“Then fourteen years after I went up again to
Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. And I went up by
revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the
Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I
should run, or had run, in vain. But neither Titus, who was with me, being a
Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: And that because of false brethren
unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have
in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: To whom we gave place
by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue
with you. But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it
maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's person:) for they who seemed to
be somewhat in conference added nothing to me.” (Gal. 2:1-6)
As we previously stated, Paul was dealing with false
doctrine in the church at Galatia. One of the problems he had to address was
the fact that obedience to the law was being mingled with faith, or that one
had to have the law in addition to faith in Christ. Another facet of this was
the teaching that the believer was kept perfect by keeping the law.
In essence, the law was being taught as a means to
salvation and a part of salvation. To counteract this, Paul began the second
chapter of Galatians by pointing out some things from years before in his early
ministry that had to be settled before the council in Jerusalem, as depicted in
Acts 15 and 16.
Consider the phrase “false brethren” in verse
4. Was he referring to saved men or lost men? Look at Jude 4. “For there are
certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this
condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,
and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” This passage
shows us that ungodly men will slip into the church body from time to time to
try to turn it from Jesus Christ. I believe those are Satanic plants – lost men
sent by the devil to a church. He would love to take a good church or a young
church and corrupt it through someone who claims to be a seasoned Christian but
is far from it. I don’t know if the people Paul mentioned in verse 4 were
saved, but we know that what they were teaching was wrong.
Some of these men were teaching that Judaism was
necessary for salvation, which should not be a great surprise because it was
all that they knew before they were exposed to the real gospel. They had been
brought up culturally as Jews their entire lives and even after they were
saved, they were still trapped by that culture, taking things that were
ingrained in them and giving them as gospel. This is what Paul wanted to
straighten out, as he had been forced to do in his early ministry.
Let’s consider a few examples of culture vs.
doctrine. I prefer the King James Version because I speak English and I think
it is the best translation for English-speaking people. If I go to Ecuador and
use the KJV, it will do me no good because the people do not speak English. Is
the inspiration and preservation of the Word of God a doctrine that we believe,
for ourselves as well as the people of Ecuador? Of course it is. That is the
real doctrinal issue; the KJV issue by itself is not relevant to non-English
speakers (which, by the way, make up more than 90 percent of the world’s
population).
We believe in separation from the world. Nearly all
of us would agree that Hollywood is more bad than good, but Hollywood is not
mentioned in the Bible. It is a cultural phenomenon. If someone preaches a
sermon that rails against Hollywood, the doctrine being espoused is not
Hollywood itself but rather separation from evil and worldliness.
We would not dispute that soul winning and
evangelism are Bible doctrines, but whereas I might encourage you to witness to
your neighbor or the guy you meet at the grocery store, that is not a method we
would recommend for a missionary in a Muslim country or an underground church
in China. The doctrine is the same, but the cultural method is different.
Christ-honoring worship is stressed throughout the
Bible, but there are so many different styles that could be included in that.
Most of us love Southern gospel, but it is not the preferred style in many
parts of this country, let alone other nations around the world. The type of
music used in many Northern churches is not my cup of tea, but all of it is
honoring and pleasing to God.
Doctrine must be protected from culture, but culture
cannot be preached as doctrine. True doctrine will always be right, but how you
preach that doctrine will often be in a cultural manner. The true test of
doctrine is whether it can be transferred from place to place, regardless of
where you are.
In Paul’s case at the start of the second chapter of
Galatians, he was dealing with good men who were Jews and knew virtually
nothing else. Notice in verse 3 that Titus was not circumcised because he was a
Greek. That practice was important to the Jewish people but not to the gospel.
It was a cultural issue, not a doctrinal one.
To get a clearer picture of what had happened
previously with Paul, look at Acts 15:1-2. “And certain men which came down
from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the
manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no
small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and
Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the
apostles and elders about this question.”
This is what Paul referred to in Galatians.
