Doctrinal Discussion

In reviewing what I've posted so far, the time has come to begin. This doctrinal discussion doubles as a doctrinal statement; but, as you will see, it's not like the traditional ones. (I wrote it for my coming website ChristianBasicTraining.com.) In the days to come on this blog, I'll be wrestling with developing what I've found in my studies into "bite-sized" presentations. For the time being, they will be the "sermons." However, TheInternetChurch to come will emerge through the interactions and reactions of those visiting the site. For now, the guide is pretty much just me. Sound doctrine is vital. Here's my take and the springboard from which I'm jumping:

Doctrinal Discussion
The New Testament stresses the need for sound doctrine. It plays an important role in our lives. Sound doctrine lights the way to God, and it lights the path he wants those seeking him to take through this life. That path is itself an expression of God’s love for us because it guides us away from those things he knows will harm us and towards those things he knows will build us up.

Most Christian organizations provide statements of belief that summarize their conclusions concerning the biblical message. But not everyone agrees on the details, so much so, that there are now over 200 different Christian sects and denominations in the United States alone. That division exists even in spite of Christ’s prayer for unity in John 17:20-26. He prays there for a visible unity, one that the world will see, showing that God loves all the people in the world with the same fervor with which he loves Christ.

Years ago when I began my serious investigations into the New Testament, this was the first passage that hit home with me, and it launched the first of my Big Questions: If God’s Son prayed for Christian unity, why hasn’t his Father answered that prayer?

So, where’s the unity?

In spite of Christ’s desire for unity, serious believers have divided themselves, mostly over what they think the Bible says, or doctrine. From a human perspective, that division is reasonable because like-minded believers want to worship with others just like them. Who wants to continually argue? What kind of a firm foundation is that? But the results have produced bad public relations for God and a picture of Christianity that ministers to division rather than unity. The unsaved aren’t stupid. They know what truth looks like. They look at the church’s witness and say, “Well, if the experts can’t figure it out — if they can’t live in agreement — what the hell. I’ll go my own way.”

So, Christian division has become an unfortunate fact of life.

What can believers do?

What should we do?

The Common Denominator
The common denominators that underscore orthodox Christianity are Christ and Scripture. Therefore as far as I’m concerned, if Christ is your Lord and the Bible is your book, we’re on the same page. We are children of God and heirs with Christ. Our lack of agreement, to the extent that it exists, is one for us to work through together—and in love. That’s one of the roles for this website:

I have a lot to learn from you, and maybe you have something to learn from me. But we will never come together in a productive spirit if we refuse to listen to each other.

Let’s be clear about my goal.

My goal is not that we all finally agree on doctrine, although that would be lovely because the Truth is One, which suggests Scripture has a single overall meaning. My goal is (1) to discover God’s Truth, (2) to accurately understand and apply it, and then (3) to convey it to others. Since no one person knows it all, this can only take place when believers reason together and learn from each other.

This is a worthy quest because it is one of the tasks God has placed before us. After all, the Bible says each of us will stand a personal judgment before God (Romans 14:9-12; Hebrews 9:27). Wouldn’t it be nice if we passed the test?

Based on the Bible and the conditions I’ve found in this world, I have concluded that God wants us to dialog and seek his truth in the light of each others scholarship, experience, and insights, realizing that the closer we all come to Christ, the closer we will all come to each other. Therein, I believe, lies the answer to Christ’s prayer and the practical witness God wants his children to offer to the world.

Approaches to Interpretation
For centuries well-meaning theologians have impressed their conclusions on Scripture. For the most part, their goals have been to better understand the Scriptures themselves and to make the truths of Scripture more accessible to the average reader. Those are worthy goals, indeed, but by the extent to which each theologian is inaccurate — and none of us know it all — their students, who see Scripture through their theologian’s conclusions, will be inaccurate as well.
By the same token, it’s important to recognize that the Christian teacher is mandated to teach what he believes to be true. To willfully teach anything else is unconscionable (Note: I Corinthians 3:10-15).

I suspect that much of the division among Christians stems from the disagreement that arises from the different interpretations that orbit the popular theological views. Such views embrace the Doctrine of the Trinity, Dispensationalism, the Calvinist/Arminean controversy, Covenant Theology, Legalism, Charismatic Theology, the Prosperity Gospel, the Social Gospel, and the like. Scripture doesn’t directly teach any of those by name. They are the names theologians have given them, and they are all conclusions reasonable investigators can draw from the assertions of Scripture. So, which view enjoys God’s blessing?

As always, our goal as Christians is to understand the Scriptures as God wants us to and to apply them in that same manner. But so far those results have led to the aforementioned division.

How can we soften this outcome without softening the doctrines from which it comes?

