Doctrines with Power
February 22, 2010
Dear Friends,
As we peruse the doctrines that are considered important among us, we can put them into two distinct categories: doctrinal and moral. The former are mostly of an intellectual nature such as “There is one God” or “There will a Kingdom of God on earth.” These doctrines are important pieces to the puzzle of how we view the “big picture” of God’s plan and have profound effects on other Bible teachings. The latter are mostly behavioral commandments that list things we should do such as “Pray for them that despitefully use you” or things that we shouldn’t do such as “Refrain utterly from adultery, fornication, uncleanness, drunkenness.”
I would like to suggest another category of doctrines that have a profound impact upon the way we think and feel. Because these teachings have such a profound impact upon the way we think and feel, they are very important. If we were asked what a believer “looked like”, I would think the answer would not be dissimilar when Moses “saw” God. When Moses “saw” God, he saw these characteristics:
The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation. (Ex. 34:6-7 NIV)
Similarly, when people see us they are supposed to see the Fruit of the Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Gal. 5:22-23 NIV)
It stands to reason then that any Bible teaching which positively or negatively impacts upon our capacity to show love, live joyously, peacefully and patiently and so forth is very important. These are not primarily intellectual in nature, though they may be intellectually or expositionally derived. They are not primarily behavioral either although they will have a significant upon our behavior. They are more specifically characteristics which impact our behavior. They are, for lack of a better term, organically who we are. Love pours forth from us not because we are told to demonstrate loving behavior, but because we have love in our hearts. We are kind because our world view, as shaped by all of these underlying beliefs, won’t really allow us to respond in any other fashion.
I like to think of these third class teachings as “doctrines with power.” They have the power to transform our hearts and therefore our lives so that we can become the living embodiment of the fruit of the Spirit. Jesus touched on this very idea in the negative when he said “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” (Matt. 15:19 NIV) We can take this same idea in the positive. “For out of the heart come love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
Before we delve into some of these doctrines, let me be crystal clear what I am not saying. Our doctrinal and behavioral propositions have been codified into a Statement of Faith which has been misused and abused since inception. All too often we have transformed these truths from a living proclamation of faith and victorious living to a dead contract of legal words to promote our own righteousness and bully those who might express themselves differently. I am not in any way, shape or form suggesting these propositions be added to the Statement of Faith. If we can live these propositions by putting them in our heart, having them on a piece of paper becomes entirely superfluous anyway. “By their fruits shall ye know them,” not by their document.
Lord willing, we will start looking at these teachings next week.
Have a great week,
