Doctrine and Division

So, all right, here we are.

We're closing out Romans.

We've gone 37 weeks through the book of Romans, and we're in the final uh section of the letter this morning.

So it's a joy to be able to close this out.

But here's what's interesting about the closing out of this letter is Paul makes an appeal to be on watch.

This is the appeal that Paul makes to the people who are going to be receivers of this letter, reading it, taking it to heart, trying to apply it to their life.

His final instructions is going to be rooted around have your guard up, be on watch.

And so we're going to try to unpack why he was saying that, why he was making this appeal to them, and how it still pertains to us as the church in this modern context we find ourselves in.

So if we look at the summary of verses 17 through 20, we'll see just this statement be on watch.

Be on watch.

He starts off with, I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause division and create obstacles.

You see, in the closing of his letter to the church in Rome, Paul's appealing to them to be on watch.

On watch for who?

Those who would cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught, he says.

There will be people, is what he's saying.

He's saying there will be people who will come in and they're going to teach something different.

They're going to teach something contrary to what I've pinned in this letter about who Jesus is, about who you are, about how we have relationship with him, and how we are saved and brought into his kingdom.

There are going to be people who come in with different teaching.

You've got to be on watch for these people because they're going to have a twofold effect.

They're going to create division and they're going to create obstacles.

This is their impact on the church.

You see, when he says cause divisions, what we have to understand is that false doctrine creates improper division.

False doctrine creates improper division.

What I mean by that is that some division we're going to see is actually good.

Some division is beneficial and beautiful, but not all division.

False doctrine is going to create improper division.

Where the division should not be seen or felt or experienced within the church, false doctrine is going to come in and create that.

And the second thing it's going to do is it's going to create obstacles.

False doctrine does this, it sets a snare for people being pulled away.

That's what he means by create obstacles.

We kind of heard this language back early in Romans about those who would, those who were of the Jewish faith who are preaching faith or salvation through works and so forth, that they create obstacles or they are roadblocks or stumbling blocks.

This same language is a, is used in like hunting, and it's to set a snare to entrap something.

And so this creation of obstacles is actually this setting of a snare to pull people away out of the church.

Then he gives them clear instruction about what to do about these type of people.

No, he says, avoid them.

He says, avoid them.

Create distance.

Don't have fellowship with them.

Cast out of your midst these who would bring a doctrine or a teaching contrary to what I've taught you, because they're going to create divisions and obstacles for those in the church.

You see, we have to understand Paul loves the church.

He gave his life for the church because he understood that the gospel is what creates the church.

Right?

It is the preaching of the finished work of Christ and his death, burial, and resurrection that actually creates the church in the first place.

We don't create the church through programs or through good music or excellent kids' ministry.

We don't create the church.

The gospel creates the church because it's the gospel that brings us out of death and into life and unifies us with Christ Himself by the Spirit.

So it is the gospel that creates the church.

And so Paul loves the church because he loves the gospel.

And he desires for the church to be unified, healthy, and whole.

Now, how does he accomplish these things?

If he loves the church so much and his desire is for the church to be unified, healthy, and whole, what's his primary vehicle or tool to accomplish that?

It's the teaching of sound doctrine.

This is how Paul accomplishes, this is how the Lord has willed and established these things to be accomplished.

It is us who are unified by faith.

Not by common interest, right?

We're not here by affinity.

We're not here by any other measure than by unified around what?

Truth.

Unified around faith.

This is why it was so necessary in times past where we saw these different confessions of faith being established, like the uh uh the Westminster Confession of the Faith, or the London Baptist, or the Heidelberg, or all these different ones that was coming forward.

What were they trying to accomplish?

They weren't trying to accomplish division, they were trying to accomplish unity because we are unified first and foremost around doctrine.

Because Jesus is doctrine, Jesus is the word.

The word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Jesus is pure doctrine himself.

So if Paul's going to accomplish the unity, the health, and the wholeness of the church, he's gonna do it by the teaching of sound doctrine.

Sound doctrine has the power to unify the church, it nourishes holiness, it fuels the fire of worship, and it equips for the work of evangelism.

Doctrine fundamentally matters.

Because think about this: who Jesus is, what he's accomplished for us, how he applies it to us, all of these are matters of doctrine.

What we're saying is who is Jesus?

Well, the fact that we can confess he is the only begotten Son of the Father, the second person of the Trinity, right?

Made flesh through virgin birth, the immaculate conception, hypostatic union, 100% man, 100% God, that he lived the perfect life that in obedience to the Father, that you and I never could have, that he died sacrificial death in our place on the cross, taking the fullness of the wrath of God upon himself, that he was buried and rose again three days later in victorious life, now creating the first fruits of us that we might be reconciled to the Father because our elder brother has been resurrected from the dead.

