Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Doctrine Discerns

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith
(1 Timothy 1:5 – ESV)

They say “doctrine divides”, well I like to say it better, doctrine discerns. The Word of God discerns (Hebrews 4:12), its teachings discern, not our feelings as foremost or other qualities, but the Bible and its teachings, and we line up and mature and grow in our discernment as we grow in God’s Word, and then we can discern more accurately (Philippians 1:9-11).

That is why we have some people, who know the Word of God in truth, these people can instantly know if some things are wrong, because they see something that doesn’t line up with biblical teaching. It is not those who get a spooky feeling about it, but those who have renewed their mind and been trained over time to discern. It isn’t their discern-o-meter, or some overtly mystical thing, but that their biblically informed conscience is working well. Yes, it can start out like a “check this out further”, or “check” in our spirit, but our goal should be to go from the “check” or “something doesn’t seem right” experience to the “I know this isn’t right because” experience, and this can happen as we get to know true doctrine more clearly over time.

It is okay, and actually it is very good if we sense something isn’t quite right, and we can’t quite put a finger on it, and so we go and check it according to the Bible (Acts 17:11). It is a right thing to do to test things (1 Thessalonians 5:21), but we want to grow up in God’s Word so much that we know it so well that we can test things quicker and more accurately and we can put a finger on it immediately. So the test isn’t if something seems pure, good, or sincere, but if it matches correct doctrine. A love for the truth, that is what Paul was teaching Timothy, and that was what the false teachers were and always are straying from.

Not that these things are the measure of good doctrine, but that Paul was wanting Timothy to teach good doctrine, and so the love, etc. would be in accordance with godliness. Purity, conscience, and sincerity are not the arbiters of truth. True doctrine will lead to a love that is truthfully pure hearted, has a truthfully good conscience, and a truthfully sincere faith, a true faith grounded in truth. One can be loving, pure in devotion, have a seemingly clean conscience, and be sincere, but still be wrong. Paul isn’t saying that these qualities are what make up good and true doctrine. Paul is saying to stick to true doctrine, as he has taught, and then you will be loving out of a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.

It is not that good doctrine issues from these qualities but good doctrine will issue out these, true love issuing from truth. Ask yourself; do a truly pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith come from us or from God, from being grounded in His truth or from our own efforts? Yes, we want sincere faith, a good conscience, and a pure heart, which will result in true godly love, and these are acquired through God Himself, and He relays these through the renewing of our minds by the truths of the Gospel, by true and right doctrines. We must learn to discern.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

8 comments:

Christopher Cohen said...

Thank you for lending me your discern-o-meter whenever I need it.
Can I say...this is where I am right now... or is that plagiarism?

Even So... said...

he he he...

Anonymous said...

Hey, JD? Where is that Audio thingy you talked about Sunday for the messages?

Halfmom, AKA, Susan said...

What do you mean there's no discern-o-meter - I already had one on my Christmas list - right beside the super dose of added patience I'm hoping for.

I'm glad to hear you say that sometimes it just a, "umh, that just doesn't seem right - let me think about it" because frequently something will just hit my spirit as wrong but it takes me a while to realize why and then once I do I can put the scripture to it but sometimes there a distinct time lag before I "intuit" and I actually know what I think and biblically why.

Even So... said...

Paul, for now go to Chris' site "We Lay Our Crowns" which the link is just above yours in the sidebar...

BTW Chris has some excellent posts there already...

Even So... said...

Susan, indeed, we are all in process, and hopefully all making progress...

Even So... said...

This is the third in a series from this passage of 1 Timothy 1:3-7, more to come in the next few days...

Jim said...

Hi JD, good stuff again.

I think if we all spent more time in the Word there would be less explaining away our behaviours and attitudes.