He was telling them, “Look, we have already nailed down and settled what is
doctrine and what is preference. We had a big meeting years ago in Jerusalem to
do exactly that.”
We must have a SETTLING OF DOCTRINE. Too many
preachers and churches today are swayed with every wind of doctrine that comes
along. They are swayed by the size of a church or the ability of a speaker and
they have no idea what they believe or why.
One thing that has separated Baptists from other
denominations over the years is that we have known what we believe, because we
didn’t just take someone’s word for it but we got out or Bibles and studied it
for ourselves. Sadly, today we often do not follow the admonition of II Tim.
2:15, which says, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” That is why
we are a Biblically illiterate generation, prone to being confused by every
cult that comes down the road.
The Bible says in Col. 1:23, “If ye continue in
the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the
gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is
under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.”
None of us should be afraid of Jehovah’s Witnesses
or Mormons who might knock on our door. We shouldn’t fear a casual encounter
with someone from the Church of Christ or the Roman Catholic Church because of
what the topic of discussion might be. You need to know what and in whom you
believe so that you can talk to anyone about your faith on the basis of the
Word of God. Often we are intimidated by the world not because of what they
believe, but because we are uncertain about what we believe.
To be sure, we have to know our SOURCE OF
DOCTRINE. Look at Acts 16:9. “And a vision appeared to Paul in the
night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into
Macedonia, and help us.” This is the first opportunity for Paul to present
the gospel to the Gentiles, which he did under the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Further evidence of our source of doctrine is found
in II Pet. 1:16-21. “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. For he received from God the Father honour and
glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven
we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure
word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that
shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your
hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but
holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
Peter’s message here is that he saw the risen
Christ, but we have the written Word of God and that is even better. His “sure
word of prophecy” is the same one you hold in your hand on Sunday morning.
Our source of doctrine is the scriptures.
Doctrine is never built upon commentaries, or biographies, or anything else
written by man. You must build doctrine upon the Bible and nothing else.
The Bible says in Ps. 119:89, “For ever, O LORD,
thy word is settled in heaven.” Doctrine cannot only be transferred to
other cultures but to other eras of history. From the beginning of the church
down through the centuries, as men like Spurgeon and others from years gone by
have proven, the truth of God’s Word has never changed. We have the same
gospel. If Christ tarries His coming for another two or three hundred years,
our descendants can preach and teach the same gospel we are promoting today
because it will never change or be altered by culture or time. We do not change
it; we allow it to change us.
Look at Isa. 28:9-10. “Whom shall he teach
knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned
from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept,
precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there
a little.”
How do you learn Bible doctrine? It is not easy. It
takes study and work. Solomon wrote in Eccl. 12:12 that “much study is a
weariness of the flesh.” There are no shortcuts to spiritual understanding,
and that is not something our fast-food generation wants to hear. We want to
know it all right now. I have been in Bible-believing churches for 40 years,
and there are some things I am just now beginning to learn because a foundation
has to be built first.
I am more excited every year to find other people
who can teach me new things. Those people are also smart enough to know that
they do not know everything. If you claim to know it all, I am not interested
in anything you have to say. If we read the Bible every day, we will learn
something from it every day.
The reason we have Sunday school and three main
services a week, ladies’ Bible studies and all of the other teaching
opportunities at this church, is not because we don’t have enough to do. As the
prophet said in Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
The Bible teaching in this church is to equip you so that you can make it through
life – so that you don’t get so discouraged that you take your own life; so
that your marriage does not disintegrate; so that your children and
grandchildren have a fighting chance in this wicked world. If the things of God
are not a priority to you, they will never be a priority to your children. If
you can take it or leave it, they will leave it and never take it.
We also get our doctrine from the Spirit that
teaches us. John 16:13 says, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,
he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but
whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to
come.” An unregenerate person will not learn anything spiritual from the
Bible because it requires the Spirit of God to be the teacher. A young person
can win an older and much more educated person to Christ because facts and
information alone do not work without proper application guided by the Spirit
of God, who illuminates what is already there in the Word of God.