Truth, the Key that Unlocks Scripture
I believe the answer is to see Scripture as God seems to want us to see it, that is, through the lens of truth. God claims to be Truth itself. He claims his Word is Truth, so it seems to me that truth is the key God wants us to use to unlock Scripture.

The truth is what is.
Truth is consistent with itself and fits the known facts. In my opinion, searching the Scriptures for that consistency is the most promising way to discover God’s truth and his plan for our lives.

From our normal reading experience, we’ve learned that no one sentence contains all the information we need to know about any given subject — often no one book contains it all. The same is true for Scripture. Every doctrinal assertion in Scripture is true, but no one passage says everything we need to know about the topic. That means our first step to clear comprehension is to gather together all the New Testament assertions that appear to relate to the topic we’re investigating.
Interestingly, a concordance search of a specific word that identifies a topic does not give us all the passages pertinent to it. Many passages exist that refer to the topic’s concept and yet do not contain the word itself. So, our search needs to be for the concepts as well as for the words.

The next step is to examine the assertions. Compare and contrast. Ask the reporter’s questions: Who? What? When? Where? and Why? Since the nature of truth is not to contradict itself, like in good science or in any good crime investigation, the truth emerges when all the facts fit together into a single, harmonious big picture.

Having done that in Scripture to the best of my ability, here are some of my conclusions to date:

Scripture
God claims that his Word is without error. That was no doubt true for the original manuscripts, but modern scholarship tells us that the copies we have today are filled with small errors and inconsistencies. While that may be true, the goal of orthodox Christian scholarship has been to recover the originals using the reliable tools of rhetoric. While that is an interpretive process that has its own problems, its application over the centuries has made a remarkable case for the efficacy of the Scriptures we have today and their complete authority and authenticity. Any serious student of the Word will soon — even on his own — find what they found: The Holy Bible is totally unique among all the books ever written, and its message changes lives in ways nothing else does.

The Bible claims to be the Word of God; and reasonable people, faced with all the evidence we have, accept that notion on faith. The One True God intended the Bible to be the Christian’s primary guide for faith and practice. Its underlying truths are without error, and our understanding of them will be accurate by the degree to which the information we understand behaves like truth, easily fitting together into a single, non conflicting story.

God guided the production of the Scriptures to provide us with information he wants us to have. He is not hiding himself from anyone seeking him (Matthew 7:7-12). He is revealing himself through Scripture (John 20:30-31). That’s its purpose! Therefore it is possible for anyone to understand it, certainly to the extent God wants them to. If you can read and understand this presentation, you can read and understand Scripture. The same rhetorical rules apply.

Keep in mind that God is on our side.

He’s rooting for us.

He wants us to understand.

If you’re a seeker, go to the blog (meaning the blog on the coming website). We’ll dialog together. The mere fact that you have an interest in God could be a sign that you are among God’s elect. If you are a believer, we have a lot of work to do together. Welcome aboard.

The Divisions in Scripture
Scripture teaches specific divisions: Good and evil, truth and falsehood, Jew and Gentile, saved and unsaved, and the Old and New Covenants, the New Covenant being the body of spiritual laws under which we now live. While one can argue for other divisions and draw different doctrinal interpretations from them, they are subsets of these five, and the Bible does not teach any other divisions by name.

Paul advises Timothy to “rightly divide the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:18, KJV). We are safe adopting the divisions the Bible teaches. We are less safe adopting the divisions that others’ conclusions have impressed upon it, especially when they lead to opposing conclusions about what the Bible teaches. Not that other conclusions are necessarily wrong. We just need to be good Bereans (Acts 17:11), and test any such conclusions against the face-value assertions of Scripture. Scripture means what it says.

Salvation
God is God, and he can — and will — save anyone he wants (Note: Romans 2:12-16); but he has only staked his reputation on saving those who do what he says (Note: Matthew 7:21-23), those who SEEK (Matthew 7:7-12), TRUST (Ephesians 2:8-10), and OBEY (I John 5:3-5). In the event God fails to save any one of them (John 6:37-40), he makes himself out to be a liar (Note: Titus 1:2), and that will destroy his reputation and, indeed, his very Being.

However, following this reasoning to its extreme opens the door to liberality which, I believe, is one reason God extends his grace to us. God knows the heart of each believer, and he honors the truth of that knowledge (Galatians 6:7-8). It is not our perfect understanding of doctrine that saves us, it is God’s perfect knowledge of our hearts. Concerning salvation, the ball is always in his court (Note: Matthew 20:1-16).

A person can know he or she is saved (1) by what Christ did for them, (2) by what they did in response to God’s offer of salvation, and (3) by what they are doing now in response to Christ’s lordship.

