that Christ as the Life-giving Spirit enters into man's spirit to become his life through the process Lee defines as "mingling." States Lee:
We all know that we have been born again or regenerated, but what does this mean? It simply means that our spirit has been regenerated by the Spirit of God. That which is born of Spirit (the Spirit of God) is spirit (the human spirit). This verse (John 3:6) tells us where we are born again. We are not born again in the body or in the soul, but in the spirit. When we believed in the Lord Jesus as our Savior, the Spirit of God came into our spirit. The Holy Spirit quickened and imparted life to regenerate our spirit. At the moment we believed in the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit came with Christ as life to quicken and regenerate our spirit, and from that time He dwells within our spirit (John 4:24, Rom. 8:6, II Tim. 4:22, I Cor. 6:17). 3
After passing through death, by and in resurrection, the Lord has released His life and has become a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Now, in resurrection, He is the Spirit of life (2 Cor. 3:17), with all the virtue of His redemptive work, waiting for us to believe in Him. Once we believe in Him, we not only receive the forgiveness of sins and the deliverance from Satan's evil power of darkness, but we also receive the Spirit of life, that is, the Lord Himself, with the eternal life of God. In this way we are saved and regenerated. It is by the way of believing in the Lord with His all-inclusive redemptive work that we receive God's life and are born of Him to be His sons. To believe in the Lord means to receive Him (John 1:12). The Lord is receivable. He is now the life-giving Spirit, with His complete redemption, waiting for and expecting us to receive Him. Our spirit is the receiving organ. We can receive the Lord's Spirit into our spirit by believing in Him. Once we believe in Him, He, as the Spirit, enters into our spirit. Then we are regenerated by Him, the life-giving Spirit, and become one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). The phrase "believes in" in verses 16, 18, and 36 literally translated should be "believes into Him." When we believe in the Lord, we believe into Him. By believing in Him, we get into Him to be one with Him, to partake of Him, and to participate in all that He has accomplished for us....As we become one with Him by believing into Him, we are saved and regenerated by Him as life. It is by believing into Him that we partake of Him as life and are regenerated in Him.4
In resurrection He also became the life-giving Spirit, the life-giving pneuma. He became the pneumatic Christ, the pneumatic, organic, life- giving Spirit. Whenever a person calls on the Lord's name, He comes into this person as the regenerating One to be the indwelling Spirit. He is indwelling us and is now one spirit with us (1 Cor. 6:17). He is living within us.5
Baptismal Regeneration
Directly relevant to Witness Lee's teaching on salvation is the matter of baptism. Lee has gone on record as saying that the ordinance of water baptism along with faith in Christ is necessary for someone to be saved. Lee also conveys the belief that salvation is obtainable as a process by first believing and receiving the Lord and then being baptized. Lee confuses water baptism (Matt. 28:19) with the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit that joins people to the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). Lee will also state that baptism brings someone into a spiritual and mystical union God and transfers them from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of God. States Lee:
Formerly, when we were leading people to salvation, we first considered them as seeking friends. After hearing the gospel and believing and receiving the Lord, they had to successfully pass through an interview concerning baptism. It was only after they had passed the interview that they could be baptized and saved. Now we have changed. As long as a person believes, he can be baptized immediately, and he is regenerated and saved. Furthermore, the Bible says, "He who believes and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16). It does not say that one is baptized after he is saved. Baptism is not carried out after a person is saved; baptism is part of the process of being saved. It is not that one believes and is saved and therefore should be baptized. Rather, it is that one believes and is baptized and therefore is saved. We must be clear concerning this matter. 6
When we baptize people, we are placing them into the completed, consummated Triune God....We should baptize people immediately after they have believed in the Lord. To disciple them by baptizing is to make them the very citizens of the kingdom of the heavens. If we do not put them into the Triune God, we cannot bring them into the kingdom of God. We must put them into God Himself. Then we place them into the kingdom of God.7
