Never To Be Separated

Why Doctrine and Devotion Must Never Be Separated by Ray Ortlund, Jr.

Doctrine + Devotion

The Bible calls men today to lead in their churches and in their homes through both doctrine and devotion.

What is “doctrine”? The word simply refers to biblical teaching. So no man should fear this word. You can ponder the Lord, by his grace. But if you resist theological thinking, that mentality itself is teaching something, and what it’s saying is really bad doctrine.
What is “devotion”? This word simply refers to heartfelt feeling. So no man should look down on devotion. You can love the Lord, by his grace. But if you resist devotional feeling, that feeling itself is captivating your heart with really bad devotion.

But if your Christianity is both doctrine and devotion, both head and heart, and increasingly so as you grow and mature, then you are truly following the Lord.

Here is where the Bible takes us: All doctrine should be devotional, and all devotion should be doctrinal. This is the full-orbed kind of Christianity that we see everywhere in Scripture.

Sometimes men come from a background where doctrine was under-emphasized, and now they are excited about learning and growing and thinking and understanding. Good! But as you grow, don’t lose devotion. If you have doctrine without devotion, you will become proud, hard, aloof, and superior. And the gospel-team will lose yardage because of you.

One or the Other Just Isn't Enough

Sometimes men come from a background where devotion was under-emphasized, and now they are excited about worship and prayer and sharing and feeling. Good! But as you grow, don’t lose doctrine. If you have devotion without doctrine, you will become self-indulgent, gullible, vulnerable, and shallow. And the gospel-team will lose yardage because of you.

But if you have doctrine with devotion and devotion with doctrine, both head and heart, if your thinking is tenderized with great love for the Lord and your love strengthened with great thoughts of the Lord, you will become a well-rounded, balanced, wise, formidable, attractive man whose influence is the very influence of Jesus himself. And your life will be a touchdown for the team.

Which emphasis do you need to add to your Christianity right now? Are you growing deeper in doctrine and knowledge and insight and understanding? What significant books have you read in 2015? Not just dipped into but read. From cover to cover. And are you growing deeper in devotion and enthusiasm and passion and energy? What tears have you shed in 2015—tears of joy, of longing, of repentance, of worship? Not just a twinge of feeling but ravished by the glory of the Lord. Personal meltdown.

The Bible is God’s primary mechanism for deepening every one of us every day in both doctrine and devotion.

What's Good or Bad About Theology?

What is the difference between "good" and "bad" Theology? I like this definition form my friend Carey at "The Grumpy Theologian":

...If we dig back into the history of Christianity we find that periodically ideas pop up that are denounced as incompatible with the non-negotiables of the faith. If we dig a bit deeper we find that the most common reasons for these denunciations are pastoral. Docetism (Jesus was divine but not human), Ebionism (Jesus was human but not divine), Arianism (Jesus was neither human nor divine), and a number of other heretical "-isms"are denounced because their teaching has implications that obscure Christ's mediation between God and humanity. In other words, these doctrines are false because they point their adherents' eyes away from the Jesus of the Bible to a different Jesus, one built on human speculation rather than divine revelation. The consequences of believing a false Gospel are catastrophic if we listen to the New Testament (and we must do that listening if identifying ourselves as "Christians" is to mean anything substantive). Bad theology is bad most fundamentally because it is bad for the soul. It points hope toward things that ultimately disappoint (which is what happens when we try to make gods for ourselves out of anything other than the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) or it crushes hope altogether. False hope and no hope are both bad for the soul.

So far, so good, but what does this suggest about how we should go about doing goodtheology? Let me make a suggestion: Good theology is good for the same reason that bad theology is bad. Both have to do with how they function in pointing us to God. Bad theology is bad because it mis-portrays God and thus hinders our growing closer to Him as He really is. When our relationship to God is stunted by bad theology we suffer from soul starvation--an impoverished theology leads to an impoverished spiritual life. Now let's consider the flip-side of that statement. Good theology is good because it points us to God as He truly is (or, more properly, "Is"). Good theology facilitates transformative encounter with God and fosters ongoing, life-giving relationship with Him...

More worth reading at the link.

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Sound Doctrine

From a post at Crossway 10 things You Should Know About Sound Doctrine by Bobby Jamieson, author of Sound Doctrine: How a Church Grows in the Love and Holiness of God.

1. Sound doctrine re-tells the single story that sweeps through all of Scripture.

From creation, through our fall into sin, to Jesus’s saving work on the cross and the eventual restoration of God’s rule over all creation, the Bible tells a single epic narrative that spans Genesis to revelation. Sound doctrine traces the contours of this story and repeats it in simple, memorable forms.

2. Sound doctrine summarizes and synthesizes the Bible’s teaching as a coherent whole.

For all its diversity, Scripture fits together as a marvelous unity because it consists of God’s own words, revealing God’s own thoughts and acts. Sound doctrine brings together all of Scripture’s teaching on every subject the Bible addresses.

