Contend For The Faith
Good Morning,
As we begin 2024 (an amazing thought in itself), I am concerned about keeping our ministry and faith based upon sound doctrine. For the last four decades, we have stood for the truth of the Scriptures, but never doubted that Satan's hatred for the church is undaunted by our steadfastness. He will attack and seek to move people out of the soul winning, Bible-believing church through one means or another.
Paul, Timothy, and Titus spoke of sound doctrine.
2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;”
Titus 1:9 “Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.”
Titus 2:1”But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:”
Notice what Paul says to Timothy. People, will get to the place in their Christian lives where they do not like or want to hear sound doctrine. We think only a lost person would do such a thing, but there is no indication in the passage that Paul was referring to lost people. Religious people who choose their spiritual teacher will find themselves not liking certain doctrines, and will simply find other preachers/teachers who will give them a message they desire. Reverends “for rent” have always existed.
The strict Calvinist teaches that all mankind is predestined to go to Heaven or hell. They teach that before birth, God ordains who will be saved and who will be lost. This wrong doctrine, like all error, will negatively affect one's Christian living. Some feel so strongly about this that they will not give invitations at church for fear someone will come forward and accept Christ who was ordained for Hell. This doctrine is comfortable; for there is no need to go soul winning or preach to the lost because those who will get saved cannot help but do so, and those who are ordained for Hell cannot get saved if they wanted to. Hence, the Christian can feel no guilt about not witnessing, running bus routes, or being involved in other types of evangelism.
Matthew 28:19 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”
Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
For the Calvinist, several problems exist. For instance, they must determine if some babies are ordained for Hell. Will unborn little ones go to Hell if they are not one of the elect? Some Calvinists say no. If some adults are ordained for Hell and others are ordained for Heaven, when does the change take place? If all babies are saved, then at some point in the little one's life they moved from ordained to Heaven to being ordained to Hell. What theological confusion! Little is different to the Catholic who believes an infant is born with original sin and must be baptized by the Catholic church in order to get to Heaven. According to this belief, a child cannot go to Heaven if he dies prior to the First Communion. This teaching seemed to be too harsh to many Catholics, so they invented limbo - a place where unbaptized babies go because Hell is too cruel and Heaven is beyond their reach. This is no problem to Catholics because they already invented Purgatory, so why not invent another imaginary, unscriptural place? (In case you wonder, many Baptists and others religious people are drifting towards a Calvinistic theological view of Scripture.)
Grasping the fact that God loves all humanity and that all have sinned (Romans 3:23) is not difficult - but "sin is not imputed where there is no law." (Romans 5:13) If the child is unable to grasp the law and the difference between right and wrong, that child has no "imputed sin." This doctrine covers the mentally handicapped, the infants, and others in this category. Of older children and adults, we read, “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13)
For this reason, it is the duty of believers to tell folks about Christ and salvation, and yes, to clearly explain the free gift (Romans 6:23) and forgiveness (John 3:16) so they will understand enough to believe and trust the Lord to save them. The problem is the pressure this places on the believer to TELL - they are looking for a way out of this command.
We must keep our doctrine SOUND. We also must guard ourselves against those who could influence our pulpits to compromise through their money or prestige. The truth must be so dear to us that we are willing to contend to keep it and cling to it.
Jude 3 “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
Pastor