In his online article for Huffpost, Brandan Robertson wrote, “Run to God, Not to the Bible.” Throughout his article he insists that Christians do not need the Bible to hear God’s voice. He quotes liberal theologian Peter Enns who claims, “We need to be training our children to cultivate a relationship with God, not a relationship with the Bible.” Robertson’s argument is that the Bible should be referenced, but it shouldn’t be the main place where we come to learn about God, or how to interact with him. Instead, Robertson insists that we should listen for God speaking within the culture, and the world around us. Robertson adds, “While the Bible is an important and authoritative guide for Christian faith and practice, it isn’t the foundation or center of our faith—Jesus is…Studying Scripture is valuable, but nowhere near as valuable as cultivating a day to day relationship with the God incarnate.”
Over the past five or more years an influential mega-church pastor has moved closer to the same sentiment. Recently he made a splash when he taught that the church should “unhitch” itself from the Old Testament. The pastor claims that Christians shouldn’t say, “The Bible tells me so.” Rather they should look to what Jesus said. Which begs the question, where do we have the words of Jesus recorded?
These types of sentiments about the Bible are not new. They are old hags dressed up in new dresses. It’s the use of new language to disguise dangerous views. Instead of standing on the sure foundation of Scripture they set their sails to the winds of cultural demands and fads.
Here’s the idea that these and others are trying to propagate: We do not need the Bible, nor do we need doctrine or theology, we just need Jesus.
The problem with these types of statements and ideas is that they are theological and doctrinal statements. You see, when you make claims about God, Jesus, the Bible, the church, and how we should live, then you are doing the work of a theologian. As soon as you utter the name Jesus, you are making doctrinal claims (more on that later).
It’s not that you’re not doing theology, it’s that you’re doing theology poorly. The aversion to doctrine, is a doctrine in itself. The aversion to doctrinal propositions are in fact made up of doctrinal propositions.
Now, I know this is a youth camp. I know I should be getting you worked up into a frenzy. But I’d rather do what I have felt compelled to do over the last several months, and that’s inspire you to love God more, and in order to do that you need to fall in love with the Bible and sound doctrine.
What is Theology?
Theology is made up of two Greek words, “theos” meaning “god” and “logia” meaning “word.” Together it is to speak about God. When you speak or talk about God then you are doing theology. Some in this room may say, “I’m just a kid, I don’t know how to do theology. I’ll leave that to preachers and pastors.” But when you speak or talk about God you are doing theology.
When you claim:
- What God is like
- Who God is
- What God has done
- What God can do
- What God loves
- What God hates
- How God can be known
- What God demands of creation
When you ask:
- Who is Jesus?
- What do you know about Him?
- How can you know Him more?
- Can He get to know you?
- How can you know that you can know Him?
- What keeps you from knowing Him?
- What keeps Him from knowing you?
- Where do you meet Him?
- How can you meet Him?
This is all the work of theology and doctrine. Such questions as above are theological in nature, and they cannot be answered without knowledge from the Bible. Mr. Robertson says he wants to get to know Jesus more. The issue is that he will have to answer theological questions to do so, and the only source to those questions is Scripture.
What is Doctrine?
The word “doctrine”, biblically speaking means “teaching.” So when you are talking about God you are theologizing about God, based upon the teaching that you have been taught. The Bible refers to what is called “sound doctrine” (1 Tim. 1:10; 2 Tim. 4:3; Titus 1:9; 2:1). The word “sound” in the Greek means “healthy.” In other words, sound doctrine is to be correct, or accurate, free from infirmity or disease.
Sound doctrine is to originate from the Bible: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).
Why does doctrine matter? Basically, doctrine matters because we could not correctly answer the question Jesus asked, “Who do men say that I am” (Matt. 16:15).
Christian doctrine undertakes the effort to answer to His question:
- Who Jesus is (Christology/doctrine of Jesus’ humanity and deity)
- Why Jesus had to suffer (doctrine of sin)
- How Jesus’ death on the cross effected salvation (atonement/doctrine of substitution)
- How Jesus dwells in our hearts through the Holy Spirit (pneumatology/doctrine of the Holy Spirit)
- How we benefit from his life, death, and resurrection (soteriology/doctrine of salvation)
- How the Holy Spirit dwells in the midst of the new creation in Christ (ecclesiology/doctrine of the church)
- What happens when Jesus returns (eschatology/end time doctrine)
Those are basic doctrines that have to be answered when you answer Jesus’ question, “Who do men say that I am?” To go back to my earlier point, you can’t utter the name Jesus without it touching these key doctrines.