All these things are guess what?

Doctrine.

This is who Jesus is, this is what he's accomplished.

Doctrine matters.

When we say doctrine doesn't matter, what we're actually saying is that you can believe whatever you want.

But if we really press hard on that point, you and I don't really believe that.

Because if I said, Oh, well, Jesus was a created person, hopefully many of you, like Saint Nicholas himself, would stand up and smack me in the face.

Y'all don't know that?

Saint Nicholas was robbed of his bishophood because he smacked a heretic in the face.

That's why we celebrate Christmas.

But you see, doctrine matters because it's about who Jesus is.

It's about what he's accomplished.

Ultimately, doctrine is this the reality and belief that God has given us truth.

So Paul's pleading with them to be on watch.

On watch against what?

Those who would teach false doctrine that would undo all that Paul has labored to do.

He's saying, have your eyes open, scrutinize, discern what others are teaching when they come in.

This is something that the church has needed to really labor in doing.

There's another group within the church, within the New Testament, the Bereans.

They were uh they were upheld, they were commended because they scrutinized, because they worked discernment to try and understand if what they were being preached and taught was true.

How did they do that?

They submitted them ourselves to the text, to the scriptures.

So they went back and searched the scriptures and they verified or affirmed that what was being preached to them was true.

We need to be those who scrutinize, who are on guard.

He says that these people, these ones who would come in and preach false teaching, false doctrine, do not serve God, but they actually serve their own bellies.

Or he says, appetites.

This hunger for what?

Uh for a following.

This hunger for influence, this hunger for power and prominence, greed.

How do they cause these divisions and create obstacles?

Paul gives two ways by smooth talk and flattery.

So they're gonna come in, they're gonna have false teachings.

Their motivation to have this false teaching is to draw people unto themselves, not push people toward Jesus, right?

All preaching should push people toward Jesus, not draw them away from the church or draw them to the person who's uh preaching the message.

And how are they gonna accomplish this?

Through smooth talk and flattery.

Smooth talk talks about plausibility.

So when you think about smooth talk, it's not like that creep in the bar who comes up to you and tries to buy you a drink.

That's not what these guys are about, that kind of smooth talker.

This is talking about plausibility.

What this means is what they actually communicate to you is gonna seem true.

It's gonna have a plausibility to it.

We're not talking Joseph Smith and magic spectacles underneath a tree in New York.

That's not plausible.

I mean, we can all imagine, like, that's not plausible.

But they're gonna come up with stuff that seems as if it would be true, that would have plausibility to it.

They're skilled at producing persuasive arguments intended to deceive you.

And then flattery.

Flattery is you-centric praise.

Flattery is u-centric praise.

Think about this.

Smooth talk, this plausible deception, is often coupled with flattery because when we are intoxicated on ourselves, we are primed to be persuaded.

Think about this.

When we are uh so many modern preachers today are preaching a eucentric message.

Everything is about you.

Your breakthrough, your deliverance, your next level, uh, your dreams being accomplished, you, you, you.

You understand why they do that?

It is a eucentric flattery, a eucentric praise that when they get you intoxicated on yourself, it is so easy to persuade you out from the truth.

These are people who are shameful in their conduct, but man, are they excellent with their words.

But then Paul gives this very interesting part of this section.

He says that they're able to deceive a certain type of person.

Who is that?

He uses the word naive.

We can also understand this as simple.

Ultimately, what this is, is a person who says that there's no value to doctrine.

So they dismiss it.

They haven't labored to understand the text, they haven't labored to understand the scriptures and the gospel and to understand sound biblical teaching.

And so, what are they most set up to do?

To be drawn away.

Those who were not rooted in sound doctrine will be the ones who become unrooted from the true faith.

You see, the teaching of and being rooted in sound doctrine is critical to the health of the church and its members.

Uh, let's look at another uh letter that Paul wrote to a pastor in Ephesus named Timothy.

He says this in 2 Timothy 4, 2 through 4.

Preach the word.

He's telling Timothy, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.

That word teaching is the same as doctrine, the teaching of sound doctrine.

For the time is coming.

Why is Paul saying this?

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching or doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

It's critical for sound doctrine to be a central figure of the church.

Because what happens is when it's not, when people aren't rooted in sound biblical teaching, they're the ones who often become drifted away or snared and trapped away from the true faith.

And we hear this even in our modern context and language.

People want to find pastors who they like because they like what they have to say.

That should never be a way that you discern or understand who you submit yourself to in shepherding you.

If any of us, as your elders, uh, stand up and try to persuade you into what you want to hear, instead of saying, I can't help but submit myself to the text, and I'm gonna call you to submit to it with me, run.

