Introduction.

Some years ago I attended a conference in Cape Town concerned with the poor spiritual state of the city. I forget the announced theme, but remember the actual theme which was stated by all the speakers. The real theme was: ‘Preaching doctrine divides believers; we need to focus on preaching the Gospel and unite believers and save sinners.' This conference was preparing the way for a Billy Graham Campaign and needed cooperation from all church denominations. The statement: ‘Preaching doctrine divides believers; we need to focus on preaching the Gospel and unite believers and save sinners' makes doctrine a divisive thing that hinders the work of evangelising lost sinners. The sentiment of this statement contributed strongly to the formation of the Uniting Church in 1977. Does doctrine really matter? If doctrine really divides believers and truly hinders evangelism, then surely we should let go of doctrine and enjoy the liberty of the Gospel. Can we do this and be faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ? Can the Elders be blameless men who are servants of God and stewards of Christ and be indifferent to doctrine?

This is not really a difficult question to answer, as the answer is given to us in Titus 1:9 where Paul lists one of the qualifications needed for the task of the Eldership. Listen to what Paul says in that verse, ‘holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.' If you told Paul that doctrine really does not matter, you would provoke him to anger and receive a sharp rebuke. Before moving on to look at Paul's instruction concerning suitable candidates for the Eldership we need to make three vital points concerning the negative attitude towards doctrine.

1. The gospel cannot be separated from doctrine. If you remove the doctrines of the incarnation, original sin, death, Satan, atonement, justification, resurrection, judgement, and ascension from of the gospel you have no gospel or you have another gospel. Listen to Paul responding to those who tampered with the doctrine of sufficiency of the atonement in the Gospel, ‘if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.' (Galatians 1:8)
   
   
2. The very nature of the gospel is divisive. It divides believers from unbelievers, it separates the sheep from the goats, and it changes the elect and hardens the reprobate. Jesus himself was divisive during his earthly life, he said, "Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law" (Luke 12:51-53). Jesus confronted the world with truth and it caused division then and continues to cause division today. Doctrine and the Christian life are two sides of the same coin; you cannot have one without the other.
   
   
3.  Doctrines true to the Word promote the salvation of sinners, false doctrines offer people a pseudo-salvation and placate those headed for eternal condemnation. Listen to Paul in Romans 10:14, ‘How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?' The moment you start talking about the person and work of Jesus you are talking doctrine, and if the information is in error, then those who believe, believe in vain. Does doctrine really matter? It matters more than you could ever imagine, it is absolutely vital.

Listen again to the directive Paul gives to Titus concerning the qualities needed to be found in men who are suitable for the Eldership. Paul says, Elders ‘hold fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.' Paul brings two extremely important matters to our attention in Titus 1:9. Firstly, the secure grasp of doctrine Elders need to have and secondly the application of doctrine to edify believers and expose false doctrine. Elders of the church need to think theologically (Biblically) and grasp the deep things of God in order to expose the counterfeit doctrines promoted by the evil one.

1. The secure grasp of doctrine needed by Elders.

1. Elders need to hold fast the faithful word as they have been taught. There are three very important concepts in this apostolic directive.
1. The word translated hold fast is a very strong word in the Greek. The Greek word means, ‘hold firmly, or cleave to.' Think of two wrestlers taking hold of each other firmly in a fight. Think of a husband and wife cleaving to one another. Listen to Jesus using this word in Matthew 6:24, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." Jesus uses the word to describe loyalty that involves the heart, mind and will. This is much more than simply being able to hold the theory of a doctrine in the mind; it must grip the heart, motivate the will and bear fruit. To hold-fast to doctrine means it is held by conviction in heart and mind. You know what you believe and why you believe it, thus it is your settled position. The church in Ephesus lacked men with this quality and this lack had a great influence on the congregation. Paul in Ephesians 4:14-15 says, ‘... no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.' Many believers in Ephesus had no doctrinal anchor so they were behaving like naive and gullible children who believed anything they were told. Elders are to be anchored in the doctrines of the Word.
   