Furthermore, in order to say who Jesus is, we also need the doctrines of:
- The Oneness of God (monotheism)
- Creation
- Humanity (anthropology)
Therefore, the necessity of knowing doctrine is essential to understanding who Jesus is. Peter answered the question correctly, but it was given to him by revelation (Mt. 16:13-20). Books aren’t enough to know who He is. You need empowerment of the Holy Spirit to help and teach you (Jn. 14:26; 15:26). The greatest help that the Holy Spirit has given us is the Bible!
Things Most Surely Believed
- Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,
- Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
- It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
- That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed (Luke 1:1–4).
Luke opened his gospel by declaring his reason for writing. He wanted a young Theophilus to know with certainty those things which are most surely believed among us (Lk. 1:1,4). Those things had been delivered from eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word (Lk. 1:2). Luke felt that he had perfect understanding, and wanted to write an orderly account of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ (Lk. 1:3).
Suffice it to say, there are things most surely believed among us. There is sound doctrine that needs to be known, believed, loved, and lived. And you as young people need to know it with certainty. The phrase “you may have certainty” in the Greek is defined as “security against stumbling or falling.” Kittle’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament says, “These words all suggest ‘firmness’ or ‘certainty.’ The idea in Lk. 1:4 is the ‘reliability’ of the teachings.”
My intention today is to encourage you to know with certainty the things most surely believed among us. I will be teaching this as a series in our Christian school this year, but this morning I want to encourage you to do five things:
- Know and Love Doctrine
- Defend Doctrine
- Preach Doctrine
- Live Doctrine
- Worship in Sound Doctrine
1. Know and Love Doctrine
In an age where truth is perceived to be relative and subjective, you must know what you believe. Phrases such as “my truth” and “your truth” make truth subjective to opinions and emotions. “What’s true for you isn’t true for me” is another belief held by those who want their opinions to invalidate essential truth.
Paul had this to say about denying truth:
“The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:9–10 ESV).
First, truth is a person. Jesus declared that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn. 14:6). Jesus followed that up and said, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word” (Jn. 14:23a). If you do not love truth, then you do not love Jesus. Paul wrote that there will be a deception for those who refuse to love the truth. The phrase “refused” in the Greek means “not receive,” “not accept,” “to take in hand,” “to react favorably to, and thus consider right and proper.”
Truth has to be received, accepted, taken in hand, and considered right and proper. Paul said they not only refused it, they also refused to love it. Paul uses the Greek word “agape” to describe this type of affection for truth. This type of love is defined as “a strong, non-sexual affection and regard for a person and their good as understood by God’s moral character (“God is love” [1 Jn. 4:8]); especially characterized by a willing forfeiture of rights or privileges in another person’s behalf.”
That’s the type of love we need for doctrine and truth. We need a love that receives it and is willing to forfeit some personal rights for it. In other words, it’s submitting to truth. We submit to Christ’s lordship and kingship, and submit to the commands of His domain. But we do this out of love, and not compulsion.
However, you are just one wrong affection from losing truth. I’ve seen too many young people (and some older) forsake truth for some other affection. Whether it’s a relationship with a boy or girl, or it’s an affection for entertainment, sports, or money. You better love truth more than you love anything else that can drag you away from truth.
2. Defend Doctrine
Being that you are students, and you’re either currently on a college campus, or will be in the near future, and you are going to have your faith questioned. It will either be questioned by professors or peers. Unfortunately, some of you have to defend the truth to your own family members. If you are going to know and love truth, then you better be able to defend doctrine.
“But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:23–26 NKJV).
- Avoid foolish and ignorant disputes. Don’t try to answer a fool in his folly (Prov. 26:4). Simply, don’t cast your pearls before swine (Mt. 7:6).
- Able to teach. Peter says to be ready always to give an answer to every man that sketch you a reason of the hope that is in you (1 Pt. 3:15a). Know what you believe in your heart, but be able to communicate it clearly.
- Do not be quarrelsome, but be gentle, and patient to all. When you have to answer questions, do it with gentleness. Peter also says to do this with meekness and respect (1 Pt. 3:15b).
- Correcting those who are in opposition. There will always be those who are in opposition to the truth. Jesus, the apostles, and Paul all had their opposition.
3. Preach Doctrine
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry” (2 Timothy 4:2–5).
