• A Powerful Identity: Wellspring taught that it represented God’s faithful “remnant” - a small group preserving the true gospel while most churches had drifted from biblical truth.

• A Common Religious Pattern: Many religious movements throughout history have interpreted biblical “remnant” passages as referring to their own community as the final faithful believers.

• A Question Worth Examining: Scripture describes God preserving believers across the whole body of Christ, raising the question of whether the biblical “remnant” can be limited to one modern church.​​​​

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The Remnant in the Teaching of Wellspring

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One of the most important themes in the teaching of Wellspring’s founder, Norman James, was the concept of “the remnant.” This teaching helped shape how members understood their identity and their relationship to other churches.

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At its heart, the remnant teaching answers a powerful question: Who are the faithful people of God in a time when many believe the wider church has lost its way?

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Members were taught that throughout history God has preserved a small group of believers who remain faithful to Him while others drift into compromise or error. Wellspring was often presented as part of that faithful remnant - a community preserving the true gospel in a time when many churches had departed from biblical truth.

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Within this framework, the church was not simply another congregation among many. It was understood as a place where essential truths had been restored and preserved.

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This understanding was closely connected to other distinctive teachings at Wellspring, including Norman James's 3-step gospel. The belief that Wellspring possessed a clearer or restored understanding of being born again reinforced the idea that the church represented a faithful remnant in a time of widespread confusion.

 

 

How the Remnant Idea Shaped Identity at Wellspring

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Believing that the church represents God’s faithful remnant can create a powerful sense of purpose and unity. Members may feel that they are part of something spiritually significant - a community chosen to preserve truth during a time when much of the religious world has drifted away from God’s intentions.

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At the same time, this belief can shape how members view both other churches and their own community. If a group sees itself as the remnant, then other churches may be viewed as sincere but incomplete, or as having lost important elements of the faith.

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The group itself becomes the place where the full truth is believed to be preserved.

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This can make loyalty to the church feel extremely important. Questioning the group’s teachings or leadership may begin to feel like questioning God’s work itself.

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For many former members, this framework helps explain why leaving the church could feel so serious or frightening. It was not simply a matter of changing congregations, but of stepping away from a community believed to be uniquely preserving the truth.

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Biblical Passages Commonly Used to Support Remnant Teachings

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Groups that emphasize the idea of a faithful remnant often rely on a small number of biblical passages that speak about God preserving a faithful people during times of spiritual decline.

 

Romans 11:5:  “So too, at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.”

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In this passage, the apostle Paul is speaking about Jewish believers who accepted Christ while many others did not. Paul’s point is that God has not rejected His people; a remnant remains because of God’s grace.

 

Isaiah 10:20–22  "In that day the remnant of Israel… will truly rely on the Lord.”

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The prophet Isaiah uses the language of a remnant to describe those within Israel who remained faithful to God during times of national judgment and crisis.

 

Revelation 12:17  “The dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring - those who keep God’s commandments and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.”

 

Some religious movements interpret this passage as referring to a specific last-days group that preserves God’s truth while facing opposition.

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Within historic Christian interpretation, these passages are generally understood as describing God’s faithfulness in preserving believers across the whole body of Christ. They are not usually interpreted as identifying a particular modern congregation as the exclusive remnant.

 

 

The Remnant Teaching in Other Religious Movements

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The idea that a particular group represents God’s faithful remnant is not unique to Wellspring. Many religious movements throughout history have used similar language to describe their identity.

 

For example, the Seventh-day Adventist Church teaches that a faithful “remnant church” exists in the last days that preserves important biblical truths, particularly regarding God’s commandments and the Sabbath.

 

Certain branches of the Plymouth Brethren movement have also historically viewed themselves as a small group preserving the purity of New Testament Christianity while much of the wider church has become compromised.

 

Other restorationist movements have expressed similar ideas in different ways. Groups such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teach that God has restored truth through their movement in a time when the broader religious world had drifted from the original faith.

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These examples show that the language of a faithful remnant has appeared in many different religious movements. The biblical theme of a small group remaining faithful during times of spiritual decline can easily be interpreted as applying to a particular modern community.

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How the Remnant Idea Reinforces Separation

 

When a church believes it represents God’s faithful remnant, that belief often shapes how members relate to people outside the group - including former members.

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If a community believes it has recovered or preserved essential truths that other churches have lost, then protecting that truth becomes extremely important. Maintaining unity within the group may be seen as necessary to preserve the integrity of the remnant.

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In this context, practices such as withdrawing fellowship from former members can sometimes be justified as a way of protecting the spiritual purity of the community. Members may feel that maintaining distance from those who leave is part of preserving the truth that God has entrusted to the remnant.

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For many former members, understanding the role of the remnant teaching helps explain why the church developed such strong expectations of loyalty and separation.

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The New Testament, however, consistently describes the church as the worldwide body of Christ made up of believers from many different places and communities. Believers are united through faith in Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, not through membership in a particular organization (Ephesians 4:4–6; 1 Corinthians 12:12–13).

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No passage of Scripture identifies a single modern congregation as the exclusive remnant of God’s people.

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Why the Remnant Teaching Feels So Compelling

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The idea that a small group of believers represents God’s faithful remnant can be deeply compelling. It offers a powerful explanation for why a church may be small, misunderstood, or different from other Christian communities.

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For many people, the remnant teaching provides a strong sense of purpose. Members may feel that they are part of a community chosen to preserve truth during a time when much of the religious world has drifted away.

 

The concept also resonates with familiar biblical themes. Scripture often describes faithful individuals standing apart from the majority - prophets who spoke truth in difficult times, or believers who remained loyal to God while others turned away.

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At the same time, the idea of a remnant can make it difficult to evaluate a community objectively. If members believe they belong to the small group that has preserved the truth while others have compromised, then criticism from outside the group may be interpreted as opposition to God’s work rather than as a reason for reflection.

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Questions Worth Considering

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For those who have been taught that Wellspring represents God’s faithful remnant, it may be helpful to consider a few questions in light of Scripture and the broader Christian tradition.

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If the remnant refers to believers whom God preserves by grace, does the Bible ever identify a single modern congregation as that remnant?

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When the New Testament speaks about unity in the church, it describes believers as being united through “one body… one Spirit… one Lord… one faith” (Ephesians 4:4–6). Does this unity depend on membership in one particular organization, or on faith in Christ Himself?

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If faithful believers exist throughout the worldwide church, is it possible that sincere Christians may be found in many different congregations and traditions?

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Finally, If the idea of being “the remnant” causes a group to see itself as uniquely faithful while viewing most other believers as compromised, does that teaching risk feeding spiritual pride at the expense of humility, love, and the unity of the body of Christ?​

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These are questions each person must consider carefully while studying Scripture and seeking the truth.