Hold Fast That Which Is Good

Paul says: "[B]u] test everything; hold fast what is good" (1 Thess. 5:21, ESV).  John says that we are to "test the spirits" to see whether they are of God.  We are to treasure the gifts of God and be accountable for the gift or gifts we are blessed with. "Christ is all, and in all," says Paul.  The difference in the Christian faith is that we are not living in our own effort, but by the mighty power of God in us (cf. Col 1:29; Heb. 13:21).  Paul says he ventures not to speak, but of what Christ has accomplished through him (cf. Rom. 15:18).

Even a prophet is "not without honor," says Jesus, "except in his hometown and in his own family." Paul also says not to "despise prophesying"--but what does he mean by that? Charles Colson was a modern-day prophet in that he was a clear-thinking interpreter of the times we live in and opened the eyes of many to the sign of the times.  There are a plethora of spiritual books, even from false prophets and doomsayers, on the market and we are blessed to be edified by so much scholarship, but one cannot read every one; one must make value judgments, make recommendations, and learn to read with a purpose and organize his reading so that he knows what is worth filing, making note of, referencing, footnoting, or reading again and again--some books are to be digested, not just read superficially or skimmed through.

We must learn to learn from each other, for we all have something to contribute and share, and we can learn from the experience and scholarship of others. When we get discernment we can readily appraise what we read to organize it in our minds and reference it.  Some books are just worth a quick perusal or skimming or speed-reading.  They may be worth just ten minutes of our time, we might think. When we are given large reading assignments, we must learn to assess the relative value and worth or importance of what we read and read with a purpose.  Some of it may not even have been worth our time or even a waste of it (hopefully we learned a lesson, though), but hopefully, we can discern books, etc., by their titles and judge whether we might be able to apply or use the information contained.

A bad habit to get into is to read spiritual matter for entertainment or to kill time instead of redeeming or invest time (it should be for edification, thirst for the truth, and inspiration)--we should always read sincerely so that God can speak to us through the scholarship of others, and we can benefit. Even Paul asked Timothy to bring his parchments to him so he would have reading material--it is wrong to think that God only wants us to read Scripture (I believe Paul enjoyed reading since he had been a Pharisee), and that reading only the Bible is somehow holier or mature.  When we are to "hold fast that which is good," it means explicitly that we are to retain and organize for future use any material we do read, as an application.  We may have our favorite books that we refer to over and over again and have become a part of us, and ones that we might as well part with, having no heart feelings or regret.  It is one thing to know "how to read" literally, and HOW TO READ: it's quite another matter to know what you're reading and how to do it!

Good writing, it has been said, comes from a good soul and spirit, and one should know the author to have insight into the writing. Remember, if you don't read good writing you will read bad writing or "feed on trash," as they say GIGO or garbage-in-garbage-out!  "The wise hunger for the knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash" (cf. Proverbs 15:14).  Non-believers are those who "reject the truth" and "do not love the truth" according to 2 Thess. 2:20 and Christians must learn to love knowledge, wisdom, and understanding because "knowledge is power," according to Sir Francis Bacon, citing Proverbs 24:5, which says that he who increases knowledge increases power per the ESV: "... a man of knowledge increases his strength".  Soli Deo Gloria!

Repecting All Men

"Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor" (2 Pet. 2:17, NIV). We ought to respect all authority figures or those in delegated authority. We must learn to give all due respect (cf. Romans 13:1-2), even if we don't like them. All men deserve dignity by virtue of being human. The Scripture expects us to pray for all those in authority, and that includes constables, representative, mayors, legislators, senators, judges, school board members, the president, and what have you, including respecting your elders and teachers in school.  In the military, you might have ambivalent feelings for your drill sergeant, but you will learn to respect him.

People sometimes have doubts about certain so-called dubious occupations, such as lawyers or car salesmen, but we are not to make stereotypes and generalize about all members of that profession. There may be a few bad cops, for instance, that doesn't eliminate our duty to honor them.  In the service, you may not respect the officer himself, but you learn to respect the office he holds.  In Jesus' day, the Jews had no respect for publicans or tax collectors and sinners (Jews who weren't observant), and Jesus went to the home of Zaccheus and converted him.  This was quite appalling to the Jews who thought that this would defile Him.  Roman soldiers were certainly not respected but Jesus commended the Roman centurion for his faith and John the Baptist converted them (he didn't advise them to leave the Roman army).

