Scripture Reading: Eph. 4:11-14; 1 Tim. 1:19; 3:9; 6:12a; 2 Tim. 4:7; Titus 1:13b; Jude 1:3
We have pointed out that doctrine is included among the four categories of negative things that damage the church life. The other three categories are ordinances, the old man, and the spots and wrinkles. Because in our natural, religious concept, doctrine is positive and is viewed positively by most Christians, it is difficult to speak about doctrine in a negative way. Doctrine, however, can frustrate the building up of the Body of Christ. In 4:14 Paul speaks of the negative effect of doctrine: “That we may be no longer babes tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching in the sleight of men, in craftiness with a view to a system of error.” Not many Christians have paid adequate attention to this verse, a verse which indicates that doctrine can damage the Body of Christ.
According to the four Gospels, the Lord Jesus had a difficult time with those religious people who were steeped in doctrine. The scribes, Pharisees, elders, and chief priests argued with Him over doctrine. Little did they realize that they were actually arguing with God, the One who inspired the Old Testament on which their doctrines were based. In their blindness they used the Scriptures to argue with the One who inspired the Scriptures and whose coming the Scriptures foretold. Those who were occupied with doctrine missed the opportunity to gain Christ. They did not realize that when the Lord Jesus was on earth, God was not concerned for doctrine, but for Christ.
After the church had been established and had begun to spread, problems in the churches were caused by doctrine. Romans 14 indicates this. The doctrines concerning eating and observing days were derived from Judaism, not from heathen philosophy. Although the Roman Empire did persecute the church, this persecution did not damage the church life. However, damage was caused by religious doctrine. The situation that made it necessary to call the conference described in Acts 15 was caused by doctrine. Just as doctrine caused damage to the church life in the first century, it can damage the church life in the Lord’s recovery today.
The church life has also been damaged by philosophy, especially by Gnosticism with all its concepts. If we bring in concepts derived from our cultural background, we shall cause problems in the church life. The church life in the Lord’s recovery can still be damaged by doctrine and philosophy.
Most Christians appreciate those who are knowledgeable in the Scriptures. But, in a sense, it may be a dreadful thing to acquire a vast knowledge of the Bible, if our Bible knowledge causes us to miss Christ. Remember that it was those who knew the Scriptures—the Pharisees and the scribes — who persecuted the Lord Jesus and the apostles. The principle is the same today. The ones who are most opposed to the Lord’s recovery are those with a certain amount of Bible knowledge.
God’s concern is with Christ and the church, not with doctrine or Bible knowledge. However, many Christians care more for doctrine than for Christ and the church. God’s economy is not to have a group of people who know the Bible. It is to work Christ into His chosen people for the building up of the Body. We must condemn any doctrine that distracts us from Christ or that hinders us from being built up in the Body. Even doctrines that are scriptural or fundamental may be used by the enemy to distract us from Christ and the church. Satan hates to see God’s people built up in the Body. Although God’s goal is to produce the Body by working Christ into us, most of His people have been distracted from God’s economy and from His eternal purpose. Doctrines are among the good things utilized by Satan in his subtlety to distract God’s people from God’s will. The reason God has put His seal upon the recovery of the church is that in the recovery we are pursuing God’s goal, not mere doctrinal knowledge.
Deep within, even unconsciously, some of us may still be holding on to certain doctrines. These doctrines hidden within us may cause us one day to become dissenting. This can happen to sisters as well as to brothers. Actually, doctrines often have a stronger hold on sisters than on brothers. According to my experience, it is much harder for a sister to let go of a doctrine than it is for a brother. The reason is that, as far as doctrine is concerned, sisters are subjective, whereas the brothers are objective. Hence, it is difficult for sisters to change their doctrine. The trouble in the church life caused by doctrine is often backed, supported, and strengthened by sisters. This tendency for sisters to hold on to doctrine can frustrate, damage, and even destroy the church life.
We have pointed out that although Christ has done everything necessary to produce the church, there is still the need for the church to be built up in a practical way. This involves our cooperation. The last three chapters of Ephesians emphasize human cooperation for the building up of the Body.
Eph. 2:22 speaks of the building up of the church, but it gives only the principles; it does not give the details. However, the details are found in 4:16. “Out from Whom all the Body, fitted and knit together through every joint of the supply, according to the operation in measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.” By growing up into the Head, the members of the Body have something to share with one another. Furthermore, there will be the operation in the measure of each part, and the result will be the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love. In order to have the reality of this verse, we must be perfected by the gifts given to the Body by the Head. The saints are not perfected merely by learning doctrine. On the contrary, they are perfected through being fed. This feeding causes them to grow. For example, an infant does not need anything to be added on to his body to perfect him. As he grows, the members of his body develop and begin to function normally. A mother does not perfect her baby by teaching him to use the various parts of his body; she perfects him by feeding him. The more a child grows through receiving proper nourishment, the more the members of his body will come into their function. In the same principle, the members of the Body are perfected not by teaching, but through the feeding that causes them to grow.
According to 4:13, the saints need to be perfected until they arrive at three things: at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, and at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Then we shall be no longer babes tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching (v. 14). Instead, we shall hold to truth in love so that we may “grow up into Him in all things, Who is the Head, Christ” (v. 15). The more we grow, the more we shall drop our doctrines. After someone is saved, he needs to have Christ ministered to him as his spiritual food and drink. This will cause him to grow. As he grows, he will gradually lay aside his doctrinal concepts. Eventually he will realize that nothing is more important than having Christ wrought into him.
