Walking Humbly With Sound Doctrine
I was on YouTube the other day and a video caught my eye where I listened to just a few moments of the video. It was a man leading a Bible study, and he opened up with prayer asking for humility in a discussion on Calvinism, or what I like to call, the doctrines of grace. After praying for humility, he promptly opened up the discussion by immediately saying that Calvinism teaches that God chose us before the foundation of the world with no logic, capriciously, with no rhyme or reason. As one who holds to the doctrines of grace, let me tell you, that is not at all what I believe. Instead, what I teach is that God chose us, not based on anything in us, but based only on His grace and for His purposes. I teach that this is why our salvation is all of grace.
Now, I am not writing here to make a defense for the doctrines of grace, rather, I am writing to point out something that can creep into our lives as we learn and become rooted in Scripture, holding fast to what we believe. This man who had just prayed for humility, and then immediately afterward misrepresented his brothers in Christ demonstrating he had not taken the time to truly listen and understand the other side of the argument. It would be like me accusing someone who holds his position of not believing they were saved by God’s grace and denying Scripture, but I know that is not what he is teaching because I have taken the time to at least understand that side of the argument. I disagree with his position, but I want to humbly represent his position well when I talk about it rather than represent it poorly.
My point is this, as we grow in knowledge and become firm on truth, what tends to happen is we begin to look at others who do not hold to the same truth with suspicion, with disdain, with pride, and ultimately, without love. Scripture, however, says this, “And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2, Legacy Standard Bible). I would note, Paul does not encourage us here not to know, not to study, to be ignorant. In fact, Paul’s letters call us constantly to know, to learn, to grow in Christ, to hold fast to sound doctrine and teaching. Here in 1 Corinthians 13, though, Paul makes it clear, if you lose love in it all, it is all meaningless. So, how do we hold fast to sound doctrine and truth and still hold fast to loving others, even those who disagree?
Here, I would say this man’s prayer was the correct prayer, asking God for humility. As one who holds to the doctrines of grace, I recognize that in my flesh dwells no good thing, and God is the One who opened my eyes to the truth of His Word, for salvation and for sanctification. Every bit of knowledge that I possess that is true was only a gift from God. It was not my intense study, it was not my great intelligence, it was not my interpretation skills, rather it was God’s grace working in me by His Spirit to convince me of the truth. Not only can I take no credit for my salvation, I also can take no credit for my sanctification. Now, just as I needed to be believe to be saved, so also I need to study and work to renew my mind, but all of my efforts would be in vain if God by His Spirit does not enlighten my eyes and understanding.
. Not only can I take no credit for my salvation, I also can take no credit for my sanctification.
Second, we need to love our brothers as much as we love sound doctrine and truth. This man on this video I am pretty sure is my brother in Christ, and while I was saddened to hear his misrepresentation of the view I hold, that error does not make him my enemy. In fact, he is out there teaching the Word of God to others, seeking to submit to our Lord Jesus Christ in making disciples, and while we have a strong theological disagreement, no doubt the Lord is using this man in the lives of others for His glory. As Paul wrote elsewhere, “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand” (Romans 14:4). Christ placed this man where he is, and if He by the Spirit chose to enlighten this man on the truth of these doctrines, then He could do it instantly. But this man is a servant of our Master, therefore, he is my brother.
If he is my brother, then I want to see where he is coming from. I need to take the time to learn how he sees Scripture, how he interprets Scripture, how he would describe his position as consistent with Scripture, trusting his desire to be faithful is like my desire to be faithful. Doing so is humility, understanding other’s and their point of view. Then, if I choose to make an argument against his view, I am dealing with his true position, not building a straw man that is easy to beat up. That is required if I am going to love my brother who disagrees with me. Love takes action, takes effort, and in this case, I must be willing to do the hard effort of hearing, of understanding, so that I do not misrepresent my brothers and sisters in Christ to others.
Finally, we must also understand that we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10). Therefore, we are all still works in progress. Twenty years ago, I loved the Lord, but I had a lot of theology that needed correction. Ten years ago, I was further down that road of correcting my theology. Five years ago, I had made some even greater strides. Today, I believe my knowledge of God is even greater from His Word. I wonder what, in five, ten, twenty more years I will say I wish I had known that now. Humility means recognizing that we are still works in progress and remembering that we are not yet perfected in our knowledge of God will change the way we talk about and to others who, in certain areas, may need to move further down that road.
We will continue to teach the truth, sound doctrine, good theology, and seek to be sanctified by the Word of God. We also must continue in all of that to remember just how poor in spirit we truly are. We are to walk humbly before God and men, loving Him and loving others. If we lose love, all of our knowledge becomes for nothing. Let us hold fast to the truth, but let us hold equally fast to love and humility, knowing it is all of God’s grace.
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