Is Doctrine Important?
I remember this well, although it was almost 47 years ago. I was at home in the small first house I owned in Moberly, MO when there was a knock at the door. Answering it, a young man asked me if I knew the Lord? I told him I did. He then put it another way. “If you were to die tonight, are you sure you’d go to heaven?” I again told him I would. “How do you know that?” he inquired. My response was something like: “Many years ago I believed in Jesus as the Christ, repented of my sins, and was baptized into Christ. I continue to live with my faith in him as Lord and Savior.” I could tell the young man wasn’t satisfied. “Well,” he said, “I don’t want to get into doctrine, I just want to know if you’ve been saved.”
Somehow, he thought he could separate the salvation process from doctrine. I had enough experience at the time to understand his perspective. He was one of the many who believe salvation occurs when you say the sinner’s prayer and invite Jesus into your heart. They separate that from “doctrine”. But here’s the thing: you can’t. The word doctrine simply means “teaching,” and whatever we teach (for example, his teaching about the sinner’s prayer) is doctrine. It just didn’t agree with mine.
I realize that over history we’ve muddied the water when it comes to this topic, with one church teaching one thing, the next one down the street teaching something different, ad infinitum. So, we think of “doctrine” as what a particular church teaches. So, if my church teaches one thing and your church teaches something different, in the name of unity we try to stay away from “doctrinal” stuff.
But since doctrine simply means teaching, I contend we just need to be sure we have the correct source for our doctrine: the Bible. “But doesn’t the Baptist Church and the Methodist Church and the Christian Church and the Pentecostal Church, etc. all use the Bible as their source? And don’t they disagree on many things?” Indeed, but the cause of this usually isn’t the Bible. It is the fact that instead of starting with the Bible and going where it leads us, we often start with our belief and then proof text Bible verses to agree with us. Two very different approaches. The first leads to truth. The second often does not.
Let’s take an example with the salvation topic from above. Where do people come up with the sinner’s prayer approach, that just inviting Jesus into your heart is all that’s required? You’ll struggle to find any command for such, or any example of that approach being used in the Bible. The closest they come, in my experience, is using Romans 10:9, where it says, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Sounds simple enough. The trouble is, Jesus and his apostles have much more to say on salvation we cannot disregard, AND this verse is taken out of context. Paul is speaking to the Roman church, people who are already Christians, so they have no need to have the process explained to them. But they did have an issue Paul addresses, about those who insist they practice the Law of Moses (the Judaizers). Paul is saying no, they do not need to keep the Law. Making Jesus Lord is the only requirement, for Jew and Gentile. Paul is not trying to make a comprehensive statement about salvation.
The book of Acts, written about people being saved, is a better source. Peter expressed it well as he preaches the first resurrection sermon in Acts 2:36-41, setting the stage. Almost every example of conversion listed in Acts shows baptism as the crucial turning point (8:36-38; 10:48; 16:14, 15; 16:32, 33; 19:1-5; 22:14-16). Jesus set the stage: Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:16. The letters confirm it: Gal. 3:27; I Pet. 3:21, etc. Doctrine is vital! Let’s just make sure it really is what Jesus and his apostles taught.
Cross Point: “Sanctify them in truth; your word is truth” Jesus prayed in John 17:17. Doctrine is the source.
Somehow, he thought he could separate the salvation process from doctrine. I had enough experience at the time to understand his perspective. He was one of the many who believe salvation occurs when you say the sinner’s prayer and invite Jesus into your heart. They separate that from “doctrine”. But here’s the thing: you can’t. The word doctrine simply means “teaching,” and whatever we teach (for example, his teaching about the sinner’s prayer) is doctrine. It just didn’t agree with mine.
I realize that over history we’ve muddied the water when it comes to this topic, with one church teaching one thing, the next one down the street teaching something different, ad infinitum. So, we think of “doctrine” as what a particular church teaches. So, if my church teaches one thing and your church teaches something different, in the name of unity we try to stay away from “doctrinal” stuff.
But since doctrine simply means teaching, I contend we just need to be sure we have the correct source for our doctrine: the Bible. “But doesn’t the Baptist Church and the Methodist Church and the Christian Church and the Pentecostal Church, etc. all use the Bible as their source? And don’t they disagree on many things?” Indeed, but the cause of this usually isn’t the Bible. It is the fact that instead of starting with the Bible and going where it leads us, we often start with our belief and then proof text Bible verses to agree with us. Two very different approaches. The first leads to truth. The second often does not.
Let’s take an example with the salvation topic from above. Where do people come up with the sinner’s prayer approach, that just inviting Jesus into your heart is all that’s required? You’ll struggle to find any command for such, or any example of that approach being used in the Bible. The closest they come, in my experience, is using Romans 10:9, where it says, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Sounds simple enough. The trouble is, Jesus and his apostles have much more to say on salvation we cannot disregard, AND this verse is taken out of context. Paul is speaking to the Roman church, people who are already Christians, so they have no need to have the process explained to them. But they did have an issue Paul addresses, about those who insist they practice the Law of Moses (the Judaizers). Paul is saying no, they do not need to keep the Law. Making Jesus Lord is the only requirement, for Jew and Gentile. Paul is not trying to make a comprehensive statement about salvation.
The book of Acts, written about people being saved, is a better source. Peter expressed it well as he preaches the first resurrection sermon in Acts 2:36-41, setting the stage. Almost every example of conversion listed in Acts shows baptism as the crucial turning point (8:36-38; 10:48; 16:14, 15; 16:32, 33; 19:1-5; 22:14-16). Jesus set the stage: Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:16. The letters confirm it: Gal. 3:27; I Pet. 3:21, etc. Doctrine is vital! Let’s just make sure it really is what Jesus and his apostles taught.
Cross Point: “Sanctify them in truth; your word is truth” Jesus prayed in John 17:17. Doctrine is the source.
Posted in Cross Points