We should be men who labor to preach Christ, to preach the word, and to, as we submit to it ourselves, call you to submit to it with us.

He says this for the time is coming when people not endure sound teaching.

Teaching is the word for doctrine.

As I said, false teaching and doctrine causes people to be drawn away.

It creates improper divisions, it harms the health of the church.

Paul goes on to say in the Romans section, he says, For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you.

The sound teaching of the apostles has fostered holiness with inside the church.

So what he's saying is, I've heard about your obedience.

How has this obedience come about?

Through sound teaching, because they're able to understand, they're able to conform around truth by the power of the Spirit.

And so obedience and faithfulness is what is the natural implications of the reception of sound doctrine.

And he's saying, I've heard about this.

The righteous obedience that's in these believers' lives.

Paul wants this to be preserved, he wants it to be unjeopardized.

Because a fruit of sound doctrine is faithful holiness.

So Paul's saying, Why do I want you to watch out?

Why do I want you to be on guard?

I don't want you to be divided.

I don't want some of you to be drawn away.

And I've heard about your obedience.

I've heard about the righteousness that's in your life.

I don't want that jeopardized by false teaching.

He ends this section of the closing of the letter with a call of affirmation.

I love this, that the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

The God of peace, peace often means for us the absence of conflict.

If you ask modern definition, what does peace mean?

They would philosophically say it'd be the absence of conflict.

The problem is because of depravity and sin, peace cannot come without conflict.

The goal might be an absence of, but the road to that is filled with conflict.

The gospel is fundamentally conflict.

Imagine if Jesus said, Hey, you know what?

I'm not going to get involved in this.

I don't want to have any conflict.

I want to have peace.

We would never have true peace.

Jesus came in and engaged with holy conflict through the cross.

God is the God of peace because he wages war against all that brings the absent of peace to his people.

Namely, Satan himself, the father of chaos.

You see, God is the God of peace in contrast to the divisions that Paul's talking about these false teachers would create.

Peace would have this unity.

Peace would have this harmony about it.

These false teachers are going to come in and create division and chaos.

Sound doctrine brings unity and peace.

False doctrine brings division and chaos.

God is the father of truth.

Satan is the father of lies.

But Paul says that Satan will be crushed under your feet.

Now, this is interesting language.

Many of us, especially in the reformed camp, want to be like, no, that can't be true.

I'm too much of a wretched worm to know.

But Paul says it's going to be crushed under your feet.

Why?

Because we have a low view, or why do we struggle with this?

We have a low view of who we are in Christ.

Every aspect of Christ's victory is our victory when we are in him.

Every aspect of his conquering is our conquering when we are in him.

How are we more than conquerors?

Because we are in Christ.

And every aspect of his destruction of Satan becomes ours as well.

He is crushed under our feet because we are in Christ and He has conquered over Him.

And this isn't just a future victory alone.

Paul isn't just saying, hey, when you're dead, this will all happen.

This isn't just something waiting for glory.

This is something that we can hope for and believe in now.

That Satan would be crushed under our feet.

In the next section of the text, we see greetings from fellow workers, 21 through 23.

So Paul's going to actually be receiving greetings.

Where last week he had sent greetings, right?

Send my greetings to all these people.

And then he's saying, Hey, receive these greetings from the people who are with me.

And he names off a few people.

There's Timothy.

So Timothy is this the lead pastor at the Church of Ephesus.

He was a son, spiritual son of Paul's, one that he helped raise up disciple, put into place as a pastor, had prophesied over, imparted gifts into.

He was very dear to Paul, and Timothy was with him at the time of this writing.

And then he names off a few other people, Lucius and Jason and so forth.

And then he sees, you see this Tertius name.

And you'll see, I wrote this letter.

And you're like, wait, hold on a second.

I thought Paul wrote this letter.

Well, Paul orated the letter, and Tertius scribed the letter.

So a lot of times Paul, uh, because of whatever conditions, he would orate what he wanted someone else to scribe and write down to be sent in the letter.

So, yes, this is Paul, but Tertius was the man who actually served the purpose of scribing out what Paul wanted to communicate to the church in Rome.

And then you go down, you have this other dude, right?

I imagine this is the guy.

Have you ever been on the phone and they're like, oh, who's all there?

And you're like, oh yeah, this person says hi, this person says hi, and then somebody's like, hey, you know, in the corner.

Oh, yeah, yeah, uh, that dude says hi too.

Quartus is that dude in this letter, right?

They they looked around and they were like, they were like, Paul, like Quartus.

Oh yeah, Quartus, yeah, he greets you too.

He's just been sleeping and eating here the entire time.

But uh, but yeah, sure, he greets you, why not?

And with a name like Quartus, the brother had to need some help.

