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 Lesson
1. First Things First
Chapter 1
First Things First
Why Should Christians Need to Study Bible Doctrine?
As I sit at my computer writing this
paragraph in late 1995, I have in front of me an article from the
religion section of my local Sunday morning newspaper which reports "a
proclamation" made by "the First Presidency of the Council of the Twelve
Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." In that
proclamation, made by Gordon B. Hinkley as the Prophet and Revelator of
the Mormon Church, and, according to the world's Mormon millions, the
only true prophet of G-d now living, he makes several references to only
a very few of the teachings which forever separate Mormonism from
Christianity.
How many of those doctrinal errors can
you spot in the following quotation? President Hinkley says, in part:
All human beings—male and
female—are created in the image of G-d. Each is a beloved spirit son
or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine
nature and destiny. Gender is essential characteristic of individual
premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.
In the premortal realm, spirit
sons and daughters knew and worshiped [sic.] G-d as their
Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could
obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress
toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny
as an heir of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables
family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred
ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible
for individuals to return to the presence of G-d and for families to
be united eternally.
How many errors did you spot? Most of
them are so subtle that they will not have been noticed by many
"average" Christians (whatever that phrase might mean) during a
casual reading. And many of them will not have been noticed even after
careful study of the paragraphs.
First and foremost, every Christian
should pay careful attention to the study of doctrine in order to be
able to recognize and reject error when confronted with statements like
that made by Mr. Hinkley. Jesus told us plainly that in the last days
there would be many false prophets and antichrists about, and the study
of the Apostles' Doctrine, those clear teachings of the Apostles as
recorded in the New Testament, will protect us from their false
teachings (Eph. 4:14).
Every Christian should establish
at least these three goals for his or her personal study of
biblical doctrine:
Be diligent to present yourself
approved to G-d as a workman who does not need to be ashamed,
handling accurately the word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15)
Therefore My people go into exile
for their lack of knowledge; and their honorable men are famished,
and their multitude is parched with thirst. (Isa. 5:13)
My people are destroyed for lack
of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will
reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of
your G-d, I also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:6)
Sanctify them in the truth; Thy
word is truth. (John 17:17)
… the Scripture cannot be broken …
(John 10:35),
For the word of G-d is living and
active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as
the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able
to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Heb. 4:12)
Heaven and earth will pass away,
but My words shall not pass away. (Matt. 24:35)
These things I have written to you
who believe in the name of the Son of G-d, in order that you may
know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:13)
… but sanctify Christ as Lord in
your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who
asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with
gentleness and reverence; (1 Pet. 3:15)
It wasn't until my first year of
seminary, a full 28 years after I became a Christian, that I sat in my
very first formal class in Bible doctrine. That was in 1981.
Since then, I have been affiliated
with eight different evangelical churches, served on the pastoral staff
of six of those churches, and have spoken as a guest speaker or teacher
at several dozen different churches. Of all those churches and all those
pastors and all those Bible teachers, with the rare exception of a
single sermon or very brief series on one or two special doctrinal
subjects, a brief "new members'" class at which a church's doctrinal
statement is briefly reviewed, only one of those many churches
offered a brief course on basic Bible doctrine for new believers.
Not even one of the other churches, to the very best of my
knowledge, offered any form of systematic doctrinal training for their
people.
Why should it concern us as Christians
that churches are not actively engaged in the formal, systematic
teaching of Bible doctrine? After all, isn't it more important that our
preachers clearly and passionately proclaim the Gospel message each time
they stand behind the sacred desk? Isn't that what G-d called them to
the ministry to do? And aren't most of the pastors of evangelical
churches doing just that?
Unfortunately, although I have heard
stories of it happening on very rare occasions, I have never
personally met anyone who has ever seen or known of an unbeliever
walking off the street into a church where he or she heard the Gospel
presented for the first time and came to a salvation experience in that
meeting.
