Sound Doctrine
"You must teach
what is in accord with sound doctrine." (Titus
2:1)
I have attended
Christian churches all of my life, and throughout the 40
years of sermons I have listened to, I have been well
"indoctrinated" as to what is "sound doctrine"!
These are the areas that churches often debate, each
denomination claiming that they have "all spiritual light"
on the matter. You know. Things like the state
of the dead, which day to worship God, beliefs on the
Trinity, beliefs on the Holy Spirit. Stuff like
that!
Of course, this
always puzzled me a bit. If each church claimed to
have all spiritual light on their doctrines, then how come
there were so many differing doctrines? But I
generally just put this aside, convincing myself that my
church had to be the one who really
taught sound doctrine!
When I read Titus
2:1, I was pleased at first. My church was following
the advice of the Bible! They were teaching "sound
doctrine"!
Then I read verse
2: "Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of
respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and
in endurance." (Titus 2:2).
Wait a minute!
Where is the direction to teach "State of the Dead" and
"End Time Prophecy"? Maybe it's in the next verse,
I thought: "Likewise, teach the older women to be
reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or
addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good."
(Titus 2:3)
I quickly read
through the rest of the chapter, and, well, you guessed it
. . . There wasn't a single thing about "The Trinity" or
which day of the week is the "Sabbath". What I found
instead was the following definitions of "sound doctrine":
Temperance, love, self-control, reverence, non-judgmentalism,
kindness, purity, keeping in your place (wives subjecting
to their husbands, slaves to their masters, etc.),
seriousness, integrity, and the list went on. Quite
different from the things I would have thought of as
doctrine! Yet, this is Paul's definition of "sound
doctrine"!
But just how can you
teach "sound doctrine", as we are instructed to do?
This is answered in verses 11 & 12: "For the
grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all
men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly
passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly
lives in this present age . . ." (Titus 2:11-12).
The Gospel message teaches us to live
according to Paul's definition of "Sound Doctrine"!
Should we continue
reinforcing their own interpretations of what day is holy,
the state of the dead, the trinity, tithing, the gifts of
the Holy Spirit, etc? Not according to Paul!
Instead, we should be preaching the Gospel
in order to promote "sound doctrine"! Not only is
the Gospel message powerful in saving the lost, but it is
also powerful in teaching us the only sound doctrine that
matters!
What do you
say, my friends? Is there any changes you
need to make in how you approach people about religion?
Do you teach specific doctrines of your denomination?
Do you feel that your church has all the "doctrinal"
answers? Do you believe that your church is the "one
true church", and does this color how you approach people?
Or do you promote the Gospel and the Gospel alone, and
thus, Paul's list of "sound doctrine"? Give it some
thought, my friends!
"You must teach
what is in accord with sound doctrine." (Titus
2:1)
Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart,
Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets (
www.sermonillustrator.org/minisermons/ ), Answers2Prayer Ministries,
www.Answers2Prayer.org ,