Church of God Faith of Abraham

Gatesville, Texas

Faith, Works and Doctrine

My purpose in this short article is to bring some clarity to the popular discussion about how we are to be saved. The use of certain "buzzwords" tends to cloud otherwise simple issues. "Doctrine" is often thought of today as a bad word. But the word really means nothing else than "teaching." If "teaching" is a bad thing, then Jesus was at fault when He told the church to go and "teach" (Matt. 28:19, 20). "Doctrine" is therefore a most biblical concept. The whole Bible is a teaching and therefore a doctrinal book. One has only to look up the scores of references to "preaching and teaching" (these two words are not clearly distinguished in meaning in the NT) to see that without such doctrinal activities there would be no Christian faith.

"Heresy" in the NT is simply false teaching, which causes a division in the united church. Peter says "There will be false teachers among you who bring in destructive heresies" (2 Pet. 2:1). When Jesus said "Beware of false prophets" (Matt. 7:15), He could just as well have said, "Beware of those who teach falsehood or heresy."

It is popular today to decry "proof-texting." Usually this actually means, "I don't like the way you are using the texts of Scripture to prove your point." Anyone who teaches from the Bible uses texts to prove his assertions. The Bible writers did it all the time. Look for example at Hebrews 1 where a whole lot of "proof-texts" are used to support an argument about the role of Christ.

It is also popular today to say that the early Christians had very little systematized doctrine. Scholars recognize this to be untrue. Paul speaks about "the outline" of sound words which Timothy was to retain. This word "outline" means "standard," "form" or "shape." It suggests a system. It is hard to see how any unified system of teaching can proceed if there is no recognized standard. When the Bible writers speak of "knowing the truth," or "coming to a knowledge of the truth," they obviously have a certain corpus of Christian information and teaching in mind.

We sometimes hear today that "propositional" theology is a bad thing. The cry is for "heart knowledge," not "head knowledge." The distinction between head and heart reflects the vocabulary of our western world, but not that of the Bible, where the heart is often a synonym for what we call the mind. All propositions in the Bible are addressed to the whole person. Belief and faith are inevitably based on some propositions to be believed. Believing propositions inevitably involves the intellect (often another "dirty" word in the contemporary discussion). But Jesus' purpose was to bring us "an understanding" so that we may know God (1 John 5:20). No wonder Jesus rejoiced that the disciples were those to whom "the knowledge of the open secrets of the Kingdom of God" had been given (Matt. 13:11).

We often hear that "works" play no part in salvation. This statement contradicts what James said: "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone"(James 2:24). James was an immensely important person in the early church. Having known Jesus as his half-brother he was well placed to speak for the Lord. Jesus taught that failure to use one's talent for Christ results in exclusion from salvation (Matt. 25:25-30). Notice that it was Christian talent which went unused. Insofar as the use of talent is "work," it follows that without such work you cannot be saved. Paul also said that failure to measure up to certain standards results in exclusion from salvation (1 Cor. 6:9; Eph. 5:5; Gal. 5:21). It is by "patient continuance in well-doing" that we will enter the Kingdom of God (Rom. 2:7). Doing well certainly implies work. It is by grace that we are empowered to do work for God.

I suspect that a lot of the confusion in the contemporary debate stems from a confusion of biblical dogmas and post-biblical dogmas. By dogma I mean a firm basic creedal statement. The Bible is full of dogma in this sense. When Peter confessed Jesus as the Messiah, it was on this confessional, doctrinal statement that Jesus said He would found His church (Matt. 16:16).

In post-biblical times a lot of false dogmas were introduced which were not based on the Bible. "The doctrine of the Trinity," says the Oxford Companion to the Bible (1993) "cannot be clearly detected in the canon of Scripture." The idea that man is immortal and survives as a disembodied soul at death is another unbiblical dogma, often thought to be Christian, while it is actually Platonic and philosophical in origin. The teaching that the church is to be led by a single "monarchical" bishop/pastor, rather than a plurality of experienced "elders/pastors" is also not found in Scripture. It dates, along with many other "dogmas," from the second century.

Christians cannot shirk the responsibility of believing the right "doctrines." The alternative to believing true teachings is believing false ones. The mind cannot be a vacuum. Paul knew well that creed leads to conduct. Creed is very important and is integrally related to the right Christian walk. Paul believed that failure to believe Truth was the same as unrighteousness and wickedness (2 Thess. 2:12). How important, then, is Truth?

A good place to start in the quest for Truth and true teaching is the teaching of Jesus Himself. The "constitution" of the New Testament church goes back to Jesus and the traditions inherited from Him (Heb. 2:3; 1 Tim. 6:3). Jesus has the final word in the debate about what we should do to be true disciples. He began by commanding repentance and belief in the Gospel about the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14, 15). This was an urgent call for a wholehearted response to a proposition which demanded intelligent belief and action. Jesus did not call for a vague change of heart in regard to certain sins. He called for belief in a specific Gospel Message about the Kingdom of God.

This pattern of preaching was carefully followed by the New Testament church. They had a well-recognized pattern of instruction (not steamrollered into a written code which had to be followed like a rule book). The basis of New Testament teaching is summarized in a form which some scholars recognize as an early creed. "When they believed Philip as he proclaimed the Gospel about the Kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, both men and women" (Acts 8:12). Baptism in water was of course an essential part of the pattern of apostolic teaching. It was commanded by Jesus and, following Him, by Peter (Matt. 28:19; Acts 10:48). After the Gentiles received the gift of the spirit no one was able to stand in God's way, so Peter proceeded to baptize them as a sign of their membership in the body of Christ (Acts 11:17).

It is well for us to remember that evangelism as done by Paul involved a lot of "proof-texting," the use of Scripture to explain, even argue the faith. Note a typical example of what Paul did in Rome for two years. Paul "solemnly testified about the Kingdom of God and tried to persuade them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets from morning till evening. And some were won over to his point of view, but others would not believe" (Acts 28:23, 24). This tells us what it means to believe: to be won over to the teaching of Jesus and the apostles about the Kingdom of God.

Notice what an excellent model of service Paul presents. He followed his master the Lord Jesus: "Jesus welcomed them and began speaking about the Kingdom of God" (Luke 9:11). "Paul welcomed all who came to him, preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 28:31).

Faith and obedience are closely linked in the Bible. The church's marching orders are quite clear. We are to take "everything that Jesus taught" the disciples and, like them, go into all the world "teaching and baptizing" (Matt. 28:19, 20). This is how a relationship of intimacy is built with Jesus. It is by doing what He commands. Sometimes it seems that Christians are looking for a problem-solving revival when what is really needed is believing and doing what God has already commanded. Do we have to be constantly looking for what God desires to be done, when He has already told us what to do? "Go and make disciples." This implies a major orientation outwards from the church, not just maintaining the status quo within the church.

We are living in times when the "Word of the gospel" as a direct statement from God is being questioned just as the "Word of God" was questioned in the Garden of Eden. People sometimes intimate that they would rather have an experience than hear about the Word. But hearing and doing the Word of God is still the will of Jesus as it always was. Genuine relationship with Jesus is built on careful listening to His Word and performing it. The rewards are great: "If you abide in me and my teachings [=doctrines, summarized under the gospel about the Kingdom] abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it will be done for you" (John 15:7).

Who can say that "doctrine" is unimportant? The teachings of Jesus are the lifeline of the Christian, the only means of relating to Jesus. The question is, are we faithfully teaching the right teachings, those which originated with Jesus and His preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom (Luke 4:43, etc.)?

This article taken from The Restitution Herald.