For each person who has come to the
Lord in this manner, there have probably been tens or even hundreds of
thousands who have been introduced to the Lord by a loving friend or
relative who lovingly and patiently—and repeatedly—told them of their
personal relationship and experience with Jesus Christ, and gradually,
over time, explained how they, too, could come to have such a saving
relationship.
No, real evangelism is not conducted
in churches on Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, and Wednesday evenings.
Real evangelism is conducted in homes and offices and civic clubs and
schools and youth activities organizations and business associations and
carpools and commuter trains and, occasionally, during "chance"
meetings.
It is in these environments that the
lost are brought to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.
The Gospel and the Pulpit
One of the greatest misconceptions of
modern Christianity is that G-d has called the Pastor to a ministry of
evangelism. This is because we live in a society of specialists. A
hundred years ago, a "carpenter" was a person who was skilled in all
aspects of construction of all kinds of structures. Today, we have
specialists who only frame, some who only do finish work, some who only
do cabinetry, some who only do dry wall, some who only paint, some who
only do roofing.
Thirty years ago when you wanted any
kind of vehicle repaired you took it to a mechanic. Today there are
mechanics who only work on gasoline engines, others who only work on
diesel engines, some who work only on suspension systems, and others who
only work on exhaust systems.
Twenty-five years ago when you were
sick, you went to a family physician …
You get the idea. Today, everybody in
every trade and occupation has a specialty. So when a group of
Christians decide that there needs to be an evangelistic outreach in
their community, they hire a pastor to do that evangelism for them, or
they bring in an evangelist for a series of "evangelistic meetings" or a
"revival."
But what does the Bible
say the role of the pastor or evangelist is supposed to be?
And He [God] gave some as …
evangelists, and some as pastors who are also teachers,
for the equipping of the saints for the work of
service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and
of the knowledge of the Son of G-d, to a
mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to
the fulness of Christ. (Eph. 4:11-13)
According to the Bible, the
pastor/teacher's role is to equip the saints
to do the work of ministry by teaching them the Apostles' Doctrine,
which in turn builds up the saints, makes them strong and unified in "the
faith which was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3)",
which in turn brings the saints to maturity and Christ-like-ness.
Am I suggesting that pastors should
stop presenting the Gospel in church meetings? G-d forbid that such a
thing should ever happen
Almost nobody ever becomes a Christian
the very first time they hear the Gospel of Christ presented, but the
Holy Spirit works though many Christians to reach a lost person. One may
plant the seed of saving faith, another may water that seed, another may
cultivate the soil of the heart and mind, and still another may be the
one fortunate to be present to witness the harvest (1 Cor. 3:6). And
frequently the harvest will be triggered by something that the Holy
Spirit speaks through the pastor's message.
Every message ever spoken from every
pulpit in every Christian church should point both the lost and the
saved to the Lord Jesus Christ. But every message spoken from behind the
sacred desk should contain more than the bare essentials of the Gospel.
When Jesus commissioned Peter, He commanded him to "feed" the
lambs and the sheep (John 21:15-17, KJV); pastors need to faithfully "feed"
the flock over which they have been entrusted.
A former pastor of mine, a dear man of
G-d whom I love like a father, used to tell me to "be sure to put the
cookies on the bottom shelf so the children can reach them." By this he
meant that all Bible teaching within the local church should be
structured to the lowest common denominator, directed toward the least
mature Christian in the congregation, so that all present could clearly
understand everything that was being taught.
I commend his desire that nobody
should be confused by his teaching, but I cannot approve of the results
of that practice, the success of which he and the congregation gauged by
the number of people who "came forward" at the end of each service.
Nearly every Sunday morning, every
Sunday evening, and every Wednesday evening, this dear man of G-d
faithfully presented the Gospel of salvation: "Repent, for the Kingdom
of G-d is at hand … Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be
saved." And nearly every Sunday morning, every Sunday evening, and every
Wednesday evening, there were ten to twenty who came forward at the end
of the message. But in the eight years we were at that church I do not
recall more than two or three who had been brought to their salvation
experience during the worship service.