The believers have been baptized into the Triune God to have an organic union with the processed Triune God (Matt. 28:19). In his Word Studies in the New Testament, M. R. Vincent, writing on Matthew 28:19, said, "Baptizing into the name of the Holy Trinity implies a spiritual and mystical union with Him." Such a thought, such a revelation, has been lost in Christianity. Baptism is to baptize us into the Triune God that we may have an organic union with the processed Triune God. 8
To baptize people into the name of the Triune God is to bring them into a spiritual and mystical union with Him....To baptize anyone into the name of the Trinity is to immerse him into all the Triune God is.9
Hence, to baptize people into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit means to immerse them into the divine Person....To baptize people into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is to baptize them into the divine Person of the Triune God. The water used in baptism is a sign, not only of the death of Christ, but also of Christ Himself....When we immerse people into water, we put them into the death of Christ and simultaneously into the Person of Christ....When people are baptized into the name of the Triune God, they are put into the Person of the Triune God, which is the essence, the substance, of the divine Being. We are not immersed into the substance of the Triune God that we may go to heaven or merely that we may be holy or spiritual. It is that we may be the church. The Lord Jesus builds up His church by putting us into the Triune God.10
Baptism is a testimony before men. All believers should be baptized in order to be saved not only before God, but also before men. The Lord Jesus said: "He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned." Mark 16:16. Through baptism, God transfers us from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of God. For this reason, the Lord Jesus said: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." John 3:5.11
Quoting and explaining John 3:5, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God, Lee states:
Our Lord tells us here, in order to gain an entrance into the kingdom of God not only do we need to be born of the Spirit, we also have to be born of water. We have already seen that what our Lord refers to as "born of water" is water baptism. Therefore water baptism results in a man's being born again into the Kingdom of God. It is a requirement for one's gaining regeneration. 12
Calling on the Name of the Lord
We have already seen that the practice of calling on the name of the Lord, or calling on the Lord, has a significant role in the life of the Local Church movement. This practice has an important role in Witness Lee's misguided understanding of God's redemptive work. The following comments by Lee serve to illustrate the emphasis he places on this practice. States Lee:
We obtain salvation by calling on the name of the Lord (Rom. 10:13). To receive salvation from the Lord, believing alone is inadequate. You need to call on His name.13
In Acts chapter two there is a great secret, a secret which has been overlooked by most Christians. Acts 2:17 says, "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh." Verse 21 says, "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." In Acts chapter two, to be saved is to receive the Spirit. To be saved is not simply to be forgiven of our sins or to be rescued out of hell, but also to have the Holy Spirit. What must take place for us to have the Holy Spirit and be saved? Two things: first, God must pour out His spirit; second, we need to call on the name of the Lord. The Spirit has already been poured out. Now you need to call on the name of the Lord Jesus. When you call on the name of the Lord, the outpoured Spirit will get into you and will be upon you. This is the reason Romans 10:13 says, "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."14
Witness Lee comments on a young man in San Francisco and the manner of his own personal salvation experience.
How was he caught by the Lord? It was not by preaching or teaching. It was just by touching the Spirit through calling on the Lord. This is really wonderful! We have seen that to reach the unbelievers, no preaching is necessary. If we help them say "O Lord" three times, they will be saved. If they open the window, the air will get in. All they have to do is to open their mouths and say, "O Lord, O Lord." Even if they have no intention of believing, still they will get caught! Regardless of whether they have the intention or not, as long as they open the window, the air will get in. It is not a matter of teaching; it is a matter of touching the seven Spirits of God.15
