Watch Your Doctrine!...

Verses to ponder and reflect on:

"Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching [i.e., doctrine]"  (1 Tim. 4: 13, ESV).

"Therefore, let us leave the elementary doctrines of Christ and go on to maturity ..." (Heb. 6:1, ESV).

The body of Christ is one no matter where you go and you can have fellowship with a believer no matter what church he attends (fellowship actually could mean two fellows in the same ship).  We truly are "one in the Spirit."  But there must be commonality and unity (not necessarily uniformity) to have fellowship and you can fellowship with someone of a different denomination or doctrinal persuasion, but never think this implies doctrine is not important and that God doesn't expect us to learn the truth and be dedicated to its dissemination.  You don't have to see eye to eye to walk hand in hand--you can agree to disagree and find common ground to fellowship on--All Christians have Jesus in common and should not get so sectarian that they don't love the brethren, regardless of affiliation.

The Bible refutes the notion that it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you are sincere--the common fallacy of today's worldview. Paul exhorted Timothy to "Keep a close watch on [himself] and on the teaching [literally, doctrine].  Persist in this, for by so doing [he] will save both [himself] and [his] hearers"  (1 Tim. 4:16, ESV).  You can be sincerely wrong, though sincerity is important. We can be singing kumbaya around a campfire and learn to get along because we're all Christians (members of one church should have no internal dispute--yes--but cross-town rivals might!).

Timothy was told not to neglect the gift he had--he reportedly was a church troubleshooter, and I believe this is a sort of theologian.  Mainstream denominations are highly ecumenical in that they believe in interdenominational cooperation despite differences of doctrine.  Sure, there are major doctrines we should not compromise, but we should never major on the minors and divide Christ. This was the mistake of Corinth that had become highly sectarian. There is a place for forgetting our differences and let love be the rule of the day, like when we translate Bibles and don't want to have a sectarian bias, or charitable and outreach programs that they can concur on.  But nowhere does the Bible authorize that we neglect doctrine or its value to make us grow up in the Lord.  "All Scripture is profitable for doctrine ..." (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16).

Ignorance is not bliss and God puts no premium on it and expects believers to responsibly study according to their abilities and become genuine students of the Word:  "... If you abide in my Word, you are truly my disciples" (John 8:12, ESV).  What is implied is this:  "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free [Jesus called God's Word Truth and said we are sanctified by it in John 17:17]."  We are not born free as humans, but in bondage to sin and must be set free by Christ ("If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed," cf. John 8:36).

Paul exhorts Titus:  "But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine" (Titus 2:1, ESV). Notice that Paul says in v. 1 that the knowledge of the truth accords with godliness--there's a correlation!  It is by the acquisition of truth that we become sanctified as I quoted in John 17:17.  He also says, "... give instruction in sound doctrine ..." (Titus 1:9, ESV).   We need to know doctrine, according to Paul in Ephesians 4:14 so that we will not "be tossed to and fro ... by every wind of doctrine ...."

I don't know if there is a gift of being a theologian or if some people just have the knack for it and seem to excel in organized, systematic thinking and analysis of Bible teaching or doctrine.  But no one in the body is superfluous and unnecessary--the body needs theologians too, no matter what the gift may be.  A good theologian can identify a false doctrine a mile away and organizes his teaching and be thinking so as to be able to categorize it and disseminate it in an orderly way--let everything be done decently and in order according to 1 Cor. 14:40. Theologians have a viewpoint because they usually belong to a certain school of thought and tend to interpret things partially--remember, there is no such thing as perfect objectivity, except with God.

It has its limits:  For instance, you aren't going to convince a devoted Arminian that he can't lose his salvation--he has interpreted the whole Bible while denying that premise.  I remember that when God opened my eyes to the truth of eternal security it seemed like scales came off my eyes and the whole of Scripture was opened in meaning to me with a viewpoint (I previously had no opinions or didn't know what to believe or even who to believe).   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Few, The Chosen

Christian theologians don't have any problem realizing that God chose Israel, or even that He only saved a remnant that He preserved; however, they have consternation over believing that God can choose Christians and predestine their salvation.  We were not chosen because of our works, but according to the purpose of His will (cf. Eph. 1:5).  It wasn't anything in us that merited salvation--it was grace all the way, from beginning to end.  Jesus said in John 15:16 that we didn't choose Him, but He chose us.  Matt. 22:14 says:  "Many are called [the outward gospel call], but few are chosen [elected]." This is so we have no basis of pride! 

