Blog

Doctrine

by Andrew Melander

Paul exhorts Timothy to “watch your life and your doctrine closely.” As many in GCs, Timothy is a young aspiring leader in the church. As men of God, we are all called to leadership in one capacity or another. It doesn’t matter if you ever preach from a pulpit, lead a small group, or teach a class, your doctrine is important. Most of us, if not all, will eventually get married and have kids, and we will be responsible for leading our family spiritually. As we have all heard over and over, in order to lead, we must first know where we are going.

First and foremost, we are followers of Jesus. A correct doctrine is completely worthless without a relationship with Jesus. Our doctrines should be more than a mental or verbal affirmation of what we believe according to the Scriptures. They should be changing our hearts and resulting in spiritual fruit. Good doctrine is useless if it does not allow us to be continually sanctified and result in a closer relationship with God. Like the Pharisees, we could get caught up in the “letter of the law” and miss the spirit of it

That being said, I want to relate some of what I have learned since I graduated from the Academy about formulating good doctrine.

1. The Bible is the final authority on all doctrinal issues.

If you have not yet settled in your heart and mind that the Bible is inspired by God and is the ultimate standard of truth, settle it now. II Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reroof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for ever work.” The Bible is not only God-breathed (having its ultimate origin in God Himself), it is profitable to us. Thus, although Scripture was written by many men over thousands of years, it still applies to all of us personally. However, it is important to remember that the Bible was not written to us, it was written for us. This brings me to my next point.

2. Context, Context, Context

Imagine you wrote a lengthy, important email to someone. Then imagine they took one or two sentences out of context, completely missed the point, and distorted your message. It would probably tick you off. Yet this happens frequently with Scripture. To correctly interpret Scripture it is important that we take into account the context into which a single verse or group of verses is written. Sometimes it is sufficient to read only a few verses on either side, other times it is necessary to read the entire book to correctly interpret a single verse. It is also important to consider the time a book was written, the audience, and the author’s purpose in writing the book. Good study Bibles and commentaries can be especially helpful in understanding these sorts of themes. (If you don’t have a study Bible, get one. I personally recommend the ESV Study Bible.)

Sometimes in forming doctrine, it is necessary to gather information from multiple parts of the Bible and piece it together. The best way to clarify Scripture is with other Scripture. For instance, the doctrine of the Trinity is agreed upon by every orthodox denomination of Christianity, Catholic and Protestant. The word “Trinity” is never found in the Bible, but Scripture makes it clear that there is one God that exists in three distinct persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Such topical study of the Bible that brings together many passages to formulate a coherent doctrine is known as “systematic theology.”

3.  Know where you stand on controversial areas of doctrine

No one has a perfect theology. On this side of heaven, we know and understand in part (I Cor. 13:12). This is not a cop out, however, as we are called to worship the Lord with all our minds and to watch our doctrine closely. We are adults, and it is important to have a grasp on what we actually believe. This is particularly important in choosing a future spouse and a church. Many of us (including me) have grown up as Christians and were trained in doctrine from an early age. This can unfortunately cause us to have a tendency to read into Scriptures our own interpretations. But it is imperative to approach Scripture humbly and prayerfully, with a teachable spirit. God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble (I Pet 5:5). This point cannot be overstated. If we find that Scripture supports a different doctrine than the one we currently hold to, we must humbly admit our own fallibility, Scripture’s infallibility, and change our thinking to align with scriptural teaching.

The following is a short list of controversial doctrines to praverfully and studiously consider:

· Inerrancy of Scripture

· Church government

· Gender roles in the home and church

· Pentecostal/charismatic theology

· Calvinism vs. Arminianism (i.e. predestination/election)

· Salvation by faith vs. works

· The sinful nature of man

· Spiritual gifts

· “Health and wealth” theology

· Christology (how we view Christ in light of his life, death, resurrection, ascension)

· Sacraments and their implications

· Heaven, hell, and the final judgment

Sometimes Scripture is straight-forward on these issues. Other times both sides can have seemingly good scriptural arguments. It can be helpful to consider scriptural support for both sides of an issue (and remember: context, context, context). To do this, you got to do some homework (i.e. lots of reading). A particularly helpful resource might be a good book on systematic theology, which addresses different topics in the Bible and supports positions using the Bible. I am currently reading Wayne Grudem’s “Systematic Theology” and it has been a very helpful tool.

God has been using Scripture to teach, reprove, correct, and train me personally in the last six months or so. I feel like I’ve learned so much and yet have so much more to learn and discover from the Bible. I am in the process of settling some of these doctrinal issues myself, and these are some of the things that have helped me in the journey. Jesus is at work, sanctifying us in the Spirit through His Word. Feel free to leave comments/questions.