3. Sound doctrine is a guide and guard for reading and teaching the Bible.

The goal of reading and teaching Scripture is to love God, and the way to love God is to know God. Sound doctrine tells us what God is like so that we may love him more. And sound doctrine is an important guard for interpreting Scripture. It helps ensure that we confess and delight in all that Scripture teaches, rather than setting one passage against another or drawing conclusions from one passage that contradict another.

4. Sound doctrine is God’s roadmap for the Christian life and the life of the church.

We listen to the teaching of God’s Word for the purpose of living it out. Sound doctrine isn’t an information archive that serves only to present facts. Rather, it’s a road map for our pilgrimage from this world to the world to come.

5. Sound doctrine nourishes holiness.

Every biblical doctrine, embraced by the mind and applied to the heart, conforms us to the character of Christ. Sound doctrine drives us to devote ourselves more completely to God in our thoughts, desires, attitudes, words, and actions—which is what the Bible calls “holiness.” As Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).

6. Sound doctrine is the ground and pattern of love.

The apostle John once told a church that he loved them “in the truth,” and that all those who know the truth love them too, “because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever” (2 John 1–2). Truth is the basis of the special bond of love that ties Christians’ hearts together. And truth is the pattern of our love: we are to love one another in deed and truth, since that is how Jesus loved us (1 John 3:16–18).

7. Sound doctrine is the foundation of unity in the church.

When the Corinthian church was torn by divisions over favored leaders, Paul shot back, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul” (1 Cor. 1:13). The unity of the church is grounded in the unity of the faith.

8. Sound doctrine is fuel for the fire of worship.

Over and over again the Bible not only tells us to worship; it tells us why to worship (Psalm 95:1–7). Sound doctrine reminds us that God has rescued us from our sin, reconciled us to himself, and pledged himself to provide for all of our needs, now and forever. All of these are reasons to praise him, adore him, make a joyful noise to him, and bow down before him in submission and obedience.

9. Sound doctrine equips and emboldens evangelism.

The better you know the gospel, the better you’ll share the gospel. And the better you remember that God is the one who gives life to the dead and sight to the blind (Eph. 2:1–10, 2 Cor. 4:3–6), the more you’ll boldly preach the gospel, pray for conversions, and trust God to save sinners.

10. Sound doctrine fills up our joy.

Referring to all the teaching he gave his disciples on his last night with them—including some of the Bible’s richest teaching on the Trinity—Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full (John 15:11). Because it unfolds the riches of God’s grace to us, sound doctrine brings light and hope and joy. It fills our hearts with satisfaction in Christ because of what he has done for us.

Doctrines To Retire

I've always found J. Lee Grady to be balanced and discerning. He is certainly right on this one: 6 Really Bad Charismatic Doctrines We Should Retire.

I will never apologize for being a charismatic Christian. I had a dramatic experience with the Holy Spirit many years ago, and nobody can talk me out of it. I love the Holy Spirit’s abiding presence in my life and His supernatural gifts. I love to prophesy, speak in tongues, pray for the sick and see people changed by the Spirit’s power.

At the same time, I’m aware that since the charismatic movement began in the 1960s, people have misused the gifts of the Spirit and twisted God’s Word to promote strange doctrines or practices. Seeing these errors never caused me to question the authenticity of what the Holy Spirit had done in my life. But I knew I had to stay true to God’s Word and reject any false teachings I encountered.

My simple rule is based on 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22: “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil” (NASB). In other words: Eat the meat and spit out the bones.

As I have traveled throughout the body of Christ in recent years, I’ve experienced the good, the bad and the ugly. I love God’s people, and I know there is a healthy remnant of Spirit-filled churches that are striving to stay grounded in biblical truth. But I also know we have reached a crossroads. We must clean up our act. We must jettison any weird doctrines we might have believed or practiced that are hindering our growth today.

Here are a few of the worst errors that have circulated in our movement in the past season. You may have others that need to be added to this list. I believe we are grieving the Holy Spirit if we continue to practice these things:

1. "Touch not My anointed." Chances are you’ve heard this weird doctrine based on 1 Chronicles 16:22. In an attempt to discourage any form of disagreement in the church, insecure leaders tell their members that if they ever question church authority, they are “touching the Lord’s anointed” and in danger of God’s judgment. Let’s call this what it is: spiritual manipulation. It creates worse problems by ruling out healthy discussion and mutual respect. Church members end up being abused or controlled—or even blacklisted because they dare to ask a question.

2. Dual covenant. We charismatics love and respect Israel. Some of us even incorporate Jewish practices in our worship—such as wearing prayer shawls, blowing shofars or celebrating Hebraic feasts. These things can enrich our Christian experience—but some leaders go too far when they begin to teach that Jews don’t need to believe in Jesus Christ to experience salvation. They imply that Jews have special access into heaven simply because of their ethnic heritage. This is a flagrant contradiction of everything the New Testament teaches...

