My Doctrine...

Everybody has an opinion! Some people say they are like armpits, everyone has them and they all stink. Opinions are not necessarily bad, but in this age of blogs and social networking, it seems that the most important thing is making our opinions known. This is really nothing new. Jeffersonian political theory, unfortunately spilled over into other areas in the early 1800′s and splintered the American church into thousands of denominations, each espousing their own unique brand of the Christian Faith.
My Doctrine - AUDIO
Though there were many denominations before that time, they were largely connected to ethnic backgrounds, The Scots were Presbyterians, the English Anglicans and the Germans Lutheran for the most part. The saddest thing about what happened in the American church in the 1800′s was that most of the newer denominations threw out the the standard interpretation that those many previous denominations largely agreed upon. This is not to say they were in perfect harmony, but they were in agreement on the most important truths for the most part. In place of what had been taught and believed for the previous 300 years (restored truths buried by Rome in the Dark Ages) everyone became their own interpreter. Often times, training in language and interpretation were shunned and even made fun of by these egalitarian sects.
Studying John’s Gospel, I see that this is just another manifestation of man’s desire to be in control even if he is largely ignorant of the realities he seeks to govern. In John 7, Jesus is has gone to Jerusalem for a feast. We read:

John 7:14-18  Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.  15  And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”  16  Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  17  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.  18  He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.

Jesus came, armed with doctrine from heaven. His Father had given Him the things He taught. All of what He said was rooted in previously revealed truth from the Old Testament! Yet the more He spoke, the more conjecture came back to Him from the crowd.

John 7:26-27  But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  27  However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.”
John 7:31  And many of the people believed in Him, and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?”
John 7:40-43  Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.”  41  Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee?  42  Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?”  43  So there was a division among the people because of Him.

They make partial reference to the Scriptures, but assume what they know about Jesus. They could have found more about Him if they would take the time to look. Read Matthew or Luke’s Gospel some time and pay particular attention to phrases like, “for thus it is written by the prophet” The problem of men assuming that their knowledge was sufficient and rejecting the proper study of God’s revelation was common even in Jesus’ day.  If anything, it has proliferated in our day. People are looking for soundbites and maxims, but not for solid theology. If it sounds good to most of us, we will accept it, especially if it goes along with our presuppositions. This is critical information and we don’t want to get it wrong because we are tool lazy to dig it out or to comfortable to be troubled by truth. Yet, sadly this is where most of us reside. After 52 verses of discussion among the people and their religious leaders, those leaders made a pronouncement and then John tells us’

John 7:53  And everyone went to his own house.

For all of the talk, nothing really changed. No one was persuaded one way or the other,but hey, everybody had their say.  What about you? Are you satisfied with mere opinions? Will you dig in and receive the uncomfortable truths? Will you allow truth to change you or will you try to exert your will on the truth?
My Doctrine - AUDIO
In Christ!
Kevin

Living What We Know 1 Timothy 4

There is a whole lot of doubt in the world about the truth of the Christian Faith. On the other hand, there are a lot of people who name the name of Christ but do not really follow the teachings of the Bible. Timothy was confronting some of the folks who were in the second category.  Chapter 4 of 1 Timothy is Paul’s direction to Timothy for fulfilling the purpose of refuting the false and promoting the truth of the Christian Faith.
Living What We Know – AUDIO
The false teachers were involved in covering their sin with man-made rituals and restrictions. This is hypocrisy and trying to live as a Christian with a defiled conscience as we noted in the previous posts; Latter Times Falling Away, and The Christians Workout Routine. The rejection of the false way (1 Timothy 4:1-5) and working toward the holiness commanded by the Gospel (1 Timothy 4:6-11).  The thing is, that true holiness is rooted in accurate Christian doctrine. The Greek root didaskalia which means doctrine or teaching, appears in 1 Timothy 14 times. Paul tells Timothy, in order to deal with the false and promote the true;

1 Timothy 4:12-16  Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.  13  Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.  14  Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.  15  Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.  16  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.

Notice the combination that is repeated here, live it then teach it.

1 Timothy 4:12 Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
1 Timothy 4:16aTake heed to yourself

But also;

1 Timothy 4:13  Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
1 Timothy 4:16  Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine.

