What You Believe Matters

"Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. "     --1 Timothy 4:16 (NKJV)

 doc´trine   Pronunciation: dǒk´trĭn

 n. 1. Teaching; instruction. "He taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, Hearken." - Mark iv. 2.

 2. That which is taught; what is held, put forth as true, and supported by a teacher, a school, or a sect; a principle or position, or the body of principles, in any branch of knowledge; any tenet or dogma; a principle of faith; as, the doctrine of atoms; the doctrine of chances….. (Webster's 1913 Dictionary)

We’ve all heard that old chestnut, “It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you believe something.” There is a loud voice in the world which says that your faith (believing something) is more important than your religion (what you believe) and that doctrine isn’t important.

When you hear someone say, "doctrine does not matter," watch out! They may be a political ally, a trusted friend, or someone you might have otherwise considered as a brother or sister, but when they start striking at the root of your faith, they are acting as tool of the enemy of your soul whether that is their intention or not.

Pray for them, reason with, love them; say nothing if you cannot say it wisely and winsomely, “for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God."(James 1:20)

If you can use reason and love and aren’t driven by anger, do not for one moment back down from contending for the faith, which is handed down by means of sound doctrine.

Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.  For certain persons have crept in unnoticed… ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.-- Jude 1:3-4 (NASB)

 'Licentiousness' doesn't seem to belong in this discussion at first. Those I have in mind are not claiming the unimportance of doctrine in favor of wild immorality or throwing off constraint, the usual focus of licentiousness.

This is a more subtle license, one that says that God will understand and approve if we make the lost more comfortable in their lostness; make them feel good about themselves; serve their felt needs of inclusion and leave the offense of the cross, the stumbling block of the true gospel, always to the side.

Glenn Beck has been vigorously pushing “the American Religion” quote of Benjamin Franklin, ignoring the full quote in which Franklin holds at arms’ length the teaching of the Bible and the divinity of Christ.  Benjamin Franklin’s idea of religion stands in opposition to Jesus’ final earthly command to His disciples.  Jesus Christ didn’t command us to go out and serve our fellow man, but commissioned us to go and make disciples.

 All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. -- Matthew 28:18-20 (NASB, bold face mine)

Teaching, which is handing down doctrine, was set out by Jesus Christ as a vital part of the great commission, not something which is optional. Service flowed naturally in the life of the church, but as a fruit of sound doctrine, not a substitute for it.

In the mid 20^th century, under the influence of liberal and  fashionable 'positive-thinking' theologians, the western church turned more to service and less to teaching sound doctrine; western culture has been in rapid decay ever since. We tried this once and we are now, a lifetime later, exactly where that path leads. Returning to that same path is not going to lead us anywhere new. 

The 'American religion' may be acceptable to secularists and sectarians, but it cuts out the very gospel and the command of Jesus Christ.

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”  -- John 14:23-24 (NASB)

His words; His teaching; His doctrine matters.