Books

Focus On The Fundamentals Of The Faith

By W. Douglass Harris

A Plea for the Old Paths

"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16).

“The words of the text are metaphorical, and represent true religion under the aspect of a pilgrimage or a journey” (H. W. Beecher). And the importance of selecting the right way is emphasized in the expression to “seek the good way”.

Conditions in Judah in Jeremiah’s day — Manasseh, the puppet ruler of Syria in Judah, was forced to acknowledge the pagan religion of the empire and to put down any prophet or teacher opposed to it. Socially, there were problems of class distinction, family life was deplorable, foreign cults were prevalent, the poor oppressed by the unscrupulous rich. Religiously, conditions were just as bad. There was a strange mixture of Canaan’s nature religions, Baalism, Babylonian cults, and meaningless formalism. The customs and habits of Assyria were brought in along with their religious practices. Many religious ways were offered to the people, which sounds so modern. It was a dark time for God in Judah. Thus, the prophet’s plea for a return to the “old paths”.

The old paths then and now — To ancient Judah God’s commandments and way of life revealed through Moses and the prophets was the old way, namely, the worship of the true God as opposed to idols, the practice of the moral law, and spiritual rectitude as revealed in the ten commandments and the books of the law.

To us the Old Paths is the way revealed by Christ and His apostles as recorded in the New Testament. (This process deserves fuller discussion, but space forbids.) There is a good way now and we must walk it, if heaven is to be our eternal home (John 14:6; Hebrews 9:8; 10:20). It is described as God’s way (2 Timothy 3:16,17), the perfect way (James 1:25), the new and living way (Hebrews 10:20), the way of truth (2 Peter 2:2), the narrow way (restricted and difficult, Matthew 7:13,14), good and old but unpopular (2 Peter 2:2; Matthew 7:14).

Old paths identified for our day — In the present age the Old Paths include the old faith (Galatians 3:23-25; Jude 3; Hebrews 12:1,2). This is the same as the system of faith or the gospel (Romans 1:16; Galatians 1:6-9). It is the same as the way of truth (2 Peter 2:2; Ephesians 1:13). Any system of faith not as old as that of Christ and His apostles could not be the good way or the Old Paths that we are to seek.

Included in the Old Paths now is the old church. It is the one revealed in the New Testament. Did Christ establish a church? He promised He would (Matthew 16:18). Did He make good that promise (See Acts 2:47; 20:28; Ephesians 1:22,23)? It can be identified by certain earmarks in the record of it in the New Testament, such as the time and place of its establishment, who comprised its membership, terms of entrance, designations, order of worship, government, etc. Any church that was not founded by Christ through His apostles in the first century is not in the Old Paths.

The aim of restoring the unity for which Christ prayed and enjoined by His apostles is a clear sign of the Old Paths (John 17:20,21; 1 Corinthians 1:10). This unity can be achieved only on the simple seven step plan outlined by Paul (Ephesians 4:1-4). The answer to Christ’s prayer can never be achieved on any other basis. Christ died to make this unity possible (Ephesians 2:11-20). Unless we get back to the Old Paths, He died in vain.

Relevance of the plea — Man’s basic needs are the same now as they were in the days of Jeremiah. Man was a sinner then and needed salvation, which is true now, and the gospel is God’s plan now for saving sinners. The Bible was not given in the first century to become outdated, but to be age-lasting. Every problem that our world faces now was faced by the early church. Paul attacked the problems of divorce, perversion, following human wisdom, sexual immorality, religious cults, materialism, and worldliness just as we face today. The Bible is always relevant. The cry from some to make it more relevant could be a subtle attempt to lead us away from it.

“The basic Restoration Movement position in this time for unity and relevance is not outdated — there is, indeed, a difference between our basic position and that of the denominational and cultist world. This difference, in fact, when understood in its philosophical and historical context, makes all the difference. The gulf that lies between us is not trivial, and that is what we have failed to impart to the new generation of church members” (William Brodie Crouch). The tragedy of all tragedies would be to let our children and future generations die ignorant of the Old Paths.