Some folks think defending doctrine is just picking fights online. Let me show you from the Word that it is not a hobby and it is not a temperament: it is the job God handed His church.
“…the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15, KJV)
The church is the pillar and ground of the truth
A pillar holds something up so that it stands high and can be seen. The ground is the firm base that bears the weight and holds it steady. That is the church’s calling: to hold the truth up before the world and to hold it steady when the world pushes against it. The church does not create the truth. It upholds the truth God has already spoken, and it stands firm because “the foundation of God standeth sure” (2 Timothy 2:19).
What is the truth? Jesus Christ answered that
Pilate asked, “What is truth?” (John 18:38), and the world is still asking. Jesus Christ had already answered it the night before, praying to His Father: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17). The truth the church holds up is not opinion, tradition, or the mood of the age. It is the Word of God. That is why the church must know the Word, guard the Word, and preach the Word, because the Word is the truth it was built to uphold.
The heart of that truth is Jesus Christ: read the next verse
And do not stop at verse 15, child of God; read into verse 16: “God was manifest in the flesh…” (1 Timothy 3:16). The truth the church holds up has a center, and that center is the Lord Jesus Christ. So the church’s job of guarding the truth is tied directly to proclaiming Christ accurately. You cannot lift Him up right while treating sound doctrine as optional.
So I will name what I will not accept
That means I have to take a stand on specifics. I will not accept the Oneness teaching that Jesus is the Father incarnate, because the Word will not allow it: “the Word was with God, and the Word was God… and the Word was made flesh” (John 1:1,14), the Father’s voice from heaven over the Son at the Jordan (Matthew 3:16–17), the Son praying to the Father (John 17:1–5). And I will not accept a twisted gospel that adds to the finished work: “by grace are ye saved through faith… not of works” (Ephesians 2:8–9); “whosoever believeth in him should not perish” (John 3:16).
Why the church must hold the line, and how
The Spirit warned that “some shall depart from the faith” (1 Timothy 4:1) and that men “will not endure sound doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:3). That is exactly why the church must hold the line. Now hear my heart, because motive is everything here. I do not contend to win an argument or feel superior. Paul says do it “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). Truth serves souls. I stand for it because I love the people who need it. Glory to God.
Related Teaching
- Contending for the Faith
- Who Cares? Why False Doctrine Matters
- Why I Reject Baptismal Regeneration and Oneness Doctrine
“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
2 Corinthians 5:18-21 (KJV)
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