Anyway, so there's this section of these fellow workers that Paul introduces us to, and that he's this reception of greeting that they're sending to the church in Rome.

Then we come down to 25 through 27 and we see this it the mystery has been disclosed.

This is a summary of 25 through 27.

The mystery has been disclosed.

And Paul goes into this doxology.

Uh, he what doxology means is this worshipful phrasing.

Uh, and he this was very normal for Paul in his writing.

Sometimes he would insert it into the text, sometimes it would be at the closing of a letter and so forth.

But this doxological phrase was this worshipful response to who God is and what he's done for us.

And we've got to see that this doxology is flowing out of sound doctrine.

Why?

Because faithful biblical teaching stirs the fires of worship.

Paul often couldn't help but respond in worship as he was communicating who God was and what he's done through us in the person of Jesus.

The church in Rome is going to need strength to endure.

Not a strength rooted in their own capabilities or their lack thereof, but a strength that is only able to come from the Lord Himself.

It's a strength that comes through the hearing and receiving of sound doctrine, the true gospel of Jesus.

He says this, now to him is able to strengthen you.

But strengthen you according to what, right?

How are you getting this strength?

How are you bulking up?

What kind of protein are you taking in?

It's the gospel of Jesus.

According to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, this is how the Lord is going to strengthen you.

Because the mystery of salvation through Jesus.

Jesus, he says, was a mystery kept secret, but now has been revealed.

So what he's trying to say is that as we look through the Old Testament, Jesus is littered throughout the Old Testament.

From Genesis all the way through to the beginning of Matthew, Jesus permeates the scriptures.

But without the Spirit, they would have never seen him.

Without the illuminating work of the Spirit, they would have never seen that what the law was pointing to, what the prophets were pointing to, what the Psalms were pointing to, was actually Jesus Himself.

And then we see that the work of the Spirit illuminates even some in the Old Testament to be able to put their faith in the coming Messiah, who was the Son of God, and the belief of his promises that was communicated to them, whether through inspiration or through an appearance of the angel of the Lord himself, the Son of God.

But it was illuminated to some, but by and large, it was kept secret.

It was concealed.

But this mystery has now been disclosed, meaning that it has been revealed to us through Jesus.

Let's look at something in Luke 24.

There's something I'm trying to help us understand here.

In Luke 24, Jesus has risen from the dead and he's appeared to some of his disciples.

And he actually starts rebuking some of them because they don't understand that this was supposed to happen.

That the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Messiah was always supposed to happen.

And we're going to be brought into this rebuke, correction, and spirit illumination here in Luke 24 by Jesus himself.

Then he said to them, Jesus, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you.

That everything written about me, get this, in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.

Then look at this.

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.

And said to them, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

Look at what Jesus said there.

He said, In the law, in the prophets, and in the Psalms, all of this pointed to me.

And this is why Jesus was able, as a 12-year-old boy, to open the scroll of Isaiah and read from it and say, In this day, this has been fulfilled amongst your own ears.

This is why he's a Paul's able to point to Genesis and Abraham.

He's able to point to the prophets of Isaiah and Elijah.

He's able to point to the Old Testament and say, look at Jesus.

They weren't pointing to the New Testament epistles.

Hey, remember that letter that Paul wrote to Corinth?

No, that's not what they were pointing to.

They were pointing to what they had with them, which was the Old Testament canon.

Because why?

They revealed the mystery of Jesus.

The mystery has been disclosed.

He says this, but has now been disclosed, and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all the nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith.

All the nations have had the mystery disclosed to them through the gospel.

Every nation.

The gospel, the saving work of God through the person and work of Jesus, was always for all the nations.

It was never, ever supposed to be so secluded or localized to the Jewish people.

It was meant for the nations to come to Him.

It was meant for the nations to worship Him.

This was Abraham.

This was the promise to Abraham.

What we tend to read as Christians is we read the mistakes of the Jews and their shortcomings and failings to be obedient to understand God's word, and we misinterpret that as a historical narrative that was never the intention of God in his prophetic utterance, meaning they didn't work it out right.

But that was not what he intended to do.

He was always intended for the nations to come and worship him through the person and work of Jesus.

For what purpose?

He closes us out with this statement: to bring about what?

The obedience of faith.

You know what sound doctrine does?

You know what happens when the mystery is disclosed?

Righteous obedience.

If we want to become obedient, if we want to live righteous lives, if we want to submit ourselves in holiness, it's what?

It's unpacking the mystery that's been disclosed through sound biblical teaching.

We cannot pursue, we cannot engage with or accomplish these things in our life without the teaching of the scriptures.

The purpose of the mystery revealed is to bring about the obedience of faith.

Sound doctrine produces faithful obedience.

And then he closes finally with to the only wise God.

The wisdom of God directs all things to the best end.