Another source of doctrine is a pastor. The
third chapter of I Timothy outlines the qualifications for pastors and deacons,
concluding in verse 16 with these words: “And without controversy great is
the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the
Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world,
received up into glory.” The mysteries of God must be proclaimed, and He
does not want just anyone to proclaim them. The ones who do that must be
qualified.
God has put our pastors here in this church not to
make people happy, but to teach them the mysteries. I want us all to be happy
most of the time, but we need to be very unhappy at times so that we will
become dissatisfied with the status quo and make some changes in their lives.
Teachers are to be a source of doctrine. We need teachers who
will make an effort to give their students something worth hearing, and we
should have students who are ready to listen with an expectant heart.
Remember the words of Eph. 4:11-12. “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.”
We all learn doctrine from the church. You don’t
learn it from someone you just happened to see on television, because you have
no idea where that person came from. We need to be learning from people we know
and see week in and week out – people whose lives we can see. If I live like an
idiot the rest of the week and you see that, it is a lot more important than
the 25 minutes I spend up here every Sunday morning.
One reason the local church is so important is that
we don’t just fly in for a weekend to give you a seminar and then take off
again. The people in your local church are there day after day, week after
week, month after month. That is God’s institution for this day and age, not
some radio preacher who asks you to send in your money. People need to stop
running around and getting their doctrine for places that are not scriptural in
nature. It should be coming from the Word of God, through the Spirit of God and
in the church of God.
Notice the SINGLENESS OF DOCTRINE. We
referred earlier to the confrontation of sorts that was recorded in Acts 15
over the insertion of cultural issues, particularly those relating to Judaism,
into the gospel. From there, we return to the second chapter of Galatians and
read verses 5-6. “To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour;
that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. But of these who seemed
to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth
no man's person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added
nothing to me.”
Paul made it clear that he and the other apostles
were not changing their minds, but they met privately with some of the leaders
to discuss these things. What he is saying in these two verses is that it
doesn’t matter who they were; it only matters who God is. Paul and his
associates wanted to make certain they were right, but they emphasized that God
is the only authority on these matters. The final phrase of verse 6, “added
nothing to me,” is another way of saying that the peripheral cultural
issues do not change the gospel.
Culture stops and starts based upon
boundaries and locations. The gospel can be transferred to any time and place.
I can go to any country on this planet, walk into a church that has never seen
or heard of an American missionary but has a copy of the Word of God in their
own language, and we can be on the exact same page regarding our doctrine.
Bible doctrine is not American doctrine. It
is worldwide doctrine. Preferences are cultural and time-sensitive, but the
Word of God is applicable worldwide for eternity.
We need to know Bible doctrine. You
should understand and be able to explain what a Baptist is and what he or she
believes.
Obviously, we should also practice Bible
doctrine. Our biggest problems are that we don’t know what the Bible says,
and when we do know it we fail to do anything about it. Apathy is killing the
church in America.
Let’s maintain cultural standards that
protect and promote Bible precepts and doctrine. Hollywood and pop culture are
not getting any better. Most secular music being recorded today will not help
your spirit. We need to be in the world but not of the world. Too many of us,
in reaction to the way we were taught in the past, have thrown out all of our
cultural preferences because we hate “legalism.” There are still some things we
need to stay away from. The words of Ps. 101:3 are still important: “I will
set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside;
it shall not cleave to me.”
Give room to others who do not share
our background. In some churches in other parts of the world, if you wore a
suit and tie they would look at you like you came from Jupiter. We even have
slight differences in various parts of our own nation that can make people take
notice.
Too many have no room for others who do not
do everything exactly as they do it. What a sad commentary on Christianity. By
the way, we are now fighting again battles that have already been fought and
settled. There are things here we do not have to reestablish every time a new
wind blows through. We must simply reaffirm our commitment to them. We are
established in those things, so we don’t have to spend a lot of time on them.
We can go on to other things to draw us closer to the Lord so that He might
work on us, in us, and through us.
