Every Wind of Doctrine
Sound doctrine is crucial to the Christian faith. Many people take the name of Christ but know little of what the Bible says about Him. If they are ignorant in the doctrine of Christ, then all the other doctrines found between Genesis and Revelation will probably prove deficient in their understanding, too.
The Bible is the inspired, inerrant, authoritative Word of God. Doctrine is the exercise of gathering together Scripture passages to glean an understanding of everything God has revealed to us in His Word. Scripture collectors, in the formulation of a doctrine, ask a key question, “What does the whole Bible say about _______________?”
All doctrine is important, but some doctrines are more important than others. For instance, the doctrine of salvation is more important than the doctrine of Mary. When the most important doctrines are collated, it forms a systematic theology. The compiler of a systematic theology has studied and written extensively on the key doctrines of the Christian faith. He distills his comprehensive doctrinal writings down into an abbreviated version of each doctrine, in order to construct a wholistic compilation.
In terms of size, we might begin with the Nicene Creed, expand into the more comprehensive Westminster Confession, and then end with a systematic theology. John Frame, Wayne Grudem, and Louis Berkhof have written widely used systematic theologies. Each of these is a great resource to have in your library. The progression from creed to confession to systematic theology is a mere matter of how much material is being explained.
Christians differ on doctrine. One studies a particular doctrine and eventually he holds to one position regarding this particular doctrine. Over time, a person’s whole theology, that is, everything he understands about Christian doctrine, is formed and then tweaked. This is where the idea of schools of theology originates. When people come to the same conclusions regarding a large number of doctrines, they work together to better understand and defend their findings.
My purpose here is to consider the doctrine of doctrine. This is what the Bible says about doctrine (Gk. didaskalia). Let us begin with few observations regarding this doctrine: first, the apostle Paul is primarily the one who promotes the importance of doctrine; second, his letters to pastor Timothy and pastor Titus provide the bulk of his encouragements and warnings.
Let us first look at the negative statements about doctrine, which are warnings to Christians. Our desire is for sound doctrine, but we struggle against strange doctrines. Paul wrote to Timothy and warned him that doctrine is an area of spiritual warfare. Our adversaries are deceitful spirits, and they bring the doctrine of demons (1 Tim 4:1). Christians who reduce the emphasis or renounce the importance of sound doctrine do not understand this warning. We are at war with principalities and powers who wish to deceive men.
The evil spirited agents of these demonic doctrines are preachers and teachers. They are typically very popular with very large followings, but not always. They tend to tickle ears on the fringe of doctrine itself. They broadcast and publish a kind of philosophy they try to pass off as theology.
Positivism is crucial to their success, which means you will never hear anything from them about sin, suffering, evil, Satan, demons, death, judgment, eternal hell, or the lake of fire. Prosperity and healing (a.k.a. health and wealth) are very popular false gospels. They require a reconfiguration of the God of the Bible, and so Paul instructed Timothy to warn men not to teach strange doctrines (1 Tim 1:3).
It is true that doctrine creates disputes within the church. God has given us His Word, and His Word is true (Ps 119:160; Jn 17:17). A few will distort the Word through their Bible translations (ie. New World Translation; Common English Bible), but more will distort doctrine through wrong interpretations of Scripture. Paul warned the Ephesians not to be children regarding doctrine (Eph 4:14).
Children are easily deceived by deceitful schemers. “It’s like taking candy from a baby,” is a helpful idiom for this point. Why do false teachers use trickery? It is because they want to prosper from religion. These men or women may desire personal power over others, financial prosperity, or popular positions. The wind blows one way and the false teacher is catching that wind in his “sails of success sermon series.” The wind blows another way and there he or she is again. Christians must be warned against religious fads and newfangled approaches, which will only toss them to and fro.
The sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ illumine our understanding of the doctrine of godliness. The false teacher differs from Jesus in Word and practice, and this stirs up strife within the church. The false teacher is usually at peace with the world and a source of trouble for the church. Paul wrote, “he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain (1 Tim 6:4–5).”
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is of little interest to false teachers, who prefer vicious debates on non-essentials in their preferred agenda. There is another false teacher who avoids all conflict, and all engagement from those in the church, who confront his questionable teaching.
Doctrinal disagreements are important for clarification of the faith; however, when they become less than civil, our doctrine and behavior blight our reputation in the community. (1 Tim 6:1). We must work to produce unity and the bond of peace, which is only possible if we are together in the Spirit of truth. We have no unity apart from this status.
At times, Christians will separate themselves from the visible local church in order to preserve their unity around some issue of scriptural truth. It is impossible for them to remain in the fellowship with the visible church when it goes rogue in the area of doctrine or practice. This is true in the current debate over sexually immoral people, their identities and their sinful practices.