When the Bible says that God is wise, this is what it means: that he has the knowledge and understanding to direct all things to their best end.

Imagine the God you serve, that he is all wise, meaning that every atom, every molecule, every decision, every action is able in his sovereign power to be funneled to the ultimate best end of all creation for his glory and the good of those who love him.

That's the power of God that we serve.

He is wise.

And ultimately we see this because he has directed the unveiling of the mystery of salvation through the person and work of Jesus to bring about the obedience of faith to the church for his glory and our good.

So, what's this help us understand?

All this closing of Paul's letter.

Hopefully, it helps us understand this.

Sound doctrine creates true unity and proper division.

Sound doctrine creates true unity and proper division.

Sound doctrine is the discovery of God and his works through submitting ourselves to the revealing of the mystery by his word.

So when we understand what are we talking about with sound doctrine, what we're talking about is submitting ourselves to the truth of God's word that he has revealed to us in his scriptures.

This is our ultimate source of truth right here.

This is what we start with, not what we work toward.

From here, we interpret all of life, including our experiences, our emotions, the cultural narrative.

All of that is interpreted through this, not the other way around.

And so we have to submit ourselves to his word because sound doctrine is the pursuit of knowing him.

You see, you and I, we are persons.

We are uh we have identity, we have things about us that's unique to us.

Uh imagine if somebody came to you and they said, Hey, Justin, I understand you kind of wrote this autobiography of who you are, what you love to do, and all these great things, but I'm gonna come at you and kind of tell you who I think you are and who I think you should be.

Wouldn't that be extremely offensive to us?

Well, no, I don't like that.

Well, I'm gonna say that you do like that.

Well, I don't, so you're stupid.

Um we can kind of navigate that.

What is the scripture doing?

The scripture is God saying, You want to know who I am?

I'm not gonna remain in concealment, I'm not gonna remain in speculation or mystery, I'm gonna put on display, I'm gonna reveal who I am.

And so with us submitting ourselves to his word, it is our pursuit of knowing and understanding him as he truly is.

Any other way of knowing God, here's what we have to be honest about.

Any other pursuit of knowing him, any other way of trying to know him, fundamentally what we're saying is that his word is not true, it is not authoritative, and we as his people cannot trust it.

That's ultimately what you're saying.

So then you create your own ways to know him, you create your own ways to identify who he is and what he's done, and guess what?

You create improper division, chaos, and discord.

Sound doctrine creates true unity because it unifies the church around the true God and a true love for him.

Sound doctrine also creates proper division because it establishes those who are in the faith from those who are not.

This is what we see in Paul's warning.

I appeal to you, be on watch, because there are some who are going to teach a doctrine contrary to the one that I've taught you, and they're gonna create division and snares and entrapments to draw you away.

Ultimately, what's Paul saying?

Good, sound doctrine should naturally create proper division because his call to them was cast those people out from you.

Avoid them, do not have fellowship with them.

You see, what are we unified around as the church?

We're not unified around some very cosmic understanding of love.

We are unified around what has been revealed to us about Christ.

That's what we're unified around.

We're not unified around good works, like even giving Christmas presents to kids and needs in our community.

No, we are unified around a confession of faith.

These good works, these obedient things are implications or outflows of you and I submitting ourselves to sound biblical teaching.

We don't have the right to dictate who God is.

Because He has already done that for us.

It is this word, this revelation, this disclosure that saves us, establishes us, and keeps us.

Let's look at three other passages in the New Testament where this same central theme is propped up and communicated to the listeners in these churches.

We see in 2 Timothy 2, 34 through 36, uh 24 through 26, he says this, and the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, talking about pastors and elders in a church, uh, but kind to everyone.

And this is a qualification: able to teach.

What does that mean?

He's able to take this and communicate it to you, not creating or fabricating his own things, but submitting himself first to the word of the Lord that's been revealed, and then calling you to submit with him to it.

So he must be able to teach patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.

God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from what?

The snare of the devil, that obstacle, that trap after being captured by him to do his will.

So, so what how do they get out from the snare of the devil?

Sound teaching.

That's what Paul says in 2 Timothy.

Their only hope for escape from the snare of the devil is not go do nice things for other people, but it's to be hearers and receivers of sound teaching that's come through the preaching of God's word.

Let's look at Titus, another pastor in God's church, uh nine through eleven.

He says, He, speaking of a pastor, must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, as communicated, as already handed to him, so that he may be able to give instruction in what?

Sound doctrine, and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers, and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.

They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.

What is the cure to this discord?

What is the cure to this chaos?

Sound biblical teaching.

Lastly, we see here in Ephesians 4, 11 through 14.

And he, speaking of God, uh, gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers for what purpose?