The point is that you should judge people individually and not as groups they belong to, which is prejudice, profiling, and bias.  Just because some lawyers are crooked, doesn't mean a Christian cannot become a lawyer (the church father Tertullian was a lawyer).  Just because you've had a bad run-in with police doesn't give you the right to judge their profession--there are much noble police doing a fine job and this is not an easy job, the chances they take and the dangerous situations they encounter.  The fact is is that there are bad people in every legitimate profession and we cannot judge them as a group.  For instance, police are ordained by God as being in authority over us--to despise or show contempt for their authority is to dishonor God.

Our attitude toward authority is a mirror of our attitude toward God  (it all began with the fourth commandment to honor our parents who are in loco Dei, or in the place of God).  Many people never grasp authority like the centurion officer who said to Jesus, "I, too, am a man under authority." Veterans and service personnel have a better concept of authority than others because many times they've had to accept authority they didn't like and found out what respect entails.  The law is given for wrongdoers and if we obey the law we have nothing to have an issue about or to fear--we have only ourselves to blame for breaking the law, not the officer for enforcing it.  (Leniency or mercy aren't leniency and mercy if they are required or earned--they don't have to give us a break!)  Have you ever given a beggar some alms? Why haven't you extended that grace to all?

God establishes the death penalty for those who commit murder in Genesis 9:6, and this is because human life is sacred and inviolate in God's eyes, because we are in the image of God.  We are not to be inhumane to anyone under any circumstances. but only render what strict justice requires under the law and not to be vindictive, unusual, or cruel.  God put a limit on revenge by saying that it should be eye-for-eye and life-for-life.  The value of one soul is worth more to God than the entire universe; for what would it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?  (Cf. Mark 8:36). Certain occupations seem to become stigmatized or losing respect, but their occupation must not be maligned.  Authority figures are there for a reason (to keep people in line and keep evil at bay) and mean that we should respect their authority or delegated authority.

When politicians react expediently, and not on principle, it is demeaning to the profession, and we must realize that this is a hazard of the job--it will cost you to gain respect and you must be willing to make the sacrifices.  We live in a day and age when people are losing respect for everyone and no occupation seems sacrosanct.  Doctors and nurses are doubtless respected, but there are crooked, unethical, and dishonest ones, too. Teachers are highly regarded in most societies, but some of them are unconscionable cheaters or slackers, and even unskilled.  It is all right to disagree or to not like an individual, but we must never categorize entire professions, which is generalizing, because of our experience--just think if Jesus had been biased against publicans and sinners--where would we be?
Soli Deo Gloria!

Having A Foundation

Some misled believers sincerely believe it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you are sincere. This is fallacious and what you believe is the most important thing about you.  Ideas have consequences and you cannot engage in heresy without it having the side effect of wrong behavior or mislead and misguided action.  Doctrine is not simply your philosophy but means "teaching" in plain English.  "All Scripture is profitable for doctrine..." (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16).

We think in terms of vocabulary and the bigger our vocabulary, the more profound or engaged our thinking can attain to. Doctrine is akin to the vocabulary of the Bible and one must master the basics of the milk of the Word to move on to the meat or solid food of the Bible.  You are unskilled in the Word of Righteousness if you don't know the ABCs of doctrine.  We think in terms of doctrine and applied doctrine as our vocabulary and shouldn't base our learning upon experience, such as mystics do. Doctrine is rudimentary and we cannot avoid or escape it without committing spiritual suicide.

Teachers are to "teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine" (cf. Titus 2:1) and to pay attention to their doctrine, and "rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith." (cf. Titus 2:13).   Learning doctrine requires a disciplined mind, but when you enroll in the school of Christ it comes with the territory. Now it is important to have the right doctrine or orthodoxy, but orthopraxy (right ethics) is also vital. Just because our doctrine is impeccably correct doesn't mean everything is copacetic.  It is more paramount that our hearts be right with the Lord than our minds fixated on the right beliefs.  But both are important to a healthy Christian walk.  R. C. Sproul says:  "You can have sound doctrine without a sound life, but no sound life without sound doctrine."