People generally believe they are protecting God's reputation by denying predestination, because they perceive it as making God out as a despot.  We are elect according to the foreknowledge of God, which means God loved us personally before salvation. We are elected unto faith, not because of faith (which is the prescient view that Romans 8:29-30 militates against).  Election must be unconditional or it opens the door to merit, it had to be by grace alone and God saw nothing good in a totally depraved man.  We were not inclined to come to Him but only came because of the wooing of the Holy Spirit ("No man can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him," John 6:44).

Yes, this does mean our ultimate destiny is in the hands of God and God left nothing to chance or out of His sovereignty (Jonathan Edwards said he liked to assign absolute sovereignty to God):  This means there isn't even "a maverick molecule in the universe!"  Grace is sovereign because it is irresistible according to Reformed tradition--this is stated in Romans 5:21, where it says "grace reigns through righteousness."

Who is the promise of salvation designated for, then?  "For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself"  (Acts 2:29, ESV). There are two callings here:  The outward call that we announce to the world of sinners and the inner calling that is effectual that God does.  "Who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?"  (cf. Isa. 53:1).  Doctor Luke says, "as many as were appointed to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48, ESV).  God does reserve the right to have mercy on whom He will (Rom. 9:15,18).   God quickened or kindled faith within the elect so that they got born again and exercised faith and repentance unto salvation. If left to ourselves, none of us would come to Christ or believe in Him.

Philippians 2:13 says that God is at work within us both to do and to will of His good pleasure--God woos us and works on our hearts to make believers out of us and turn hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, because He is the Potter and we are simply clay in His hands. God can make the "unwilling" willing or the unbelieving believe!   God has given man a choice, but we do not have the ability to respond favorably to the gospel message apart from the grace of God working in our hearts ("Apart from Me you can do nothing," says John 15:5), and grace prevails over our reluctance.

No one is able to resist God's will according to Romans 1:19 and God has mercy on whomever He wills and hardens whomever He wills (cf. Rom. 9:18). We have a destiny:  "For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thess. 5:9, ESV; cf. Jude 4; 1 Pet. 2:7).  Note the order of God's sanctification prior to faith:  "[Because] God chose you as the first-fruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth" (2 Thess. 2:13, ESV).  Who got saved? "What then?  Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking.  The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened [blinded]" (Rom. 11:7, ESV).

We don't necessarily need free wills to be saved then, but wills made free!  "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:36).  We are not born free and innocent but enslaved to sin and totally depraved.  Only the Son can set us free and the truth is the agent.  There is temporal will like what foods you like and you do have the power to choose them, but spiritual and/or moral freedom is not granted--Adam had it and lost it and we are in Adam, our representative who lost it for us before salvation, when we are in Christ and set free.  John 6:44 says that no one can come to the Father unless He draws him and v. 65 says it must be granted by the Father.

Apart from Christ, we can do nothing (cf. John 15:5).  If left to ourselves, none of us would've chosen Christ!  No one can resist God's will according to Romans 9:19 and our salvation doesn't depend upon human will according to Romans 9:16. ("It is not of him who wills.....").  God's sovereignty is not compromised nor sacrificed because of our wills--He remains 100 percent in control of all events and things per Ephesians 1:11 (ESV), which says God "works all things according to the counsel of his will."

The only way our will could be considered free is that we feel no outside force and never do anything we don't want to do--God doesn't coerce us against our wills but makes the unwilling willing.  We are never forced to do what we do not want to do.  We do make choices but God decides what the choice is and He knows how we will respond and can manipulate or orchestrate whatever events He wills to precipitate His divine, decreed, sovereign will. Free will must be seen only as the ability to make choices based on our desires uncoerced. 

In sum, our salvation does not depend upon our wills (they are so little of the equation that depends on God being sovereign anyway--as He orchestrates all events providentially):  "So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy" (Romans 9:16, ESV).   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Authentic "Imitation Of Christ"...

Thomas a Kempis, Thomas von Kempen in German, (1380-1471), wrote The Imitation of Christ in the 15th century as a German Roman Catholic whose devotional work was highly original, but extremely mystic and introspective; however, it is one of the most widely read Christian books of all time, but many believers have gotten the wrong impression of imitation (note that only the Bible has been translated into more languages than this book).