The Believer
We can see the believer in terms of his or her Position, Process, and Purpose.
Note: I am now doing in this section what I warned you about. The New Testament teaches what follows but it does not do so under these headings. What follows is a conclusion I’ve drawn from study, organized in a way that makes sense to me and is consistent with Scripture. This is what every theologian tends to do and why you need to check our work.

Consider the Trinity. It came from the same approach to Scripture. The Bible does not specifically teach the Trinity in any one unquestioned passage nor does it even use the word, but a diligent search of the New Testament clearly supports the fact that God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are One. So be cautious. Be a Berean. Check the Scriptures to see if they actually support the assertions anyone makes.

Position – This concerns the believer’s legal position before God. It takes place through faith as a result of the believers accepting God’s offer of salvation and their legally bringing themselves under God’s New Covenant. By so doing, they become a brother of Christ and an heir with him to the kingdom (Galatians 4:1-7). They also become a temple of God (I Corinthians 3:16-17), as the Holy Spirit moves from being an outside influence to becoming an indwelling presence.

The steps to salvation concern (1) understanding the gospel message (ears to hear and eyes to see), (2) public confession (the believer confirming his or her desire as witnessed by others), (3) repentance (turning away from worldly desires towards godly desires), (4) baptism (As Christ established the New Covenant through his death, burial, and resurrection — “it is finished” — so each believer ratifies that Covenant through his or her own figurative death, burial, and resurrection in baptism), and finally (5) perseverance in the faith (the believer playing his or her part maintaining Christ’s lordship for the rest of life).

Process – The New Testament calls this growth process “sanctification,” the process of growing from what a person has been into the person God wants the believer to become. It is a life-long process underscored by the believer’s perseverance in it.
As a Christian, the believer becomes a steward of his own life (Note: Matthew 7:24-27, 21-23, 25:14-30, 1-13). At the moment of belief, the believer gives his or her life to the Lord, turning it over to him, all the good stuff and all the bad; but then, just as quickly, Christ gives it back; but something has changed. The believer is no longer legally in charge of his life, Christ is; and thereafter God appears to see the believer’s life through the blood of Christ, that is, Christ’s personal sacrifice for the believer. God promises to extend unlimited grace to the believer (Note: Matthew 18:21-22) so long as the believer remains faithful (Galatians 6:7-8; Colossians 1:15-23 key verse 23). Thus, salvation appears to be a mutual agreement between God and each believer. God makes the offer; the believer accepts it.

That transaction makes Christ the Lord over the believer’s life and the believer becomes its steward under that lordship. In obedience to the Lord, the believer then becomes a “living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1-2). This sacrifice has two components:

1. The first concerns the believer’s sacrifice of his secular thinking on the altar of God’s truth, moving from thinking like the world to thinking like Christ. You are what you think, and God wants us to think like Christ (Philippians 4:8).

2. The second component concerns the believer’s sacrifice of his desires for himself on the altar of that which will benefit those within his sphere of influence. Christian love seeks the best for the other person (Note: Romans 13:10, 14:19; Galatians 6:9-10). Christians are in fellowship to serve one another, following Christ’s model of service to us (Note: Matthew 23:8-11). This does not mean to do harm to one’s self in the process. It does mean to build yourself up so that you may be increasingly effective in service to others (Galatians 6:10).

Purpose – Christians also have a purpose in life, and God has gifted each believer with an assortment of spiritual gifts and talents that he wants them to use in service to others in the church and also in service to themselves and their families.

In that regard, here’s my most current “heresy:”

For a long time I’ve suspected that we are living in the 6th day of Creation not the 7th. I suspect that for a variety of reasons. One of them is that most serious Christians report that God is far from at rest in their lives. Indeed, the Bible itself says that God was still at work in the first century (John 5:17), and I see him still at work today.

Here's another reason: The 6th day story that begins in Genesis 2:4 never ends. The biblical writers never draw that 6th day to a close. It’s reasonable to conclude that the 6th day comes to an end as a part of the consummation of the ages in Revelation, but not before then. There is no other place in Scripture where the biblical writers conclude the 6th day, at least I haven’t found it.

If that’s so, we are still in the 6th day. That means that, like Adam naming the animals, modern believers are playing an active role in God’s Creation. I find that exciting! We are working with God in his Creation! Our work is summarized in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Like Adam, God has blessed us with a role to play and carrying the gospel of Christ is at its core.

Peter calls Christians a “priesthood of believers” (I Peter 2:9-10, 3:15). As such, they carry the message of Christ as ambassadors (II Corinthians 5:17-21) and fragrance (II Corinthians 2:14-16). That means each believer needs to be comfortable in their faith. They need to understand it, certainly the basics; and then they need to actively apply it in their own lives. In addition, they need to be able to share it with others. They share two things, (1) the facts of Christianity which are the same for everyone and (2) what Christ’s lordship has done in their lives, their witness, which is unique to each individual.