No matter how much faith we have and no matter how sincere we are, if our doctrine is heretical we are not saved.  Sincerity is important but it is not everything--you can be sincerely wrong and lost.  Mature believers are defined in Ephesians 4:14 as those who are not "tossed about by every wind of doctrine."  This stability only comes with a basic foundation that cannot be shaken and getting a frame of reference so that the believer knows what he believes and even what beliefs are negotiable, and which ones are not. (Augustine's dictum says, "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity.")   We must know when it is appropriate to be dogmatic and stand up for the faith, contend, and when to cut some slack! "For the time will come when men will not endure sound doctrine." (cf. 2 Tim. 4:3). 

Yes, there is false doctrine in the church; however, we are to be ever vigilant and to answer it with sound doctrine, not avoid it entirely.  To avoid doctrine because of false doctrine is only spiritual suicide and abandoning the search for the truth, whereas godliness is through the Word of Truth and we feed on doctrine resident in the soul.  In the final analysis, you are rewarded according to your good deeds, but you are saved according to what your beliefs--these two are correlated, and can be distinguished, but not separated or divorced.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Knowing What To Believe

Someone has remarked that people get their beliefs like they catch colds (probably referring to The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, where he alleges that "faith is caught" and religion is a "mental virus"), and they get faith from hanging around certain people and becoming infected--they don't think independently, but get easily persuaded by the loudest and most vociferous voices heard. You can predict what these people think of the crowd they hang around. They have not learned the science of critical thinking and know nothing of being skeptical when it does matter.


Consider the source!  Who is saying what and what is the authority of that source?  They have not thought it out or been challenged in their thinking. Do they know what the person means by their terminology, sometimes there may be a semantic problem or a simple misunderstanding of definitions that can cause quarrels and misunderstandings?  Knowing what you believe is only the prelude to knowing why and defending and contending for the faith and your position as commanded. People have to come to the realization and awakening that it doesn't matter what people believe, but what matters is the truth and we must find it and defend it.


We often agree more than we disagree and it is vital to find commonality and not stress our differences, yet we are prone to disputations because of our human nature. Not knowing what you believe can be disastrous to keeping the faith.  You become susceptible to influence and persuasion by those more educated if you have no foundation and don't know the rules of the game or of engagement. The unschooled, unseasoned believer is "tossed to and fro ... by every wind of doctrine," according to Ephesians 4:14, ESV.  Scholars can sometimes take advantage of the unskilled in the Word (especially those skilled in the Koine Greek or Hebrew) and naive students are easy prey. People who are skilled at the technique and art of debate and polemics know that you should be able to argue both sides of a case to be able to be in a position to judge the merit of it.


Keep your mind open till you have considered the relevant verses, such as proof texts.  The reason is that you need a frame of reference and viewpoint to interpret reality and God's truth.  Sound doctrine is foundational--the building block on which all other knowledge, discernment, and wisdom rest, the simple basics and starting point. Doctrine cannot be avoided without committing spiritual suicide; it is the infrastructure of Bible knowledge and it's mandatory to learn the ABCs  You shouldn't just be able to converse on the subjects, but know where you stand and be ready to defend (cf. 1 Timothy 2:15) your convictions (you hold beliefs, by the way, but convictions hold you!). This is rudimentary and not subject to compromise!


You cannot be biased at the beginning and must be willing to go where the evidence leads, even if it is against your gut instinct and presuppositions, which may become shaken up a little and shock you out of your comfort zone. Flannery Connor said that truth doesn't change according to our ability to stomach it!  You will never arrive at the truth if you are unwilling to go there, or even consider it as an option!  You should know why you believe something, and not just because you accept someone's word for it or you accept someone's authority as a teacher.  For instance, Roman Catholics don't believe they have the individual authority to interpret Scripture, but that it is the domain of the clergy. This is why they swallow the belief that tradition is of equal authority with Scripture--they've never checked things out for themselves.


