Those who are gathered  to  the  Lord  will  also be gathered to one another in a sweet and holy fellowship of the truth and its Spirit. To work to this end should be the objective of every consecrated child of God. But to be united only with the Lord calls for a recognition of and obedience to his will. It may call for a separation from worldly friends and even from professing Christians. It calls for great appreciation of God’s truth, and a determination to defend and promote it with all that we have and are. But true Christian unity is worth all that it costs!

Bible Students use an expression, “All believers in the ransom, welcome.” This should be adhered to both in letter and in spirit. But we should notice what this slogan does not say. It does not say, for example, that all believers in the ransom are welcome to come into our midst and promote their differences of opinion. It does not say that all believers in the ransom are invited to become our teachers. Envy, confusion, and chaos would quickly follow the adoption of such a broad platform.

It is true, very true, that all believers in the blood of Christ who profess full consecration to the Lord should be esteemed as our brethren in Christ. They should be welcomed into our fellowship. To impose any other test of fellowship is to go contrary to the teachings of the Scriptures.

The Apostle Paul addressed the Hebrews as “holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,” but he also told them that they were not qualified to be teachers. (Heb. 3:1; 5:12) It is essential to recognize the difference be­ tween fellowship and teaching. If the church is to be built up in the most holy faith, as they need to be in order to stand in this evil day of testing, it is important that those who are chosen as teachers and speakers are sound in the truth. Aptness to teach—which is a scriptural qualification for eldership—is not merely the ability to use language; it also implies a clear understanding of the truth which is to be taught. One would not be “apt to teach” higher mathematics unless he understood higher mathematics.

What, then, is the standard of truth around which the brethren can joyfully rally today, and in keeping with which they can cooperate in a general ministry of the kingdom Gospel? It is the same as that which was accepted during the ministry of Brother Russell. That was the standard of present truth. It was the Divine plan of the ages; its dispensational features, including the presence of Christ; its covenants; its ransom and sin ­offering features; and its demand for holiness of character.

We should not expect that beginners in the truth who attend our meetings will have progressed in knowledge sufficiently to discern the presence of Christ, or to see that the consecrated followers of Jesus share in the better sacrifices of this Gospel age, or to discern the difference between being servants of the new covenant and receiving restitution blessings under its provision. We should insist, however, that those whom we recognize as teachers be clear in their understanding of these precious truths and be positive in their defense.

Doubts and disbeliefs, exceptions to this and exceptions to that, are certainly an unhealthy spiritual background for the ministry of the truth among God’s people. It is not sectarianism, it is not bondage, it is not circumscribing Christian liberty, for any ecclesia or group of the Lord’s people to insist on the scriptural standard for its teachers. And it should not be beneath the dignity of any brother who aspires to be a teacher among the brethren to let them know where he stands on these important issues of doctrine and practice. Teachers are the servants of the saints, not their overlords; and certainly the brethren have a right to question their servants as to their qualifications.