Lee cites the example of the apostle Paul as someone not having an adequate knowledge of the gospel and of Jesus in order to be saved. Considering the threat Paul had been to the early church it is quite reasonable to believe that he had received an earful from the Christians he had beenpersecuting. States Lee:
The dispensing of the Triune God into man is altogether related to the Spirit. The processed God as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit is waiting for our spirit to respond to Him and to cooperate with Him. To be saved is not merely to understand the gospel. It is to open ourselves from the depths of our being to respond to the Spirit. When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we must call from our spirit, from the depths of our being. If we do this, we shall be saved, even if we do not adequately understand the gospel. Consider the case of Saul of Tarsus on the way to Damascus (Acts 9). He was saved by saying the words, "Who art thou, Lord?" At the time he was saved, Saul was not so clear about the gospel, or even about the Lord Jesus. However, simply by saying the words, "Who art thou, Lord?" he was captured by the Lord. This shows that to be saved is not mainly a matter of understanding the gospel, but of contacting the life-giving Spirit, who is the processed God waiting for an opportunity to come into us. Contacting the life-giving Spirit is much like breathing. The important thing is not to understand the air, but to breathe the air into us. By breathing in the air, we receive all the benefits of the air.16
Saul of Tarsus was one of a strong character. He was happily nearing the end of his journey from Jerusalem to Damascus, eager to arrive and fulfill his task of arresting all who believed in Jesus. It was midday as he approached Damascus. Suddenly, "there shone from heaven a great light round about" him (Acts 22:6). He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" (v. 7). He must have thought, "What do you mean? I have been persecuting Peter, and John, and Stephen. All those whom I have persecuted were on the earth. I never harmed anyone in the heavens. Who can this be, saying that I am persecuting him?"...So he asked. Calling this unseen One Lord, he said, "Who art thou, Lord?" (v. 8). The answer came, "I am Jesus"! Saul must have been filled with consternation. Jesus was crucified and buried. How could He be speaking from the heavens? How could He be alive? ...What was the gospel message that Saul heard from the Lord Jesus? A light from heaven first made him fall to the ground. Then a voice asked, "Why are you persecuting me?" When Saul replied, "Who are You, Lord?" the voice answered, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting....In Saul's thinking Jesus of Nazereth was a man on this earth who had been crucified and buried. To his astonishment this very One came to him from the heavens!17
When Paul said, "Who are You, Lord?" he must have gotten saved and received the essential Spirit. Later, in the book of Romans, he said, "Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Rom. 10:13). In Acts 9:5 Saul called Jesus Lord even without knowing Him.18
Saul called Him Lord, even without knowing Him.19
This early Local Church hymn, sung to the tune, Blessed be the Name, instructs participants to call on the name of the Lord in order to be saved.
Call upon the name,
Call upon the name,
Call upon the name of the Lord;
Call upon the name,
Call upon the name,
Call upon the name of the Lord!
O Lord Jesus!
O Lord Jesus!
Call upon the Name of the Lord!
O Lord Jesus!
O Lord Jesus!
Call upon the name of the Lord!
Call upon His name,
Call upon His name,
Call upon His name and be saved;
Call upon His name,
Call upon His name,
Call upon His name and be saved!
O Lord Jesus!
O Lord Jesus!
Hallelujah, now I am saved!
O Lord Jesus!
O Lord Jesus!
Hallelujah, now I am saved!20
Baptism into the Body of Christ
Another concern we should consider when evaluating Witness Lee's view of salvation is the time when one actually becomes a member of the body of Christ. The central passage on this matter is 1 Corinthians 12:13, which reads, "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit." Here, Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit and His role in joining together in one body those who have come to faith in Christ. Using the analogy of the human body, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, Paul describes the body of Christ as an organic spiritual entity and unity of the many members of the body of Christ. As individual people come to faith in Chrsit, they are added by Spirit baptism to this existing body of believers (Acts 2:47). In the New Testament, there are eleven specific references to the baptism by the Holy Spirit. In the gospels and in Acts 1:5 we read that this baptism by the Holy Spirit is a future event in the lives of people, not one that has alrealdy taken place. Witness Lee, however, teaches that this work of the Holy Spirit had already taken place.