We are to follow the example, the Berean Jews who searched the Scriptures to see if these things that Paul taught were so (cf. Acts 17:11). This is a dangerous presumption to forego our responsibility to interpret Scripture because you are literally blindly putting the fate of your soul into someone's hands. This is literally coming full circle from the Reformation!  The Bible is the sole and final authority (sola Scriptura, or Scripture alone, as authority was a battle cry of the Reformation), and God has given each of us the privilege to interpret it, but also the responsibility to do it right.  God wants us to read the Word, and if we don't believe we can interpret the Bible, we will be less likely to do this.


There are a few critical questions (this is not original of mine) one needs to ask if one is to be skeptical and doubt someone at their word: Where do they get their information?  Is there evidence? Do they footnote it or do they assume you accept their authority?  Be vigilant about the meaning of terms and words, because they may mean something you don't understand.  Ask them to literally tell you what they mean by the words in question--this will reveal a lot.  Don't take words for granted! Always ask them what they mean by their proposition.  And most importantly, you must consider the issue of how they know it's true--is there evidence?  Some people confuse belief with truth and "feel" in their hearts something as true and that is "evidence."  Believing something doesn't make it true!  


Are they mystical and relying on their own experience (you'd be surprised how many people just "feel" something is true in their hearts!), or are they mere scholars (not that scholars are to be avoided--they are needed too!) who quote so and so?  The authority of the source is vital and one should weigh in on the validity of this source--for instance, do you have a Bible verse for that or are you just theorizing this for yourself? For example Martin Luther said he would only be persuaded by Sacred Scripture or evident reason, otherwise, he would not recant (not the papal authority either) at the Diet of Worms. Remember, "no Scripture [cf. 2 Pet. 1:20] is of any private interpretation," and this means no one can come up with some newfangled meaning, secret or esoteric knowledge, or "spiritualization" no one else will realize or apprehend.


John MacArthur has rightly said, that not knowing what you believe is a sort of non-belief!  We are not to waver in limbo not knowing anything for sure, but to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior and to study to show ourselves approved unto God, as workmen, not needing to be ashamed, but rightly diving or handling the Word of Truth (cf. 1 Timothy 2:15).  Not knowing what you believe will only make you susceptible and vulnerable to false doctrine and even doctrines of demons and, when people attack the faith, you will have no basis to answer them or defend the faith (contending for the faith is not the option, but commanded in Jude 3).


The childish believer balks at learning the things of God in depth (cf. 2 Tim. 3:9) and isn't able to distinguish good from evil (cf. Heb. 5:14), therefore he tends only to the milk of the Word and is unskilled in the Word of Righteousness and isn't ready to digest the meat of the Word.  The more you are aware of what you believe, the better equipped you are to battle the forces of evil which attack us with ideas from the devil himself in an onslaught.  There is a false religion, false doctrine, and false mysticism out there that must be revealed and brought to light so that we are not influenced by it.

Knowing what you believe is the very foundation of living in faith and should also be a building block to the truth.  Never assume you have arrived or have monopolized the truth.  No one has cornered the market and we all need each other in the body to share insight and enlightenment.  We are to think in terms of doctrine as a vocabulary of the Spirit, not experience, and we need to learn how to think in a godly manner and be doctrinally correct to root out misconceptions and error from our thinking--we all need to get our thinking straightened out!  

Caveat:  Don't allow teachers or authorities to be the arbiters of truth--they often contradict each other--God alone is the arbiter of all truth based on what is revealed to us in Scripture (cf. Deut. 29:29, ESV, which says:  "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.").


In the final analysis, it is far more important to live out your beliefs, put them into action, and turn your creeds into deeds, than to be impeccably correct in all your doctrine. You cannot have a sound life without sound doctrine, according to R. C. Sproul, but you can have sound doctrine without a sound life--both are necessary and we shouldn't downplay either one.  Faith is only valid when it is acted upon, it is knowledge put to work to glorify God.  We will be judged by our deeds, not our beliefs; God isn't going to ask us what doctrinal position we hold on such and such or what church we went to, either--we aren't saved by our theory of the atonement, for instance!  

It is not that we will make assumptions (this is unavoidable), but the crux of the matter is on what evidence they rest! Remember:  To gain any knowledge you must first admit your ignorance (be teachable!), according to Socrates. You cannot avoid doctrine by claiming it is too arcane or only has academic value.
Soli Deo Gloria!