To equip the saints for the working of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

So that equip the saints, this comes through teaching, uh, comes through proclaiming God's word.

We see that here.

Until we all attain what?

The unity of the faith.

What is the goal of these offices, teachers, uh, prophets, evangelists?

It's to have the unity of the faith, that which we confess, that which we are told to believe through the mystery being revealed to us.

Uh, of who?

The knowledge of the Son of God.

It's all about Jesus, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

So what?

That we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes.

What is the purpose of sound doctrine?

It's to preserve and protect the church.

That's what Paul's fighting for.

That's what we as a church community have to fight for.

But we have problems with this fundamentally.

Uh, some of us, we reject doctrine as being divisive.

We we equate doctrine as innately being divisive.

Uh, and this is a posture of what I would call doctrinal minimalism.

Uh, you you downgrade, you minimize the importance of doctrine because maybe you've experienced in your own life the division that it's created.

And so you equated doctrine ultimately with division, and you've tried to stay as far away from it as possible.

You see, we can't do that.

We can't become doctrine minimalists because we have to understand that a high view of scripture calls us to treasure all that God has said.

If we hold this Bible and God's word in a high view, then what we have to realize is that all of it is meant to be treasured, stored up in our hearts so that we might not sin against him.

That's what the Bible tells us about itself, that we can actually store his word in our heart that we might not sin against him.

But we have to do the whole of Scripture, right?

You understand the Old Testament is three-quarters of your Bible?

Three-quarters of your Bible is the Old Testament.

Many of us just want to tear that out and chuck it aside.

The New Testament church understood Christ through Nehemiah.

The Old Testament church understood Christ through Exodus.

The New Testament church understood Christ through the Psalms.

It wasn't through the New Testament epistles, it wasn't through the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

It was through the prophets, the law, and the Psalms that they saw and saw Jesus Himself.

We also have to have a respect for church history.

It should help us respect what our predecessors fought over.

These fights were so important because they jeopardized the gospel and they jeopardized the church.

Martin Luther, who we're kind of celebrating today, if uh you really love church history, um, what was he doing this day?

He was nailing a proclamation of 95 different arguments he had against the Catholic Church.

Because why?

Because they were jeopardizing the gospel.

They were jeopardizing the salvation of souls.

This is literally what they were saying.

They needed money to be able to build St.

Peter's Basilica.

They ran out.

So they thought of this cunning plan.

It's kind of like the Grinch, right?

They said, I've got a crazy idea.

What we'll do is we'll create a teaching.

We'll create a teaching that says, if you give a certain amount of money, we will write you a certificate of release from purgatory for you and your family.

So you want your family to be saved and go to heaven, don't you?

Well, then you'll give us money and we'll give you a certificate of release so that they can actually make it there.

And they would go town to town praying on the naive with their false doctrine, and they would have a little jingle even.

It would say, Every time a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs.

And they built St.

Peter's Basilica off of lies, off of false doctrine that gave people hope in their works rather than the finished work of Jesus himself.

Why did Luther fight over this?

Because he was fighting for you and me.

He was fighting for the gospel.

He was fighting for people to find salvation in the only place they can actually find it, which is in hope and trust in Jesus.

We also have to understand that many secondary doctrines are vitally related to the gospel.

When we look at the teachings of the Scripture, we should find so much joy in the discovery of doctrine because of the way that it illuminates and props up and magnifies and turns the faceted diamond around for us to see another glimpse of the beauty and glory of what Jesus has done for us.

You think that some of these things don't matter?

Oh, they matter so much.

When we talk about the per uh the Trinity, oh, that matters so much to understand what God has done for us, who he is, and how he engages and relates to us.

When we talk about election and the doctrines of grace, oh, that matters because we serve a God who's able to accomplish what he sets forth to do, not one who just hopes and prays that all works out in the end.

When we talk about these doctrines, they matter because they make the beauty of the gospel that much more radiant for his people.

Now, some of these things might be secondary in nature, but that doesn't mean they're not important.

And then all truth shapes how we think and live in subtle but important ways.

You have to understand you operate in your life based on what you believe.

You may not understand that or think that consciously, but it is true.

What you believe shapes and forms your actions.

And so we have to understand that that when we do something, when we respond in some way, when we act out in certain circumstances, what is being done, what is being communicated through our behavior, is ultimately rooted in our belief in the gospel.

How we engage with one another, how we engage with the church, how we engage with culture, all is rooted in what do you believe about Jesus?

And we have to understand that we're working toward that conformity, to have a deeper faith and a greater belief so that when we do respond, it is out of a place of faith and trust in the gospel.

But we're on this path of sanctification.

We're not there yet, but we are working toward that point.

So we have to forego, we have to reject being doctrinal minimalists.