As we grow in life, we arrive at the oneness of the faith. However, if we hold to our different doctrinal concepts, we shall not have this oneness. The emphasis on doctrine has destroyed the oneness among Christians. If we are nourished with the element of Christ and gradually lay aside our doctrinal concepts, we shall arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God. The more we grow, the more we arrive at such a oneness.
This aspect of oneness is of two things: the faith and the full knowledge of the Son of God. The faith here does not refer to the act of believing; it refers to those things in which we believe, such as the divine Person of Christ and His redemptive work for our salvation. This is the faith spoken of in Jude 1:3; 2 Tim. 4:7 and 1 Tim. 6:21. The full knowledge of the Son of God is the realization of the revelation concerning the Son of God for our experience. The more we grow in life, the more we shall cleave to the faith and to the realization of Christ, and the more we shall drop all the minor doctrinal concepts which cause division.
In the New Testament faith has both an objective meaning and a subjective meaning. When used in a subjective sense, faith denotes our action of believing. Used in an objective sense, it denotes the object of our belief. In 1 Tim. 1:19 the word faith is used in both a subjective and an objective sense. Here Paul says, “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away, concerning the faith have made shipwreck” (Gk.). The first reference to faith in this verse is subjective; it denotes our capacity to believe. The second use of faith is objective; it denotes the object of our belief.
Faith in Eph. 4:13 refers to those things which all Christians believe. We all believe in the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. We believe that Christ, the Son of God, was incarnated, was crucified for our redemption, was resurrected from among the dead both physically and spiritually, that He has ascended to the right hand of God, and that He is coming again. Furthermore, we believe that the Bible is God’s Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit word by word. This is our faith, the “common faith” (Titus 1:4), the “faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3).
We must be careful to distinguish the faith from doctrines related to such things as the keeping of days, dietary regulations, the method of baptism, speaking in tongues, and foot-washing. Remember that our faith consists of those things which a person must believe in order to be saved. To be a genuine Christian it is necessary to believe in the Triune God and in Christ, the Son of God, our living Savior, who died on the cross for our sins and was raised bodily from among the dead. However, it is possible to be saved and not believe in foot-washing or in tongues-speaking.
Although Paul in Ephesians 4 makes a clear distinction between the faith and doctrine, many Christians confuse these two things. Instead of contending for the faith, they contend for their particular doctrine. Nowhere in the Scriptures are we told to fight for doctrine. However, we must contend for the faith that is related to our “common salvation” (Jude 1:3). Our common salvation comes from the common faith. Although all genuine Christians have the faith and salvation in common, we may not have all doctrines in common. The different denominations emphasize different doctrines and hold on to them. Although we are not to fight for doctrine, we must be willing to fight for the faith. In 1 Timothy 6:12 Paul charges Timothy, “Fight the good fight of the faith” (Gk.). Therefore, we should contend for our faith, but we should not fight for our doctrine.
In Romans 14 Paul shows us that as long as someone has the faith, we should receive him, even though he may differ from us with respect to doctrine. We should not dispute over matters such as eating and the observing of days. If someone regards a particular day as special, he is free to do so. But if someone else views every day as the same, he is also free. As far as doctrines are concerned, we must be liberal toward others, because doctrines have nothing to do with our common salvation.
If someone comes to you denying that Jesus is the Son of God, you must earnestly contend for the faith. You must be ready to fight for the truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God incarnated. However, you should not argue over things such as foot-washing. If someone comes advocating this practice, you may tell him that you care only for Christ and do not want to be involved in discussion about doctrine. How pitiful it is that so many Christians are under the dominion of doctrine and are preoccupied with it!
Many Christians play with doctrines just as children play with toys. From my experience with my grandchildren, I have learned that the best way to get a child to drop his toys is to offer him something good to eat. The same is true with helping Christians to drop the doctrines that preoccupy them. The more we enjoy Christ and are nourished by the ministry of Christ, the more willing we shall become to lay aside our doctrines. Years ago, the saints in a certain place were preoccupied with their doctrinal toys. But as the years have gone by and they have enjoyed the ministry of Christ, they have gradually dropped these toys. The more they have grown in Christ, the less they care for toys.
The only way we can drop our doctrines is by the growth in life. We need to grow until we arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God. Although we all are saved, we have come into the church life from different backgrounds. Because of these different backgrounds, we have different doctrines and philosophies. We may say that we care only for Christ and the church, but we may still be occupied with doctrine. Do not try to teach others to set aside their doctrines. Just as children will play with their toys until they grow up, so the believers will be occupied with doctrine until they grow more in Christ. If the saints grow in the Lord, eventually they will lay aside the doctrines which preoccupy them.
As we grow, we shall arrive not at the oneness of doctrine, but at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God. This is the kind of oneness we desire in the local churches. Our oneness is not a oneness of Bible knowledge; it is a oneness in the knowledge of the living Christ, a oneness constituted of the common faith and of the knowledge of Christ. Our main concern is not that the saints acquire the knowledge of the Bible. It is that they know the Lord Jesus in a living way. In the meetings of the church our emphasis is not on Bible teaching; it is on helping the saints to know the living Christ and to grow in Him. Only by growing in this way shall we be no longer children tossed by waves and carried about by winds of doctrine.
Through the growth of life, we shall also arrive at a full-grown man and at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. The fullness of Christ is the Body of Christ, Christ’s expression. With this Body there is a stature with a measure. When the Lord’s work in His recovery began in this country a number of years ago, we could see very little of the measure of this stature. Praise the Lord that over the years the measure of the stature has increased! This increase is the result of the perfecting of the saints through the ministry of Christ. However, as we all admit, we are still in the process of growth. The more we grow, the more we shall be able to function and to have the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love. This is our need today.
