That Bad Word: Doctrine

  

If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. 1 Timothy 6:3-4

I mention that doctrine is considered a bad word because it is to some people. It invokes thoughts of endless debates and arguments, divisions, and splits within churches. Yet, it is the foundation upon which every Christian life must be built.

For instance, if you say you do not believe in Original Sin, you can’t be a Christian. Why? Because why would you even need be a Christian? Why become one at all if you think there was no sin that originally made all human beings sinners at birth. Why would we need a Savior? What would the point of Jesus’ life, and then death on a cross be at all?

You have doctrines as a Christian whether or not you want to recognize them. Doctrines hold churches together, or destroy churches without a solid doctrinal foundation. Sadly, the faith of many are weakened because they personally lack a solid doctrinal foundation. If taught true doctrine in our churches, many young people would not lose their faith when they go to college because they would recognize nonsense coming from false teachers when they hear it.

I’m going to touch upon one doctrine that is foundational:

Sola Scriptura, Scripture Alone. 

Scripture Alone is an accepted doctrine for all Protestant churches, which includes many Christian churches today. It means that the Holy Bible is our sole authority when it comes to doctrine and teaching. That every preacher, teacher, and fellow Christian who speaks about God, Scripture, Jesus, all things Christian belief or teaching related–must have their words measured by what the Holy Bible says and teaches. I have to add the caveat here of “correctly understood” Bible teachings and verses. For we all know that “scripture twisting” is too common of a practice.

To properly understand the Bible you must first read and study the Bible. When you come to difficult passages, and there are some, you should pray and ask for the Holy Spirit to help you. God has given us preachers and teachers to help us better understand the Word of God, and they are a great blessing to us. Yet occasionally they get it wrong and you will know it when you hear it. The Holy Spirit is also called The Spirit of Truth (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit can make you feel uneasy when something you hear from a preacher or teacher “sounds off”. That is when you should dig into the Bible and carefully examine these things for yourself as the wise Bereans did (Acts 17:10-11).

I will give you some examples from my life of when I ran headlong into false teaching. When I was in my early twenties I worked with a manager in a store who I greatly admired. A wonderful man who I highly respected. Yet one day we were discussing the Bible and it soon turned into a debate. This manager I admire was a teacher in a cult that was located not too far from my home. He was very well versed in the false teachings of his cult. The main sticking point between us was when my manager said Jesus was not God. We went back and forth a bit. I went home and searched the scriptures. The next day I asked him: “If Jesus was not God, why when Thomas fell on his knees and proclaimed Jesus as ‘My Lord and My God’, why didn’t Jesus rebuke Thomas?” (John 20:28)

This threw my manager off badly. He had no real answer until the next day when he proclaimed to me that portion of the Bible wasn’t there originally. 

How do you answer that? His cult requires you to remove entire portions of scripture from your Bible when it doesn’t agree with them. What they can’t add or twist, the false teachers will remove. Knowing your Bible arms you well against that kind of spiritually dangerous teaching.

My second example is not regarding a cult, but a mainstream church I attended for years. 

One day during a Bible teaching class held by my pastor in our Pentecostal Church the pastor was beginning a new series in a booklet sent out by our church’s headquarters. He said he was going to teach us that all Christians can have every Gift of The Holy Spirit outlined in the Bible Book of First Corinthians chapter twelve.

Alarms started ringing inside me. Did I hear him correctly? Yes. He was about to teach that every Christian can have every Gift of The Holy Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12.

I opened my Bible and pointed out what was obvious to me and everyone else who owned a Bible and had the ability to read. You each only receive the Gift that The Holy Spirit chooses for you. The entire teaching premise the pastor presented was patently false.

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11.

Look at that eleventh verse above. You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to understand that verse: “..who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”

As who will? He, The Holy Spirit who chooses. Clearly any gifts or abilities we receive from God are not up to our church booklet, pastor, or anyone else. It was a false teaching.

The pastor never backed down, and neither did I. I didn’t leave the church until many years later. I stayed because the church got most critical things right and I realized that no church is perfect, no pastor always gets it right, and that is the point of this message. Scripture Alone is our guide for Bible Truth, Teaching, and Doctrine.

What you believe matters. Will you ultimately be lead by The Bible, or instead by the nicely dressed person in the pulpit, or on TV, or the inspiring podcast, or the person beside you that you like and respect, or Only By The Word Of God?

You will hear people get it wrong sometimes because they are weak and fallible like we all are. Sometimes you can overlook it and move on. But other times you will find the Spirit leading you to discuss the matter with them. Here I put in the caveat that if you are an inexperienced Christian without much grounding in God’s word do not get into a debate with someone in a cult or a preacher or teacher because I guarantee you they will be very well versed in their false teachings and could damage your faith. There are also times that you don’t just walk away from false teaching, but absolutely close the door on a church, preacher, or teacher who is trying to lead you into serious doctrinal error.

There was a TV Preacher I enjoyed listening to for years. Yes, occasionally he carried his teachings too far, but I kept my moorings when listening to him. One day he said during a sermon: “You Are God.”

I groaned and my heart sank. That was the end of me listening to that preacher. He had crossed a line there was no coming back from. For I knew above all things that God Is God and We Are Not!

Study and meditate upon God’s Word. The Bible is our source of Truth, and The Holy Spirit will help us to understand that Truth.

 It is a dangerous world, Christian. Everywhere you go, or even if you are just sitting in front of your TV, make sure Your Sword, The Bible, and a solid foundation of Doctrine is ever with you. Sola Scriptura my friend. Hold onto that Truth always.

Prayer: Dear Lord, we live in dangerous times when the enemy lurks around every corner and even in places we believe are safe. Guide us into all truth for Your Word is Truth. Amen.