Then, after His inauguration, He (the Lord) descended to baptize His Body. This is the fifth step. On the day of Pentecost He collected together all the Jewish members of His Body and put them into Himself who is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). Later, in the house of Cornelius, He collected all the Gentile members of His Body and put them into Himself. By this step of baptism, He baptized both Jews and Gentiles into one Body. When were you baptized by the Spirit into the Body? If you are a Jew, you were baptized at Pentecost. If you are a Gentile, you were baptized at the house of Cornelius. Even before we were born, we were all baptized into one Body. We were all terminated on the cross before we were born, and we were all baptized into one Body before we were born. The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished one crucifixion, one resurrection, and one baptism. This is why 1 Corinthians 12:13 says, "For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free: and were all made to drink of one Spirit." Whether we are Jews or Gentiles, we have all been baptized already.21
First Corinthians 12:13 says, "In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body." Again, this is something too profound and too deep. The Body today is just the church. This is an interchangeable term for the church. The church is the Body, and the Body is the church. The Body is something altogether in the Spirit. We all have been baptized in the Spirit, into one Body. In one Spirit, Peter, John, James, Paul, Stephen, Martin Luther, John Nelson Darby, Brother Watchman Nee, you, and I we all have been baptized at the same time in the same place. Do not think that we were baptized at a different time or in a different place than Martin Luther or Peter. We must all realize that the Body of Christ is the church. By baptism, the Body is produced, brought forth, and constituted. In this universe in the sight of God there is something wonderful called the baptism. Many Christians do not realize this universal baptism.22
Two thousand years ago we all were baptized in Him. With God there is no clock. There is no before or after. In the eyes of God there is no element of time. There is only the fact. In the whole universe there is the immersion, the baptism. 23
Objections to Witness Lee's Doctrine of Salvation
The scriptural revelation concerning salvation, defined as the reconciliation of man to God, is exceptionally clear. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins, He was buried, and He was raised from the dead (1 Cor. 15:3-4). The very moment a person exercises saving faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ (knowledge, assent, and trust), he becomes a child of God (John 1:12; Gal. 3:26). The righteousness of Christ is imputed to believing people (Ro. 3:22, 4:5). He is washed (Tit. 3:5), his are sins forgiven (Col. 2:12-14), he is baptized into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13), he is indwelt by the Holy Spirit (John 14:17; 1 Cor. 6:19; 1 John 2:20, 2:27), and he is sealed with the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13-14, 4:30). These events and many others are accomplished at the time someone exercises saving faith in Jesus Christ.
Another aspect of man's salvation is that it is a privilege extended by God (Phil. 1:29), initiated solely by God (Ro. 8:29-30; Eph. 1:4-5, 11; 1 Pet. 1:1-2), and is made available only through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. People are saved by grace through faith, apart from any cooperation whatsoever on their part (Eph. 2:8-9; Tit. 3:5). Grace leading to salvation is something that we do not deserve, something that we cannot attain by our own effort, something that we do not merit by our standing, and something that is not initiated by ourselves. Even saving faith itself is rooted in divine grace. Romans 3:10-11 states, There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God. In his Dictionary of Latin and Greek Theological Terms, Richard Muller discounts any and all possible human cooperation in his description of Sola Gratia:
Grace alone; by grace alone...the teaching of the Reformers and of their scholastic successors that grace alone is the ground of salvation and that individuals are justified by grace alone through faith. The term allows only grace to be the active power in justification and leaves nothing to the human will or to human works. Synergism...or cooperation between man and God, is effectively ruled out of the initial work of salvation. Even faith...is a result of grace and cannot be considered as the result of human effort.24
The words faith and believe come from the same root word, pistos. This word carries the meaning to trust or have reliance upon someone or something. Genuine faith means more than mere mental assent. The full definition of saving faith consists of having complete knowledge, assent, and trust. Believing that a chair can hold someone is mere knowledge and mental assent. Genuine faith that a chair will hold us is exercised by actually placing oneself upon it! In regards to spiritual salvation, we must be so convinced that the facts about the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ are true that we are willing to stake our eternal destiny on Him.
The sinner's only hope is to trust in the person of Christ and His redemptive work on the cross alone. This was why the apostle Paul was so critical of the Galatians who had been taken in by the Judaizers. They were teaching that human effort to keep the Law of Moses was necessary. Paul's answer was that man is justified by faith plus nothing (Gal. 2:16, 3:11).
The ordinance of water baptism is carried out by believers subsequently to their salvation experience. Events recorded in the book of Acts provide us with conclusive evidence that baptism was carried out after people came to faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38-41; 8:36-38; 10:44-48; 16:14-15, 31-34). Baptism is carried out as an act of obedience towards God and as a testimony before fellow men of our acceptance of Jesus Christ. When we are baptized in water we are identifying ourselves with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As we have seen, Witness Lee shifts the emphasis from by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9), to baptism and "calling on the name of the Lord." According to Lee, these actions are necessary in order for one to be saved. Lee has clearly developed a works-righteousness theology by which one is supposedly saved. Perhaps the most serious consequences of Lee's doctrinal teaching of salvation is that people can "call upon the name of the Lord" and believe they are saved, when actually they may not be at all!
Human cooperation as espoused by Lee has absolutely no foundation whatsoever in the Word of God. It stands apart from the real Gospel of Jesus Christ as another gospel. It must therefore be condemned as one. The words of Jesus speaks for themselves:
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Endnotes