The word "Doctrine" in the Greek means 'doctor' or teacher or teaching.
Why do we have Doctrines?......Simply because people were declaring themselves Christians in the early days of the Church who did not believe in the basics of Christianity. No one had Bibles back then like we do now, so church leaders held councils to define Christianity, ie : What a person has to believe to be a Christian. Since the New Testament had not yet been complied this was a good idea...what other options where there at that time? Creeds were developed that could me memorized, doctrines were written to keep heresy out of the Church. Let's face it, the Church has a clever enemy, he knows the best place to attack is from the inside.
However as time progressed and doctrines developed it seemed if a person believed certain things, they could call themselves Christian and really believe they were, after all they believed the doctrine and even the church affirmed they were true Christians, how could they be anything else?
Enter the modern day man who knows nothing of doctrine, yet meets Jesus and is born again. He is told his salvation is suspect because he does not adhere to certain doctrines. The only thing is we all have Bibles now. But even then we miss the mark, because Jesus, not the Bible is the true Word of God spoken of in John.
"Enter the modern day man who knows nothing of doctrine, yet meets Jesus and is born again. He is told his salvation is suspect because he does not adhere to certain doctrines."
I don't know about someone's salvation being suspect because of certain doctrines (cause after all, we all start out as 'babes' and -hopefully-grow, so that isn't fair of others...)
But, to take a slightly different turn here..
What do you think about someone just telling or asking someone to "accept Jesus into their heart" and not giving them ANYthing of what salvation actually means?
I saw this resently, and I was the one criticized for not being "more excited"...in actuality, my concern was because I felt that person was being led astray! Just like a child who wants to please, sometimes people will go along with someone (trying to lead them to Jesus) without really understanding 'the steps'. At least four times in Acts for example, it states that we need to repent. Well, how can one be saved if they don't really even realize they are lost??
Odear, I didn't mean to hijack this thread...I veered off Two's trail...sorry
I think it might be impossible to veer off my trail, but sometimes one has to drive off both sides of the road to know where the middle is.
Steps, Formulas, Rituals all have their uses, but when they gain more importance than Jesus, they become a hinderence and steer people away from the truth. If a persons heart is right and they really accept Jesus, He will lead them to repentance. However, I don't think we should leave that part out just to gain converts.
Since I deal with individuals and am not preaching from a pulpit to the masses, I just try to let the Holy Spirit lead, and it seems to be different for each person. For instance if someone is in emotional stress, I'll suggest Jesus to them and skip over repentance.
We need to be careful not to rely so much on steps that we miss what the Spirit is doing. There is no formula that will save a person if the heart isn't right.
Also, we ate not always called to harvest, sometimes we plant seeds, sometimes water, sometimes prune.
I don't know.....it seems I don't need a bunch of steps to introduce you to my friend.
