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Basic Discipleship
Written by Dr. Lester Hutson

This material is copyrighted c2002 and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of the Berean Baptist Church.

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PHASE 3      CHURCH ORIENTATION AND EDIFICATION

SESSION 7

THE CHURCH AND DOCTRINE

Bible doctrine!  It's not in vogue these days.  Long ago God wrote with the hand of Isaiah these words which are so very descriptive of this day.  "This is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us" (Isaiah 30:9-11).

Discipleship minister, you are working to develop a strong soldier of the cross.  It will never happen apart from sound doctrine.  Help him see its value. This session takes him to many places in God's Word that deal with doctrine and how important it is to every believer and church.  As always, the approach here is to help the disciple discover the truth for himself.  There is always the possibility that he will miss the point.  That's where you come in.  Always spot check.  Ask enough questions to be sure he's getting it.

You will notice that at the end of this exercise, there are questions which are not answered in your Discipleship Minister's Manual.  Study them.  They are to provoke thought.  There is no set answer.  In general, it is impossible to be alive and sane and not hold doctrinal positions on almost every issue.  We all have opinions.  These are nothing more than our doctrinal positions.  Doctrine is always there, either sound Bible doctrine or the false doctrine of the world.  God, in the Bible, takes a position (doctrinal stance) on everything.  The object of the believer is to line up with Him.  The more we do, the stronger we grow.  Again I remind you that growth and strength in the Lord is impossible apart from Bible doctrine.

Stay close to your disciple, but don't smother him. He must learn to stand alone.  Pray often with him and be an encourager.

Don't forget to put the next exercise into his hand.

If you have that concordance, look up the word doctrine.  If yours is a Strong's Concordance, it's reference #1322 in the Greek Dictionary of New Testament Words.  As you see, doctrine is instruction, the act or the matter. Your doctrine is what you believe and teach.  If you didn't believe anything, you wouldn't have any doctrine, but that's not reality.  Everybody has doctrine, a belief system of one sort of another.

DOCTRINE AND ITS NATURE

Work these multiple choice questions to learn more about doctrine.  Read the suggested verses to learn the correct answers.

1.     2 John 1:7-11.  Jesus Christ took a stance on many issues. What He taught:

a.     Should have a bearing on what we believe, but not be the final word.

b.     Is called "the doctrine of Christ."

c.     Is a take it or leave it proposition.

d.     Is a matter of opinion.

2.     John 7:16-17. Jesus taught that His doctrine:

a.     Is of a divine, heavenly origin.

b.     Originated on earth.

c.     Is the best of many options.

d.     Has no real superiority over the opinions and teachings of others.

3.     Romans 16:17-18.  In a world of many different beliefs, some doctrine:

a.     Is good.

b.     Is false.

c.     Is becoming more and more true.

d.     Is still under debate.

4.     1 Timothy 1:10. 2 Timothy 4:3. Titus 1:9. Titus 2:1.  Believers should embrace:

a.     All doctrine.

b.     That doctrine which sounds best.

c.     The doctrine of the people they really like.

d.     Only sound doctrine.

5.     2 Timothy 3:16-17.  The basis of our doctrine should always be:

a.     The Bible, which is the Word of God.

b.     What we genuinely believe in our heart to be true.

c.     Whatever our church says is true.

d.     General acceptance and tolerance of whatever anyone might believe or teach.

6.     2 Timothy 4:1-4.  As time progresses more and more people will:

a.     Embrace the sound doctrine of Christ as set forth in the Bible.

b.    Think that beliefs are less and less important.

c.     Turn away from the sound doctrine of Jesus Christ.

d.     More and more love teachers of truth with all their hearts.

7.     Ephesians 4:13-15.  How do we avoid being "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine?"

a.     By going to the Bible and staying true to it.

b.     By finding a good preacher and obeying what he says.

c.     By being hard, stubborn and inflexible.

d.     By closing the mind and refusing to hear what anyone else says.

8.     Acts 2:41-42.  Your church should:

a.     Not teach doctrine.

b.     Emphasize the love of God and stay away from other doctrinal issues.

c.     Continue steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine.

d.     Do nothing but teach doctrine.

9.     Isaiah 28:9-10.  The way to learn the doctrine of the Bible is:

a.     All at once.

b.     In a crash course early in your Christian life.

c.     Precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.

d.     As slowly as possible.

10.   1 Timothy 1:3-4.  When it comes to what a church (or believer) teaches:

a.     It really doesn't matter what is taught as long as we're sincere.

b.     Definitely the teaching of Bible doctrine should be de-emphasized.

c.     No stance should be taken but all positions should be given equal treatment.

d.     No other doctrine than that set forth in the Bible should be taught.

HOW MUCH EMPHASIS SHOULD BE PLACED ON 
THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH? 

As you read in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 the modern groundswell in Christian circles and churches is away from doctrine.  It's not popular.  People don't want to hear it.  The going thing is praise and worship.  Many think Christian gatherings and church services should be limited mostly to a mutual admiration society of how much we love Jesus.  They don't want any particular stances to be taken which might contradict anything someone else might believe.  The growing mood is to leave doctrine out.  The wave today is unity at almost any price.

Take a look at what the Bible says about doctrine and its place of emphasis in the church and in your life.