By the way, sharing Christ is not like making a secular sales call. The believer initiates the discussion or the prospect asks a question. The believer explains and answers questions, but God makes the sale. We are not here to attempt to change minds. We are here to share what we know to the best of our abilities, and the Holy Spirit does the rest (Note: I Corinthians 1:18-2:16).

By operating in service to others, God promises that a person’s life will, in fact, get better, that is, more productive, rewarding, and satisfying (God’s plan for your success). By doing God’s will, believers enjoy more happiness at home, more success at work, and more purpose in life.

The Church
We can see the first gathering of believers in Acts 2:42-47. That first church is important to us because we see it in its purest form.

The twelve apostles were the “paid staff.” They had just gotten their training from Christ himself (Luke 24:45; John 20:30-31; Acts 1:3b). This is the only time in the New Testament in which all twelve ministered together.

Peter was presumably their leader (John 21:15-19; Acts 2:14 ). We can sense his view of the church from I Peter 2:4-10 in which he speaks of a “priesthood of believers” and a church comprised of “living stones.” The living stones remark is consistent with Romans 12:1-8, Ephesians 4:1-16, I Corinthians 12 and 13 where Paul speaks of the grace (gifts and talents) with which God blesses each believer for service in both the church body and in the individual’s personal life.

Acts 2:42 describes the church’s primary focus on teaching, fellowship, and prayer.

Teaching - I surmise that the teaching was designed to create a priesthood of believers. The foundation on which they built was the Old Testament, showing that it was the prophetic preparation for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. This is exactly the information on which Peter called when he explained the pentecostal uproar to the crowd. The Old Testament was the foundation. It established the law and prophesied that a Messiah was to come. Jesus Christ, the man many in the crowd had seen or certainly knew about, was that Messiah. His resurrection proved it! The twelve then taught how God wants believers to respond to that event, what God wants us all to do in living out God’s truth in our lives today.

Fellowship - The second emphasis in that first church was fellowship, fellowship with God and fellowship with each other.

Acts 2:43-46 describes that fellowship which looks strangely like Christian Communism. The difference is that the control was not centralized. The ministries came into being from each new believer as each saw fit (or as they were being led by the Lord). The apostle Paul elaborates on the guiding principles in Romans 12:1-15:33. (They are Christian love and personal transformation.)

The “breaking of bread” remark concerns, I believe, the Lord’s Supper as Paul will later come to explain it in I Corinthians 11:23-32: The Lord’s Supper is a time in which believers remember Christ’s personal sacrifice for them that enabled their salvation. It is also a time in which believers measure how well they are doing in response to Christ’s lordship.

If the first church was anything, it was pertinent in the lives of its participants.

Prayer - The third emphasis in that first church was prayer. Effective prayer requires that believers sort out in their own minds what’s going on in their lives. They compare their desires with what the Bible says about God’s desires for them (God’s will). They meditate on Scripture. They prioritize. By their requests, they establish where in their lives they will be looking for God to act. Through prayer, an active attentiveness to God’s will, the believer continues to honor and respond to Christ’s lordship in their lives.

Christian fellowships do this same thing with respect to the life of the church and what they are coming to recognize as Christ’s vision for it. It begins in Acts 2:42-47 and blossoms throughout the rest of the New Testament, especially Romans 12:1-15:33.

Like the early churches, the modern church engages in many ministries, but at its core are teaching, fellowship, and prayer with the goal of nurturing the priesthood of believers and encouraging them to recognize and act in the gifts with which God has blessed them, gifted people serving in the areas of their giftedness.

Conclusion
Most doctrinal statements are short. They employ technical terms that are obscure to many and generally black and white in nature. As a result, they often draw battle lines between believers.

This discussion focuses on what I believe the Bible teaches about the results that come from engaging in sound doctrine. Christians will never agree on the underlying details because Scripture leaves ample room for debate. The Bible leaves much of Christian doctrine — exactly how it works — in God’s hands, where it belongs. After all, it’s his doctrine, his Master Plan for the Creation; but the Bible is considerably more clear on what God wants us to do as a result (Note: Romans 12:1-15:33; Ephesians 4:17-6:20; Colossians 3:1-4:1; Titus 2:1-3:11; Hebrews 10:19-12:29; James 1:2-5:20; I Peter 2:1-5:11; I John 1:1-5:21). Practically speaking and while I have opinions on doctrine, I choose to focus on God’s will for us. God promises to do his stuff, and he has left us plenty of room in which to do ours. This life is about that: The Great Commission. Reach ‘em and teach ‘em, doing God’s will for the Day is near.

Peace^