Articles
The Origin Test
The Origin Test
In Matthew 21:23, the chief priests and elders of the people questioned Jesus, asking “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” The question was about the source of His authority, His power, His right to do the things He was doing. Jesus pointed them to two possibilities for the source: “from heaven or from men” (v.25). There are no other possibilities of origin; it’s either from God or from men.
The apostles were guided into all truth, and their doctrine was not their own but the very “commandments of the Lord” (1 Cor 14:23). Thus, they taught things of heavenly origin and not from men (cf. 1 Cor 2:13).
Now consider just two examples, among many, where the apostles taught the necessity of testing the origin of a teaching or practice.
The churches of Galatia were turning away “from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel” (Gal 1:6). The test they needed to make for the things teachers were bringing them was whether it was different from “what we have preached to you” and what “you have received” (v.8,9). The saints needed to use the origin test on these teachings, comparing the teachings to the original gospel preached by the apostles.
And consider the church in Corinth. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 11 he is not a little disappointed in their corruption of the Lord’s Supper. In correcting their practice, Paul takes them back to what he originally taught them about the practice of the Lord’s Supper: “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you” (v.23). Paul used the origin test. What Corinth was practicing was not what he had already “delivered” to them – the apostle’s teaching – and was thus from men. They needed to return to what he had taught them without any modification.
What’s wrong with the sinner’s prayer for salvation? It fails the origin test; it originated with men and not with God. It is not found in the Scripture; instead, belief, repentance, confession, and baptism for the remission of sins is found in Scripture (Mk 16:16; Ax 2:38; Rom 10:9-10).
What’s wrong with sprinkling or pouring as a mode of baptism? It fails the origin test; it originated with men and not with God. It is not found in the Scriptures; instead, baptism is immersion by both definition and by context (e.g. Rom 6:4; Mt. 3:16; Jn 3:23).
What’s wrong with women leading in worship? It fails the origin test; it originated with men and not with God. It is not found in Scripture; instead, women are forbidden from that role (e.g. 1 Tim 2:11-12).
What’s wrong with using the collection of the church for supplying food, facility, or any other element for common social meals? It fails the origin test. It is not found in Scripture; instead, Paul commanded that common meals belong in the realm of, as a function of, the home (1 Cor 11:22, 34).
The distinction between the true church that belongs to Christ and the churches of men lies in the origin of authority for the things believed and practiced. Are they from heaven, or from men?
Jesus emphasized the necessity of the heavenly origin of authority; the apostles emphasized the same. And today if we will please God in what we believe and practice in worship and service to God, we will use the origin test. If the belief and practice is what Jesus and the apostles taught, which we can read in the Scriptures, then we must accept it and do it. But if it's from men we must reject it.
