https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/DifferentDoctrines.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: I Timothy 1:3-11<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. All of us have friends and family who have vastly different beliefs from our own. It is\nhard to think of them possibly not reaching heaven.\n A. This desire is exploited by false teachers who have no desire to be bound by\nGod’s laws – II Timothy 4:3-4\n B. A sign on a Presbyterian church said, “Love God. Love Others. The rest is\ndoctrine.”\n 1. In other words, it doesn’t matter what you teach, so long as you love God\nand love your fellow man.\n
II. Dividing “gospel” from “doctrine”<\/p>\n A. “Although these two kinds of messages are not isolated into different paragraphs,\nbooks, or epistles, there is a valid distinction to be made. There is the gospel\nwhich brings us into life and the teachings which direct our lives. The gospel gets\nus on the life raft, and the apostolic teachings guide us on to ultimate rescue. The\ngospel gets us on the Lord’s work force, and the doctrine directs our work on the\njob. The gospel brings us into fellowship while the doctrine\/teaching guides those\nin fellowship.” [Cecil Hook, “Gospel and Doctrine,” Free in Christ<\/i>].\n B. By making this distinction the false teacher is then able to claim that “gospel” is\nessential while “doctrine” only needs to be loosely followed.\n 1. “The gospel is “the faith” which was already delivered (Jude 3), to which\nthey were obedient (Acts 6:7), which Elymas resisted (Acts 13:8), in\nwhich the disciples should continue (Acts 14:22), which was the basis of\nunity (Eph 4:13). The faith is the basis of our salvation.\n
<\/p>\nDifferences of scruples and convictions about the teachings were matters\nof faith. Romans 14 deals with this point. One man had faith to eat all\nthings while another was weak in faith with scruples (v. 1-2). The faith\n(convictions) you have keep between yourself and God (v. 22). One who\nviolates his scruples or convictions does not act from faith; hence, he sins\n(v. 23).” [Cecil Hook, “Gospel and Doctrine,” Free in Christ<\/i>].\n
C. The division is furthered by insisting that the gospel is only taught to non-believers and doctrine is only taught to Christians<\/p>\n 1. “The gospel was not preached to the church. There is no record of such, no\ninstruction for it, and no need for it. Although the word preach is used over\none hundred times in the New Testament writings, it is not used in\nreference to a believing assembly. It is the word for evangelize. The\nmessage was the gospel, the good news, the “evangel” while the one who\nproclaimed it was the preacher, the evangelist.” [Cecil Hook, “Gospel and\nDoctrine,” Free in Christ<\/i>].\n D. The conclusion is that the gospels saves, but anything labeled doctrine is not\nnecessary for salvation\n 1. “This gospel message of the faith was “once for all delivered to the saints”\n(Jude 3) before Jude was written, so it could not have included Jude.\nPeople were “obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7) before any epistle was\nwritten. Peter speaks of persons who “have been born anew … through the\nliving and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23), then he identifies the\nelement of the word which initiated life as “the good news which was\npreached to you” (1:25). It was the gospel\/evangel preached\/evangelized.\n
<\/p>\nIf all of the New Testament writings are the gospel, then a sinner could not\nbe saved without being taught it in its entirety, for he must believe the\ngospel before he can be saved (Mark 16:15f). He still would be unsaved\nuntil he obeyed all that is enjoined in the other writings. Thus, the quick\nconversion of those on Pentecost, the Ethiopian eunuch, and the jailor\ncould not have been accomplished for a thorough course of indoctrination\nwould have been necessary first. And who ever learns and obeys all of the\nteachings even in many years of sincere effort?” [Cecil Hook, “Gospel and\nDoctrine,” Free in Christ<\/i>].\n E. Notice that gospel is defined very narrowly. This allows an “anything goes”\napproach to being a Christian.\n
III. But is there a difference between the gospel and doctrine?<\/p>\n A. We know that the Bible uses different terms for the same thing in order emphasize\ndifferent aspects. Thus, the church is known as the called out, the kingdom, the\nbody, and God’s house. These are not different groups but different terms for the\nsame group\n 1. Sergius Paulus, a non-believer, desired to hear the Word of God – Acts\n13:6-7\n
a. This would be the gospel, which is able to save – Romans 1:16<\/p>\n
b. But notice that he was amazed at the teaching – Acts 13:12<\/p>\n
c. The word for teaching is the Greek word, didache <\/i>or doctrine<\/p>\n
B. In our reading – I Timothy 1:3-11<\/p>\n 1. Notice that Paul calls it both “sound teaching” (doctrine) and “glorious\ngospel.”\n
C. Preach the word … with instruction (doctrine) – II Timothy 4:1-4<\/p>\n 1. Recall the claim that only the gospel is preached and only doctrine is\ntaught, but here preaching is the act of instructing\n D. The claim was that evangelizing was only for those outside the church – Ephesians\n4:11-13\n 1. The evangelist’s duty is a part of those given to equip the saints and to\nbuild up the church\n
IV. Doctrine is essential<\/p>\n
A. We should walk in the commandments of Christ – II John 6<\/p>\n
1. There were false teachers denying that Jesus came in the flesh – II John 7<\/p>\n a. The faith that Jesus came in the flesh would be called “gospel” by\nfollowers of Hook\n 2. If you don’t abide in the teachings of Christ, you do not have God – II John\n9-11\n