Amen, brother! Read the rest at the link.

5 Tips to Balance

Below is from Five Tips for finding Your Theological Balance by Derek Rishmawy

If you asked me to name my theological pet peeves, right near the top would be what I call pendulum-swing theology. This process usually occurs when you grow up hearing one particular view of something, get sick of it, and then swing to the opposite extreme. For example, you grow up a hyper-Calvinist, something happens, and you swing to open theism. You see this swing a lot in atonement theology, too. Sometimes, when evangelicals who've grown up on a steady diet of penal substitutionary atonement discover Jesus actually did some other things, too—like defeat the powers, demonstrate God's love, and so forth—they end up chucking penal substitution altogether instead of carefully integrating each truth into a holistic doctrine of reconciliation. Martin Luther described the history of theology as a drunk man getting on his horse only to fall off the other side—and then repeating the process. This problem irks me.

So finding evenhanded treatments of just about any subject is one of my greatest delights. A sense for balance is one of the highest virtues a theologian can possess, while a lack of balance is a serious vice. In trinitarian theology, for example, focusing on God's oneness over his threeness, or vice versa, leads to either modalism or tritheism—neither of which works with the gospel. In fact, they both destroy it. In Christology, too, the Chalcedonian definition keeps us from tipping into an overemphasis on the Son's divinity or humanity to the exclusion and distortion of the other. Again, lose your balance, you lose the gospel. God is both immanent and transcendent; tip one way or the other and you end up with either a soggy pantheism or a cold deism—neither of which works well with the gospel. You see how this works?

So finding evenhanded treatments of just about any subject is one of my greatest delights. A sense for balance is one of the highest virtues a theologian can possess, while a lack of balance is a serious vice. In trinitarian theology, for example, focusing on God's oneness over his threeness, or vice versa, leads to either modalism or tritheism—neither of which works with the gospel. In fact, they both destroy it. In Christology, too, the Chalcedonian definition keeps us from tipping into an overemphasis on the Son's divinity or humanity to the exclusion and distortion of the other. Again, lose your balance, you lose the gospel. God is both immanent and transcendent; tip one way or the other and you end up with either a soggy pantheism or a cold deism—neither of which works well with the gospel. You see how this works?

That said, it's important to be balanced even with our love for balance in theology. Bruce Ware explains this point in his foreword to Rob Lister's excellent, balanced book on the doctrine of impassibility:

Theological balance, like physical balance, is normally a sign of health and well-being. The reason such balance is "normally" but not exclusively best is simply that, in some situations, imbalance is clearly required. So physically, balancing equally on both legs with sustained upright posture is normally best, yet if one wishes to dive into a swimming pool, one must embrace the imbalance of leaning altogether forward—a position that if done "normally" would result in endless bloody noses and skull fractures. (16)

In all sorts of areas, balance is good, but sometimes there's no balance to be had. Ware reminds us specifically of the Reformation solas. Christ is not one among many mediators, or else he isn't Savior. We aren't saved by God's grace and our merit. It can't be God's glory and ours. And, of course, as soon as we elevate other authorities alongside Scripture, we begin to lose sight of biblical proportion.

Indeed, there are times when balance is no virtue, but a gospel-destroying vice. The gospel requires a few headlong plunges. In other words, a true sense of balance will recognize that there are times for both/ands along with times for either/ors. Knowing the difference between the two is crucial to avoiding heresy and preserving the gospel.

More from this article in the next post.

A Benefit of Sound Theology

HT: Columbia Evangelical Seminary

You Are A Theologian

...but are you a good one?

"Every Christian is a theologian. We are always engaged in the activity of learning about the things of God. We are not all theologians in the professional sense, academic sense, but theologians we are, for better or worse. The ‘for worse’ is no small matter. Second Peter warns that heresies are destructive to the people of God and are blasphemies committed against God. They are destructive because theology touches every dimension of our lives. The Bible declares that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he…Those ideas that do grasp us in our innermost parts, are the ideas that shape our lives. We are what we think. When our thoughts are corrupted, our lives follow suit. All know that people can recite the creeds flawlessly and make A’s in theology courses while living godless lives. We can affirm a sound theology and live an unsound life. Sound theology is not enough to live a godly life. But it is still a requisite for godly living. How can we do the truth without first understanding what the truth is? No Christian can avoid theology. Every one has a theology. The issue, then, is not, do we want to have a theology? That’s a given. The real issue is, do we have a sound theology? Do we embrace true or false doctrine?"

R.C. Sproul, Essential Truths of the Christian Faith, Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1992, p. vii

HT:  Peter Cockrell , Lance Quinn 

What You Think About God....

