DOCTRINE SAVES
Christianity is an intelligent religion. Our faith in Christ is not blind, it is definitely not superstitious. Our faith is based upon the truth. What is truth? God’s Word is truth (John 17:17). If the Christian faith is an intelligent faith, then it must be full of doctrine or teaching. We must pay attention to doctrine, to what the Bible teaches if we want to experience the fullness of salvation God has graciously given to us. That is why 1 Timothy 4:16 says, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” Doctrine saves. The saving power of doctrine is what we will be focusing on in our church camp this week. This is the first message.
What the church needs today is doctrine. Many churches are weak and dying, confused and divided because their members do not know what they believe and why they believe what they believe. The church at large has neglected doctrine for far too long. We keep hearing people say, “doctrine divides, love unites”, “Love is important, not doctrine”. What is the result of this kind of thinking? They become so full of love for man that they start to hate God. They question, “How can a loving God send people to hell?” “How can a loving God allow so many people to die in natural disasters?” “If a loving God exists, why is there so much suffering in this world?” They blame God for everything and deny His existence: “There is no God, and Jesus is no Saviour”. They deny the virgin birth of Christ. They deny His substitutionary atonement and His resurrection. They deny the Bible is God’s Word. They say the Bible may be a good book, but it is not God’s Word. They say the Bible is useful, we can get good ethical teachings out of it, but it cannot be deemed infallible and inerrant, 100% perfect without any mistake. They say only fools believe the Bible is 100% perfect.
Many pastors and theologians in mainline Christian denominations and Christian universities think and speak like this today. They make themselves God. The world becomes their altar of sacrifice. So they do all they can to save Gaia. They go all out to save the environment, feed the poor, build houses, schools and hospitals. They are very good at these things, at saving the body, but they do not care about saving the soul. As far as they are concerned, it is all about this life; there is no afterlife. But the truth is, there is a life hereafter. “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” (Eccl 12:7). Jesus warned, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). All such good works are in vain if the soul is hell-bound. Save the soul and you will save the body. The soul is saved not by meat but by doctrine.
The Doctrine
“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine”. What is “the doctrine” here? It is the whole and complete truth of the Christian Faith. It speaks of the object of our faith which is the Word of God. It is the Living Word (the Lord Jesus Christ) and the Written Word (the Holy Scriptures). The Living Word and the Written Word are inseparable. The Living Word gave us the Written Word, and the Written Word reveals the Living Word. Without Christ there would be no Scripture, and without Scripture we would not know Christ.
Note that the word “doctrine” is in the singular. The doctrine that comes from the only living and true God is also only one. The singular emphasises the unity and harmony of the doctrine that comes from God. God does not change, and His doctrine does not change either. His truth is sure and certain, constant and consistent. God speaks with a straight tongue. His yes is yes, His no is no. But Satan speaks with a forked tongue. His yes is no and his no is yes, and sometimes he says yes and no at the same time in the same breath so that you get all confused by his deceit and lies. It is no wonder that in verse 1 the word “doctrine” when used of false teachings is in the plural, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Tim 4:1). False doctrines are many and they come in a variety of forms to suit the lusts of sinful men. We are seeing this today. For instance, homosexuality is no longer considered a perversion but a “lifestyle”—an “alternative lifestyle”. These people convince themselves that their lifestyle is not abnormal even though nature says otherwise. Preaching against sin and warning against error is labelled as “hatemongering” and “unedifying.” Black is white and bad is good.
How can the Christian protect himself from such poison? The only antidote against such destructive philosophies and lifestyles is “the doctrine”—the whole counsel of God. The doctrine that comes from God and His Word is powerful to save.
Save Thyself
First, the doctrine that God gives is powerful to save us from sin and death. We should thank God for the Gospel doctrine—the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. That was why Paul said in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
Man thinks he can work for his salvation, but God says the work is already done. The work of salvation is done by God Himself when He became man and died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead the third day. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” (John 11:25-26). Salvation is free, all paid for by Christ and His blood and those who believe in Him shall live eternally and never die. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 6:23).
We have seen this power at work in the Bible and in Church History, “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” (Heb 11:33-38).
We see the power of this gospel at work in the life of John Newton—a cruel slave trader whom the Lord saved and used as a preacher and hymn writer. He wrote the famous hymn “Amazing Grace”—“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.” Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, a lesbian, a PhD and tenured professor, was saved and transformed by the power of the Gospel. She repented of her wicked lifestyle and is now a full-time mother and a pastor’s wife. She tells her story in her book The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert (reviewed in The Burning Bush, January 2014, http://www.febc.edu.sg/assets/pdfs/bbush/TheBurningBushVol20No.1.pdf). Gays are not without hope. Have you read the baptism testimonies published in our church Weekly recently? These testimonies show the power of doctrine at work.
Second, the doctrine that God has given is powerful to save us from deception and heresies. “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Tim 4:1). Note the plural “doctrines” here (cf v16). There is only one true doctrine for God is one, but false doctrines are many. 2 Peter 2:1 says, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” If we do not want to be seduced by evil spirits, and deceived by false teachers, we must know “the doctrine”. There are so many false isms today: liberalism, neo-liberalism, modernism, postmodernism, ecumenism, open theism, charismatism, neo-evangelicalism, neo-fundamentalism, neo-Calvinism etc. We are defenseless against such isms if we are without “the doctrine”. Know that it was doctrine that made us very sure that we have a 100% perfect Bible today without any mistake. It was the biblical doctrine of Verbal Plenary Preservation that prevented us from saying that the Bible today is imperfect and contains mistakes. It is doctrine that saves us from speaking against God and His Word.
Take Heed … Continue
For us to be saved we need to believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ—faith and faith alone saves, not works. Take hold of doctrine, ie trust what God tells you, and not yourself or your own thinking and deeds which will get you nowhere with God. Your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ does not end with the gospel. There is a vital need to continue knowing God’s Word. Know that the Bible is not just John 3:16. It is a library of 66 books with precious and powerful words that God has given to us to know and live by. Jesus tells us to live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matt 4:4). Psalm 19:7-11 tells us why we must do this: “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.”
In our church camp, we will be studying these seven doctrines: (1) The doctrine of the Bible which saves us from foolishness and superstition. (2) The doctrine of the Christ which saves us from sin and Satan. (3) The doctrine of the Trinity which saves us from philosophies that destroy the family and society. (4) The doctrine of the Holy Spirit which saves us from biblical ignorance and spiritual weakness. (5) The doctrine of salvation which saves us from doubts and depression. (6) The doctrine of the Church which saves us from deception and apostasy. (7) The doctrine of the End which saves us from worldliness and the fear of death.
Let us prepare our hearts to receive these precious doctrines of God and His Word which are powerful to save us now and forevermore. JK
