WHAT SHOULD DETERMINE OUR BELIEFS

Jude 1:3

Morning Meditation 2/2/2013

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

I have often wondered how a person would arrive at the right beliefs if he were converted through a tract totally apart from a church or if he were converted in a church that did not hold the right beliefs. How would he know to get out of that church? It is easy for those of us who were converted in a church that was not only right on the plan of salvation but also correct in doctrine.

Now don’t say that doctrine makes no difference. Paul told Titus in chapter 3 verse 10 “A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject;” A heretic is defined by Strong as “a schismatic, factious, a follower of a false doctrine.” Are we to call anyone who disagrees with us a heretic? Or is there a way to identify what is false so that we are safe in the right and protected from the wrong? We have to know who to withdraw from. Error has to be definable if we are to obey the Scriptures in this matter. I want to offer three things that I hope will be helpful.

First, the Word of God. The word of God must be the final authority. That seems to be an over simplification. But it is the truth. The Bible claims this for itself: 2 Tim. 3:16-17: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” I will not go into a detailed study of these verses but give them to you so that you can see the Bible’s claim for itself.

The verse I want to emphasize on this thought is 2 Tim. 2:15: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” While this verse was given to a preacher and is especially for those who are called to minister the Word, it ultimately must apply to all Christians. Most of the Scriptures that we use today were in wide circulation in the Churches within forty years after the ascension of Christ and the empowerment of the Church on Pentecost.

The word “study” (spoudazo) means “to exert oneself, endeavor, give diligence.” It is an aorist active imperative verb. The aorist tense is a point tense and in this case speaks of an immediate spontaneous action. The imperative mood speaks of urgency. It is urgent that Christians get into the Word because this is the only thing that will protect them from the heresies that Satan and his “false apostles” (2 Cor. 11:13) will use to lead one astray. There must be a diligent study. Then the study is for a purpose: “to show thyself approved unto God...” God has given his word for the purpose of study and he approves of the Christian who makes His word his study Book. If you want God’s approval, you must study his word. But it is not just the study of the Word, it is acting on the truths discovered (James 1:22). Then there must be a “rightly dividing the word of truth.” The words “rightly dividing” (orthotomeo) mean “to cut straight, to cut straight ways.” Then it means “to make straight and smooth, to handle aright, to teach the truth directly and correctly.” If you do this, it will be straight with other Scriptures on the same subject. It means to derive the meaning of a subject or a verse in the light of its original purpose. To take a verse out of context would not be “rightly dividing” the Word of truth. To illustrate what I am saying, there are those who say, “you can make the Bible say anything you want to.” You can’t if you do what this verse says. God is not doubled tongued. There may be many interpretations but there is only one meaning. It is interpretations where the division between Christians come. You can tell most of the time when you are about to get an interpretation. It is usually prefaced by a statement like, “I believe this verse teaches this” or “This is what I believe about this verse.” Interpretations can be right. So I’m not saying don’t listen. All of us interpret. But interpretation should be based on exegesis which means that the words of the text should be defined, and the tenses observed, the structure of the sentence studied, so that our primary purpose should be to find out exactly what God the Holy Spirit is saying in the context and to whom. If we are to hold the right doctrine we must believe in the unqualified inspiration of the Scripture as the Word of God and study it and rightly divide it so that our beliefs are based on “Thus saith the Lord.”

Second, the historical faith should guide us. This is not infallible. The Scripture is infallible. What I am saying is that you cannot accept everything that has been believed in history. There have been false doctrines embraced by the church. I hate to tell you this but there is no perfect Church on this earth and never has been. Remember Judas? Jesus did establish a church during his personal ministry. And he said, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). If that is true, and it is, the Church has been here ever since Jesus established it during his personal ministry. Churches built after that original model have been here since Jesus established it and have never for one moment been out of existence. We must believe this if we are to believe that Jesus was right in his prophecy that the “gates of hell would not prevail against it.” Since this is true, there have been churches in every age since the foundation of the Church that have believed the basic doctrines that a church must believe to be classified as a New Testament Church. There are several Scriptures that I can base this point on. I will just give one: Heb. 6:12 “That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” But even the creeds of the Church need to be subjected to the Word of God. But when you find someone preaching “something new” you can be sure you are not listening to the truth. There are no new doctrines. Every doctrine that we hold, Jesus developed in the early Church and those truths have been taught through the ages.

Third, the church with God’s evident blessing. I am not necessarily talking about size. I am talking about a church that teaches the Bible. You can go into some churches and the Bible is never even opened by the pastor. My pastor said recently, “If you go to a church and you don’t need your Bible, you are definitely in the wrong church.” Amen! Then there are churches where the preacher will read a text, go into a sermon and never once return to the text or explain a verse of Scripture. Then there are churches where the Bible is read and explained but God is just not in that place. Then there are churches that teach the Word of God, stand against cults and heresies, are evangelistic and missionary, and have a creed that can be proven by the Word of God and you know when you go there that God is in that place.

Jude said, “ . . . ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” The words “earnestly contend” (epagonizomai) refers to a contest in an arena. It is a fight against heresies. Satan fights the truth with a perversion of truth (Gal. 1:6-9). We are not to sit passively by while heresy is being proclaimed. Pastors have a big job in protecting their flock from heresy because there are so many in their flock who listen to preachers on television who are not even close to the Scriptures in their doctrines. I have listened to some of those preachers and have wondered how the anyone, even the uninformed, could follow them. If it were not so serious it would be comical. Yet the emissaries of Satan have a much larger following that the preacher who will take the Word of God and preach it as it is to people as they are.

May the Lord bless each of you.

In Christ

Bro. White