   
2. We need to take note that the message is described as the faithful word which could also be translated as the trustworthy word. What does Paul mean by a trustworthy word? It means you can depend, rely and be secure in knowing that everything the message promises is true and will most certainly be granted and fulfilled. If you received a bank guaranteed cheque for a million dollars it would be a trustworthy word, and you would receive the money. When it comes to preaching the gospel it needs to be a trustworthy word that informs you of what God has promised and pledged in the New Covenant in Christ. The trustworthy message transforms the sinner into a saint and promotes godliness. The trustworthy message produces a visible transformation in the individual.
   
   
3. This is a message that was taught. The popular notion that all religions are evolutionary in nature is simply wrong when it comes to the message of the Gospel. Listen to Jude 3, ‘Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.' Now Jude does not mean that they are to contend for faith, that is, their faith in Christ.  He uses "the faith" as a noun and as an object.  They are to contend for the faith.  And "the faith" in this circumstance does not refer to subjective trust in Christ who is the object of faith, "the faith" refers to Christian doctrine, Jesus' teaching given to the apostles, the divinely inspired doctrine given by the Holy Spirit to the apostles.  He wants them to cling to a body of doctrine of truth and to contend for that faith, the apostles' teaching, the body of Christian doctrine. Jude wants Christians to know that this doctrine is not changeable.  We are not looking to improve and update doctrine to be more acceptable to the world.  No, the body of doctrine was "once for all given," he says.  Now "once for all" never means "once upon a time."  "Once for all" means "once for all time."  In other words, in this truth, in this biblical truth, in this biblical, apostolic presentation of the gospel we have the foundation and fullness of the faith. The full gospel, the whole counsel of God has been given and we need to contend for that faith. The idea that a body of doctrine has been entrusted to the church is emphasised in 1 Corinthians 11:2, where Paul says, ‘Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.' In 2 Timothy 1:13-14 Paul says, ‘(Timothy) Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.' Doctrine does not vary with every man's opinion and interpretation, it is God given and does not change; it is a body of truth integral to the very existence of Christianity.
   
   
2. The message that is preached from the pulpit today must not differ from the message preached by the apostles. The message from every pulpit ought to communicate the same doctrine. It is true that we live in a very different age, an age of space travel, amazing technology, an open economy, and abundant knowledge, but as human beings and our personal needs, weaknesses, problems and difficulties and concerns have not changed. God who in immutable has not changed. The problem of sin still remains; it still alienates men and women from God and must still be punished by death. The only way for sinners to be saved is through the atonement made by Jesus Christ. God gave the message to the apostles, we have that message, and it is the New Testament. Some would want us to place experiences in the Christian life above doctrine for the sake unity. J C Ryle was absolutely correct when he said, ‘You can talk about religious experiences all you wish, but if it does not have doctrinal roots, it is like cut flowers stuck in the ground. They will soon wither and die.' Sound doctrine supplies stability to the church. Every member ought to enjoy the spiritual stability produced by sound doctrine.

2. The application of doctrine needed to edify believers and expose false doctrine.

1. All doctrines are important as they have practical applications that help build up believers and refute the claims of the false teachers. Doctrine ought to play a huge part in the daily lives of believers as they interact with the wickedness and darkness of the world. Your doctrine acts like a filter that traps things that are not in agreement with the Scriptures. Paul tells Titus to look for men who are sound in doctrine. The term sound comes from the medical realm. Old Physicians used the phrase, ‘sound of wind and limb' to describe a person who was in good health. The term of ‘sound mind' is a legal term which refers to: ‘That state of a man's mind which is adequate to reason and comes to a judgment upon ordinary subjects, like other rational men.' A sound motor in the car fires on all six cylinders and delivers maximum power. From these three examples we learn that the concept of something being sound means that it is fully functional and operational. Doctrine needs to be seen as a tool or a weapon that you use in everyday life.
   