A theologian has said, "The Christian life is not hard--it's impossible!"  People mistakenly believe that the Sermon on the Mount is the essence of Christianity as ideals to live by and especially the Golden Rule as the summation of Christian ethics.   Some churched souls memorize the Dance of the Pious, learn Christian jargon, or try to behave like a Christian in the flesh, but they can never measure up--it's not about keeping up a reputation or appearances, but knowing Christ and making Him known by letting others see Him in you!  

We need to be real people, not ideal people for Christ to use us. We have to stop coming up with our "to-do lists" or taboos that make Christianity appear to be a catalog of rules or guidelines to be adhered to, and forget that the objective is to know Christ and enjoy a living, growing relationship or fellowship with Him--as He opens our eyes!  The Key: "For if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law" (Gal. 5:18, ESV). Jeremiah also said that, if we boast, let it be that we know the Lord (cf. Jer. 9:24).

Galatians 2:20 says that Paul was crucified with Christ, but "the life that he now lives in the flesh he lives by the faith of the Son of God."  This verse should be highlighted for three reasons:  We seek a relinquished life, a surrendered life, a substituted, an inhabited, and an exchanged life to grow as believers. ("Christ in you, the hope of glory," cf. Col. 1:27).   We want God to reveal His Son in us.  Surrender is the key, not to try to copy His nature in the flesh. We are to "present our bodies a living sacrifice" per Romans 12:1. Jesus wants us to die to self and live for Him, not give up things or obey someone's list for Him.  Note this it is not as much imitation of Christ, as inhabitation by Him.  

It is not as much as always asking the so-called question "What would Jesus do? [W.W.J.D? Sometimes we don't know!]" as much as being sensitive to the Spirit's guidance and LISTENING to His leading and still, small voice (we should be a natural at this and know this voice!) and just surrender to His will, which you can only do if you have the Spirit in the first place--relinquishment is just saying, "Thy will be done" to God as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane.

As we mature in Christ and learn to walk in the power of the Spirit we learn to be guided and led by Him.  "As many as are led by the Spirit these are the sons of God."  The command to be constantly filled with the Spirit in order to bear fruit as evidence is elementary (cf. Ephesians 5:18).  When you have the Spirit, God fills you with His love as the litmus test of discipleship, and you naturally grow in resemblance to Christ, called sanctification.  

We must come to the fork in the road where we let Christ live through us and stop trying to copy Him in our own strength.  As Jesus said in Matt. 5:48 that we are to be perfect (mature) as our Heavenly Father is perfect, but we must realize that perfection is the standard, but the direction is the test.  The answer:  "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16, ESV).

The danger of legalism is that one sees "sins" and not "sin."  One gets preoccupied with some sin or pet sin that especially seems offensive to them and fails to see that the real issue is the old sin nature that is causing the problem.  Jesus forgave us for what we did (sins) by justifying us, and cleanses us from what we are (sin) by the process of sanctification. There is no such thing as a doctrine of "perfectionism" or "entire sanctification" as some denominations term it--we never approach a point of being sinless or of being incapable of willful sin. 

The qualification for church membership is recognition that we don't qualify;  "no perfect people need to apply!"  The story of David in the Old Testament comes to mind:  He fell into egregious sin and repented in Psalm 51, and also prayed in Psalm 19 that he would never commit "presumptuous sin"--we are capable of this too!  Recollect how David said, "How the mighty have fallen" about King Saul, and realize that we are not immune from Satanic attack or of falling away from the Lord in backsliding if we give the devil an opportunity.

It was said of Puritan revivalist and theologian Jonathan Edwards that "his doctrine was all application, and his application was all doctrine." In other words, don't go beyond that which is written (cf. 1 Cor. 4:6).  Caveat:  This is a paradox because we are not to get so theoretical and academic in our preaching that there is no application--we must learn to relate to Scripture.  Christ's "yoke is easy and His burden is light" according to Matt. 11:30.  

We need to learn to apply ourselves to the Word of God, and apply the Word of God to ourselves!   Our application must stay within the Bible's guidelines, and we should give people the opportunity to apply it to themselves and not micromanage their lives--we give them suggestions, stimulate, or motivate their spirits instead.  As Paul said in Galatians 5:1 (ESV):  "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."  Soli Deo Gloria!