a. There is that word for doctrine again!<\/p>\n b. Walking according to the commandments and faith in Jesus\ncoming in the flesh is doctrine\n
c. Doctrine that determines whether a person is saved or lost<\/p>\n B. One argument was that if doctrine was necessary, it is too much to learn and no\none could be saved.\n 1. Yet, Jesus said that those baptized were to observe all of his\ncommandments – Matthew 18:20\n
2. It was the great salvation, first spoken by the Lord – Hebrews 2:3<\/p>\n 3. Actually, “doctrine” is all that is taught. It is the act of teaching and not a\nrestricted set of topics.\n 4. Claiming that there is a lot to learn doesn’t mean it doesn’t have to be\nlearned.\n
C. Contrary doctrine is to be rejected<\/p>\n
1. Romans 16:17-18 – Contrary doctrine compared to what you were taught<\/p>\n
2. Galatians 1:6-10 – Contrary gospel compared to what was preached to you<\/p>\nV. The attempt to separate the gospel from the teachings of the church is a poor attempt to\nopen the flood gates to the acceptance of any and every belief.\n
A. We must walk according to the pattern given – Philippians 3:17-19<\/p>\n
B. Because obeying that pattern of doctrine freed us from sin – Romans 6:17-18<\/p>\n C. What a minute, didn’t they say doctrine doesn’t save? But it does because\nteaching the gospel saves the lost\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Timothy 1:3-11 I. All of us have friends and family who have vastly different beliefs from our own. It is hard to think of them possibly not reaching heaven. A. This desire is exploited by false teachers who have no desire to be bound by God’s laws – II Timothy…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[77,100,695],"class_list":["post-46225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-doctrine","tag-gospel","tag-mutual-edification"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61353,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doctrine\/","url_meta":{"origin":46225,"position":0},"title":"Doctrine","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 11, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"A person will not reach heaven if they advocate a doctrine different from God A person who changes God's teaching is condemned - Galatians 1:6-10; I Timothy 6:3-5; Revelation 22:18-19 Men are to be instructed not to teach different doctrines - I Timothy 1:3-4 We are commanded to reject a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":81706,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/timothy-had-an-authoritative-standard\/","url_meta":{"origin":46225,"position":1},"title":"Timothy Had an Authoritative Standard","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Timothy was given the same standard as the apostles delivered to the first church on Pentecost of Acts 2. There, they \"continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine\" (Acts 2:42). Because some were teaching more teaching than the apostles taught, different things than the apostles taught, it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14591,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-importance-of-doctrine\/","url_meta":{"origin":46225,"position":2},"title":"The Importance of Doctrine","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steve Klein via\u00a0The Bulletin of the Church of Christ at New Georgia, August 26, 2007 This past week, I noticed that the sign in front of the Presbyterian Church in Rogersville said, \"Love God. Love others. The rest is doctrine.\" The message was plain. Loving God and loving others\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30794,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-there-denominations\/","url_meta":{"origin":46225,"position":3},"title":"Why Are There Denominations?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Corinthians 1:10-15 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I was asked by a gentleman in Nigeria why there were so many denominations \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A denomination simply means a division. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Among those who call themselves Christians, there are a great number of divisions \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Even within various divisions, there are divisions \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63292,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/predestined-to-glory\/","url_meta":{"origin":46225,"position":4},"title":"Predestined to Glory","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ephesians 1:3-14 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The confusion over predestination isn\u2019t due to understanding that it exists; rather, the questions is who was predestined and for what purpose. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cthe doctrine that God in consequence of his foreknowledge of all events infallibly guides those who are destined for salvation\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59914,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/take-heed-unto-thyself-and-unto-the-doctrine\/","url_meta":{"origin":46225,"position":5},"title":"Take Heed Unto Thyself and Unto the Doctrine","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 14, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Homer Hailey via The Preceptor, Vol. 1, No. 11, Sept. 1952. \"Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine, continue in them: for in doing this though shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee\" (I Timothy 4:16). These words are from the pen of Paul to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46225\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}