Read Titus 2:1-10.  See how many of these questions about doctrine you can answer in light of that passage.

1.     Is strong emphasis upon sound doctrine optional?  (Verse 1).

2.     Name some of the specific doctrinal truths that "aged men" should know and embrace.  (Verse 2)

3.     Name some of the specific doctrinal truths that "aged women" should know and embrace.  (Verse 3)

4.     Name some of the specific doctrinal truths that "the young women" should know and embrace.  (Verses 4-5)

5.     Name some of the specific doctrinal truths that "young men" should know and embrace.  (Verse 6)

6.     Name some of the factors that should characterize our doctrinal stance. (Verses 7-8)

7.     For all who would serve, doctrine should be worn like an ornament or a beautiful garment.  What word is used to communicate that idea? "Adorn"  (Verses 9-10)

In your church you have probably observed three primary areas of emphasis.  They are (1) worship, (2) service and (3) doctrine.  To gain more insight on how high the doctrinal profile of your church should be, match the following Bible verses to the appropriate concepts, ideas or phrases.

1.     Romans 6:17        (5)        Paul's exhortation to Timothy to teach Bible doctrine. 

2.     1 Timothy 5:17     (3)        Timothy told to practice what he preached. 

3.        1 Timothy 4:16      (7)         Paul's own example used to fortify Timothy's beliefs.   

4.  2 Timothy 3:10-14   (2)        Those who labor in doctrine worthy of double honor. 

5.        1 Timothy 1:2-4     (1)         Gratitude for those who obey doctrine from the heart. 

6.     1 Timothy 4:6       (7)        The doctrinal qualifications for every preacher. 

7.     Titus 1:7-14          (8)        Doctrine is always to be shared "in love."

8.     Ephesians 4:15-16        (6)        How to "be a good minister of Jesus Christ."

DOCTRINE AND CHURCH DISCIPLINE

                As these exercises have shown, one's doctrinal stance is very important.  It is important to God and He emphasizes that it must be important to the church, too.  No church can long survive once it becomes divided over doctrine.  Doctrine contrary to that taught in the Bible is not to be tolerated.  Read Romans 16:17 and fill in the blanks.  "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them. "

                The Bible passage on church discipline listed with each of these true/false questions will enable you to mark the answer correctly.

1.             James 4:8.  2 Timothy 2:19-22.

                True____ False   X           God is not interested in the conduct of  His children. Their purity in doctrine or in conduct is not an issue with Him.

2.             2 Timothy 3:15 - 4:2.

                True   X   False                 Church pastors have an obligation to God to work to ward the corporate purity of the church in doctrine and conduct.

3.             1 Peter 4:17.  1 Corinthians 5:12-13. 2  Thessalonians 3:6.

          True____  False   X                 Churches have no business judging their members.  A member’s personal life is nobody’s business but his own.

4.             1 Corinthians 5:7.

                True   X  False                    One of the main motives behind church discipline is the spiritual purity of the church as a corporate body.

5.             1 Corinthians 11:31.

                True  X    False                   There is reason to believe that God will  bring judgment on a church that fails to exercise the disciplinary action necessary to keep its ranks pure and free of open and obvious sin.

6.             1 Corinthians 5:11.

                True  X   False                     The six public sins named in this passage as demanding church discipline are (I) fornication, (2) covetousness,  (3) idolatry, (4) railing (5) drunkenness and (6) extortion.

7.             1 Timothy 6:3-5.

                True         False  X               A railer should be ignored by a church regardless of how much division and hurt to the church he causes.

8.             2 Thessalonians 3:6,11,14.

                True  X    False                    The church is commanded to bring disciplinary action against a member whose unrepentant lifestyle or beliefs becomes a serious reproach to the cause of Christ.

9.             Matthew 18:15-17.

                True  X    False                     Every time a church exercises disciplinary action against a member it should adhere strictly to the Matthew 18 principle.

10.                 Galatians 6:1. 2  Thessalonians 3:14-15.

                True   X   False                     The restoration of the fallen brother or sister should always be the goal in church discipline and the efforts to restore should always be conducted in an  humble way with a meek spirit.

11.           1 Corinthians 5:3-5.

                True      False  X                  Those disciplined by a church are in no danger at all.

12.           2 Corinthians 2:6-8.  Matthew 18:21-22.

                True   X   False                    Every time a disciplined member repents, the church must, forgive and restore that one to fellowship. 

Food for Thought

                Everything you have considered to date in this Basic Discipleship program has been doctrine.  The next 10 sessions will take a more careful look at certain key doctrinal issues.  They are truly the fundamentals of our Christian faith.

                This is a good time for you to reflect on just how important Bible doctrine is.  In your good Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church you are going to hear lots of doctrine.  For your own enrichment and edification, meditate on the following questions.  Evaluate each one in light of the scriptures you have read on doctrine.

1.             If doctrine is what one believes, is it possible for one to have no doctrine?

2.             What is a person really saying when he says, "I wish they wouldn't  preach and teach so much doctrine?" Is that really a wish for Bible silence on the issues of life?

3.             Can you think of an issue upon which the Bible doesn't take a position?

4.             The Bible has a doctrinal position on many subjects such as God, Satan, heaven, hell, the family, child-rearing, money, sex, church and how to be saved.  Name other subjects and see if you know what the Bible  position is.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"