Doctrines inform our practices. Innovations in worship have always been suspect. Some have proven innocuous, but others followed the pattern of vanity of worship. In other words, there is a worship offered to God that is unacceptable to God.
Jesus claimed these malpractices came from the precepts of men (Mt 15:9; Mk 7:7). Jesus was quoting Isaiah 29:13 when he referenced this problem with tradition. Religion can become rote and repetitious. It is easy for religious adherents to lose heart. God wants His people to worship Him, in Spirit and truth, with their whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.
The progress of false teachers and false doctrines is seen when men do not tolerate sound doctrine but prefer teachings that facilitate their fleshly desires (2 Tim 4:3). Rigid fundamentalism that ends up being moralistic legalism is one direction. Loose liberalism that ends up being licentious antinomianism is the opposite direction. Christians can be pulled in either direction by charismatic preachers and teachers with doctrines having the appearance of wisdom, but which are not sound.
Individuals do well to study the Bible and even learn doctrine in ecumenical groups of Christians for this reason. Group think is possible, especially in denominations or local churches which become too zealous in particular areas of doctrine. The formation of Christian cults has historically centered around a charismatic personality, who wields much influence over many people. The promotion of false ideas, or even the denial of orthodoxy (right doctrine), is this person’s platform. People have proven time and time again to be very susceptible to wrong ideas and wrong practices. Beware of the popular preacher with the mass following of devoted disciples, and the school named after his exaltedness, whoever he was in history.
Warnings abound from the apostle Paul, especially. Christians must be wary and on guard against new and improved ideas in Christianity, often packaged and promoted with slick promises of success. We must not be neglectful of church history or the biblical examples of where people have deviated from orthodoxy and orthopraxy (right practice).
We turn our focus now to some positive affirmations and encouragements to pursue sound doctrine. The apostle Paul wrote to his disciple, pastor Timothy, and suggested we are nourished by words of faith and sound doctrine (1 Tim 4:6). The Word of God is our best remedy for all that is wrong in the church and in the world. We may not be able to convince the world of this fine elixir, but our steady regimen with the Bible will do us good, nonetheless.
As noted above, we do well when we are studying the Word of truth together with other believers in small groups and corporate gatherings. We must be Bereans in knowing Scripture and doctrine, so we can test others when they bring a sermon or teaching to us.
Years ago, I was pastoring a church in Southern California. A woman in our church came to the pastors with a concern. A man was teaching a number of women in the church, filling in for their regular teacher. This man was not a church member, but he was a graduate of Moody Bible Institute.
The man seemed to have the credentials, but this woman was uncomfortable with what he was teaching. I sent one of my associate pastors to sit in on this Bible study. Sure enough, the man was teaching the doctrine of perfectionism. This is the wrong teaching that people rise above the state of sinning when they become a Christian.
We invited the man in for a meeting. He confirmed his belief in this wrong doctrine. We tried to encourage him back to sound doctrine, but he would not be persuaded. We kindly asked him to no longer teach on our premises. Praise God for this woman who knew the Scriptures and had discernment in the Holy Spirit.
I was also grateful for the privilege of working with pastors who were capable men of God, rightly dividing the Word of truth. Paul insisted to Titus that pastors should be able to exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict (Tit 1:9). The craft of the false teachers is great, and often men of God must work together to put out the fires produced by errant messengers, only intent on deception for selfish gain.
Recently, I have been watching a young man from Scotland, who is on the rise as a false teacher, having been corrupted by a popular cult in Northern California. It is sad to watch him go, but his following is growing, and my repeated attempts to bring correction fell on deaf ears with him.
Men of God cannot read everyone, nor listen to everyone for the sake of our education and edification in the Christian faith. We should be looking for and listening to men who speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine (Tit 2:1). Again, the only way to know sound teachers is to first know the contents of the Bible, then to know the history of interpretation and the schools which formed around those interpretations, and to be on guard as we listen for nuggets of golden truth. We must also be aware of fool’s gold, however.
The pursuit of purity in doctrine is our high calling (Tit 2:7). True believers in Jesus Christ, and especially men of God, should have no interest in hurting the body of Christ. Instead, they adorn the doctrine of God in every respect (Tit 2:10).
Let us recognize the importance of sound doctrine, helping one another to learn truth from Scripture and gain understanding through right instruction, with love for God’s people, and with an earnest desire for them to be built up in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. In this, may God grant us the power and protection of the Spirit of Christ, our Teacher and ever-present Helper. Amen.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
April 8, 2021