Doctrine in itself is not divisive, though it does divide.

And a lot of times that division is good.

One of the very first things that Jesus is gonna do when he returns, imagine, imagine, maybe you have studied this out, maybe you haven't studied this about.

What do you think the first thing Jesus is gonna do when he returns?

He's gonna be like, look under your seat.

There's a gift for everyone.

No, he's not gonna open you.

Um it's salvation.

Uh no.

What he's gonna do is this he's gonna say, You are mine, you are not.

The very first thing Jesus says when he comes back is he says, You are my sheep, you are goats.

He's gonna go through the threshing floor and he's gonna separate the wheat from the chaff.

That's you know what that is?

That's God's love for his people.

That's doctrine that divides properly.

But some of us, we divide over things that are non-essential.

We divide over things that are non-essential.

We adopt a post if the if the former, uh if the latter had a heart posture of doctrinal minimalism, some of us have a heart posture of doctrinal separatism.

Separatism.

We want to create divisions and separations over everything.

We have to understand not all things are worth dividing over.

Music style and taste, the way that you dress, whether you celebrate Halloween or not, those are not things to divide over.

There's plenty to divide over.

And I would argue that the church hasn't done enough to divide over the right things.

They've spent too much time focusing on dividing over the wrong things, that now we have a natural disposition that doctrine is divisive and we want to stay away from it.

Because we've made non-essential matters matters of division.

We have to fight for what is essential to the faith, but be eager to show charity to secondary and tertiary matters.

You see, the gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, that's worth dying for.

And that's a good standard to just start with.

What would you die for?

That's the essential bucket.

If you're gonna die for what kind of music you sing in church, bro, I guess all the more to you.

I just ain't on that hill, right?

You're there by yourself.

I'm saying see you later.

I'm walking down the hill back to my family.

Like, yeah, that ain't worth dying over.

What translation of the Bible you read from, bro, that to me, that ain't worth dying over.

Like, yeah, put your gun away.

I'm cool.

KJV, that's fine.

Whatever.

I'm going home tonight.

The gospel?

All right, you know, babies, I'll see you in glory.

What's worth dying over?

Maybe that's how we understand essential versus non-essential.

Maybe that's a first way of trying to discern that.

What is worth dying for?

And ask ourselves this.

As a church, are our efforts focused in unifying the church?

Or are efforts focused in dividing it?

If our efforts are focused on dividing the church, we are not acting in accordance with the scriptures and what God has called for us to be as Christians.

But if our efforts are in unifying it through sound doctrine, biblical teaching, man, now we're doing what Christ has called us to do.

We're going to see this in our next series.

Next Sunday, we're going to jump into John 17.

The prominent prayer of Jesus for his people is what?

That they would be one, like you and I, me and the Son and the Father are one.

Unity was the aim and endeavor.

It is the aim and endeavor of the gospel.

Are our efforts in unifying or is it in dividing?

Who are we?

Are we doctrinal minimalists or are we doctrinal separatists?

The beauty of the gospel for us is this Jesus is the mystery disclosed to unify his people.

Jesus is the mystery disclosed to unify his people.

Let's look at 1 Timothy 3, 15 and 16.

He says this.

Great indeed we confess is the mystery of godliness.

Look at this.

Here's the mystery revealed.

He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

Paul says the mystery revealed was what?

Jesus.

And what is Jesus?

He is the buttress of truth for the church.

What does that mean?

How does the church stand?

It stands upon him.

The church does not stand upon good works.

The church does not stand upon their own strength.

The church does not stand upon anything other than Jesus Himself.

Why?

Because every other foundation is slipping sand.

Christ alone is the rock.

He is the one that we establish the foundation upon, the church upon, because he is the sure and steady foundation.

Jesus is the mystery disclosed.

We want unity, we want peace, we want the absence of conflict.

Then you know what we have to do?

We have to contend and fight for sound doctrine.

Because that's the only way that that's going to be accomplished.

And what is it's submitting ourselves to who God has said he is.

It is fully known and realized in submitting to him and how he has revealed himself through his word.

Every other pursuit of knowing and understanding God is boiled down and understood to be this: you fabricating and shaping with your own hands a God after your own image that you serve.

Ultimately, when we say, no, no, no, this isn't who God is.

God would never do this.

What are you doing?

You're taking clay, you're taking straw, and you're working to shape and mold a God that looks like you so that you can worship yourself.

Refusal to submit to the scriptures is the ultimate form of narcissism that we could ever imagine.

Because you're saying you're more right than he is, you know truth better than he does, and you're going to be able to be a better God than he is.

Thank God for the mystery being disclosed to us through the gospel of Jesus.

Amen.

So how do we live this out?

Number one, don't settle for being simple.

Don't settle for being simple.