...matters more than most people imagine.


DugDownDeep_Carnahan.mov from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.

Hat Tip:  A Place For The God-Hungry
   

It Matters

"...American evangelicals must curb the decline of doctrinal concern in our midst and recapture the teaching responsibility of the church. Doctrine without piety is dead, but piety without doctrine is immature at best, and inauthentic at worst. Faithful Christians are always concerned with the development of true Christian piety and discipleship in believers. Yet, as John A. Broadus commented over a century ago, doctrinal truth is “the lifeblood of piety.”

Those who call for a “doctrineless Christianity” misunderstand–or misrepresent–both doctrine and Christianity. Pragmatism and program concerns dominate the lives of many Christians and their congregations. The low state of doctrinal understanding among so many evangelicals is evidence of a profound failure of both nerve and conviction. Both must be recovered if there is to be anything even remotely evangelical about the evangelicalism of the future."

Dr. Albert Mohler on Why Doctrine Matters

Hat Tip: Rick Ianniello

Sailing With Wind and a Deep Keel

"Large spiritual passion with small doctrinal understanding is large sails and tall masts on a tiny boat in high winds. It will dart wildly over the surface for a hundred yards. Then one wave, or one crosswind, will bring it all crashing into the unforgiving sea.

Give as much attention to enlarging the depth of your ballast as you do to the height of your sails.

Of course, if you are a sixty-ton flat-surfaced barge, with a broken engine, pray for God to give you sails and wind."
            -John Piper:

Hat Tip:  Large Sails and Little Ballast « Already Not Yet:

Practical Counsel for Theological Growth

Want to grow in Theological knowledge?  Want to see your small group grapple with some deep truth?  Here's some advice from Ray Ortlund (in an interview with Joe Thorn):

"What advice would you give to the average Christian who loves Jesus and the church, but needs to grow theologically?"

"Here’s one way to jump in. Pull some friends together, everybody buy a copy of Driscoll and Breshears’ Doctrine, and work through it together. Check out the small group suggestions on pages 437-450. Read it slowly. Embrace the difficulty. Look up every word you don’t understand. Mark up your copy with questions and highlights. Get mad if you have to. But pray to God for clarity, and he’ll give it. As you read, keep checking it against the Bible, examine what your friends say too, and don’t let go until you really know what you believe. You will never be the same again."

This book is definitely on my wish list!

Hat Tip:  Justin Taylor:

Life and Doctrine - No Separation

This article by Time Keller is over a week old, but I just got around to reading it and it is GOOD!  I'm referring to "There’s No Escaping Doctrine, but Handle it With Care" at The Gospel Coalition Blog:

Keller is commenting on a sermon by David Martyn Lloyd-Jones in the book Walking with God: Studies in 1 John (Crossway, 1993). The message deals with the tension between emphasizing doctrine over life experience or vice versa.

On the Danger of promoting experience over doctrine, Keller says:

"So when you say, “I don’t care about doctrine, it’s how you live that matters,” you are ironically promoting the doctrine of justification by works. You are proposing that what God really wants is a good life. The response can be similar when someone claims that it doesn’t matter which religion you belong to, because all religions are alike and no one should be held to a particular doctrine of God. Yet that assumes that God is not holy, and that he does not hold people responsible for how they live. In other words, to say, “No one should be held to a particular view of God” is to assume and promote a particular view of God. To say, “Doctrine about God doesn’t matter” is itself a statement of doctrine about God — and therefore it does matter! So Lloyd-Jones concludes: “It is no use your saying, ‘We are not interested in doctrine; we are concerned about life’; if your doctrine is wrong, your life will be wrong” (p. 23; italics added).

On the danger of promoting doctrine over experience, he says:

However, whenever Lloyd-Jones takes up the importance of doctrine, he always points out that there is a danger on the other extreme. He speaks of some Christians and says, “There is nothing they delight in more than arguing about theology” and they do this in “a party spirit” (p. 24). One of the signs of this group is that they are either dry and theoretical in their preaching, or they can be caustic and angry. They have “lost their tempers, forgetting that by so doing they were denying the very doctrine which they claimed to believe” (p. 24). In short, ministers who go to this extreme destroy the effectiveness of their preaching. What is the cause of this? Lloyd-Jones answers that they have made accurate doctrine an end in itself, instead of a means to honor God and grow in Christ-likeness. “Doctrine must never be considered in and of itself. Scripture must never be divorced from life” (p. 25).

That is some good and wise commentary.

Update:  There is a Tim Keller Wiki resource page!

Clothing the Gospel

"The Gospel is to be adorned by both sound doctrine and godly living.  To set the Gospel before parishioners and public without these is to preach an unclothed Gospel."

Grounded in the Gospel, J.I. Packer & Gary Parrett, page 100

(I am really enjoying this book)