The combination of life and doctrine are the key to overcoming unbelief, both inside the church an outside it. Setting up false standards of righteousness and hiding sin is just the religious form of unbelief. Puritan Henry Scougal says in his booklet called, The Life of God in the Soul of Man  “Now, if such a person be conscientious and uniform in his obedience, and earnestly groaning under the sense of his dulness, and is desirous to perform his duties with more spirit and vigour, these are the first motions of the divine life, which, though it be faint and weak, will surely be cherished by the influences of heaven, and grow unto greater maturity. But he who is utterly destitute of this inward principle, and doth not aspire to it, but contents himself with those performances whereunto he is prompted by education or custom, by the fear of hell or carnal notions of heaven, can no more be accounted a religious person, than a puppet can be called a man.”
True “religion” is not motivated by external forces, not by what God or man thinks of us, but by understanding and appropriating the reality of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

1 Timothy 3:16  And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.

The mystery that works godliness in us, is believing the Gospel which involves us owning our sin and falling on God alone for mercy as the remedy. Legalism only proves that we do not actually believe the Gospel but on some level we believe that we can become righteous on our own. Not only are we lying to ourselves, but we are misrepresenting the truth of the Gospel to others! If we want an unbelieving world to listen to the Gospel,we need to begin by living right (taking heed to ourselves) first and then presenting the Gospel (the doctrine). Peter says as much in his first epistle.

1 Peter 3:8-16  Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous;  9  not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.  10  For “HE WHO WOULD LOVE LIFE AND SEE GOOD DAYS, LET HIM REFRAIN HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL, AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT.  11  LET HIM TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD; LET HIM SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT.  12  FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE ON THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ARE OPEN TO THEIR PRAYERS; BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.”  13  And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?  14  But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “AND DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THEIR THREATS, NOR BE TROUBLED.”  15  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;  16  having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.

They won’t always listen, the Holy Spirit has to be involved in the situation, but this is the order we are given in the New Testament. The real question is, How does your life line up to your doctrine? If there is a disconnect in this area, you have to ask yourself a couple of questions, First, Do I really believe what I profess? Second, Can I blame others for seeing through my own hypocrisy? Tough questions, but necessary ones!
I encourage you to check out the audio on this one. Living What We Know – AUDIO
In Christ!
Kevin

Emmaneul / Jesus, The Necessity of the God / Man

I am not a big fan of Christmas and all of its trappings. It is not Jesus’ birthday, but it is a time that we can turn our focus to the fact that God became a man. I love to celebrate the incarnation of the Christ, to sing the great hymns and to preach on the plan of God to redeem the fallen human race. This is not a “once a year” kind of truth! It is the foundation of the Christian Faith!

The Necessity of the God / Man – AUDIO

The point of this celebration is to recognize what God did to save sinners. He did not just manifest Himself in a human form, He BECAME a man. He was born like every other man. He lived in poverty in a hick-town in Palestine. He was not wealthy or privileged in any way. His parents were real people who struggled with the issues of life, like Mary becoming pregnant before the wedding day, like the government forcing them to relocate in order to register for their taxes, and like having to flee the threat of death from their local, Roman-appointed king. The struggles of life were as real to Him as they are to any of us. Yet He was God, the Creator of all! He did this because the Sacrifice that was required for sin needed to be one of us. We have seen from our Advent Study in Hebrews that the animal sacrifices of Old Testament times were not able to take away sin. They merely pointed to the One who could. The Man Jesus, a real Sacrifice, The God Christ, wholly God.

Hebrews 4:14-16 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

He is a High Priest with the Power of God and the Empathy of His own real, human experience. The writer to the Hebrews goes on to say;

Hebrews 5:8-9 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,

He was a Son, eternally, to God. But He learned obedience, that is, He experienced what it is like to have to obey God in the fallen world of men. It is not easy! Having lived perfectly as a man, He became the Sacrifice that was truly able to deal with our problem of sin. How important is it to understand the Jesus is fully God and fully man?

John 8:24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.” (English Majority Text Literal Translation)

Colossians 2:8-10 Beware lest anyone captures you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are completed in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

This truth has been under attack since the beginning of the Church. The Apostle John wrote against the false teachers who tried to misrepresent Christ as he penned his letters in the New Testament.

1 John 4:1-3 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this the Spirit of God is known: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit which does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard that it is coming, and now is already in the world.

If you are unsure as to Christ’s place in the Godhead and in the Plan of Redemption, I strongly encourage you to follow up on this study. Check out some other teachings I have done on this subject:

• Heroes and Heretics, Developing Doctrine by Refuting Heresies; (Listen particularly to the studies on Tertullian and Athanasius)
• Christology; a detailed study on the person of Christ and His relation to the Godhead.

In the meantime, enjoy your gifts and Christmas cookies, but remember that a pivotal event in human history, one that was foretold and foreshadowed by God through ancient Israel is what it is supposed to be about. Meditate on the humanness of that Baby in the manger and then try to imagine that the Omnipotent God who created all things, subjected Himself to that level of vulnerability in order to redeem a race of rebels and traitors. Love has no more beautiful or profound face than the face of Jesus Christ!

2 Corinthians 4:6 Because it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The Necessity of the God / Man – AUDIO

Merry Christmas!

In Christ!

