Doctrine: Confused or Convinced?

President Harry Truman once said, "If you can't convince them, confuse them."

Satan has clearly mastered this phrase when it comes to sound doctrine.  I think its fair to say that the Devil has caused more Christians to be confused and more unsaved to stay lost due to confusion over doctrine than almost anything else.  Imagine what would our world be like if every "Christian" religion taught the truth found in Ephesians 2:8-9 that salvation was by grace.  How much more could churches accomplish for Christ if they ALL understood that the Great Commission is for everyone not just missionaries and pastors?  What if EVERY fundamental church grasped the clear mandate to support missions found in 2 Corinthians 8?  But there is confusion about salvation by grace, soul winning, and faith promise giving.  Why?  Because Satan has kept people from being convinced by being confused.

In Matthew 15 Jesus was confronted by the scribes and Pharisees because the disciples had transgressed "the tradition of the elders" by eating bread with "unwashed hands."  However, Jesus turns the table on these hypocrites by asking why they "transgress the commandment of God" by their traditions?  He gives exact examples about this practice, not honoring parents correctly, and then broadly by saying they are drawing near with their lips but their heart was far from God.  Remember these were some of the spiritual leaders of the Jewish world at the time.  From what Jesus says here, it was a case of the blind leading the blind.

But, I believe, that the most striking statement in the entire passage is found in verse 9.  Here Jesus tells these supposedly educated religious leaders that their doctrine wasn't doctrine at all.  He made it clear that they were teaching the commandments of men as if was doctrine and it wasn't.

One of the most dangerous things we can do in Christianity today is to say we are teaching doctrine when we are simply giving the precepts of men.  Because if we fail to teach God's doctrine that is wrong, but to to teach our own personal pet issues AS doctrine borders on or possibly becomes heresy in God's eyes.

My desire through this blog is to teach SOUND DOCTRINE!  I don't want to share what myself or others think doctrine is, but what God says doctrine is.  Over the next few blogs I will be addressing, straight from the Word of God, what is doctrine.  I will not be saying isn't doctrine for the same reason a bank teaches tellers counterfeit bills by showing their tellers the real things instead of the fakes...you need to know truth first not error. (John 4:24)  But to begin let me share this basic outline from passage in Hebrews 6:

True doctrine, but is not limited to:
1. Salvation by grace (vs1)
2. Faith in God (vs1)
3. Baptism (vs2)
4. Laying on hands (vs2)
5. Resurrection of the dead (vs2)
6. Eternal judgement (vs2)

I pray this study will help you grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and be a better servant for Him.