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| | From:  Acquitted (Original Message) | Sent: 9/24/2007 6:49 PM |
I listened to an inspirational message from Billy Graham the other day, and it was a very uplifting message, because brother Graham preaches the gospel, and only the gospel. I realized that in all the years I have heard him speak, it was always the same gospel message. You are a sinner, your are lost, Jesus died for your sins, and if you believe in his death burial and resurrection you will be saved from an eternal hell. As I listened to other radio preachers, and watched some on the tube, I realized that every sermon I heard was all about doctrine, and not about the gospel.
Just what is doctrine? It is the eternal security of the believer, it is salvation by grace, it is baptism by sprinkling, verses baptism by immersion. It is the rapture of the church, either before the tribulation, or sometime after the tribulation starts, and on, and on, and on. I further realized that doctrine is what drives us apart. Some say you can give your salvation back, some say you can lose it if you sin, and others say you can never lose it. Paul alludes to doctrine when he says: 1CO 3:3-4 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? Jesus told us to preach the gospel, and to carry his message to the ends of the earth.
MAT 28:16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." MAT 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Gospel-
In the NT it denotes the "good tidings" of the kingdom of God and of salvation through Christ, to be received by faith, on the basis of His expiatory death, His burial, resurrection, and ascension, e.g., Act 15:7 20:24 1Pe 4:17. [Vine]
You see brothers and sisters, this is what it is all about. It is about Jesus, and only Jesus. I am not saying we should not study the great doctrines of the Bible, but the gospel should always be our first message to the world. Doctrines are good, but Jesus saves.
Thomas |
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|  0 recommendations | Message 7 of 21 in Discussion |
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I agree, Doz. What a person teaches is their doctrine. If they teach the Bible, then they are teaching Bible doctrine (if they understand it correctly and teach it correctly). |
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| | | From: olegig | Sent: 12/15/2007 6:34 PM |
If they teach the Bible, then they are teaching Bible doctrine (if they understand it correctly and teach it correctly). I certainly whole heartedly agree with the above; but can we stop there? There are many doctrines which are Biblical; but do they have application to the Body of Christ? IMO we are instructed to divide the Word and find the appropriated doctrines (teachings) for us. As example: Peter preached the Apostles' doctrine (Acts 2:42) which is also referred to as the gospel of the Kingdom in the beginning post. (Mat 24:14) The message from Peter was that Jesus was truely the promised, prophecied Messiah of Israel, the Son of God. And we can see the results of his preaching in various places; but it was only delivered to Israel. Even Paul was converted under the gospel of the Kingdom as we see Paul's prclaimation that Christ is the Son of God. (Acts 9:20) But note, at the time of Paul's conversion, and also of anyone up to that point, no mention was made of the death, burial, and resurrection and the power unto salvation brought on by these events for this info came later through revelation from our Lord Himself to Paul. Peter knewing nothing of the indwelling Holy Spirit, spiritual circumcision, being placed in the Body of Christ and even Peter later said of these things taught through Paul that they were hard to understand, but true doctrine. (2Pet 3:16) But back to Peter and the gospel of the Kingdom. It was only preached, taught, given as doctrine to Israel and had "all" Israel accepted it; then no doubt the physical, promised Kingdom would have been ussered in at that point. Jesus was ready, note in Acts 7:55 He was standing; but all Israel did not accept the message. I have no doubt had all Israel accepted the gospel of the Kingdom then the "Great Commission" of Mat 28 would have been carried out by the apostles carring the message unto all the world. And I have no doubt the Great Commission will be carried out in the future by the 144,000 during the Tribulation. The "doctrines" of the gospel of the Kingdom involved water baptism and repentance of sin. (Acts 2:38) But these are not the doctrines of the Gospel of Grace as later revealed by Paul. So we see in this one example that the doctrines of the gospel of the Kingdom are true, Biblical doctrines; but do they apply to the Body of Christ? I say no. This is why it is not only important to speak of true, Biblical doctrine; but also of the application thereof for many good folks get all messed up by taking true, Biblical doctrine and mis-appyling it to the wrong group. gig |
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Very good post, Olegig. While we can principles of application from all of Scripture, it is essential to rightly divide it. I believe your division is basically the correct one. |
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| | | From: olegig | Sent: 12/17/2007 9:20 PM |
2Cor 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. You know, the above, for me at least, was one of those verses that just had no meaning to me for a long time; so I just left it and revisited it over and over. Then one day, after I had completed a long study of the difference between the Kingdom Gospel and the Gospel of Grace, I read 2 Cor 5:16 again and this time the light went off. How many sermons do you hear preached from Matthew, Mark, or Luke in relation to the number preached from the epistles of Paul? I venture to say quiet a few for it seems the modern pulpit is hung-up on the doctrines (teachings) of Jesus' earthly ministry while neglecting the full revelation of the power of the cross as taught by Paul. IMO Paul is saying in 2 Cor 5:16 that even though we know Christ and His teachings while He was in the flesh, now we should go on to a higher level of understanding of the teaching of the Spiritual side of the power of the cross unto salvation. And I feel this is what Peter confirmed in 2Pet 3:16. So basically I would say in answer to the title of this thread, yes doctrine has taken over the pulpit; but IMO it is the wrong doctrine for the Body of Christ. But sadly even in the SBc not one in ten ministers recognize a difference between the Gospel of the Kingdom and the Gospel of Grace. They just preach what they were taught by our liberal seminaries.  |
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I have heard well meaning folk say, :We don;t preach doctrine, we preach bible." Duhh What they do not understand is that doctrine is the guidepost of the bible. The masonic lodge has doctrine! Any teaching of a subject has a guideline, ie, a doctrine. Therefore a pulpit cannot function well with out a standard to guide them therefore it must have a doctrine to guide them otherwise it is a wondering ship in a vast sea. |
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Amen, 13 and 14.You'd think they would study for themselves. |
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| | | From: olegig | Sent: 12/20/2007 12:30 PM |
MrWonder, I agree. But the sad thing is they cannot get a job in many places without a diploma. Some of the best preaching I have ever heard was from men who, through the call of God, just started an assembly in a home or garage. They just preach the Bible as it stands. |
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Well, yeah, ok, they need a diploma. They quit studying after they get it? They never read the Bible again? Never seek God for truth anymore? BTW, I had a pastor once--myself and another of the pastors of the church were discussing where we were in our Bible reading (we usually read the Bible all the way through each year) and my pastor confessed he had never read the Bible all the way through, yet he had been through seminary and had a doctorate. To his credit, he immediately started a reading program and read it all the way through and did so for at least several years and may still be doing it. |
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| | | From: olegig | Sent: 12/20/2007 7:49 PM |
What I meant by the diploma thing is that most churches require a degree from a seminary before they will even consider someone for a pastor. This forces good, God called men into the seminaries where they come out with the theology of the seminary. |
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I see your point. Often the seminary ruins them, I think is what you're saying. |
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Maybe that's why some call it "cemetary" instead of seminary.  |
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