The Relinquishing of Sound Doctrine

The Deceiver (2 John 1:7-9)7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 8 Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. 9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.

The True Doctrine 1 (John 7:14-36)14 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. 15 And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?” 16 Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17 If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. 18 He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.

At a time in my walk with the Shepherd and Overseer of my soul I could not tell you nor did I care what sound doctrine was all about. Sound Doctrine may be mentioned in the typical charismatic or seeker sensitive churches but not thoroughly examined. You may ask, “What is Sound Doctrine and how detrimental to the Body of Christ is it?” Pastor John E. Coleman personally interviewed Frederick Price. Mr. Price would tell you that, “Doctrine is what screwed up the Church in the first place” Is this true? Unlike some of the popular professing Christians, I will hold fast to God’s infallible Word and say no.

True Doctrine 2 (1 Timothy 4:6-16)6 If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.

I will not make any assumptions in defining sound doctrine, to some it may be apparent, and to others it may not. What is sound doctrine? Biblically speaking sound is defined as following a systematic pattern without any defect in logic or in other words the Bible must be harmonious within itself. Now that definition in and of itself just cancelled out the majority of the televangelist that you have become accustomed to listening to on TBN, Daystar, and a slew of other heretical so called Christian stations. There are a few sound preachers that air on these stations; maybe a small percentage but that would be pushing it.

Doctrine is something that is taught or a group of collective teachings, also defined as a rule or principle of law, especially when established by precedent. The Bible itself is sound doctrine. This is why Paul mentioned at least five times in the books of Timothy and Titus to adhere to sound doctrine. Paul without a shadow of a doubt understood that ravenous wolves would come in and distort the truth and Paul wrote about this in the book of Galatians. If Apostle Paul was so tenacious about this one thing why do we sit back in the church and act as if it is no issue.

Do you recall when you were a teenager or little kid and someone had the temerity to talk about your mother or father? At the drop of a hat we were ready to defend the name of our parents and some of your will even do this now. Should we not be this zealous for the Lord? I am somewhat ashamed at how Christians avoid opportunities to witness for the Lord because they do not want to be called controversial or rebellious. I would not encourage those traits but think for a minute…. Are we not called out from the world? Aren’t we supposed to be ambassadors in a foreign land? Then why are we so concerned about being everyone’s friend verses giving the people what they need and that is truth. I like most of you, wrestle with my flesh and sometimes-really most of the time doing what is righteous does not feel good on the outside. It is almost as if the majority of the things that are good for you end up being the most difficult.

Isn’t it our God given duty to defend the Faith that Christ our Savior died for? How about when we hear about charlatans who say they have been to Heaven or Hell and back and we ignorantly do not contest their claims even though they contradict scripture. What is the difference between Jesse Duplantis and Joseph Smith or Creflo Dollar and Charles Taze Russell? There is none because they all veer a mile away from the orthodox foundational teachings that were laid by Christ and the Apostles. All heresy streams from extra-Biblical emotional subjective experiences.

As I write this article you know and I know that America’s Christianity(or the typical church-of course their are exceptions) is as shallow as Joel Osteen’s theology. We have been duped!!! Here is the test of legitimacy. A great preacher named Paul Washer once said, “Have Joel Osteen, T. D. Jakes, or any other prosperity preachers go to the jungles of Peru like I do and try preaching that prosperity mess and see what happens.” The truth is that we know that these so called preachers do not preach the whole counsel of God; would that not be defined as a lie? When bringing forth the Gospel of Jesus Christ we must understand that God is totally sovereign and the truth of the Gospel is something supernatural that totally supersedes all socioeconomic hang-ups in our culture. Some of us choose our churches based on the style of music instead of the accuracy of the Gospel being preached. The majority of the Gospel music we hear today is based on God doing something for us instead of pointing us to our depravity and total dependence on the Holy Spirit and the washing of the Word to continue what God started in us. We are to speak as Paul did.

(Acts 20:27)For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.

With all the television shows that desensitize us to the reality of our sin and our total depravity, we have lost sight of the holiness of our Righteous God. How can we sit in our seats at the theater and laugh at the very things that God hates? Are we not to love the things that God loves and hate what He hates? All the things that I am mentioning come from a contorted view of the importance of adhering to sound doctrine. We don’t ask questions like, “What does the Lord think about this?” The charlatans in the pulpit have set our affections on the things of this world rather than on spiritual things of eternal significance. Honestly all the blame cannot be put on the shallow preaching, for they do exactly what scripture says they will do. This can be attributed to people wanting to have their ears tickled and just plain not wanting to hear the truth of the Gospel. Do we really believe what Peter repeated to us from the book of Isaiah?

Examine Yourself (1 Peter 1:24-25)24 For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord stands forever

Please thoroughly examine yourselves to see if you are really in the Faith as Paul warns us to do in II Corinthians 13:5. Listen, we spend all life doing everything else and investing time in temporal things. Take a week or longer and examine if you are a true Christian. Separate yourself from the carnal things of this world for a minute and read 1 John to see where your affections are set. This is so much more than saying a sinner’s prayer at the altar, which is not Biblical anyway. Read Matthew 24 & 25 this confirms that this is more than tongue aerobics or an emotional frenzy. The reality of eternity may be closer than we think.