[UntoHim]

Originally Posted by Peter Debelak

Organic Salvation
This teaching is something I learned in the local churches and from reading Witness Lee – and it is a cornerstone of my faith.

I think the less extra-biblical words we can use the better. This is one of the major problems with the ministry of Witness Lee as I see it now. Not only did he use a lot of extra-biblical language, he, and now his followers, have elevated these extra-biblical words and phrases to the level of (and sometimes a level above) scripture itself. I am not arguing theology here per se, what I am talking about is the real life effects on the hearts and minds of those who would imbibe in a set of teachings which are so heavily laden with these extra-biblical words and phrases.

I’m going to pick on my dear brother Peter at this point. (Hey bro, you kind of asked for it with your usual invitation at the end… “thoughts?”.) Well these are my thoughts regarding such a term as “organic salvation”. I am not, repeat not, accusing you of, or even implying that you are “elevating this term to the level of scripture”. I’ve tasted enough of your spirit over the years to know that you would not do such a thing! However, you have made a pretty strong statement in testifying to us that “This teaching (organic salvation) is a cornerstone of my faith”. Them are some pretty serious words… “cornerstone of my faith”. I would submit that anything that is a cornerstone of one’s faith should surely be an essential item of such a faith. I’m not trying to put words in your mouth, but I am going to try to pin you down a bit. I would ask, can any extra-biblical word, term or phrase be considered an essential item of our faith? This is not a purely rhetorical question, and I think it’s a fair one.

Despite having paroused numerous Christian environments since I stopped meeting with the LC, no one has invoked this hope as poignantly as I learned it in the LC.

I would challenge you to consider that you have actually heard about “this hope”, but it was not invoked or verbalized with the same extra-biblical language that we are used to hearing in the Local Church. “Salvation” is a big, big word. It encompasses so much of what is basic and essential to our Christian faith. I don’t believe that the Lord Jesus or the scripture writing apostle used any such modifiers with the word salvation. I would not consider the term “organic salvation” unbiblical (after all, it surely involves something of life), it’s just that I find the term organic as unessessary, or at least unhelpful, when considering all the profound and wonderful aspects of our salvation.

Thoughts?