   
2. The first useful application of sound doctrine that Titus needs to look for in prospective Elders is to exhort believers in their faith. Rather than the word ‘exhort' the NIV uses the word encourage, the RSV uses the term give instruction. The concept behind the word is that of assisting others to have sound doctrine that stabilises, strengthens and promotes a healthy spiritual life in them. We, believers ought to be as concerned about each others spiritual lives as we are about their physical lives. We ought to be eager, willing and able to help each other when we past through times of spiritual drought. How would you encourage a brother in Christ who is struggling with doubt that his prayers are being heard? You would turn to doctrines and apply them to the individual. Christ's work on the cross is full of encouragement: through his work your sins are forgiven, you are justified, you are reconciled, you are adopted as a son, indwelt by the Holy Spirit who helps you in your prayers. The ascended Lord is your High Priest and he intercedes and presents you before the throne of grace. Jesus made many promises about answering prayers made in his name. God is omnipresent so he will certainly hear your prayers. God is omniscient so he will know every detail about your prayers, even the aspects you cannot put into words. God is omnipotent so he has the power to answer your prayers. God in the New Covenant has committed himself to hear and answer your prayers according to his great wisdom and perfect love. All this is simply applying doctrine to the weakness of a person's faith. The weaker a person is in sound doctrine the less they will be able to enjoy God. All our doubts, fears and anxieties can be counted by the application of sound doctrine drawn from the pages of Scripture. Titus needed to watch and take note of men who were sound in doctrine and who used doctrine to draw near to the weaker brother and sister and encourage them to build their relationship with the Lord. Encouraging others is the duty of all believers and men who excel at this are to be considered for the Eldership.
   
   
3. The second use of sound doctrine that Titus needs to take note of is that of convicting those who contradict sound doctrine. Where do false doctrines come from? Listen to 1 Timothy 4:1, ‘Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.' The source of false doctrine is not clever misguided people, but from deceiving spirits and demons. In his attempt to destroy the church the devil has let loose a humongous amount of false doctrines to confuse, dilute, misdirect and wreck the church. A potential Elder needs to be able to discern the difference between true and false doctrine. How does one develop this skill? The Bank of Scotland trains all its tellers to identify counterfeit notes, by having them count new genuine notes for at least 5 years. As they count the genuine notes an image involving every minute detail is imprinted on their minds so that they will recognize the slightest defect. As they count thousands and thousands on authentic notes that develop a feel that enables them to detect a different paper. The best training to discern false doctrines is to become very familiar with sound doctrine and its Scriptural foundation. Your doctrine must be totally saturated with Scripture. The more you are versed in the Scriptures and familiar with sound doctrine the better you will be at discerning false doctrine.
   
   
4. The need to discern false doctrine is extremely important and essential to the life and witness of the church. We need to recognise that we live at a time when false doctrine is a wide and powerful stream that has flooded many churches. We also live at a time when Elders who do their specific duty of convicting those who contradict sound doctrine are despised and labelled as judgmental, or negative, or critical, or censorious, or dogmatic. Defending true doctrine is a job entrusted by Jesus to Elders, it's his instruction that they need to obey. The Elder's task is to expose false teaching and tell you that its wrong, prove from Scripture that it is false and convict you of its false nature. Surely no one would dispute that holding to false doctrine is sinful. It is the same word Jesus uses to describe the work of the Holy Spirit in John 16:8, ‘And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.' What does the term convict mean? Convince and convict are not always or necessarily identical in meaning. A man can be convinced of a doctrine or of a duty; he is convicted of a crime. The English verb to convict is rather ambiguous because it may mean either: a. to prove guilty, without implying that the person whose guilt is proved is ready to admit and confess his guilt; b. and to awaken to consciousness of guilt. The Elder relying on the work of the Holy Spirit who is also the Spirit of truth will seek to accomplish both aspects of the meaning of the word convict, and pray for true repentance in those holding to false doctrine.
   
   
5. While Elders who are faithful to the Lord and convict those who contradict sound doctrine may be unpopular and despised, we need to remember that the Lord Jesus during his earthly ministry devoted much of his time to exposing false doctrine and calling false teachers to truth and repentance. While an Elder who promotes sound doctrine and refutes false doctrine is following his Master's example, he also needs to imitate the great love displayed by his Master.

Conclusion.

A. W Tozer concerning the of the state of Christianity said, ‘Christianity has been watered down, until the solution is so weak that if it were a poison it would not hurt anyone and if it were a medicine it would not cure anyone!' This is simply another way of saying what Jesus said in Matthew 5:13, ‘You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavour, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.' A Christian without doctrine is like salt that has lost its saltiness. How important is sound doctrine to you? Do you count it as vital and essential as the Scriptures do?