There were many who came to present
themselves for membership by letter or statement of transfer of
membership from other churches, but only enough to replace
those who were leaving to present themselves for membership by letter or
statement of transfer to other churches. In nearly fifteen
years the active church membership remained steady between 180 and 220
souls.
With the appropriate degree of
regularity there were coming forward those young people who had been
raised in the church and who had been properly discipled at home, in
Sunday school, and in the youth department, who were presenting
themselves as candidates for baptism and adult membership in the church.
But for the most part their response had little, if anything, to do with
the message that had been preached—having privately expressed their
saving faith to parents, Sunday school teachers, or youth workers, it
was their appointed time to take their place as adults in the church
family.
Of course there was also the rare
adult who had been led to the Lord through the personal evangelism of
neighbors, friends, or family, and whose response, likewise, had little
to do with the content of the pastor's message.
Sadly, those who most frequently and
repeatedly responded to the message were the same twenty or thirty
church members, many of whom had been faithful Christians for thirty
years or more, who wound up at the altar of that church weeping over
their sins and praying to be saved—again, and again, and again. They
were being faithfully taught how to be saved, but had
apparently never been taught what happens after they have been
saved—important doctrines like:
… but if we walk in the light as
He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and
the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that
we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in
us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(1 John 1:7-9)
or
There is therefore now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law
of sin and of death. (Rom. 8:12)
or
Therefore if any man is in Christ,
he is a new creature; the old things nave passed
away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from
G-d, who reconciled [past tense, a "done deal!"] us
to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation, namely, that G-d was in Christ
reconciling the world to Himself, not counting
their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us
the word of reconciliation. (2 Cor. 5:17-19)
or
My sheep hear My voice, and I know
them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they
shall never perish; and no one
shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father
who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and
no one is able to snatch them out of the
Father's hand. I and the Father are one. (John 10:27-30)
This servant of G-d, with the total
agreement and support of the lay-leaders of the congregation, was
faithfully carrying out what he and they perceived as his commission to
"preach the gospel" (Mark 16:15), but he, like so many other evangelical
pastors, was neglecting the rest of his responsibility to "make
disciples … teaching them to observe all that I commanded you …" (Matt.
28:19-20). The responsibility to "make disciples" involves "teaching
them … all that [Jesus] commanded." It involves equipping the
saints (all Christians) to do the work of ministry to build up the
Church and bring them (its members) to full Christian maturity.
And He gave some apostles, and
some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors [who are also]
teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service,
to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the
unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of G-d, to a
mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the
fullness of Christ. (Eph 4:11-13)
In addition to teaching those things
that Jesus had specifically commanded, the Holy Spirit, speaking to
Pastor Timothy through the Apostle Paul, requires that pastors also be
faithful not only to teach all of the doctrines of the Bible as handed
down from the apostles, but to also teach mature Christian men to also
teach those doctrines:
And the things which you have
heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to
faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. (2 Tim. 2:2)
There are four major activities in
which the members of the growing, maturing local church are to be
continually involved:
And they were continually devoting
themselves to
[1] the apostles' teaching and to
[2] fellowship, to
[3] the breaking of bread and to
[4] prayer. …
And the Lord was adding to their number day by
day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)
The very first activity that Dr. Luke
mentions in this list of activities is devotion to the Apostles'
teaching: that is, the faithful teaching of Bible doctrine.
The meeting of the local congregation
is therefore to involve not just worship and the preaching of the
Gospel, but to include the presentation and explanation of the great
doctrines of the Bible as originally taught by the apostles, so that
Christians may be equipped for the service of building up the Church,
that there may be a unity of "the faith which was once for all delivered
to the saints" (Jude 1:3) "and of the knowledge of the Son of G-d," and
that Christians become mature "to the measure of the stature which
belongs to the fullness of Christ."
When this kind of faithful teaching is
combined with Christian fellowship, with the breaking of bread (that is,
both shared meals and the frequent participation in the Lord's
Table), and with both private and corporate prayer, the result will be
that "the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who
were being saved."
