We’re Saved By Jesus, Not Doctrine!!!??

We’re Saved By Jesus, Not Doctrine!!!
By J. Scott Sheridan

PART 1

I first heard the issue stated back in 1985 at the Florida Christian Convention/National Missionary Convention by Roger Chambers:


"A round of applause awaits the convention speaker who will announce that we are saved by Jesus, not doctrine. Brotherhood scholars impressed by German theology are throwing up a wall between Jesus and doctrine. This one-eyed theology is catchy; it breathes rhetorical authority. By design it eases the force of doctrine, mitigates the raw authority of Scripture, accredits human testimony, and expands the range of union. But it won't work. Jesus does not descend in euphoric mystery; He comes clothed in the Apostles' Doctrine and dwells in our hearts by faith. The Bible does not elevate the Person of Christ over the doctrine of Christ." (Originally printed in the TNT Journal Spring 2009)

About two years later I was at a Men's Retreat in Lake Aurora, Florida, only to hear a prominent preacher from Kentucky announce to all in hearing distance that we are saved by Jesus, not doctrine. He went on to teach that baptism is OUR doctrine (meaning Church of Christ/Christian Church doctrine) and that we did not have the right to impose OUR doctrine upon those who may not hold to OUR doctrine. He went on to say that the Lordship of Jesus is what we could unite upon, because we will never completely agree upon doctrine. (Unfortunately this session was not recorded). The two issues are connected.

The issues are 1) Saved by Jesus, not doctrine, and 2) Uniting upon the Lordship of Jesus alone, even while we have glaring doctrinal disagreements. In either instance, doctrine is shooed away like an unwanted stray cat. The second issue is the premise behind most interdenominational programs, such as Promise Keepers. It is thought that as long as we can accept Jesus as Lord, everything else is irrelevant. That‟s not the case in reality, nor is it the case Scripturally.

Ephesians 4:1-6 states: "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all."

The command there is to diligently preserve the unity of the spirit. We do so by acknowledging the seven pillars upon which we must unite, namely, 1) One Body, 2) One Spirit, 3) One hope, 4) One Lord, 5) One Faith, 6) One baptism, and 7) One God. Please notice that the Lordship of Jesus is ONE of those things we must be able to unite upon, but there are six others. Observe that unlike the Kentucky preacher mentioned earlier, the Scriptures declare that baptism is one of those uniting pillars. The unity is there for those who believe these doctrines, and is to be maintained not discovered. But there is no unity with unbelievers.

E.g. Wm. Richardson in Christian Doctrine (Standard, 1983). in the preface, Editor Richardson explains (p.15) that he has allowed different views on doctrine in the book because of his Conviction that "(1) the Christian faith is not primarily an affirmation of doctrine, but rather a confession of Jesus as Lord, and (2) fellowship among Christians does not depend on their achieving the same level of understanding in doctrine." He does not say if fellowship is affected by doctrinal differences that have nothing to do with maturity of understanding, but which are made up of mature disagreement on doctrine.

The effort to unite upon just one of these pillars is a blatant attempt to wrestle away the sheer authority of Jesus from salvation, just so we can get along. Throughout Old Testament history, the temptation to "get along" was always there, but God was ALWAYS more concerned with the faithfulness of His people than He was with how they socialized.

The people wanted a king so they could be like the other nations. Balaam's wicked temptation to the people of Israel was to mingle with the locals. In Ezekiel they had actually brought in Egyptian religious art and writing into the Temple itself. In each of these examples God was greatly displeased and would have preferred faithful obedience.

I will end here for today and pick this up next time...