Without Contention
The theological climate at the turn of the 19th century was characterizedby controversy. The fundamentalist/modernist battle was heating up as mainline denominations began to drift from their historic doctrinal stand.
The Christian and Missionary Alliance as a new mov ement devoted to the “faith once delivered unto the saints” could easily have become preoccupied with defending the faith. But, the Alliance, while holding to historic Christianity without compromise, avoided controversy.
In 1971 The Christian Alliance Publishing Company printed W. B. Riley’s book The Menace of Modernism. Simpson’s staunch Baptist friend put into words the philosophy of the Alliance. Riley wrote, “The divine resources are never exhausted! God is never troubled over the question of the next step. The multitude of His opponents, and their apparent successes, leave Him undisturbed. He may enjoin men to hold fast ‘the faith once delivered,’ but He does it for their sakes rather that His own. He has no alarm lest His trust fail from the earth. His concern, rather, is about the faith of men, lest it fail. The real point of all inspired teaching and the real intent of all Biblical preaching is the salvation and sanctification of man, not the mere retention of the truth.”
“The real point of all inspired teaching and the real intent of all Biblical preaching is the salvation and sanctification of man, not the mere retention of the truth.”
–W. B. Riley
That concept became the practice of the Alliance in its early years and is still true today. The stand for the integrity of written Scripture, the deity of Jesus Christ, the person and work of the Spirit and every other tenant of sound doctrine is without compromise. But the Alliance has elected to be uncompromising in doctrine without
being contentious.
The church must give its energies to preaching the gospel to the whole world. Transformed lives provide the best proof of the timeless message we preach: Christ in all His fullness.
Source of Information: Without Contention