Just as the human body cannot develop
into maturity on a constant diet of milk and baby food, so the body of
Christ, and the individual Christian who is a member of that body,
cannot develop to spiritual maturity on a constant diet of spiritual
milk. If your desire is to be a mature Christian, then it is
absolutely necessary for you to continually be involved in the
systematic study of Bible doctrine.
And I, brethren, could not speak to
you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ.
I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to
receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, … (1 Cor. 3:1-2)
Concerning him [Melchizedek] we have
much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of
hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need
again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles
of G-d [the Scriptures], and you have come to need milk and not solid
food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the
word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food is for the
mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern
good and evil. (Heb. 5:11-14)
Please understand that it is not my
intention either to "pick on" or to single out for criticism either this
particular pastor or this particular church, but only to point out that
this is a very common condition among evangelical Christian churches.
And the direct result of this lack of
adequate doctrinal instruction in the Church is that untaught and
inadequately-taught Christians are being led by the tens of thousands
into the clutches of pseudo-Christian cults like the Mormons and
Jehovah's Witnesses, into secret societies like Freemasonry and its
numerous organizations, into cultic heresies like the Branch Davidians,
Christian Science, and the Word-Faith movement, into the world of the
New Age movement and the occult, which involve such activities as
astrology, psychic readings, and some forms of holistic medicine, and
even into some of the more subtle heresies of Secular Humanism, such as
evolution, situational ethics, freedom of "choice," and gay/lesbian
"rights."
In fact a great number, perhaps even a
majority, of those who profess to be Christians either are unconcerned
about or openly reject the most important doctrines of the historical
Christian faith, such as the virgin birth, deity, physical death, and
bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. To them, the Bible has no
authority for faith and practice, and its inspiration, inerrancy, and
historical accuracy are of little importance.
How is it that Christians are so
easily deceived by Satanic counterfeits? They are fooled by the false
doctrines of all the cults and "ism's" because they have never been
adequately taught the true historic doctrines of the Christian faith,
that "faith once for all delivered to the saints"!
The American Banking Association has
for years had a formal program for training bank tellers how to spot
counterfeit United States currency, but the trainees are never exposed
to a counterfeit bill. Instead, they are painstakingly taught all of the
characteristics of real currency—how it looks, how it feels, how it
smells—until they become so thoroughly familiar with real money that
even a very artistically produced counterfeit stands out like … well,
like a three dollar bill.
To a Christian who has been properly
educated in the great doctrines of historic Christianity, counterfeit
doctrine is as easily and as instantly detectable as a poor counterfeit
bill is to a trained bank teller. It is my prayer that this series of
studies will painlessly, and even enjoyably, provide you with just that
training.
The word "doctrine" is nothing more
nor less than another word for "teaching," or "that which is taught." So
to study Bible doctrine simply means to study what the Bible teaches.
Studying what the Bible teaches is not just a worthwhile Christian
pastime. G-d commands His chosen people of both Testaments to be in
constant study and meditation of His word.
And these words, which I am
commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach
them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in
your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and
when you rise up. (Deut. 6:6-7)
You shall therefore impress these
words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind
them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your
forehead. And you shall teach them to your sons, talking of them
when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when
you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall write them on the
doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that your days and the
days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the LORD swore
to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens remain
above the earth. (Deut. 11:18-21)
How blessed is the man who does
not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of
sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the
law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. And he
will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields
its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in
whatever he does, he prospers. (Ps. 1:1-3)
But the word is very near you, in
your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it. (Deut. 30:14)
How can a young man keep his way
pure? By keeping it according to Thy word. With all my heart I have
sought Thee; do not let me wander from Thy commandments. Thy word I
have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee. (Ps.
119:9-11)
But what does it say? "The word is
near you, in your mouth and in your heart" … (Rom. 10:8)
For the word of G-d is living and
active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as
the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able
to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Heb. 4:12)
Be diligent to present yourself
approved to G-d as a workman who does not need to be ashamed,
handling accurately the word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15)
©1997 Dr. Rickard L. Sawyer. All
rights reserved.
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