What I mean by that is that word simple is the same word Paul used for those who are naive.

Don't settle for being look, you you are in a church that loves theology.

You are in hopefully mission groups that are working to unpack the scriptures and work through what the Bible says.

You are in a place where we have gospel school where they're training and teaching.

I mean, we we've just spent 37 weeks preaching verse by verse of the book of Romans.

Yeah.

Amen.

Praise God.

It's laborious.

Um why do we do that?

Because we want to call you to submit to the word that we are submitting to ourselves.

And so don't settle for being simple because when you're settling for being simple, when you're a doctrinal minimalist, all you're doing is you're making yourself the one who's able to be pulled away from the easiest.

The devil roams the earth like a roaring lion, seeking who may devour.

You don't understand what a lion does?

The lion never goes after the pack.

The lion goes after the one who's away from the pack, who's by himself, who maybe looks weaker or less strong.

That's the one who the lion goes after.

You think the lion's gonna go after the ones who are rooted in the sound doctrine teaching of the word of God and able to refute his lies with the promises and truth of God like Jesus did in the desert?

Oh, you want to give me the kingdoms of this earth?

Brother, you don't understand who my God is and who I serve.

Because all the kingdoms of the universe are his and he gives them to me.

What was he doing?

He was declaring God's word back to the Father of lies.

He was declaring truth to lies, and this Satan had no power there.

Satan's gonna come after the ones who are naive, who settle for being simple.

Church community, we have to fight for the unity of the faith.

Uh, church, we've got to fight for the unity of faith in a way that that really props up unity, um, oneness in the gospel.

Uh if we have church divisions, uh man, I pray that they are not over goofiness and silliness.

I pray that we've been able to teach the word and you've been able to submit to the word enough that we see unity within this church more than you've ever experienced at another church in your life.

Not because we're greater, just because we're endeavoring to be faithful.

And how are we faithful?

By preaching the word.

We have to fight for the unity of faith.

And that also means, too, again, think about the things that you maybe want to divide over with your brother and sister.

Sometimes they're just goofy stuff.

They're preference.

If you're honest, they're not prescription, they're preference.

And we got to try to separate those two things because a lot of times what we are tempted to do is take our preference and put it in the realm of prescription.

Prescription meaning God has told us to do such a thing, He has commanded us this way.

Prescriptive text would be like Ten Commandments.

Don't sleep with someone who's not your wife, right?

That's prescription.

No, no.

Preference, do you sing with instruments or not?

Uh the Lord doesn't care.

Actually, he kind of does because he says use instruments when you worship me, but that's a whole nother sermon.

However, sometimes we put preference in the realm of prescription and we create division over unnecessary things.

You might have a lot of preference.

Here's a great example.

My preference would be that the kids would be with us in this sanctuary the whole church service and doing family worship that style.

That'd be my preference.

I know that that would not do well in this context at all.

And our church would just shrink real fast.

Because people aren't used to that, whatever the reason is.

But I'm not going to put that in a realm of prescription and mandate that.

I'm going to understand that it's a secondary, even tertiary issue.

And so for serving this context and community better in hopes that the gospel will be heard and received, we have an amazing Mission Kids Discipleship program.

That's the difference between preference and prescription.

City focus, we need to be on watch.

We talked about in a couple of things how there's people who are coming in.

The culture is the there are cultural prophets that we're hearing today that's working to come in and tell us who Jesus is, what the gospel's about.

One of the most prolific authors on critical race theory named Abram Kennedy, he actually was at a church in Manhattan and he said that the Christianity was never about a savior.

It was always about a revolution and uprising.

No, no.

Come on.

Uh-uh.

Sorry, brother, you've missed the gospel.

You're a heretic.

You're a person of false doctrine, one who's come in to divide and set a snare for the church.

We need to call that junk out.

We need to call out those uh uh uh mega celebrity pastors who tweeted this last week, one of them tweeted this week.

Uh, when you come into a this is paraphrasing, but when you come into a relationship with Jesus, nothing changes about you.

The only thing that is understood is what you always were, and God draws it out of you.

Oh, that's eucentric flattery and smooth talk.

That's damnable heresy.

What about the old man's put to death and a new man is raised to life?

What about that what was once there no longer lives, but Christ lives in you?

What about the transformation and renewal of your mind?

What about the conformity of the image into the Son of God?

You want to say nothing changes, everything changes, brother, and you're preaching a gospel that's so eutentric and disgusting that you're putting people's hope in themselves, which has no power to ever save them.

You are damning people by the thousands.

He's a snare and a trap.

We have to be on watch.

Because sound doctrine does this it creates the unity of the church, it fosters the health of the church, and it protects and preserves the church to be what she's always called to be.

Amen?

Amen.

Let's pray.