Kevin

I Have Come [Hebrews 10]

There is a lot going on in the world. There are distractions on every side. The world that God has created seems to grab us and drag us away from Him far too often! It is not God’s fault, nor the world’s, but it is where our own hearts lead us. Where is your focus on this third week of Advent? As we consider the fact that God the Son took on human flesh in order to become our High Priest and the Sacrificial Victim that was required to restore us to God, are we laboring to see the incarnation of Jesus Christ in all its fullness? Or will we just let it be another typical Christmas this year.?

Behold, I Have Come! – AUDIO

Yet again we say, “I am just so busy! There is so much to do; shopping, planning, cooking, wrapping…..” Yet what has God endured in order to bring His Son into the world? It was not a sudden decision on His part. It was not as though He had nothing else going on and just stopped by for a visit and to wish us well. On the contrary, He planned it from eternity past and He announced it throughout the history of the nation of Israel (See last weeks post (The Main Point). Having previously decided and declared it, having demonstrated it through the Old Testament Law, He DID IT.

Hebrews 10:1-7 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. 5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU DID NOT DESIRE, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME. 6 IN BURNT OFFERINGS AND SACRIFICES FOR SIN YOU HAD NO PLEASURE. 7 THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME– IN THE VOLUME OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME– TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.’ “

God foreshadowed the need we had for Christ as He established the economy of Israel 3,500 years ago. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews tells us that it was a picture or a “shadow” of the “good things to come,” i.e Christ! As we examine Galatians 3, we see what the purpose of the Law was;

1. It was given show us the curse of sin (Galatians 3:10-13).
2. It was given to keep Israel intact until the Messiah came (Galatians 3:19, 23).
3. It was given to confine all under sin (Galatians 3:22).
4. It was given to lead us to Christ. (Galatians 3:24).

Christ became that which was foreshadowed as our High Priest and the Offering for sin. David (Psalm 40), as quoted by the Apostle in Hebrews 10:5-8 says that “In the volume of the book” it was written of this one who would take away the OLD and establish the NEW. Hebrews 10:9 “then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.”

He did this as God, taking on the “body that [was] prepared for” Him (vs.5), and willingly coming, not just for a visit, but to be the offering for my sin. I can’t take this lightly. I can’t go about my business feeding the lust of my flesh and just give Him a nod. I can’t make a stink about “keeping the Christ in Christmas” and not make it all about HIM. He came to do the will of God, to become the Reality that the Old Covenant pointed to. Not just to hold out a promise, but to fulfill one.

Hebrews 10:10-14 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

Don’t get lost in the madness.

Behold, I Have Come! – AUDIO

In Christ!

Kevin

Latter Days Falling Away

1 Timothy 4:1-6 “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,” When we, as North American Evangelicals, hear these words, our minds seem to want to go immediately into some kind of “Left Behind mode. We begin to look to some great falling away that will mark the coming of the Anti-Christ and signal the return of Jesus. However, as we take this passage in its proper context, we will see that to do so is to color the Apostle’s words with unwarranted modern contextualization based on some key phrases that are used (or abused) by the prophecy pundits.

Doctrines of Demons – AUDIO

The “latter times” that the Apostle speaks of is the “Church age” or the times from the Messiah to the end of the world. This is apparent from texts like, Acts 2:14-17, 23; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 1:1-2. We are now in the “latter times” or the “last days” or the “ends of the ages.” This is something that takes place in the Church and something that Timothy had to be aware of in the church at Ephesus that he was pastoring. We too need to be on the look out for this kind of departure from the faith in our own churches and in our own lives! To get a good idea of what he was dealing with see what Paul says next.

1 Timothy 4:3-5 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; 5 for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

It is a religion of external rules that God has not prescribed. It is legalism. It is a religion that says “look at me!” rather than “look to Christ!” The departure from the faith is really pretending to be (or even believing that you are) a Christian, while you are counting on your performance rather than on the righteousness of Christ credited to your account by faith. John Calvin put it this way in his commentary on the passage at hand, “All who assume a pretneded sanctimoniousness are led by the instigation of the devil; because God is never worshipped aright by outward ceremonies.”

This is vital to our faith because it is the nature of fallen human beings to play down our faults and pretend that we are better than we really are! When we do, we are not trusting Christ, but looking to self. Therefore, Paul encourages Timothy to the task of dealing with this in his own church:

1 Timothy 4:6 If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.

What about you? Is there room in your religion for the truth about who you are? or Do you feel the need to put on airs?

Is your satisfaction in your religion based on the list of things you do or don’t do? or Is it rooted in the grace of God in spite of your performance?

Any time our religion is a “look what I can do” religion, it is demonically driven.

Doctrines of Demons – AUDIO

In Christ!

Kevin