There is a dire need for biblical preaching. The anti-doctrinal crowd doesn’t like people to get “preachy.” But they aren’t bashful about being the loudest voice in the crowd. I’m not afraid to say that we need more preachers. My only caveat is that we need bible preachers. In the day of anonymous sources and op-eds, we need apostolic young people to open up their mouths, lift up their voices, and preach “thus saith the Word of the Lord.”
Give us preachers like:
- Noah who faithfully preached for one hundred years.
- Samuel who could hear the voice of God and not waste one prophetic word.
- David who could slay giants, write poetic prose, and sing a new song unto the Lord.
- Jeremiah who could weep over the sin of God’s people.
- Ezekiel who could see visions and use prophetic imagery to call people to repentance.
- John the Baptist who was a voice crying in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord.
- Peter who turned the world upside down, who everyone thought was unlearned, but whose preaching proved that he had been in the presence of Jesus.
- Paul who suffered greatly, but was unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
4. Live Doctrine
Paul wrote to Titus, a young minister in Crete, “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). Another translation says, “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine” (ESV). Verses 2-9 Paul lays out how sound doctrine influences behavior.
- Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness (Titus 2:2).
- Older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, or slaves to wine, and they are to teach the young women (Titus 2:3).
- Young women are to love their husbands and children. They are to be self-controlled, pure, working in the home, kind, and submissive to their husbands (Titus 2:4-5).
- Young men are to be self-controlled, a model of good works, show integrity in their teaching, dignified, having sound speech (Titus 2:6-8).
- Servants are to be submissive, well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering (not mooches), showing good faith (Titus 2:9-10a).
Paul finishes this thought with, “that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things” (Titus 2:10b). The word “adorn” in the Greek means to “make neat,” “to make attractive,” “respectable.” The literal sense is “to make more attractive by adding ornament or color.”
Correct theology and doctrine don’t do any good if they don’t affect your lifestyle. Your faith should lead to good works (James 2:14-26). Demons and devils believe correct doctrine, but they don’t obey it (James 2:19).
There is a direct, inseparable connection between sound doctrine and holy living. Sound doctrine leads to sound living (Rom. 15:4; 1 Tim. 4:16; 6:1-3; 2 Tim. 3:10). The opposite is true. Wrong doctrine leads to wrong living: “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed” (Titus 1:16 NASB).
We need to have purity of doctrine, and purity of life. The absence of sound doctrine, and the presence of false doctrine will lead to faulty living.
5. Worship in Sound Doctrine
The word “orthodoxy” is a another word for “doctrine” or “belief.” The word “doxology” means “a hymn or form of words containing an ascription of praise to God.” Therefore, orthodoxy should lead to doxology.
Correct doctrine, and theology influence our life. It also supplies life to praise and worship. You can’t worship and praise what you don’t know. Empty worship is due to hollow theology.
Empty worship relies upon:
- The preferred song
- The tempo of a song
- The atmosphere (lights, smoke, sound)
- The right band and singer
Jesus spoke with a Samaritan woman who had an incorrect concept of worship. She was looking for the proper method to worship, and she only seen two options: the Samaritan method, or the Jewish method (Jn. 4:16-26).
The Samaritan style of worship was done in ignorance. The Samaritan’s worship was limited because they only read and believed the first five books of the Old Testament (Pentateuch). Their faith was characterized by enthusiastic worship, but limited understanding.
The Jews, on the other hand, read and believed all of the Old Testament. They had truth, but they didn’t have spirit. Jesus said of the Pharisee, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me’”(Mk. 7:6).
The worship offered at Mt. Gerizim was emotional and uninformed. The worship offered at Jerusalem was knowledgeable, but was empty lip-service. Jerusalem had the truth, but lacked spirit. Samaria had spirit, but lacked truth.
Jesus corrected the Samaritan woman’s concept of worship, “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4:22-24).
Worshiping with enthusiasm isn’t enough. Truth is foundational to worship, but if it doesn’t have any heart in it, then its cold religious piety. Truth and doctrine are always at the heart of authentic worship. Every enthusiastic emotion that isn’t connected to truth is meaningless.
Conclusion
Everyone is a theologian. What matters is if you are a good or bad theologian. The Bible is foundational to your doctrine, your behavior, your evangelism, and to your worship. If you remove the Bible from your Christianity, then you do not have Christianity. Instead you have a social club built around a cult-of-personality.
Scripture commands us to love God with our minds (Mt. 22:37; Mk. 12:30; Lk. 10:27). Godly living proceeds from godly thinking, which includes studying doctrine and theology. God has graciously revealed Himself through the Bible. Let us take it up and read!