Doctrine and the Law

My husband and I were talking tonight about doctrine and how poisonous it can be when it is injected into the teaching within a church.  It’s rarely overt, but subtly it’s added a little at a time, from quotes, to books hidden in plain sight among the myriad books available in the church library, to a bible study or Sunday school class on the subject, and eventually it is revealed as a predominant ideology and the church is either divided or destroyed because of it.  All because we people just have to think too much.  We have to have all the answers.  So we devise various doctrines in answer to the questions that we have focused on instead of focusing on the truth and commands clearly stated in scripture. 

 

What is the common truth, the common doctrine, among Christians?  What did Paul advise believers and teachers to hold fast to?  It’s what we call the Gospel.  The good news.  That “Christ died for our sins according to the scripture, that he was buried, that he was raised again on the third day, according to the scripture.”  That “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”, and we need to repent of sin and “believe in the Lord Jesus and [we] will be saved.”  That “God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

What are we called to do?  To go throughout the earth, to the ends of the earth, and share the Gospel with all people!  

Who has all the answers to the questions that we have?  Who knows the meaning of the Words that seem to us to be vague or inconclusive?  God does.  Do we need to have all the answers?  Nope.  His ways are higher than ours, as much as the heavens are higher than the earth.  To assume that we have the answers is to reveal our pride.  

Who are we supposed to be following?  Whose words and doctrines?  Christ’s!  Not those of any man.  “Let God be true and every man a liar.”

That being found conclusive, we moved on to discussing the various doctrines that we have been ‘taught’ throughout our life as Christians.   We’ve been taught so many things that don’t align with the Words of Jesus or the character of God…and I’m so thankful that we have a written copy of His word to guide us to truth and the Holy Spirit to help us decipher it!  

Our conversation then turned to the common disagreements among believers, all of which stem from our understanding of the Law and how it relates to us, like how we are to raise our kids, how we are to dress, what we are to eat and drink, how we handle our money and property, etc.  People get on these kicks and they go all out and commit themselves to strictly following Old Testament laws…some of them.  We’ve been told in the past, essentially that, when we’re better Christians we will be convicted that we should dress differently, or that when we’re more mature we will realize that we shouldn’t eat pork and keep the Sabbath holy, Saturday not Sunday of course.  My husband once asked a man who wagged his finger at us for eating bacon whether or not he kept his garden plot fallow every seventh year…in jest of course, but pointing out the fact that if he’s going to put so much importance on obeying the law, why not follow all of them to such a strict t?  

The fact is that we’re not bound to the law.  But we seriously misunderstand it.  

The law is not meant to be bondage for us; the law is truly a blessing.  The law is God’s instructions for the very best use of His creations and blessings!  To snub the law, in a way, would be like snubbing an offer from Bill Gates to teach you one on one how to use Windows (it’s a weak analogy, I know).   

God’s law covered every area of life for His people, from how they were to raise their children, what His people were to eat, how they were to handle money and business, to how they were to farm.  In every instance, there is no denying that the actions or inactions He commanded are the very best options.  The animals that were “unclean” are not exactly the most nutritive or beneficial for our health, or even that appealing aesthetically.  Is it sinful to eat a steady diet of pork?  No.  Would it be wise not to eat a steady diet of pork?  Yes.  And God knows it, he did design us, you know.  

Organic farmers will tell you how important it is not to plant the same crop in a garden or field year after year (because of pests, soil-nutrient depletion, etc.), and how good it is for the soil to rest for a season.  God knew it before they did. 

We have every right in the world to bury ourselves in debt, but God knows how unwise it is, so He told his people to owe nothing to any man and to “release” people of their debts every seventh year.  

The Sabbath is another good one.  Who would cop a ‘tude about their boss offering them a day off?  But when God says, “take a day to rest” we suddenly get all hot under the collar about the idea.  Why?  It makes no sense to me how people can’t understand that God understands our frame!  He knows that not only will we get tired and stressed, but we can be determined and driven to our own detriment!  We NEED rest.  It is vital for our health and vital for our families that we have “free time” to devote to each.  So why does it cause us to feel burdened that God sanctioned a day of rest?  On a personal note, I’m very seriously considering organizing my weeks in such a way that our family can keep the Sabbath, not because we think it will earn us brownie points with God, but because we acknowledge the wisdom in it.  Sometimes we just need to stop and breathe, God freed his people to do so by commanding it.

The list could go on and on.  The point, though, is simple:  While nothing we ever do, with the exception of accepting the free gift of salvation, will ensure us God’s favor, God wants the best for His people.  The law shows us His love and concern for us in the same way that parents set rules to protect their children out of love.  We set rules and boundaries to help keep them safe and healthy, and to encourage good character.  Breaking parents’ rules does no harm to the parents, but to the children, and it doesn’t remove the children from their parents' love.  In Christ we have the freedom to eat, drink, dress, spend...and garden...according to our own consciences (at which the Holy Spirit is at work!) and just as when we’re growing up under our parents’ authority, when we realize that their instruction is in our best interest to follow, we gladly seek it!  

Now don’t start thinking that I’m saying that we should all keep the Sabbath, refrain from eating pork, and so on and so forth.  What I am saying is simply that we need to take a fresh look at the law with the understanding that it is for our best.