Many Christians
say we need to teach Christianity. That’s true and we need to teach truth and right
doctrine. Let me say this, in the first century all of the teaching of the gospel or
doctrine was of “word of mouth”–people would teach others by telling it.
There was no written record of doctrine or the gospels except for the Old Testament. This
is how it started.
Peter said concerning this form of
teaching, “Moreover I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to
have these things always in remembrance. For we have not followed cunningly devised
fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but
were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” (2 Peter 1:15,16)
The writers of the gospels and epistles
had what was called amanuensis’ or secretaries that would write down what the Holy
Spirit was communicating to these authors. As the years progressed and the medium began to
change like papyri, vellum, paper and such, the quality become more of a
“permanent” record.
We had individual laymen and ministers
commenting on the word of God, we had the Didache, which was a type of rule or compilation
of the teaching of the apostles. Still further you had sermons, books, and letters that
helped define teaching and doctrine. But always, always, the basic principle of learning
and teaching Christianity came by reading and studying God’s Word. We get this from
the Old Testament in Joshua for example.
“This book of the law shall
not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou
mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make
thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” (Joshua 1:8)
And in the New Testament.
“Study to shew thyself
approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
This is the mandate of every individual
Christian to study and pray to understand the Scriptures relying on the Holy Spirit to
guide him or her. Up until the 15th century or so by the time of Tyndale’s first
published edition of the English New Testament in 1525 the only way Christians could learn
was that they had to go to Church to hear sermons. The problem was it was the Catholic
Church and it was all in Latin. So if you did not know Latin then you were in the dark. If
(a big if) people could get a copy of the Scriptures then they could read it for
themselves, but that was difficult and dangerous. This is the horror of the dark ages when
the evil institution of Roman Catholicism put people in bondage to control them.
So, when Bibles became available by 1611
there was a huge Bible that was put in Churches it was chained to a desk and people could
go and read it, but individual people having their own copy of a Bible was still rare. The
Roman Catholics did not want people having their own Bibles, why? Because they might read
it for themselves and become saved and leave the Catholic Church.
Again, when Bibles, after 1525 and 1611
began to be produced, people could then read them on their own. Now down through the ages
we had word of mouth, sermons, books, letters, and then we could get our own Bibles, then
we had the advent of sound through the reeled tape for audio that came into use, and then
radio and television. Then we had cassette tape, which dominated for many, many, years.
Then came CD (Compact Disk) which holds a huge amount of information. Then computers, the
Internet, and DVD’s (Digital Video Disks) and now MP3’s and Memory Sticks (SDs
or MCs). The basic format and medium for the Christian to use is still the Bible. Good old
leather and paper Bibles.
An example of the over abundance is this.
Let’s say you love tomatoes and you go to a restaurant and there is a table twelve
feet long filled with tomatoes you have hundreds of tomatoes to chose from and eat thus
you’re inundated with tomatoes. That’s kind of the way it is today in the area
of Christian teaching to the point were you are taught so many differing views, and on
different topics, it throws individuals into confusion.
You get all these different views and
people become confused because they don’t know what’s true. And because you have
Bible teachers, ministers, and evangelists that will teach you, even if the plain text is
there, their twisted views of their own ideas instead of letting the Scriptures speak.
This is a difficult time in the Church
and this means we need to get back to correct teaching, we need to get back to studying
the Scriptures for ourselves coupled with good Bible study tools. The question is this,
why do people refuse what the Bible says? Because they are confused and have little faith,
and because of the twisted teachings.
We need to study yes, we need to hear
good Bible teaching yes, but it has to be truth—true and faithful Bible teaching.
Why? Because the Bible says it is good for our edification. What does that mean? It means
to build us up to make us stronger in the faith and what we believe.
You can’t cease to pray, read,
study, and hear the word of God. If you do altogether you will dry up. You will become
unfruitful. God and His word by Jesus Christ and the help of the Holy Spirit will foster
growth and wisdom if we apply our hearts and minds to the task.
We need discipline and doctrine we need
Biblical truth. We must study from a faithful version like the King James version in doing
so we know we will be getting the Word of God unadulterated and not watered down. We must
be aware that our enemy (satan) has, does, and will do everything, in subtle but powerful
ways, to pervert the words of God. The enemy knows he can’t change the final word of
God, so he introduces through so-called theologians, scholars, etc. to provide validity to
the error corrupt versions that remove or add words, change phrases, etc. then it’s
disseminated out to the gullible Christian masses. A version can be corrupt but the final
word of God can not be.
This then creates confusion when a
hundred different Bible teachers, pastors, scholars, and even laymen use these corrupted
translations. Peter said this would happen. “But there were false prophets
also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall
bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon
themselves swift destruction.” (2 Peter 2:1)
The goal of the enemy is to kill, rob,
and destroy, “…the thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and
to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more
abundantly.” (John 10:10) And to twist the truth creating wrong doctrine.
And if false doctrine is created, proclaimed, and believed then confusion and error reign.
Here’s how it works. False
translations are made. These translations are sold in mass to seminaries (or I like to
call them cemeteries) which in turn teach out of these false versions and subsequent false
doctrine follows. Then these men (and women God forbid) are sent out to churches, they in
turn teach it to the people, which they in turn believe and become entrenched in error.
It’s a killer cycle with devastating consequences.
“And he gave some, apostles;
and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we
[henceforth] be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by the sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to
deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the
head, [even] Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that
which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every
part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”
(Ephesians 4:11-16)
The above verses are the reason why we
need doctrine. Not just any doctrine, but correct faithful doctrine. What is there to be
fearful of? What is there we don’t want to give up in obeying all of God’s
truth? When Christians believe error and false doctrine it’s very difficult to
convince them of truth. There is so much error being disseminated today that the truth is
looked upon as error itself. We have history in the Church and that history
dictates we hold fast to correct doctrine. Jude says to “contend for
the faith.” We must be faithful in what we teach, and each generation should
be just as faithful to continue the good work of God in purity and truth!
It comes down to this. There are those
that teach everything true in God’s word, and are faithful to Him by the grace of the
Holy Spirit. These men are learning, studying, and teaching, in all forms, the absolute
truths of the word of God. We should seek them out, pray for them, and support them.
May God grant your eyes to see and your
ears to hear His truth!
Amen?
